Is there real science behind fire cider?

January 14, 2015 8:44 AM

Fire cider (basically apple cider vinegar, onion, garlic and hot pepper) is suddenly all the rage as a homeopathic panacea. Are there any actual science-based studies that validate any of its claims?
posted by mkultra to Health & Fitness (9 answers total)

You might have some luck looking into the individual ingredients (many of which have been folk medicine mainstays for years).

For example, this recipe for Fire Cider has links to guides (which in turn link to studies) for garlic, ginger, and capsaicin.

But honestly, I doubt that anyone is going to be funding studies to test the effectiveness of what is basically salad dressing.
posted by sparklemotion at 8:53 AM on January 14, 2015 [17 favorites]

I actually did a little bit of research on this recently. I found evidence supporting ingestion of garlic, turmeric, and capsaicin to support health (mostly anti-inflammatory), but nothing on fire cider itself.

This is NOT my field of expertise, and these came from a literature search in my university library. I don't know these journals, so I don't know if they're particularly respected in the field, YMMV, IANYD, etc. etc. etc.:

Liu, Y., Song, M., TM, C., Bravo, D., CW, M., & JE, P. (2014). Effects of capsicum oleoresin, garlic botanical, and turmeric oleoresin on gene expression profile of ileal mucosa in weaned pigs. Journal of Animal Science, 92(8), 3426–3440.

Suresh, S., Yadav, V. R., & Suresh, A. (2006). Health Benefits and Therapeutic Applications of Curcumin. Clinical Research and Regulatory Affairs, 23(3-4), 191–210. doi:10.1080/10601330601079810

Tsai, C.-W., Chen, H.-W., Sheen, L.-Y., & Lii, C.-K. (2012). Garlic: Health benefits and actions. BioMedicine, 2(1), 17–29. doi:10.1016/j.biomed.2011.12.002


Krishnaswamy, K. (2008). Traditional Indian spices and their health significance. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 17(December 2007), 265–268. Retrieved from http://repository.ias.ac.in/18688/

Now all that said, I actually LIKE the taste of the stuff, and it contains many of the same ingredients as VitaBiotic pills that my husband and his MD swear by to keep colds/flus at bay (N of 2, so you know, anecdata.)

I might not use it in a homeopathic way and I have no anecdotes to share on that front, but I'm super excited to sprinkle it on some French fries (mmm spicy salt and vinegar fries :)
posted by absquatulate at 8:55 AM on January 14, 2015 [7 favorites]

As homeopathy, it fails, as in most recipes I found it is not diluted from mere worthlessness to exhaustively worthless ratios dynamised.

As some kind of panacea, well, it's got a lot of a little bit of things that show some benefits separately (honey, ginger, horseradish when applied to braincells), but I'm not aware of a full study on its popular combinations and variations.

Unless you are allergic or sensitive to any of the ingredients, brewing up some and drinking a shot a day can't kill you THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE and may at least clean out your sinuses if you're not big on the hot stuff generally.
posted by Buttons Bellbottom at 9:00 AM on January 14, 2015 [5 favorites]

Fire cider does not contain any homeopathic ingredients (perhaps people mean that it's "naturopathic" or a "folk remedy") - rather, it is a vinegar infusion. Studies of the health benefits of individual ingredients, prepared differently, are likely not directly applicable to the health benefits of an infusion (as only a subsection of the make-up of a clove of garlic would be drawn out into the vinegar).

I could not find any scientific papers in Google Scholar referencing "Fire Cider" or cider infusions, except for ethnographic studies, but I don't have access to a wider journal search.
posted by muddgirl at 9:08 AM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

That seems very similar in composition to Sriracha sauce, which I'll put on a spoon and gulp once in a while when I have a sore throat.

Doesn't fix the cold, but it sure feels better in the short term (after the crying stops).
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:08 AM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

I went ahead and did a pubmed search for most of the ingredients together. Zero search results.
posted by O9scar at 5:40 PM on January 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

That's not homeopathy. Also, that's not a treatment for anything except dressing a salad.
posted by joedanger at 9:29 AM on January 15, 2015

Nthing what sparklemotion and absquatulate said. Not sure about homeopathics, but there's a lot of science behind the health benefits of some ingredients. Side note: I'd suggest adding fresh-ground black pepper to the concoction, as the piperine greatly enhances the absorption of curcumin, the component of turmeric that is a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer agent.

And, yes, a generous helping of french fries.
posted by Lycaon_pictus at 10:31 PM on January 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

sparklemotion: But honestly, I doubt that anyone is going to be funding studies to test the effectiveness of what is basically salad dressing.

It's a popular myth that science is only done on things that Big Pharma can patent.

And for that matter, as soon as efficacy was established, the medical establishment would (quite rightly) want to know how to measure dosage - the amount of medicinal chemical X in a "teaspoon of apple cider vinegar" (for instance) would vary widely between different brands, vinegar strengths, and possibly age of the vinegar.

Now, the fact that these ingredients, which have already been plumbed for medicinal benefits, don't show up in any recognized studies suggests the suggestive anecdotal evidence is lacking.
posted by IAmBroom at 2:35 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]