Can You Lose Belly Fat with Apple Cider Vinegar?

Apple cider vinegar is the new health mantra!

This is not just a statement. It’s true in a real sense. Whether you are suffering from heart disease or some kind of infection, skin or hair problems, apple cider vinegar can come to your rescue.

Better yet, it can help burn fat – especially belly fat – and keep you slim and trim. But before you see how it helps reduce body fat, it is important to learn more about this miracle liquid and belly fat.

What is Apple Cider Vinegar?

Apple cider vinegar is a fermented liquid made in a two-step fermentation process.

First, apples are cut or crushed and combined with yeast to convert their sugar into alcohol. Next, bacteria are added to the crushed apples to ferment the alcohol into acetic acid. The whole process takes about one month.

The variety made according to the traditional method is the best and has the goodness of several nutrients.

While acetic acid is the main active component of apple cider vinegar, it also has water and trace amounts of other acids, such as malic acid. It also contains vitamins, enzymes, mineral salts and amino acids. It contains few calories and virtually no carbohydrates.

It is also a powerful antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antifungal agent.

Unpasteurized or organic apple cider vinegar contains the “mother”, which makes it look slightly congealed. It is slightly sour in taste and is used in various foods and food preparations, such as salad dressings, marinades, pickles and food preservatives.

What is Belly Fat?

Belly fat is the most stubborn fat in your body and, as the name suggests, it is found in the abdominal area.

Getting rid of belly fat is important, not only because it makes you look unattractive or affects your confidence level. It is bad for your health too and puts you at a higher risk of conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, dementia and fatty liver disease, to name a few.

A study published in Diabetes Care in 2004 reports that visceral and central abdominal fat has a strong association with Type 2 diabetes (1).

A 2008 study published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice highlights the strong connection between measures reflecting abdominal obesity and the development of Type 2 diabetes (2).

Again, a 2016 study published in Diabetes Care reports that abdominal obesity is more closely associated with diabetic kidney disease than general obesity (3).

Not just diabetes, belly fat is also linked to heart disease.

A 2003 study by the Medical College of Georgia reports that obesity may increase blood pressure by increasing volume rather than constriction. Also, the risk is higher among individuals who have belly fat (4).

Again, a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2014 found that individuals with high levels of fat in the abdominal cavity and around their abdominal organs were far more likely to develop high blood pressure, irrespective of their overall amount of body fat (5).

A 2016 study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology reports that increasing stomach fat is associated with newly identified and worsening heart disease risk factors (6).

Having belly fat also puts you at a higher risk of sleep apnea.

A 2008 study published in Diabetes Care reports that abdominal fat and sleep apnea form a vicious cycle, where each results in worsening of the other (7).

Later, a study published in the European Respiratory Journal in 2013 analyzed the relationship between visceral fat and obstructive sleep apnea and found that visceral fat was associated with sleep apnea in men but not women (8).

Abdominal fat is also linked to age-related issues like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. A 2010 study published in Annals of Neurology reports that abdominal fat can be associated with lower brain volume (9).

Now, it seems obvious that health problems are linked to belly fat, but you can lose the stubborn fat and improve your overall health by taking a simple step.

Simply include APPLE CIDER VINEGAR in your diet.

Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar for Burning Belly Fat

There are several ways that apple cider vinegar may lead to weight loss.

1. Controls Blood Sugar

Controlling your blood sugar level is important for preventing complications related to obesity and leading a healthy life. To control blood sugar, apple cider vinegar is effective and this is mainly due to its high acetic acid content.

In a 2005 rat study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, acetic acid improved the ability of the liver and muscles to take up sugar from the blood. At the same time, acetic acid reduced the ratio of insulin to glucagon, which also aids in fat burning (10).

2. Boosts Metabolism

Apple cider vinegar helps boost your metabolism rate, allowing you to burn calories more efficiently. It helps alkalize the body, thus preventing you from becoming too acidic, which can make it difficult to reach your weight loss goal.

A 2006 study published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications reports that acetic acid boosts the levels of an enzyme that increases how fast fat is burned in the body. Acetic acid also cuts the amount of fat and sugar that the liver makes (11).

3. Curbs Fat Storage

Another reason why apple cider vinegar is beneficial in burning belly fat is that it prevents fat storage and aids in the fat burning process.

A 2007 study published in Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry reports that acetic acid was a potential compound to improve obesity and obesity-linked Type 2 diabetes. It does so by increasing the expression of genes that reduced belly fat storage and liver fat (12).

