One shot of drink every day may help reduce cholesterol and blood sugar

 From drinking raw milk (not advised) to cutting carbohydrates from your diet (also not advised), there are many "silver bullets" for our health being pushed all the time, often online and on social media by people not qualified to do so. For most people, it is always advisable to listen to the advice of professionals with a track record of expertise in the field of science, medicine and nutrition before adding or removing things from your diet.

However, that does not mean that there are not new realisations being made all the time. Even established experts working in these fields acknowledge that we do not understand everything about how the body works and are discovering new things regularly. For example, people rarely spoke about the gut microbiome until relatively recently — now many scientists and nutritionists believe it is fundamental to our health.

And one such potential finding relates to a shot you could take every day and potentially see some health benefits from: apple cider vinegar. There has been a lot of talk about this "drink", especially since it was made the title of a Netflix drama about a woman who built a wellness empire by claiming she had cured herself of cancer through her lifestyle and diet (as opposed to through professional medical treatment). The show's title is a nod to so-called "wellness gurus" who often tout things like apple cider vinegar as a cure-all.

However, while it's clearly not a cure-all, it's not bogus either. Writing on the Univeristy of Chicago Medicine website, gastroenterologist Edwin K McDonald IV sums it up well, saying apple cider vinegar "is not pixie dust, but it's also not snake oil". As with so many things, the truth is somewhere in the middle.

Apple cider vinegar may help lower blood sugar levels

There is research to suggest that taking apple cider vinegar can reduce blood sugar levels. In a BBC experiment with Dr James Brown, from Aston University, a group of people taking apple cider vinegar witnessed a 36% reduction in the overall sugar intake into the blood after a meal over a 90-minute testing period. Another (small) study published in the Journal of the American Association of Diabetes in 2004 also found that apple cider vinegar lowered post-meal blood glucose levels.

May help reduce cholesterol

One study found these effects were more significant in patients with type 2 diabetes and the most notable improvements occurred after a daily dosage of 15 milligrams of apple cider vinegar for over eight weeks. In a study reported by BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, researchers said: "We found that apple cider vinegar consumption significantly decreased serum total cholesterol."

May aid weight loss

In a 2018 study, scientists in Iran reported in the Journal of Functional Foods: "This study indicates that apple cider vinegar consumption along with restricted calorie diet can decrease appetite, body weight, BMI, hip circumference, VAI, plasma triglyceride, total cholesterol concentration and also increase HDL-C level in overweight or obese subjects."

Other apple cider vinegar claims

Claims have been made about other apple cider vinegar benefits too, including that it can cure high blood pressure and even cancer. But Chicago gastroenterologist Dr McDonald says: "There's simply not enough data to support using apple cider vinegar as a blood pressure medication. Eat a healthy diet, exercise, and take your meds if you need them."

And he adds: "Apple cider vinegar will not cure cancer. As a GI doctor, I'm typically the first person to tell someone they have esophageal cancer. I wish I could tell people all they have to do is drink some vinegar. Sadly, things aren't that easy."

Get professional medical advice before you start regularly taking any sort of supplement or add it to your diet.