Vinegar

Studies in people

• Open question

  Blood sugar after meals³

  Vinegar seems to help blood sugar after carb-heavy meals, but scientists do not yet know its long-term effects.

• Benefit

  Blood sugar and heart health⁴

  Vinegar may modestly improve blood sugar, cholesterol, weight and blood pressure, but scientists say the evidence quality varies.

• Benefit

  Cancer treatment response⁵

  In Japanese patients getting cancer immunotherapy, those who ate more vinegar responded better to treatment.

• Benefit

  Blood sugar control⁶

  In people with type 2 diabetes, drinking vinegar improved blood sugar and cholesterol, but studies were small.

• Benefit

  Kidney stone risk⁸

  People who took vinegar daily had more citrate and less calcium in their urine, which may help prevent kidney stones.

Animal and lab studies only

• Benefit

  Gut bacteria and inflammation¹⁶

  In animal studies, polyphenols from aged vinegar eased inflammation and improved gut bacteria in rats fed a high-fat diet.

• Benefit

  Blood clotting¹⁷

  In lab studies, vinegar's acetic acid slowed blood clotting and helped break down clots.

Study type not stated

• No harm found

  Additive exposure assessment¹⁰

  Experts found no safety concern for buffered vinegar used as a food preservative at the levels proposed.

• Benefit

  Blood sugar and cholesterol¹¹

  Fruit vinegar may help prevent diabetes and high cholesterol, but how it is made changes its benefits.

• Open question

  Gut health and wellbeing¹²

  Vinegar is a food source of acetic acid, which gut bacteria also make and which may affect health.

• Open question

  Heart health¹³

  Vinegar may help cholesterol and blood pressure, but scientists do not yet know whether it truly works in people.

• Benefit

  Fermentation and health benefits¹⁴

  Vinegar is made by fermenting alcohol into acetic acid, and many reports describe health advantages of vinegar ingredients.

How it’s made and used

• Iron in the diet⁷

  Adding iron to spiced vinegar kept most of it there for months, and tasters liked the version with NaFeEDTA best.

• Crab allergy⁹

  Soaking crab in vinegar left fewer proteins that set off allergic reactions in people allergic to crab.

• Probiotic bacteria in food¹⁵

  Vinegar contains lactic acid bacteria, but not enough live ones to meet probiotic labeling rules.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.