Does apple cider vinegar help with weight loss?

Possibly a little, and the evidence for even that has weakened. A 2025 meta-analysis of 10 randomized trials in 789 adults, mostly overweight, obese or with type 2 diabetes, found daily apple cider vinegar lowered body weight by a standardized difference of -0.39 (95% CI -0.63 to -0.15), a small effect, over trials of 4 to 12 weeks. Only 2 of those 10 trials were at low risk of bias, and one of the two was retracted in September 2025. An earlier meta-analysis of 16 trials of vinegar's acetic acid in 910 adults found no effect on BMI or body fat.

Unsettled. The two meta-analyses disagree, and both rest on small, short trials. The newer one found a small effect with high heterogeneity between trials (I2 62%) and has not been re-run without the retracted trial. Its result is in standardized units, so we cannot say how many kilograms it means. The best-known placebo-controlled trial was run by researchers from a vinegar company.

The 10 trials behind the 2025 weight result, by risk of bias

Counts of trials, as the review itself rated them with the Cochrane tool. The review was published before the Lebanese trial was retracted in September 2025, so the review does not account for the retraction. Source: card ev-acvw-02 below.

What the trials found

The 2025 meta-analysis

Pooling 10 randomized trials of at least 4 weeks in 789 adults, the review found apple cider vinegar lowered body weight (standardized difference -0.39, 95% CI -0.63 to -0.15, I2 62%), BMI (-0.65, 95% CI -1.05 to -0.26, I2 83%) and waist size (-0.34, 95% CI -0.67 to -0.02). A standardized difference is measured in units of the spread between people, not in kilograms. Our card from this review carries standardized differences only, so we cannot turn them into a weight you would see on a scale.

The review's own risk of bias table is the weak point. It rated 2 of the 10 trials at low risk across all domains. One of those two, a trial from Lebanon, was retracted on 23 September 2025, which we confirmed in the Retraction Watch database and on the PubMed Central page. The review came out before the retraction, and the analysis that keeps only low-risk trials leans on that trial.

The 2021 meta-analysis

An earlier review pooled 16 randomized trials in 910 adults who took acetic acid in vinegar drinks and foods for at least a week. It found no significant effect on anthropometric markers, which covers BMI and body fat, and none on HbA1c or HDL cholesterol. Most of its trials were at unclear or high risk of bias, and 5 of the 16 did not state the acetic acid dose.

The Japanese trial

In a 12-week double-blind trial, obese Japanese adults drank 17 fl oz (500 ml) a day of a beverage with 1 tbsp (15 ml) of vinegar (750 mg acetic acid), 2 tbsp (30 ml) (1,500 mg) or none. Body weight, BMI, visceral fat, waist size and triglycerides were significantly lower in both vinegar groups than on placebo. The trial was run by researchers from Mizkan, a vinegar maker. Our card has no sample size and no kilogram figures, because the abstract gives none and the full text did not load.

Appetite, and why it drops

In a crossover trial of 16 healthy, normal-weight young adults, vinegar with breakfast lowered appetite and food intake at that meal. Nausea ratings rose significantly at the same time, and the least pleasant drink had the largest effect. This was a single-meal study with no weight outcome.

Who should be careful

The appetite drop in the crossover trial came with nausea, so part of the drop in hunger after vinegar may be nausea. The other harms on our cards come from case reports. They show what can happen and say nothing about how often it does.

Not for everyone. Teeth and throat take the acid first. Dutch dentists traced erosive tooth wear in a 15-year-old girl to a daily glass of apple cider vinegar drunk to lose weight. After a throat injury from an apple cider vinegar tablet, tests of 8 tablet brands found tablet size, acidity and label claims varied widely, and it was unclear whether some contained vinegar at all. Those product tests date from 2005.

A 2024 case report described acute pancreatitis in an 84-year-old woman, possibly linked to a newly started weight-loss supplement containing apple cider vinegar. The link is possible only, and the supplement's contents were not verified. On medicines, the one card we have is about black vinegar, a different product. Taken with the antifungal itraconazole, it raised the drug's peak blood level in 10 healthy adults who had been given an acid-reducing drug first. We have no card on vinegar in pregnancy or in children, and that gap is not a sign of safety.

What expert bodies say

We found no position on apple cider vinegar for weight from the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, EFSA or NICE. The European Union did not authorize the claim that apple cider vinegar helps control and normalize body weight. That means the evidence was judged insufficient when it was assessed, not that vinegar was shown not to work.

