Apple Cider Vinegar Plus

Apple Cider Vinegar Plus is a herbal weight management and digestive health combination.

This food supplement has been formulated with a specialist blend of synergistic herbs and nutrients. Each capsule combines 400mg of apple cider vinegar powder with cayenne, ginger root, turmeric, green tea leaf, organic black pepper and chromium.

Chromium is scientifically proven to contribute to normal macronutrient metabolism and to the maintenance of normal blood glucose levels - refer to the EFSA approved health claims section below.

How does apple cider vinegar help you lose weight?

It can help to improve digestion
Unfiltered apple cider vinegar contains strands of protein, enzymes and healthy bacteria. These probiotic properties mean it can support a healthy gut.

When we eat or drink anything containing probiotic bacteria, such as apple cider vinegar, the friendly bacteria it contains encourages the growth of more healthy bacteria in the gut. This supports a colony of beneficial gut bacteria (known as a microbiome).

These beneficial bacteria help us digest and extract nutrients from the food we eat. If there is an imbalance in our microbiome and our levels of good bacteria are low, our bodies can’t get nutrients from food as effectively, which can hinder weight loss and even promote weight gain - and apple cider vinegar can help with that.

In simplistic terms, more probiotic bacteria = better digestion = weight loss.

Apple cider vinegar might be especially helpful to boost digestion in older people, those with an autoimmune disease or those with anaemia. These individuals often experience lower levels of stomach acid. This can make digestion more sluggish. Apple cider vinegar is a highly acidic substance, so the theory is that taking some each day will help raise stomach acid levels and give digestion a boost.

It can act as a natural laxative
Constipation can leave you feeling bloated and heavy, while eliminating waste obviously leaves you feeling lighter.

Adding apple cider vinegar to your daily (and particularly morning) routine, can help to get sluggish bowels moving and promote regularity, helping to cleanse the digestive system ready for a new day.

This is because apple cider vinegar is a source of pectin, a type of soluble fibre which is found in apples. Pectin acts as a natural laxative and helps to stimulate bowel movements.

It can help stabilise blood sugar
Eating foods high in sugar or refined carbohydrates can cause a sudden rise, or ‘spike’, in blood sugar soon after eating. This blood sugar spike causes your body to produce high levels of insulin to allow the glucose to enter your body’s cells to be used as energy.

If you’re experiencing frequent blood sugar spikes, it means your body is producing too much insulin, and your body can stop recognising it. Over time, this is a risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes. Also, the subsequent blood sugar drop after a spike leads to increased feelings of hunger, cravings and potentially overeating. This, in turn, leads to weight gain over time.

It has been scientifically proven* that vinegar, including apple cider vinegar, can help to prevent a rapid rise in blood sugar, which can help to keep your weight stable. This is due to the acetic acid that vinegar contains.

Apple cider vinegar can also improve insulin sensitivity, making it easier for the body’s cells to recognise insulin, reducing blood sugar spikes and troughs and minimising the risk of type 2 diabetes.**

It can keep you fuller for longer
Taking vinegar with a meal can help to keep you satisfied and less likely to reach for a snack not long after eating. Studies have shown that vinegar supplementation increases satiety after eating a high-carbohydrate meal.***

Apple cider vinegar also helps to slow stomach emptying, which is why you feel more satisfied for a longer period of time after eating. Feeling increased fullness after a meal reduces the likelihood of snacking and eating fewer calories overall, thereby promoting weight loss.

It can suppress your appetite
Researchers based at Imperial College London have found that acetate - a key component in acetic acid - has a central role in appetite regulation.****

Cayenne (Capsicum Frutescens)
Cayenne is a red pepper that can help to curb your appetite, speed up your metabolism and help you burn calories.The main active ingredient in cayenne pepper is capsaicin, a thermogenic chemical. Cayenne pepper may also help to boost the stomach’s defence against infections, increase digestive fluid production and help deliver enzymes to the stomach, thereby aiding digestion.

Ginger root
Ginger contains compounds called gingerols and shogaols. These compounds stimulate several biological activities in the body. Research indicates that obesity can bring on oxidative stress and inflammation. Oxidative stress is caused by damage from free radicals in the body. Ginger’s antioxidant properties help control these free radicals, and its anti-inflammatory properties can counter inflammation. Ginger also has appetite-suppressing properties.

Ginger also has a long tradition of proving highly effective in alleviating discomfort and pain in the stomach. It is regarded as an excellent carminative, a substance that promotes the elimination of excessive gas from the digestive system, and soothes the intestinal tract. Colic and dyspepsia respond particularly well to ginger.

Turmeric (Curcuma Longa)
Most of turmeric’s health properties (including its weight loss and digestive applications) can be attributed to the curcumin that it contains - a compound that has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Studies suggest that curcumin may suppress particular inflammatory markers that play a role in obesity. These markers are typically elevated in people with excess weight or obesity.

Animal studies also indicate that this compound may promote weight loss, reduce fat tissue growth, curb weight regain and enhance sensitivity to the hormone insulin*****.

What’s more, a 30-day study of 44 people who were previously unable to lose weight, found that supplementing twice a day with 800mg of curcumin plus 8mg of piperine, led to significant reductions in body weight, body mass index (BMI), and waist and hip circumference.

Piperine is a compound in black pepper that boosts curcumin absorption by up to 2,000% - see below.

Turmeric is also widely used in ayurvedic medicine as a digestive healing agent. Now Western medicine has begun to study how turmeric can help with gut inflammation and gut permeability, two measures of your digestive efficiency. Turmeric is even being explored as a treatment for irritable bowel syndrome.

Green tea leaf
The processes that allow the body to convert food and drink into usable energy are collectively known as the metabolism. Green tea may be beneficial for weight loss by helping the body’s metabolism to be more efficient. Green tea contains caffeine and a type of flavonoid called catechin, which is an antioxidant. Research*~ suggests that both of these compounds can speed up metabolism. Catechin can help to break down excess fat, while both catechin and caffeine can increase the amount of energy the body uses. A review**~ published in 2010 found that green tea supplements, containing catechins or caffeine, had a positive impact on weight loss and weight management.

Green tea has also been shown to aid in digestion and soothing the stomach. It is especially rich in polyphenols and, as mentioned above, catechins and antioxidants. This means that it can help to soothe the symptoms of some gastrointestinal disorders.

Organic black pepper
Piperine is the alkaloid responsible for the pungency of black pepper and long pepper. Piperine extract assists in losing weight as it increases thermognic activity in the body. Thermogenesis is the way of developing cellular energy and this results in an increase in the metabolic rate of the body. And, as mentioned above, the black pepper has been included to potentiate the absorption and effect of the other herbal actives  - a well-known herbalists' combination.

Black pepper also promotes proper stomach function. Specifically, consuming black pepper stimulates the release of enzymes in your pancreas and intestines that help digest fat and carbohydrates.

Animal studies show that black pepper may also prevent diarrhoea by inhibiting muscle spasms in the digestive tract and slowing the digestion of foods.

Approved EFSA health claims:

• Chromium contributes to normal macronutrient metabolism and to the maintenance of normal blood glucose levels.