A 2016 study published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition reports that exogenously administered acetic acid would have effects on lipid metabolism in both the liver and the skeletal muscles, and have function that works against obesity and obesity-linked Type 2 diabetes (13).

A study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in 2009 found that acetic acid suppresses accumulation of body fat and liver lipids by upregulation of genes for PPARalpha and fatty-acid-oxidation-related proteins by alpha2 AMPK mediation in the liver (14).

In a 2009 study published in Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, researchers found vinegar intake reduces body weight, body fat mass and serum triglyceride levels in obese people. In conclusion, daily intake of vinegar might be useful in the prevention of metabolic syndrome by reducing obesity (15).

4. Suppresses Appetite

Apple cider vinegar also suppresses appetite, which helps prevent you from eating junk food. High intake of junk food is linked to obesity and belly fat.

A 2014 study published in Nature Communications suggests that acetic acid helps suppress centers in the brain that control appetite, which can lead to reduced food intake (16).

Apart from the appetite-suppressing effects, apple cider vinegar also slows down the rate at which food leaves your stomach.

How to Use Apple Cider Vinegar to Lose Belly Fat

Including apple cider vinegar in your diet is not a complicated process. However, you need to always keep in mind to take raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar.

This type of apple cider vinegar is cloudy in texture and has sediment in the bottom known as the “mother”. This contains all the probiotic bacteria and enzymes that make this product so powerful.

The amount of apple cider vinegar used for weight loss is 1 to 2 tablespoons per day.

1. Just mix the required amount into a glass of lukewarm water.
2. Add the juice of 1 lemon and a little honey.
3. Mix well.
4. Drink it twice daily.

Another easy method is to use it with olive oil as a salad dressing. You can also use it to make pickles.

When it comes to apple cider vinegar for weight loss, always start slow. While 1 to 2 tablespoons a day is a healthy dose, some people find they need to work up to this level. Start with 1 teaspoon and gradually increase the amount.

Also, you need to be patient. Apple cider vinegar is a ‘slow and steady’ method of weight loss. You won’t get a result within a week, but with time you will see the difference.

You can flatten your stomach faster by coupling your new apple cider vinegar regimen with regular exercise and a healthy diet.

Resources:

1. Visceral and central abdominal fat and anthropometry in relation to diabetes in Asian Indians. Diabetes Care. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15562212. Published December 2004.
2. How strong is the association between abdominal obesity and the incidence of type 2 diabetes? International Journal of Clinical Practice. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2658023. Published September 2008.
3. Abdominal Obesity Is More Closely Associated With Diabetic Kidney Disease Than General Obesity. Diabetes Care. http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/diacare/early/2016/08/16/dc16-1025.full.pdf.
4. Finding The Link Between Fat And High Blood Pressure. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/09/030910072438.htm. Published September 10, 2003.
5. Belly Fat Increases Risk for Heart Disease. CardiSmart|American College of Cardiology. https://www.cardiosmart.org/News-and-Events/2014/11/Belly-Fat-Increases-Risk-for-Heart-Disease.
6. Why belly fat is dangerous for the heart. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160926142822.htm. Published September 26, 2016.
7. Abdominal fat and sleep apnea: the chicken or the egg? Diabetes Care. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18227501. Published February 2008.
8. Sleep apnoea and visceral adiposity in middle-aged male and female subjects. European Respiratory Society. http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/41/3/601. Published March 01, 2013.
9. Visceral fat is associated with lower brain volume in healthy middle-aged adults. Annals of Neurology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2933649. Published August 2010.
10. Effect of acetic acid feeding on the circadian changes in glycogen and metabolites of glucose and lipid in liver and skeletal muscle of rats. British Journal of Nutrition. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16277773. Published November 2005.
11. Acetic acid activates hepatic AMPK and reduces hyperglycemia in diabetic KK-A(y) mice. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16630552. Published June 02, 2006.
12. Improvement of obesity and glucose tolerance by acetate in Type 2 diabetic Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17485860. Published May 2007.
13. Biological Function of Acetic Acid-Improvement in Obesity and Glucose Tolerance by Acetic Acid in Type 2 Diabetic Rats. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26176799. Published July 29, 2016.
14. Acetic acid upregulates the expression of genes for fatty acid oxidation enzymes in liver to suppress body fat accumulation. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Published July 08, 2009.
15. Vinegar intake reduces body weight, body fat mass, and serum triglyceride levels in obese Japanese subjects. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19661687. Published August 2009.
16. The short-chain fatty acid acetate reduces appetite via a central homeostatic mechanism. Nature Communications. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24781306. Published April 29, 2014.