Apple Cider Vinegar for Weight Management

Research suggests that apple cider vinegar may be associated with modest reductions in body weight, BMI, and waist circumference in people with overweight or obesity, based on a 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis pooling data from 10 randomized controlled trials. However, the overall evidence base carries important caveats: the meta-analysis authors noted moderate-to-high statistical heterogeneity across included studies, and one of the more prominent individual trials cited in this area — a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study conducted in Lebanese adolescents and young adults — has since been retracted by its publishing journal, meaning its findings are no longer considered reliable. Additional commentary pieces have raised concerns about statistical reliability and potentially overstated effects in the existing apple cider vinegar literature, suggesting the field warrants careful scrutiny. Taken together, while some evidence points in a promising direction, significant methodological limitations and data integrity concerns mean these findings should be interpreted cautiously and the research is not yet settled.