Does vinegar help with weight loss?

A little, on paper. A 2026 umbrella review pooled 12 randomized trials, mostly in adults who were overweight, obese or had type 2 diabetes, and found vinegar lowered body weight by 2.3 lb (1.06 kg) against control (95% CI 1.1 to 3.5 lb (0.52 to 1.60 kg)), rated high certainty. That is about 2.2 lb (1 kg) over trials of up to 12 weeks. In the same review BMI did not change significantly, and neither did waist size.

Unsettled. The kilogram result and the BMI result point in the same direction but disagree on whether anything happened. The review's authors explain the mismatch by different sets of trials feeding the two outcomes. An older meta-analysis of 16 trials found no significant effect on BMI or body fat. So the honest summary is a small loss of weight that does not reliably show up in the measures of body size.

What the trials found

The 2026 umbrella review

The review re-estimated effects from earlier meta-analyses of randomized trials and graded them. Across 12 trials, body weight fell by 2.3 lb (1.06 kg) with vinegar against control, with low heterogeneity (I2 11.1%) and high certainty. Across 12 trials, BMI changed by -0.15 kg/m2 (95% CI -0.35 to 0.04), which did not reach significance, on moderate certainty. Waist circumference did not change significantly. The pooled trials include an industry-run Japanese trial, and they do not include a 2024 Lebanese trial that was later retracted.

The 2021 meta-analysis

An earlier review pooled 16 randomized trials in 910 adults who took acetic acid from vinegar in drinks and foods for at least a week. It found no significant effect on anthropometric markers, which covers BMI and body fat. Most of its trials were at unclear or high risk of bias, 5 of the 16 did not state the acetic acid dose, and the average trial lasted 8 weeks.

Two trials that disagree

In a 12-week double-blind trial, obese Japanese adults drank 1 tbsp (15 ml) or 2 tbsp (30 ml) of vinegar a day, or a placebo. 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, and our card has no sample size or kilogram figures, because the abstract gives none and we did not read the full text.

In an 8-week trial of 45 healthy adults with a large waist, daily red wine vinegar lowered fasting glucose and insulin. It did not change body weight, BMI, waist or visceral fat measured by body scan, with no significant difference between groups. The control group took a pill rather than a vinegar-free drink, and the trial was small and short.

Appetite, and part of the reason it drops

In a crossover study of 12 healthy adults, satiety after a white bread breakfast rose in step with the amount of vinegar added. That was a single meal over 2 hours, and nobody measured food intake or weight. In another crossover study of 16 healthy, normal-weight young adults, vinegar with breakfast cut appetite and food intake at that meal, and nausea ratings rose significantly with it. The worst-tasting drink had the largest effect.

Myth. Feeling less hungry after vinegar is not the same as vinegar switching off appetite. In the one study that measured both, the fall in appetite came together with nausea, and the drink that tasted worst worked best. One single-meal study in 16 people cannot say how much of the effect is nausea, but it is enough to doubt that the appetite story is a clean mechanism.

Who should be careful

Apart from the nausea in one appetite study, every harm on our cards comes from case reports, a small drug study or observational data. They show what can happen. None of them tells you how often it happens.

Not for everyone. Teeth take the acid first. Among 309 matched UK children, those with dental erosion ate fruit and vinegar more often than children without it, and in 329 Greek 8-year-olds a preference for lemon or vinegar was tied to erosive wear of permanent teeth (p = 0.041). Both studies are observational and cannot show that vinegar caused the wear.

A 2020 case report describes severe metabolic acidosis in one obese patient who combined a ketogenic diet with large amounts of vinegar to lose weight, while also taking metformin. The authors say the large quantities and acute kidney injury may have worsened the acidosis. It is a single case with three causes acting together. A 2024 case report links acute pancreatitis in an 84-year-old woman to a newly started weight-loss supplement containing apple cider vinegar.

On medicines, the one study we have is about black vinegar. Taken with the antifungal itraconazole, it raised the drug's peak blood level in 10 healthy adults whose stomach acid had first been lowered with a proton pump inhibitor. It shows that vinegar can change how an acid-sensitive drug is absorbed. We have no card on vinegar in pregnancy, and that gap is not a sign of safety.

