Does vinegar lower your blood sugar? Here's what the research suggests

Joanna Kriehn, MS, RDN, CDCES - Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES)

Does vinegar with its appealing tang, possibly lower your blood sugar? Read on to learn how one or two tablespoons (15-30ml) of vinegar with meals might help people with diabetes or prediabetes lower post-meal blood sugars.

How does vinegar lower your blood sugar?

Consuming vinegar at the beginning of a high-carb meal (in a salad dressing or diluted with water) has been shown to lower post-meal blood sugars.

Several theories point to how this might work:

Vinegar's acetic acid causes a decrease in the stomach's emptying rate, which then allows a slower breakdown of carbohydrates in the stomach. In turn preventing as large a rise in post-meal blood sugars.
Vinegar increases cells' glucose uptake resulting in reduced blood sugar levels.
Vinegar might improve the way insulin is used, thus improving insulin sensitivity.

So what type of vinegar is best?

Most of the research done to see if vinegar will lower blood sugar was conducted using apple cider vinegar made from the juice of fermented apples. It contains 7 calories and 2g of carbohydrates per tablespoon (15 ml).

How much vinegar?

Try one to two tablespoons (15-30 ml) of diluted vinegar with water, twice a day with meals. Take the vinegar at the beginning of a meal (or incorporate it into the meal) to see how it impacts post-meal blood sugars. Another option is to pair the vinegar with one ounce (28 grams) of cheese before bed. Then test your blood sugar the next morning to see how it affects fasting blood sugar levels.

Pros

Natural
Affordable
May provide additional health benefits

Cons

May cause hypoglycemia
May wear down tooth enamel over time
May cause erosion of the esophagus over time

Proceed with caution

Not recommended for individuals with gastroparesis (slow gastric emptying).
Individuals with type 1 diabetes need to be especially careful when using vinegar to lower blood sugar. When your stomach empties more slowly, managing insulin dosages may become more challenging. If you have type 1 diabetes, discuss vinegar use in detail with your diabetes care team before adding it to your diet.
Vinegar may interact with certain medications.

The bottom line . . . does vinegar lower your blood sugar?

We don't know for sure. The research studies referred to above consisted of small sample sizes. More research is needed to determine if vinegar effectively compliments the gold standard of diet, exercise, and medication management of blood sugars in diabetes.

Blood sugar regulation is extremely complicated and very individualized. Therefore, if you are curious about adding vinegar to your prescribed diabetes plan, make sure to consult your doctor first.

Finally, as with any shift in lifestyle, diet, or medication, check your blood sugar more frequently when experimenting with vinegar.