Worried about blood-sugar spikes after feasting? A tablespoon of a cheap kitchen ingredient can reduce blood sugar levels after meals, says ‘Glucose Goddess’

Want to avoid blood sugar spikes without drastically changing your lifestyle? French lifestyle influencer Jessie Inchauspé, aka Glucose Goddess, has the perfect hack. Taking to Instagram, she shared how adding just a tablespoon of vinegar to a glass of water before consuming carbs will help prevent glucose spikes after your meals.

The idea is linked to vinegar’s acetic acid content, which research suggests may slow carbohydrate digestion and reduce the rise in blood glucose and insulin following a meal.

Inchauspé has described vinegar as a “magic and super-cheap” ingredient and has pointed to research exploring its potential effects beyond short-term glucose control, including outcomes related to insulin, cholesterol and body fat.


However, she cautioned that this drink should only be consumed if you are going to have a carbohydrate-heavy meal, such as a plate of biryani or burgers and cheese fries, and not a regular meal. She also warned that vinegary drinks are generated by companies for controlling blood sugar, as they also contain sugar.

How Good Is Vinegar At Keeping Blood Sugar In Check?

According to an article published on Diabetes Action, vinegar does have the ability to keep blood sugar in control. According to research by Liljeberg et al., published in 1998, one of the early investigations examined whether vinegar could alter the body’s blood sugar and insulin responses after eating. Healthy adults were given either white bread alone or the same meal accompanied by vinegar. Researchers also tracked a marker compound to determine how rapidly substances from the meal moved into the bloodstream.

The findings indicated that vinegar could have several effects. Participants who consumed vinegar with the bread experienced a considerably lower rise in blood glucose that continued for hours after the meal. Their insulin response was also reduced. In addition, the marker compound appeared in the bloodstream at a slower pace when vinegar was consumed, leading researchers to suggest that vinegar might delay gastric emptying, or the movement of food from the stomach into the intestine.

Further research in 2010 examined how the amount and timing of vinegar consumption could influence its effects, particularly among people with diabetes. In this study, participants received either 10 grams or 20 grams of vinegar or sodium acetate as an acetic-acid supplement. The treatments were given either alongside meals or several hours beforehand. Researchers found that 10 grams of vinegar reduced post-meal blood sugar by approximately 20%, while sodium acetate did not produce the same benefit. Vinegar also appeared to work best when consumed with food, particularly meals containing complex carbohydrates rather than simple sugars.

Research by Liatis et al., also published in 2010, added another dimension. Participants with type 2 diabetes consumed 20 grams of wine vinegar with meals containing either high- or low-glycaemic-index carbohydrates. The researchers found that vinegar’s blood-sugar-lowering effect was apparent mainly after high-glycaemic meals. Together, these findings suggest that vinegar’s potential impact may depend on the quantity consumed, when it is taken, and the type of carbohydrates eaten with it.

Inchauspé is based in New York. She holds a degree in biochemistry from Georgetown University.