What expert bodies say

We found no position on vinegar for weight loss from the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, EFSA, WHO or NICE. The EU register lists the claim that apple cider vinegar helps control and normalize body weight as non-authorized, and no vinegar claim in the register is authorized. Non-authorized means the evidence was judged insufficient when it was assessed. It does not mean vinegar was shown not to work. A 2024 trial that reported weight loss from daily apple cider vinegar in Lebanese adolescents and young adults was retracted by its journal in 2025, because its analyses could not be replicated.

How we searched

What would change this answer

• A trial longer than 12 weeks with weight followed after people stop. None appears in what we searched, and no vinegar trial on weight is registered in our copy of ClinicalTrials.gov.
• Kilograms and sample size from the Mizkan trial, and an independent repeat of it. It is the most positive trial in the field and it was run by a vinegar maker.
• A trial that measures nausea and stomach symptoms alongside weight. If the appetite effect is mostly nausea, that changes what the 2.2 lb (1 kg) is worth.

What vinegar does after a meal for blood sugar, and how much acid a tablespoon holds, is on the vinegar page. The apple cider vinegar evidence is reviewed separately on the apple cider vinegar page.

Sources

1. ev-vinw-01 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials, effect sizes re-estimated, GRADE · n = 12 trials
   examined the impact of vinegar intake on weight changes and reported a significant decrease (MD = −1.06 kg; 95% CI: −1.60, −0.52; p = < 0.001; GRADE = high)
   
   Who: adults in randomized trials of vinegar intake drawn from four meta-analyses, mostly overweight, obese or with type 2 diabetes
   Effect: body weight MD -2.3 lb (95% CI -3.5 to -1.1; metric: -1.06 kg, -1.60 to -0.52), I2 11.1%; larger in type 2 diabetes and overweight or obesity, with apple cider vinegar, doses above 20 mL/day and durations above 8 weeks
   Certainty: About 2.2 lb (1 kg) over trials of up to 12 weeks is a small effect; the pooled trials include the industry-run Kondo 2009 trial; the retracted 2024 Lebanese trial is not among the 12.
   Food Science & Nutrition, 2026, 14(5):e71849, Vinegar Consumption and Health: An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses of Randomized Controlled Trials · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the fulltext
2. ev-vinw-02 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials, GRADE · n = 12 trials
   revealed that vinegar consumption was associated with a non‐significant decrease in BMI relative to the control group (MD = −0.15 kg/m 2 ; 95% CI: −0.35, 0.04; p = 0.116; GRADE = moderate)
   
   Who: adults in randomized trials of vinegar intake drawn from five meta-analyses
   Effect: BMI MD -0.15 kg/m2 (95% CI -0.35 to 0.04), p 0.116, GRADE moderate; waist circumference not significant
   Certainty: The authors attribute the weight and BMI mismatch to different trial sets for the two outcomes.
   Food Science & Nutrition, 2026, 14(5):e71849, Vinegar Consumption and Health: An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses of Randomized Controlled Trials · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the fulltext
3. ev-vinw-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 beverages and foods for at least 1 week, 750 to 3600 mg a day
   Effect: no significant effect on BMI or body fat percentage; triglycerides MD -20.51 mg/dL (95% CI -32.98 to -8.04) 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; average 8 weeks.
   J Acad Nutr Diet, 2021 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
4. ev-vinw-04 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial · n = —
   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) a day vs placebo for 12 weeks; body weight, BMI, visceral fat area, waist and triglycerides significantly lower in both vinegar groups
   Certainty: Run by researchers of a vinegar maker (Mizkan); the abstract gives no kilogram figures and the J-STAGE full text was not read.
   Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, 2009, 73(8):1837-43 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
5. ev-vinw-05 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized controlled trial, two parallel arms, 8 weeks · n = 45
   No significant between-group differences in body mass index, body weight, waist circumference, or visceral fat were observed.
   
   Who: healthy adults at increased risk for metabolic complications as determined by high waist circumferences
   Effect: no significant between-group differences in BMI, body weight, waist circumference or visceral fat (DXA); fasting glucose (p 0.003) and insulin (p < 0.001) lower
   Certainty: Small and short; control arm took a pill rather than a vinegar-free drink.
   Food & Function, 2019, 10(11):7343-7355 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
6. ev-vinw-06 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized crossover acute meal study · n = 12
   There was an inverse dose-response relation between the level of acetic acid and glucose and insulin responses and a linear dose-response relation between acetic acid and satiety rating.
   
