The Incredible Health & Weight Loss Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar with JJ Virgin
15 Dec 2025 · 14 min
Podcast episode by JJ Virgin focused on the health and weight-loss benefits of apple cider vinegar (ACV). JJ explains what ACV is (fermented crushed apples), summarizes claimed benefits — supporting gut microbiome (probiotics, prebiotics, enzymes), promoting fat burning via acetic acid, appetite suppression, blood sugar and insulin regulation, and antibacterial/antifungal properties — and gives practical usage guidance (recommended dose 1–2 tablespoons/day, avoid use with gastric ulcers and avoid using as mouthwash). Episode includes sponsor ads, listener review shoutouts, and links to show notes and recipes at jjvirgin.com/acv.
Chapters
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Here's JJ Virgin, triple board certified nutritionist and fitness expert and four time New York Times best selling author. It's time to reignite wellness.
Hey, hey, it's JJ and today is a solo episode. I'm going to be talking to you today about apple cider vinegar. Yep, I'm doing a whole podcast on apple cider vinegar. Why? Because we get asked about it all the time. So I'm going to go through it, talk about why you want to incorporate this into your diet. It has got amazing health benefits and it's easy, easy to add on in. So I'm going to be sharing all of that today. So if you've been wondering about it, if you have no idea what I'm talking about either, which way this podcast is for you because you're going to want to add this on into your diet. And one of the biggest things that I love to do in diet is ad we focus so much on what you can't have and what I really want to make sure that we're focusing on here is what you can have. Alrighty. Now before we dive in, I also want to do a shout out to a review and I gotta tell you, I love, love, love these reviews so much. So I just want to do a shout out to to Katie Joy B5 stars heartfelt health. JJ and her incredibly knowledgeable guests talk all things health related, but it's so much more than that. You get tons of actionable advice and tangible tips, but you'll also get heaps of inspiration from truly engaging individuals that genuine, genuinely want to help others. Thanks so much for putting out such a spectacular show jj. Keep up the great work. Well, I will tell you that it actually takes a village. I do the interview part, but we are always scouring social media to find what information you want to know more about. We have questions for our Q and A Friday, so if you've got a question, go to JJ Virgin on Instagram or JJ Virgin Official on Facebook. Leave it on over there. You can even DM me and I'd love to get a review from you as well. And if there's something you'd like to know more about, let us know if you've got a comment, something that could help us do a better job. This is your show. All you need to do is go to subscribetojay. Subscribe to JJ. It is that easy. Thank you team for that.com and we will hook you up. We'll also hook you up with some great stuff today in the show Notes. We've got some great recipes for you incorporating apple cider vinegar. So go to jjvirgin.comacv for that. Now hang with me for a minute. I'm going to share a top favorite with you and then I'm going to dive into all things acv.
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All righty, here we go. Here we go. Why you want to add apple cider vinegar, also known as acv, into your diet? If you've heard about it, it's like the health food that's been around for the ages. So let's start first with what the heck is it? Apple cider vinegar. Well, it's kind of exactly what it sounds like. What they do is they crush apples. They being whoever is making the apple cider vinegar, crush those apples and then they ferment them. Now, when they're being fermented, you, of course, you know this from fermentation. It creates bacteria. That this bacteria is acts as healthy probiotics and enzymes for the gut. And it's really the secret to its health properties is this fermentation process. So here are the things that ACV does for your health. Number one, it supports and encourages a healthy gut microbiome. Okay, so gut microbiome, that is the bacteria in your gut, and we are more bacteria than cells. This is super duper important. What we've discovered over the years is that these bacteria are everything to your health. They can dictate your mood, your immune system, whether you burn fat or store it, your cravings, your satiety, your appetite, how well you hand sugar super duper important. So the probiotics from apple cider vinegar add more healthy gut flora. And then there's prebiotics in health in acv. So prebiotics act as fertilizer for good bacteria in the gut. They are the food for the good bacteria. And again, remember, 70, 80% of the immune system is based in the gut. So this is really important to keep your gut bacteria healthy. Also, there's enzymes in apple cider vinegar, and they can help break down your food, which means that you will not have undigested food messing up your gut microbiome. And because that, my friends, can lead to leaky gut, which is what I wrote the virgin diet about. So there's the first one helps you have a better gut. Second one is apple cider vinegar can promote fat burning. How, you ask? Well, there is something called acetic acid in apple cider vinegar, and this can rev up your metabolism. Acetic acid also helps activate enzymes in the liver that boost fat burning. Also, apple cider vinegar blocks conversion of sugar into fat by the liver and activates genes that prevent fat from forming. All right, if that wasn't enough, number three is appetite suppression. So acetic acid in apple cider vinegar crosses the Blood brain barrier through the colon, and it then satiates or stimulates or triggers the area of the brain that controls hunger. Apple cider vinegar also slows down digestion and keeps food in the stomach longer, so you feel fuller between meals. Remember, if you're slowing down digestion, you're keeping food in the stomach longer. You keep ghrelin suppressed, and when ghrelin elevates, you're hungry. So there's how that works. Next is blood sugar. It helps. Number four is that apple cider vinegar balances blood sugar and insulin levels. It is proven to lower blood sugar levels and insulin levels. In fact, by the way, this is not just apple cider vinegar. All vinegars do this. And I think it's one of these things we don't think about is that vinegar is an amazing health food because it almost acts like metformin, the drug that helps lower your insulin response to meal. How crazy is that? So one study showed that having apple cider vinegar before a meal resulted in lower insulin triglyceride levels compared to those who did not have apple cider vinegar. Plus, it's long lasting and a strong staying power. If you take apple cider vinegar the evening before, it can help with better blood sugar levels the next morning. Okay, and finally, if I haven't convinced you enough, apple cider vinegar is a natural antibiotic, is natural antibacterial. It's proven to help combat common fungi and bacteria such as candida and E. Coli. And by the way, remember antibiotics? Oh, my gosh. They scorched earth your gut. So, I mean, of course there are certain times when antibiotics are necessary, but most of the time they are not. And the damage that they do, again, I think of it just like scorched earth. You go out into a field and you, you burn it all out. So then you have to rebuild all of that. And if you're using it frequently, can contribute to leaky gut and could create antibiotic resistance. So this is a great alternative in those situations where you really don't need to be using the antibiotics. All right, now I am going to jump off real quick. I'll be right back because I want to give you your top takeaways for what to do with apple cider vinegar. Hang tight.
