SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — You may have seen the ads on the internet–vinegar as a super food to shed pounds quickly or turmeric to cleanse and detox your body.
The Kardashians have reportedly done it, and so has actress and healthy lifestyle guru Gwyneth Paltrow. We are talking about the apple cider vinegar diet making a splash on the internet.
Testimonials brag about following the diet, incorporating the cloudy potion and watching the pounds melt away. But are these alternative facts or the real deal?
“Recent reports have shown that regular consumption of apple cider vinegar can lead to digestive health improvement, reduce bloating, increase absorption of vitamins and mineral from food, as well as more balanced PH levels within the body,” said Ben Lazzarini, who is with Whole Foods Market.
“We have a wide variety, ranging from 16-ounce on the go beverages to somebody who wants to incorporate into more of a daily routine…,” Lazzarini said.
“I think that every year there is a new thing,” said Leah Groppo, who is a dietician and diabetes educator at Stanford.
“If you go out to eat at a restaurant, you choose a really large burrito. You pull your vinegar out of your purse and you put it on top of that burrito. Is that really going to offset the 150 grams of carbohydrates that you’re eating? No, it’s really not.” Groppo added.
Yet on the internet, countless posts cite studies about the wonders of the apple cider.
Reports suggest national shows and news networks have all agreed. Some refer to major research universities including Stanford.
Groppo says she doesn’t know of any conclusive studies and adds if you are reading anything on the internet, pay attention to the fine print.
“If you look at the vinegar detox diet, it is looking at 650 calories a day,” Groppo said. “And so on average, people are consuming upwards of 1,800, maybe to lose weight 1,500 calories…but 600 calories is significantly lower. Adding vinegar on top of that, if you attribute it to the vinegar, it is the calories that you are intaking.”
Groppo says vinegar is not a bad thing, and putting it into your diet can have some benefits.
She says that is true of other ingredients like turmeric to help with inflammation.
“There’s really not one big thing that you can add to your food that’s going to be the ah-ha moment that your body is going to suddenly turn into this fat-burning, weight-loss machine before you,” Groppo said.
Groppo says although it may not be what some people want to hear, managing your weight is still focusing on the basics.
And what about all of those celebrities and their claims about diets and cleanses doing the body good?
“Celebrities probably have personal chefs, dieticians, people to encourage them, they have trainers. It’s a different ballgame than what most people are in this world,” Groppo said.
Also popular right now are cleanses, a prescription of elixirs that are supposed to detox your body and make it clean again.
Once again, when it comes to your health, there is no quick fix or special potion or fad diet that will reset your body and ultimately make you healthier.