   Who: healthy volunteers, Lund University, Sweden
   Effect: vinegar with 18, 23 or 28 mmol acetic acid; satiety rating linearly related to acetic acid dose; highest dose raised satiety at 30, 90 and 120 min
   Certainty: Single meals over 2 hours; satiety is subjective and no energy intake or weight was measured.
   Eur J Clin Nutr, 2005 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
7. ev-vinw-07 · 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, with significantly higher nausea ratings; largest with the unpalatable drink
   Certainty: Suggests part of the appetite effect is nausea; single-meal study with no weight outcome.
   Int J Obes (Lond), 2014 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
8. ev-vinw-08 · Laboratory or animal data · case report · n = 1
   We present a case of severe acidosis secondary to ketogenic diet and acetic acid (vinegar) ingestion.
   
   Who: one obese patient with acute kidney injury
   Effect: severe acidosis attributed to ketogenic diet plus acetic acid (vinegar) ingestion, worsened by large quantities and acute renal injury
   Certainty: Single case with three causes acting together; shows who is at risk, not how often.
   Case Rep Nephrol, 2020 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
9. ev-vinw-09 · Observational data · non-randomized pharmacokinetic study with a case report · n = 10
   Administration of this combination increased ITCZ and OH-ITCZ Cmax significantly.
   
   Who: 10 healthy adults pretreated with a proton pump inhibitor, plus one 59-year-old man with pulmonary aspergillosis
   Effect: itraconazole and hydroxy-itraconazole Cmax significantly higher with black vinegar
   Certainty: Small Japanese study, English abstract only; shows an interaction exists for one acid-sensitive drug.
   Kansenshogaku Zasshi, 2009 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
10. ev-vinw-10 · Position of an expert body · regulatory register entry · n = —
    POL-HC-6626 Apple cider vinegar Helps control and normalize body weight. Non-authorised
    
    Who: EU register on nutrition and health claims, snapshot 2026-09-21
    Effect: 0 authorized, 6 non-authorized vinegar claims, including the body weight claim
    Certainty: Non-authorized means the evidence was judged insufficient at assessment, not that the effect is disproven.
    EU Register on nutrition and health claims, claim POL-HC-6626, snapshot 2026-09-21 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the dataset
11. vng-b3-11 · Observational data · case-control study · n = 309
    Fruit and vinegar consumption was higher in the erosion group, as was the taking of vitamin C supplements.
    
    Who: children, UK, age and gender matched
    Effect: higher frequency of fruit and vinegar intake in the erosion group (no effect size in abstract)
    Certainty: dietary history recall, association only
    ASDC J Dent Child, 2000 · checked 2026-09-23 · we read the abstract
12. vng-b3-12 · Observational data · cross-sectional study · n = 329
    In their permanent teeth, soft drink consumption (p < 0.0001) and preference for lemon/vinegar (p = 0.041) significantly affected wear prevalence and BEWE scores
    
    Who: Greek schoolchildren aged 8, the only age group the finding covers (263 14-year-olds were also studied)
    Effect: preference for lemon/vinegar associated with wear prevalence and BEWE score in permanent teeth of 8-year-olds
    Certainty: questionnaire exposure, lemon and vinegar not separated
    Caries Res, 2016 · checked 2026-09-23 · we read the abstract
13. vng-b3-14 · 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, causal link only possible
    Certainty: single case, supplement product with other ingredients
    ACG Case Rep J, 2024 · checked 2026-09-23 · we read the abstract
14. vng-b3-19 · Position of an expert body · journal retraction notice · n = —
    The paper is being retracted because the authors' analyses could not be replicated and multiple errors were identified.
    
    Who: the retracted trial in adolescents and young adults with overweight and obesity
    Effect: all results of the trial withdrawn
    Certainty: the notice also cites patterns inconsistent with random allocation and improbably small p-values
    BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, retraction notice, 2025 · checked 2026-09-23 · we read the fulltext