VoltraApple cider vinegar for weight loss: what the trials show
Only a little, and it didn't last. In a 12-week trial in Japan, adults drinking 15 ml or 30 ml of apple vinegar a day in a diluted drink lost 1.2 kg and 1.9 kg on average, while the placebo group gained 0.4 kg (calculated), and the weight mostly came back within 4 weeks of stopping [1]. All the trial's authors worked for a vinegar maker [1], and a 2024 trial from Lebanon that reported benefits has since been retracted [2] [3].
The Japanese trial
Researchers randomly assigned 175 Japanese adults aged 25 to 60, with a BMI of 25 to 30 and taking no medicines, to one of three drinks for 12 weeks; 155 finished and were analysed [1]. Each day they drank 500 ml, half after breakfast and half after dinner, with 15 ml or 30 ml of apple vinegar in it (750 or 1,500 mg of acetic acid) or none [1]. Those are the amounts the trial used, not a recommendation.
| Daily drink (average kg) | Start | Week 12 | 4 weeks after stopping |
|---|---|---|---|
| Placebo drink | 74.2 | 74.6 | 74.5 |
| 15 ml apple vinegar | 74.9 | 73.7 | 74.9 |
| 30 ml apple vinegar | 73.1 | 71.2 | 72.7 |
Average body weight in kg, from the study's Table 4 [1].
Over the 12 weeks, average weight fell 1.2 kg on 15 ml and 1.9 kg on 30 ml, and rose 0.4 kg on the placebo drink (calculated). The authors sum it up as 1 to 2 kg [1]. Four weeks after the drinks stopped, the 15 ml group was back at its starting weight and the 30 ml group had regained 1.5 of its 1.9 kg (calculated); the authors take this to mean the vinegar has to be taken continuously for the effect to last [1].
All five authors worked at the research institute of Mizkan, a Japanese vinegar maker, and one of the two ethics committees that approved the study was Mizkan's own [1].
The retracted Lebanese trial
A 2024 trial in Lebanon reported that 5, 10 or 15 ml of apple cider vinegar a day for 12 weeks lowered weight, blood sugar and blood fats in adolescents and young adults with overweight or obesity; it recruited 120 people [2]. On 23 September 2025 the journal, BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, retracted it with the authors' agreement, because "the authors’ analyses could not be replicated and multiple errors were identified" [3].
Concerns raised after publication included implausible values, doubts about how reliable the dataset was, the statistical approach, poor reporting, and the fact that the trial wasn't registered before it began, which breaks BMJ's policy [3]. The dataset also showed patterns that don't fit random allocation to the groups, and p-values improbably small for so few participants [3]. The authors said the discrepancies were honest mistakes, but agreed to the retraction [3].
What the reviews say
A 2025 meta-analysis pooled 10 trials with 789 people and reported that daily apple cider vinegar reduced body weight, BMI and waist size [4]. But it included the Lebanese trial, and rated it one of only two trials at low risk of bias, so that trial stayed in even when the authors re-ran the analysis without the trials at high risk [4]. The meta-analysis came out on 19 September 2025 and the trial was retracted on 23 September [3] [4], so the pooled result partly rests on retracted data. Its authors also note that the trials lasted only 4 to 12 weeks, which leaves the long-term effects unknown, that the trials differed a lot from each other, and that there were signs of possible publication bias [4].
A 2020 systematic review of 13 human and 12 animal studies found there may be some benefits, but concluded that, for lack of high-quality research, the evidence for apple vinegar's health effects is insufficient, and called for larger, longer trials [5]. It judged the risk of side effects small at recommended amounts taken in recommended ways [5].
Risks
- Teeth. A 2012 case report put a 15-year-old girl's tooth erosion down to drinking a glass of apple cider vinegar every day [6].
- The oesophagus. A 2020 case report describes a 15-year-old boy with ulcers along his whole oesophagus, the food pipe, after he had drunk a commercial vinegar drink every day without diluting it enough; the authors say vinegar drinks should be treated as corrosive [7].
- Tablets. After an injury to the oesophagus from apple cider vinegar tablets was reported to them, researchers tested 8 tablet products and found wide differences in size, acidity, acid content and label claims; they doubted that apple cider vinegar was an ingredient at all [8].
