I Tried Drinking Apple Cider Vinegar For A Week Like Katy Perry & Here's What Happened

You've been there before: You're scrolling through your Instagram feed when you see your favorite celeb post about their favorite new product — a face serum, vitamins that will make your skin brighter, or a specialty food service. You can't help but want to be like the stars, but are the products worth it? In Elite Daily's new series, I Tried, we put it all to the test. We're trying those products as well as celebrities' health and wellness tips, recipes, and life hacks. We'll do the leg work and tell you what living like your fave star is really like.

There are some celebrity trends that spread through Hollywood faster than you can say "goop." From jade rollers to crystals to spiritual teachings (remember when everyone was wearing red Kabbalah bracelets?), celebrities have pointed the way to countless items and practices to add to a wellness routine. One specific trend has been touted so many times by so many celebs that it’s hard to follow the scent to know where exactly it started. This trend has a pretty pungent scent, though, so you actually might be able to sniff it out easily. I’m talking about apple cider vinegar, the grocery item that so many celebrities use in so many different ways. It’s been used as a skin toner, a wellness shot, and even in salad dressings. Katy Perry reportedly grew up drinking apple cider vinegar every day, and she attributes her good health to it. I was especially intrigued by the benefits it's supposed to give your digestive system and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and so I decided to try drinking apple cider vinegar for a week like Katy Perry.

Perry has incorporated apple cider vinegar into her diet since she was a child. "My mom is a very health-oriented person. She swore by apple cider vinegar," Perry told SELF. "I was drinking strange green juices and apple cider vinegar my whole childhood."

I love a good wellness trend. In the past, I’ve tried out a dairy-free diet to improve my skin (it only sorta worked), adaptogen teas for more energy (didn’t really notice anything), and CBD in any and all forms (love it!). I’ve actually already used ACV in my skincare. I love doing an Aztec clay face mask that you mix yourself to form a paste, and it’s recommended that you use a combination of water and ACV to make it work best. It smells kind of gross because of the vinegar, but it works wonders to help clear up your skin. I've already tried out ACV skincare, so I wanted to see if ACV would work as well on the inside of my body as it did on the outside. Do Perry's claims of the health benefits of ACV hold up in real life?

Apple cider vinegar is reported to help with digestion because it's filled with probiotics that help your gut maintain the good bacteria. Researchers have also found that apple cider vinegar helps to control blood glucose levels and can curb sugar cravings. Perry has simply stated that she grew up drinking ACV, but she didn't specify how exactly. Since there are so many different methods of ingesting apple cider vinegar, I thought that I would test out a few of them and see which ones worked best for me.

ACV Shots

I started this experiment by diving right in with apple cider vinegar in its most concentrated form. Now, I’ve never really been great at taking shots, alcoholic or otherwise. At the very least, my vodka shots require a chaser, and even then, I’ve been known to swallow it in two gulps. But, I wanted to do the ACV routine right, and so I was determined down two full tablespoons in one shot.

I’ll just get straight to point and say that no matter how little alcohol there is in the liquid I'm shooting back, taking shots sucks. I took my shot of ACV first thing in the morning and I don’t think my body was fully prepared. First of all, it totally burned my throat. ACV is a type of vinegar, after all, and vinegars are highly acidic. I attribute that burning to the highly-acidic quality of ACV, and, let me tell you, this shot burned more than any shot of liquor I’ve ever had. The good news is that the burn gave me a jolt of energy that really woke me up. Usually, I need at least one cup of coffee to feel as fired up as this shot made me feel. But, the bad news is that the shot really affected my stomach in a negative way.

Maybe my mistake was drinking apple cider vinegar without anything in my stomach first, or maybe it was drinking it in such a concentrated form. No matter what the reason was, my shot of ACV left me feeling super nauseous. I took the shot, and within minutes, I got that hollow feeling in my stomach. Maybe the shot was helping my digestion without me realizing it, but because of that nausea, day one of ACV was pretty much a bust.

ACV Mixed In Water In The Morning

After I had a not-so-great experience with the ACV shot, I decided to try it in a less concentrated form. For my second and third days of ACV-ing, I decided to dilute the stuff in a big glass of water with some lemon juice. Drinking ACV in this form made it feel much more like a luxurious health elixir than the stinky medicine it felt like when I gagged down a shot of it. In fact, thanks to lemon juice, it kind of tasted like a sour apple lemonade, which could totally be $11 tonic you buy at a smoothie shop. I could definitely see myself drinking this ACV concoction every morning, if only for the reason that it tastes like a self-care treat.

Some studies have shown that you reap the benefits of apple cider vinegar if you drink it in the morning. It makes sense, since then you have all day to feel its positive effects. My stomach definitely felt more settled after having a glass of ACV rather than a shot. And throughout the day, I did notice a slight difference in my digestion. I particularly felt less bloated after my meals, which is definitely a plus. Apple cider vinegar is supposed to be good for your stomach because it contains "the mother," which is the stringy bit where probiotics are found. I didn't see any of the mother in the glass that I drank, but I did still feel pretty energetic and healthy. I think Perry is onto something with this one!

ACV Mixed In Water At Night

On the other hand, some studies have shown that it’s better to drink apple cider vinegar at night. That way, your body has all night to let the healing benefits soak in, and then you wake up the next day feeling ready to go. For this part of the experiment, I made my same ACV-lemon water mixture, but I just drank it right before bed. I had a similar experience drinking it at night as I did drinking it in the morning, which was actually a bit of an issue. The acidic flavor of ACV definitely gives me an energy boost, which is not ideal as I’m trying to get my body to drift off to sleep. Also, I drank the ACV, but then I felt like I needed to have another glass of plain water to clean out the ACV taste from my mouth. That felt like a real hassle to me, and since I didn’t really notice many of the benefits the next day, this one just didn’t seem worth it.

ACV Salad Dressing

Vinegar is often used in salad dressing, so I thought it made perfect sense to try out some ACV on some fresh greens. I love experimenting with different combos of acid and oil to make my usual weekday salads more fun (I could write another 500 words just on my lemon-tahini dressing), so the ACV experiment was a welcome chance to try a new recipe. I combined apple cider vinegar with some olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and I drizzled it over some fresh spinach and white beans. It was delicious! The apple flavor in the vinegar definitely gave the salad an extra sweetness, and I could totally see myself making this salad again. However, I don’t think I really felt any specific ACV benefits with this method. Sure, the salad was tasty, but it just felt like any other healthy meal. This dressing didn’t especially change my digestion for the day. If you’re looking to feel the health benefits right away, I don’t recommend simply using ACV as just another ingredient in a larger meal.

Final Thoughts

In the end, my experience with apple cider vinegar was a little underwhelming. The shots were definitely too strong for me, and the other methods were a little too mild for me to really notice any benefits. I can see how if you drink it for an even longer period of time or grow up drinking it all the time like Perry did, it might have a bigger impact. I might try drinking some ACV diluted in water a few mornings a week since it was pleasant to drink when mixed with other yummy flavors. But, I'm a little wary of going overboard with ACV, since it has a few side effects that are worth keeping in mind. But, since apple cider vinegar is so easy to obtain and is so versatile, all these celebrities preaching its use might be onto something.