Add Apple Cider Vinegar to Your Weight Loss Regimen

Apple Cider Vinegar has long been praised for its potential health benefits: expelling parasites, boosting digestive function, reducing blood pressure, eliminating head lice, and even initiating apoptosis (cell suicide) in cancer cells.  Although the “folklore” concerning apple cider vinegar dates back centuries, some claims (especially the latter) have yet to be scientifically proven or substantiated (1).   In regard to weight reduction, however, apple cider vinegar provides a safe and simple adjunct to any weight loss program by inhibiting key enzymes in carbohydrate digestion and fatty acid synthesis.

Many of the weight loss and blood sugar stabilizing effects of vinegar come from the acetic acid component of the popular condiment.  Acetic acid is a short-chain, saturated fatty acid that is synonymous with "vinegar" itself.  Acetic acid is naturally produced by bacteria in the digestive tract from fiber polysaccharides (large chains of simple sugars linked together), especially pectin from fruits and vegetables (2).  The acetic acid produced from the bacterial fermentation of fiber helps reduce the impact of sugar by lowering the glycemic index and enhancing the production of energy in the digestive tract (2).  Subsequently, supplementing the body’s natural acetic acid with apple cider vinegar likely offers additional benefits (3,6).

Studies have found acetic acid to significantly inhibit the activity of disaccharidases, a class of enzymes that break down and facilitate digestion of disaccharides (two simple sugars bound together) (4); specifically, sucrase, maltase, trehalase and lactase(4).   The reduced activity of these disaccharides produces both a chemical and physical slowdown of sugar digestion and inhibits spikes in blood sugar associated with high carbohydrate intake.  Additionally, in mouse studies, acetic acid was shown to considerably decrease activity of ATP citrate lyase (5, the enzyme responsible for converting excessive carbohydrates into fatty acids and cholesterol for their subsequent incorporation into adipose (fat) tissue.   ATP citrate lyase is activated by high insulin levels and is indicative of the body's switch to "storage mode" (7).  The conversion of glycogen (stored glucose in a chain structure) to glucose (a form usable by cells) is inhibited, and glycogen (or fat) production and storage ensues.  

The body is limited in the amount of glucose it can store as glycogen.  Lifestyles consisting of a high carbohydrate diet and inadequate exercise inevitably result in the conversion of excess carbohydrates to fat as glycogen stores are topped off.  Acetic acid’s ability to inhibit sugar absorption and synthesis of fat from carbohydrate byproducts make it a viable tool in the battle to lose weight or the struggle to eliminate carbohydrates from the diet.  Ultimately, a varied, balanced diet of healthy fats and adequate protein from avocados, coconut, nuts, seeds, and pastured, green-fed, ethically-produced animal products, and complex carbohydrates from high-fiber vegetables and low-sugar or non-hybridized wild fruits, is the best way to shed excess fat and maintain a healthy weight.  Apple cider vinegar, however, provides one simple and effective way to enhance the flavor of cuisine and improve weight management efforts.

Top Product picks:

1. Spectrum Brand ACV
2. Bragg Brand ACV 

Recipe - Braggs ACV Energizer 

Sources:
1). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1785201/?tool=pmcentrez  -  PMCID: PMC1785201

2). Cummings, J. H., et al. The control and consequences of bacterial fementation in the human colon: a review. Journal of Applied Bacteriology. 70:443-459, 1991.

3). Ostman, E., et al. Vinegar supplementation lowers glucose and insulin responses and increases satiety after a bread meal in healthy subjects. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2005.

4). Ogawa, N., et al. Acetic acid suppresses the increase in disaccharidase activity that occurs during culture of caco-2 cells. Journal of Nutrition. 130(3):507-513, 2000.

5). Fushimi, T., et al. Dietary acetic acid reduces serum cholesterol and triacylglycerols in rats feda cholesterol-rich diet. British Journal of Nutrition. 95(5):916-924, 2006.

6). Kondo, T., et al. Vinegar intake reduces body weight, body fat mass, and serum triglyceride levels in obese Japanese subjects. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2009.

7). Guay C, Madiraju SR, Aumais A, Joly E, Prentki M (December 2007). "A role for ATP-citrate lyase, malic enzyme, and pyruvate/citrate cycling in glucose-induced insulin secretion". J. Biol. Chem. 282 (49): 35657–35665. PMID 17928289.