Recipes and Cooking Healthy Recipes Healthy Eating Discover the Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar—and How to Consume It Discover the truth about apple cider vinegar—touted as a home remedy for weight loss, digestion, and more—and learn how to use it to your advantage. By Katlyn Moncada Katlyn Moncada Instagram Katlyn Moncada is the associate food editor at BHG.com, sharing food news and tutorials on becoming better home cooks. She is a writer and editor with nearly a decade of experience in digital media, photography, and video production. Learn about BHG's Editorial Process Updated on April 10, 2023 Reviewed by Julie Lopez, RD Fact checked by Marcus Reeves Fact checked by Marcus Reeves Marcus Reeves is an experienced writer, publisher, and fact-checker. He began his writing career reporting for The Source magazine. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Playboy, The Washington Post, and Rolling Stone, among other publications. His book Somebody Scream: Rap Music's Rise to Prominence in the Aftershock of Black Power was nominated for a Zora Neale Hurston Award. He is an adjunct instructor at New York University, where he teaches writing and communications. Marcus received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Learn about BHG's Fact Checking Process Share Tweet Pin Email Growing up, whenever I felt a little under the weather, my dad always whipped up a cure-all tea concoction consisting of lemon, ginger, and—you guessed it—apple cider vinegar. Fast forward to today—I always keep a bottle of apple cider vinegar (ACV) on hand. Whether taken straight (with water) to aid digestion, incorporated into a homemade salad dressing, or as a hair rinse, it seems apple cider vinegar can do it all. But while I (along with countless others) rely on this magical home remedy, I wondered if apple cider vinegar had other health benefits. Turns out there's a lot that's backed by science. Read on for the basics of apple cider vinegar, along with some expert advice on how to take apple cider vinegar if it's new to you. ThitareeSarmkasat / Getty What is Apple Cider Vinegar? Apple cider vinegar is made in a two-step fermentation process. First, apples are crushed and juiced. From there, naturally occurring yeast converts sugars in the apple juice into ethanol (alcohol). Then, a second fermentation happens, where acetic bacteria convert the alcohol into acetic acid. That's apple cider vinegar. What does "the mother" mean? Many labels for apple cider vinegar say it contains "the mother." While it may sound creepy, it isn't. The mother is the cloudy substance in the bottle that often settles at the bottom. The reason for keeping the mother in the bottle is it contains the prebiotics, proteins, enzymes, minerals, polyphenols, vitamins, and other compounds produced by friendly bacteria and unfiltered apple juice. These 5 Foods Are Notorious for Causing Inflammation Apple Cider Vinegar Benefits While there are a lot of myths about apple cider vinegar, there are clinical studies that have shown benefits in the following areas: Helps control appetite and manage weight gain Helps maintain healthy glucose levels and cholesterol Prebiotics (in the mother) are linked to promoting gut health Matthew Clark Try This Delish Apple Cider Vinegar Drink How to Take Apple Cider Vinegar According to the experts at Bragg, you should aim for at least 750 mg of acetic acid per day. This is equivalent to 1 tablespoon of raw, unfiltered, and organic apple cider vinegar (from $6, Amazon). How and when you take apple cider vinegar is up to you. "Anyone can incorporate ACV, but we always advise people with any dietary restrictions per individual conditions to always consult with their doctor or nutritionist if there are any concerns," says Bragg CEO Linda Boardman. A popular method of taking apple cider vinegar is to simply take it by diluting it with at least 8 ounces of water. Others use apple cider vinegar supplements (more on this next) or use it in recipes calling for vinegar for an extra nutritional boost. Apple Cider Vinegar Supplements If you're not a fan of the tart, sour flavor, you might want to try apple cider vinegar in the form of capsules ($20, Amazon) or gummies ($19, Amazon). However, Boardman says it's essential to recognize that the amount of milligrams of apple cider vinegar listed on supplement labels isn't the amount of acetic acid content. "To find out if you're achieving the daily dose, you need to multiply the ACV milligrams by the percentage of acetic acid," she says. "If this number is lower than 750 mg, you are not getting the efficacious dose clinically proven to support the benefits that ACV has to offer." For anyone just starting to add apple cider vinegar to their diet, Boardman says to start with 750 mg of acetic acid per day, but you can definitely add more after a week by taking it two to three times per day. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Sources Better Homes & Gardens is committed to using high-quality, reputable sources—including peer-reviewed studies—to support the facts in our articles. Read about our editorial policies and standards to learn more about how we fact check our content for accuracy. Aleksandra Štornik, Barbara Skok, and Janja Trček. "Comparison of Cultivable Acetic Acid Bacterial Microbiota in Organic and Conventional Apple Cider Vinegar." Food Technology and Biotechnology. pp. 113-119. 2016. doi: 10.17113/ftb.54.01.16.4082 Tomoo Kondo, Mikiya Kishi, Takashi Fushimi, Shinobu Ugajin, Takayuki Kaga. "Vinegar Intake Reduces Body Weight, Body Fat Mass, and Serum Triglyceride Levels in Obese Japanese Subjects." Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry. 2009. J Darzi, G S Frost, R Montaser, J Yap and M D Robertson. "Influence of the Tolerability of Vinegar as an Oral Source of Short-Chain Fatty Acids on Appetite Control and Food Intake." International Journal of Obesity. 2013 Fahad Javaid Siddiqui, Pryseley Nkouibert Assam, Nurun Nisa de Souza, Rehena Sultana, Rinkoo Dalan, and Edwin Shih-Yen Chan. "Diabetes Control: Is Vinegar a Promising Candidate to Help Achieve Targets?" "Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine." 2018.