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All right, I'm back. So this is where we do the top takeaways. So now that you know how amazing apple cider vinegar is and why we get so many questions about it, we've actually written a whole blog about it, which I will link to here. Just a reminder, it can help with weight loss, it can help with fat burning, it can help with maintaining healthy blood sugar, good gut flora satiety. It's antibacterial. Like, it's just an amazing thing. I keep thinking if that was a drug, like it would be prescribed all the time. So we definitely want to add it in. How much you ask? Somewhere between one to two tablespoons a day. Do not go crazy with this stuff. It doesn't take much. And that's the good news. One to two tablespoons a day. And the only caveat, the only people that shouldn't be using this would be someone who has got a gastric ulcer. So if that's the case. No. And ideally, this isn't something, don't use it as mouthwash. It's not good for your teeth enamel. So here's a couple different ways that you can do it. I mean, the easiest one, and we put this into our detox cleanses, is we do apple cider vinegar salad dressing. So a little apple cider, cider vinegar and olive oil. Boom. That's an easy one to do. So easy to use as a salad dressing. You can put a little bit into your smoothies, you won't even notice it in your smoothies. And I did a great ice cream tea the other day with a little bit too, so you can add it to your drinks a little bit. If you're doing that, use again, use a straw because it's not great for your teeth. So look at the different places that you can just add in a little bit because again, it doesn't take much. One to two tablespoons a day, is it? You can probably do a tablespoon just as part of your salad dressing every day and then incorporate, incorporate a little bit more. Put a little more into your smoothie or a little bit more into your ice cream tea and you are done. Also, we're going to gift you my little simple apple cider vinegar detox tea recipe and we will put that into the show. Notes again at jjvirgin.com forward/acv for apple cider Vinegar. There you go. Simple, easy peasy. One request. Pretty please if you have not subscribed yet, if you probably noticed, we have moved into season two. It took us a while, but we have moved into season two. Here's what season two has changed into. We now have an episode with a guest every week. And you know I get the most amazing guests because I have some incredible friends in the health world. So we have great guests. Plus I do a solo each week on something that that's been popping up a bunch. So we knew we wrote an Apple Cider VI Vinegar blog because we got so many questions about it and I thought, all right, time to do a podcast on it. And then we're doing Friday Q A Q A Friday and that is questions that pop up on social. So if you got one again, jump on over to my Instagram or Facebook, leave it DM me or just leave it on the wall and we will get to it. So that is what we're doing now. You don't want to miss out, so make sure you go to subscribetoj.com so you never miss an episode. Hey, while you're there, if you've not left a review, love to have a review from you and I will shout you out. I super appreciate it and I will see you next time. Bye. Foreign.
Hello listeners. This is Ann Bogle, author, blogger and creator of the podcast what Should I Read next? Since 2016, I've been helping readers bring more joy and delight into their reading lives. Every week I take all things books and reading with a guest and guide them in discovering their next read. They share three books they love, one book they don't, and what they've been reading lately. And I recommend three titles they may enjoy reading next. Guests have said our conversations are like therapy, troubleshooting issues that have plagued their reading lives for years and possibly the rest of their lives as well. And of course, recommending books that meet the moment, whether they are looking for deep introspection to spur or encourage a life change or a frothy page turner to help them escape the stresses of work, school, everything. You'll learn something about yourself as a reader and you'll definitely walk away confident to choose your next read with a whole list of new books and authors to try. So join us each Tuesday for what Should I Read Next? Subscribe now wherever you're listening to this podcast and Visit our website, whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com to find out more.
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