Apple Cider Vinegar and Weight: Hype, a Retraction and the Evidence

A splash of apple cider vinegar in water has become one of the best-known wellness habits, promoted for everything from blood sugar to belly fat. It is cheap and familiar, which is part of its appeal. Here is what researchers have actually found, including one study that made headlines and was later withdrawn. This is general education, not medical advice.

Two earlier studies

One widely cited study came from Japan. In 2009, Kondo and colleagues in Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry followed a group of obese adults for 12 weeks. People drank a beverage daily that contained a small amount of vinegar or none. Those drinking the vinegar had lower body weight, body mass index, visceral fat, waist size and triglycerides than the placebo group. The vinegar used was a general vinegar drink, not specifically apple cider vinegar, and the changes were modest.

The study that was retracted

In 2024, a trial published in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health reported that daily apple cider vinegar helped young adults with overweight or obesity lose a notable amount of weight in 12 weeks. It attracted wide attention. In September 2025 the journal retracted it, saying the authors’ analyses could not be replicated and that it had found multiple errors and concerns about the data, and the editor said that publishing it had been the wrong decision. Anything quoting that study should now be treated with caution.

Pooling the small trials

A 2025 systematic review of randomized trials, searched through March 2025, pooled 10 trials with 789 participants. According to coverage of the review, apple cider vinegar was linked with small reductions in body weight, BMI and waist circumference, with larger effects at higher daily amounts. The authors were hedged, describing it as possibly useful, and the trials were few, small and varied. Some individual trials, including one using capsules, found no extra weight loss compared with a placebo.

A fair summary

• The effects, if real, are small. Nothing here compares with changes in overall eating, activity or medical treatment.
• The evidence is thin and mixed, and the best-known recent study was withdrawn.
• It is not a substitute for a healthy pattern. Our guides to fiber and beans and lentils cover foods with more solid support for feeling full.

Cautions worth knowing

• It is acidic. Drinking it straight can irritate the throat and wear tooth enamel, which is why people who use it dilute it.
• It can upset the stomach, especially for people with reflux or slow digestion.
• Talk to your clinician first if you take medication for diabetes or have a health condition, since vinegar may affect blood sugar.
• Be wary of gummies and supplements. Their ingredients and amounts vary.

If you enjoy it in a salad dressing or a recipe, that is a perfectly good way to use it.

Sources

• Kondo T, Kishi M, Fushimi T, Ugajin S, Kaga T. Vinegar intake reduces body weight, body fat mass, and serum triglyceride levels in obese Japanese subjects. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, 2009;73(8):1837-1843 (abstract and summaries).
• Retraction notice and coverage: apple cider vinegar and weight loss trial retracted by BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, September 2025 (Retraction Watch; NutraIngredients).
• Systematic review and meta-analysis of apple cider vinegar and body composition in randomized trials, 10 trials, 789 participants, Nutrients, 2025 (figures from news coverage of the review; check the paper for exact numbers).