Apple cider vinegar has been touted as a homeopathic lightening rod in treating and aiding in many human maladies. It aids with digestion, lowers cholesterol, and may even have protective properties to prevent cancer.
As with everything, moderation is the key. If you have too much apple cider vinegar, you could suffer from some very serious side effects.
If you really want to understand how these side effects really work, it’s best to understand what apple cider vinegar actually is.
Essentially, apple cider vinegar is made from fermenting apples with yeast, then using another bacteria to ferment the alcohol into acetic acid.
When acetic acid is concentrated, it has some pretty powerful effects. Apple cider vinegar has concentrations of around 5-6%. This is considered weak, but when you have too much, things can go wrong.
Here are the 6 side effects below:
1. It may cause indigestion
A lot of people report a slight reduction in appetite when they consumed a small amount of apple cider vinegar. This lead to them eating less and there for losing weight. The reason they could be losing appetite could be because the vinegar is giving them indigestion. In one study, a group of people reported increased symptoms of nausea. To be fair, we would probably eat a lot less if we were feeling nauseous as well.
2. Apple cider vinegar will destroy your teeth
Your chompers are pretty important. Consuming large amounts of apple cider vinegar will just destroy them. Remember that apple cider vinegar is a mixture of acetic acid and other minerals. That acetic acid will tear away at your enamel. Depending on the concentration and the length of time your teeth are exposed, there can be up to a 20% reduction in minerals in your teeth.
3. Apple cider vinegar can burn your throat
Shockingly, the leading cause of burns in children’s throats came from vinegar. It has been recommended that bottles of vinegar be contained in child-proof containers. Depending on the concentration of acetic acid, the burns can range from minor to severe.
4. The vinegar has the potential to burn your skin
Again, there is only anecdotal evidence of this happening, but both cases are extremely shocking. In one case, a woman tried to remove two moles that were on her nose by following instructions from the internet. This led to erosions on her skin.
In another case, a six-year-old boy was treated by his mother with apple cider vinegar for an infection on his legs. The treatment ended up burning his legs because of the acetic acid.
5. Apple cider vinegar doesn’t react well with some drugs
There are a few medicines that react poorly with apple cider vinegar. It mainly interacts badly with insulin, digoxin and certain diuretics. It can crash your blood sugar levels and your potassium. Both outcomes are potentially deadly.
Apple cider vinegar can be very helpful if you consume it correctly. Try diluting it with water, limiting your intake to 2 tablespoons per day, and know your body.
6. It will prevent your stomach from emptying
Sometimes this can be beneficial because it prevents a sharp rise in blood-sugar levels. When it becomes a problem is when it prevents it for too long. This can inflame symptoms of gastroparesis in people with Type 1 diabetes and make it difficult to manage blood-sugar levels.
7. Apple cider vinegar may cause bone loss
This is more of an anecdotal side effect because there have not been rigorous studies to prove a correlation. There was a case of a woman who was admitted to the hospital with crashing potassium levels and osteoporosis. At 28-years-old, you shouldn’t be losing bone mass.
The woman was consuming around eight ounces of apple cider vinegar diluted in water per day for about six years. Doctors believe that the vinegar was making her blood highly acidic and her body was leaching minerals out of her bones to balance everything out.