How we searched

Searched: a local copy of PubMed, queried on 6 October 2026 for vinegar or acetic acid with weight, obesity, BMI, body fat or waist (66 hits, mostly animal feed and gut fatty acid papers) and for vinegar with weight, glucose, appetite or satiety (17 reviews and trials, mostly on blood sugar). We also searched ClinicalTrials.gov (one apple cider vinegar trial, on urine citrate, none on weight), the web and Europe PMC for the 2025 meta-analysis, the Japanese trial and safety reports, and Retraction Watch for every source used. The Lebanese trial is retracted. The others are not.

Included: two meta-analyses of randomized trials, two randomized trials, three case reports, one interaction study of black vinegar and one EU health claim decision from our existing vinegar cards, cited below.

Excluded: the retracted Lebanese trial of 120 adults. Crossover trials of vinegar and blood sugar after a meal, which measure glucose and not weight. Studies of vinegar and mood or urine citrate. Animal feed and fatty acid papers that were not about people drinking vinegar.

What we read: abstracts, with each quotation checked twice against independent copies. For the 2025 meta-analysis we also read the full text for its risk of bias table, its sensitivity analysis and its reference list. It has no section on side effects.

What we could not get: an Iranian trial from 2018 that combined vinegar with a calorie-restricted diet, which has no PubMed record and is known to us only through the 2025 review. The full text of the Japanese trial, whose journal server failed twice. The full text of the Dutch tooth wear report, which is in Dutch and behind a paywall.

What would change this answer

A re-run of the 2025 meta-analysis without the retracted trial. Until then its pooled result is unconfirmed.
A trial longer than 12 weeks, with weight regain followed after people stop. None exists in what we searched, and none is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov.
Results in kilograms with side effects reported. Neither meta-analysis gives us either.

What else apple cider vinegar does and does not do, including blood sugar after meals, is on the apple cider vinegar page.

The food behind this question

Apple cider vinegar: a real effect on one meal, a small one on weight — numbers, evidence and safety

The same question for other foods (weight loss)