- Very large amounts. A 1998 case report describes low blood potassium, high renin and osteoporosis in a patient who took large amounts of cider vinegar [9]. We could only check the report's title.
These are single cases, apart from the tablet tests: they show what can happen, not how often it does.
What Saudi Arabia's SFDA says
Answering a clip that claimed apple cider vinegar before and after meals helps digestion, Saudi Arabia's Food and Drug Authority said there isn't enough scientific evidence that its acetic acid boosts digestive secretions, whether in healthy people, people with colon disorders or people low in stomach acid [10]. It doesn't recommend apple cider vinegar for people with peptic ulcers, because its acidity may harm the walls of the stomach and intestines, and it concluded that the clip's claims weren't true [10]. That page is about digestion; we didn't find an SFDA or Saudi health ministry page on vinegar for weight loss.
In Voltra
In the Eat tab you log food by photo, search, barcode or by describing it, and see each day against your daily calorie target. A vinegar drink goes in the same way as anything else you drink.
Frequently asked
Does apple cider vinegar help you lose weight?
Not by much. In a 12-week Japanese trial run by a vinegar maker, a daily vinegar drink took off about 1 to 2 kg, and the weight mostly came back within 4 weeks of stopping. A 2020 review called the evidence insufficient.
How much vinegar did the trial use?
15 or 30 ml of apple vinegar a day, in a 500 ml drink taken in two halves, after breakfast and after dinner. That's what the trial used, not a recommendation.
Was the Lebanese apple cider vinegar study retracted?
Yes. The 2024 trial was retracted on 23 September 2025, after its analyses couldn't be replicated and multiple errors were found. The authors agreed to the retraction.
Is it safe to drink apple cider vinegar every day?
Case reports link daily vinegar drinks to tooth erosion and, when not diluted enough, to ulcers in the oesophagus. Saudi Arabia's SFDA doesn't recommend it for people with peptic ulcers.
Sources
- Kondo T, Kishi M, Fushimi T, Ugajin S, Kaga T (2009). Vinegar intake reduces body weight, body fat mass, and serum triglyceride levels in obese Japanese subjects. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 73(8):1837–1843. All five authors worked for Mizkan Group Corporation. Body weight from Table 4, p. 1840.
- Abou-Khalil R, Andary J, El-Hayek E (2024). Apple cider vinegar for weight management in Lebanese adolescents and young adults with overweight and obesity: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. BMJ Nutr Prev Health 7(1):61–67. Retracted on 23 September 2025. Listed for the record, not as evidence. Abstract.
- BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health (2025). Retraction: Apple cider vinegar for weight management in Lebanese adolescents and young adults with overweight and obesity. BMJ Nutr Prev Health 8(2):693. Published 23 September 2025. Printed p. 693.
- Castagna A, Ferro Y, Noto FR, et al. (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. Nutrients 17(18):3000. Published 19 September 2025. Includes the Lebanese trial (Table 1).
- Launholt TL, Kristiansen CB, Hjorth P (2020). Safety and side effects of apple vinegar intake and its effect on metabolic parameters and body weight: a systematic review. Eur J Nutr 59(6):2273–2289. Abstract. 13 human and 12 animal studies.
- Gambon DL, Brand HS, Veerman EC (2012). Unhealthy weight loss. Erosion by apple cider vinegar. Ned Tijdschr Tandheelkd 119(12):589–591. In Dutch, with an English abstract. A single case.
- Chang J, Han SE, Paik SS, Kim YJ (2020). Corrosive esophageal injury due to a commercial vinegar beverage in an adolescent. Clin Endosc 53(3):366–369. Abstract. A single case.
- Hill LL, Woodruff LH, Foote JC, Barreto-Alcoba M (2005). Esophageal injury by apple cider vinegar tablets and subsequent evaluation of products. J Am Diet Assoc 105(7):1141–1144. Abstract. Eight tablet products tested.
- Lhotta K, Höfle G, Gasser R, Finkenstedt G (1998). Hypokalemia, hyperreninemia and osteoporosis in a patient ingesting large amounts of cider vinegar. Nephron 80(2):242–243. A letter with no abstract. We could only check the title.
- الهيئة العامة للغذاء والدواء (٢٠٢٤). هل خل التفاح مفيد للجهاز الهضمي ؟. In Arabic. Rumours page, dated 19 February 2024.
Sources checked on 30 September 2026.
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