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Name a health problem.
sasimoto / Getty Images, Graphic by Cristina Cianci
Chances are, if you poke around the Internet, youll find an article touting thatapple cider vinegarcures it.
So I decided to take a close look at the scientific evidence.
What, I wondered, does research really say about the healing power of this ubiquitous household product?
You may have heard that apple cider vinegar can eliminate warts, moles, andacne.
Vinegar is an acid, which means it can corrode skin cells and cause chemical burns.
Although her mole did peel off (yay?
Its great on your fish and chips, he concluded, but not so great on your skin.
Its true that vinegar acts as a disinfectant, which is why it makes a good household cleaner.
The infection, which sets up shop in the upper respiratory tract, will persist.
Drinking vinegar wont cure your cancer, either.
But thats very, very different from sips of cider vinegar curing cancer in a living human.
Heartburn symptoms are due to stomach acid coming up into the esophagus.
Yet the vinegar did not help.
And some doctors find the very idea of treating heartburn with vinegar ridiculous.
The approach is about as practical as using tear gas to treatpink eye.
Well, looking more closely, you might beg to differ that these changes were significant.
Waist size dropped by only three quarters of an inch, on average, too.
This is potentially exciting, because chronically high blood sugar can be bad for lots of reasons.
Chronically high blood sugar also increases the risk for nerve, kidney, and eye damage.
(By this logic, any vinegar should do the trickit doesnt have to be apple cider vinegar.)
So, no: Vinegar isnt going to cure everything that ails you.
And its worth pointing out that vinegar is not completely harmless, either.
Drinking or gargling vinegar canerode tooth enamel, increasing your risk forcavities.
People have evendied after drinking large quantities of vinegar.
Its always important to remember that just because something is natural or common does not mean it is safe.
Her vinegar of choice, though, is not the one you keep reading aboutit’s red wine vinegar.
I never use apple cider vinegar, Johnston scoffs.
I think the taste is too harsh.
Melinda Wenner Moyer is a science and health writer based in New York.
She regularly contributes toSlateandScientific American.you could find her onTwitterandFacebook.
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