3 Healthy Ways to Use Apple Cider Vinegar
What this video covers
This 2014 segment captures The Dr. Oz Show at the height of the apple cider vinegar craze. Oz frames ACV as a centuries-old home remedy — used, he says, for everything from digestive issues to skincare — that had become “one of the hottest ingredients in health,” and promises three surprising new ways to put it to work.
The segment is a time capsule of the mid-2010s wellness boom, when ACV was marketed for weight loss, blood sugar, digestion, and skin, often well ahead of the evidence. The three “surprising uses” are actually demonstrated by audience members: a vinegar hair rinse for dandruff (ACV mixed with water in a spray bottle — the theory, as discussed on air, is that the vinegar’s acidity kills the fungi behind dandruff), a sore-throat elixir (ACV, cayenne pepper, and honey in warm water — the vinegar and honey are described as antibacterial, the capsaicin as a topical pain reliever), and a shoe deodorizer (unscented baby wipes soaked overnight in a cup of cider vinegar, then used to wipe shoes or feet).
For the record, clinical research on vinegar’s health effects is limited: small studies have suggested possible modest effects on post-meal blood sugar and satiety, but claims about fat-burning, detoxification, and disease prevention are not well supported, and undiluted vinegar can damage tooth enamel and irritate the esophagus.
Notably, Oz himself later tempered the hype. In subsequent show materials, he cautioned that “as with any trend, it’s easy to get lost in the hype and start believing that vinegar is a miracle medicine (it isn’t),” noting that the popular claim that a pre-meal dose of ACV curbs appetite and burns fat has little scientific support, per the Mayo Clinic. That caveat is worth carrying alongside the segment: the same program that rode the ACV wave also, at times, warned viewers not to mistake a folk remedy for a miracle.
Key points
- Oz presents apple cider vinegar as a centuries-old home remedy, historically used for digestive issues and skincare, newly fashionable as a health ingredient.
- The segment’s three “surprising new ways,” per the broadcast: a dandruff-fighting vinegar hair rinse, an ACV-cayenne-honey sore-throat elixir, and baby wipes soaked overnight in cider vinegar as a shoe/foot deodorizer.
- For context: evidence for ACV’s health effects is limited to small studies on blood sugar and satiety; fat-burning and detox claims are not well supported, and undiluted vinegar risks enamel and esophageal damage.
- Oz later caveated the hype on his own show, saying vinegar is not a “miracle medicine” and that pre-meal ACV appetite/fat-burning claims have little scientific support, per the Mayo Clinic.
- The clip’s 3.7 million views reflect ACV’s peak as a 2010s wellness trend and the show’s role in amplifying it.