Sources

ev-acvw-01 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials · n = 789
The pooled results using a random-effects model showed that daily ACV intake significantly reduced body weight [SMD: -0.39; 95% CI: -0.63, -0.15; p = 0.001; I2 = 62%], BMI [SMD: -0.65; 95% CI: -1.05, -0.26; p = 0.001; I2 = 83%], and WC [SMD: -0.34; 95% CI: -0.67, -0.02; p = 0.04; I2 = 61%].
Who: adults (18 years or older) in RCTs of apple cider vinegar for at least 4 weeks, mostly overweight, obese or with type 2 diabetes
Effect: body weight SMD -0.39 (95% CI -0.63 to -0.15), I2 62%; BMI SMD -0.65 (-1.05 to -0.26), I2 83%; waist SMD -0.34 (-0.67 to -0.02)
Certainty: Small effect with high heterogeneity; trials of 4 to 12 weeks; the pool includes the Lebanese trial retracted in September 2025 and an industry-run Japanese trial.
Nutrients, 2025, Effect of Apple Cider Vinegar Intake on Body Composition in Humans with Type 2 Diabetes and/or Overweight: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
ev-acvw-02 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, risk of bias assessment · n = 10 trials
Of the ten studies, two were classified as having a low risk of bias across all evaluated domains [44,46].
Who: 10 RCTs of apple cider vinegar and body composition, risk of bias by the Cochrane tool
Effect: low risk of bias 2 of 10; unclear 3; high 5; low-risk trial ref 44 (Abou-Khalil 2024, PMID 38966098) retracted 23 Sep 2025
Certainty: The meta-analysis was published before the retraction; its sensitivity analysis that keeps low-risk trials leans on the retracted trial. Retraction status from Retraction Watch database (retract_search.py --pmid 38966098) and the PMC banner.
Nutrients, 2025, Effect of Apple Cider Vinegar Intake on Body Composition in Humans with Type 2 Diabetes and/or Overweight: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the fulltext
ev-acvw-03 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials · n = 910
No significant effects of dietary acetic acid consumption were seen on HbA1c, HDL, or anthropometric markers.
Who: adults in RCTs of dietary acetic acid from vinegar beverages and foods for at least 1 week
Effect: no significant effect on BMI or body fat percentage; triglycerides MD -20.51 mg/dL in overweight and obese adults
Certainty: Most trials at unclear or high risk of bias; 5 of 16 did not state the acetic acid dose.
J Acad Nutr Diet, 2021 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
ev-acvw-04 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial · n = —
During the 12-week treatment period, the subjects in each group ingested 500 ml daily of a beverage containing either 15 ml of vinegar (750 mg AcOH), 30 ml of vinegar (1,500 mg AcOH), or 0 ml of vinegar (0 mg AcOH, placebo). Body weight, BMI, visceral fat area, waist circumference, and serum triglyceride levels were significantly lower in both vinegar intake groups than in the placebo group.
Who: obese Japanese subjects randomly assigned to three groups of similar body weight, BMI and waist circumference
Effect: 1 tbsp (15 mL) (750 mg acetic acid) and 2 tbsp (30 mL) (1500 mg) vs placebo for 12 weeks; weight, BMI, visceral fat, waist and triglycerides significantly lower in both vinegar groups
Certainty: Run by researchers of a vinegar company (Mizkan); the abstract gives no kilogram figures and the J-STAGE full text did not load.
Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, 2009, 73(8):1837-43 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
ev-acvw-05 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized crossover acute feeding study · n = 16
In Study 1, ingestion of vinegar significantly reduced quantitative and subjective measures of appetite, which were accompanied by significantly higher nausea ratings, with unpalatable treatment having the greatest effect.
Who: healthy, young, normal weight unrestrained eaters, Study 1
Effect: lower appetite and food intake with vinegar, accompanied by significantly higher nausea ratings; largest with the unpalatable drink
Certainty: Single-meal study in normal-weight adults; no weight outcome.
Int J Obes (Lond), 2014 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
ev-acvw-06 · Laboratory or animal data · case report · n = 1
Erosive tooth wear was diagnosed in the dentition of a 15-year-old girl with a Moroccan background. After an anamnesis, extensive analysis of possible risk factors and a study of the pattern of erosion, it was concluded that the erosive tooth wear was induced by daily consumption of a glass of apple cider vinegar
Who: one 15-year-old girl
Effect: erosive tooth wear attributed to daily apple cider vinegar
Certainty: Single case; shows the mechanism of harm, not how often it happens.
Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Tandheelkunde, 2012, 119(12):589-91 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
ev-acvw-07 · Laboratory or animal data · case report with laboratory product analysis · n = 8 products
Considerable variability was found between the brands in tablet size, pH, component acid content, and label claims.
Who: eight apple cider vinegar tablet products tested after one reported adverse event
Effect: considerable variability in tablet size, pH, acid content and label claims
Certainty: One injury case; the product data date from 2005.
Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2005, 105(7):1141-4 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
ev-acvw-08 · Laboratory or animal data · case report · n = 1
We discuss an 84-year-old woman with acute pancreatitis possibly linked to a recently introduced weight loss supplement containing apple cider vinegar.
Who: one 84-year-old woman
Effect: acute pancreatitis possibly linked to an apple cider vinegar weight-loss supplement
Certainty: Possible link only; supplement contents not verified.
ACG Case Rep J, 2024 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
acvr8-14 · Laboratory or animal data · case report with small pharmacokinetic test · n = 10
Administration of this combination increased ITCZ and OH-ITCZ Cmax significantly. For patients who produce too little gastric juice, black vinegar could thus serve to promote ITCZ capsule absorption.
Who: One patient plus 10 healthy adults pretreated with a proton pump inhibitor
Effect: Higher itraconazole and OH-itraconazole Cmax
Certainty: Black vinegar, not ACV; abstract only.
Kansenshogaku Zasshi, 2009 · checked 2026-09-29 · we read the abstract
acvr8-16 · Position of an expert body · regulatory register entry · n = —
POL-HC-6626 Apple cider vinegar Helps control and normalize body weight. Non-authorised
Who: Not applicable (regulatory decision)
Effect: Claim not authorized in the EU
Certainty: Non-authorized means evidence insufficient at assessment, not proven ineffective.
EU Register on nutrition and health claims, claim POL-HC-6626, snapshot 2026-09-21 · checked 2026-09-29 · we read the dataset

How this page was made. Evidence was extracted from primary sources into cards, every number was re-checked against the source, and the text was written from those cards. Bioma Learn has no human medical reviewer at this time, and we say so rather than invent one. Methodology. This is information, not medical advice.