Apple Cider Vinegar’s Role in Supporting Erectile Dysfunction
Everything you need to know about the holistic treatment.

Everything you need to know about the holistic treatment.
If you have issues getting hard and staying hard, you’re not alone. Forty percent of men over 40 experience erectile dysfunction (1). The good news? No matter if your ED has physiological or psychological roots, there are several ways you can treat it. But if you’re skeptical about the potential side effects linked to certain ED medications, you might be curious about trying a holistic approach, like apple cider vinegar, first.
“Apple cider vinegar itself isn’t a treatment for erectile dysfunction,” says sexual health specialist Gowri Rocco, M.D. Still, supplementing with ACV may indirectly support your bedroom performance.
Justin Houman, M.D., is a board-certified urologist who specializes in sexual health, infertility, and erectile dysfunction. He’s also the senior medical advisor at Cake, a sexual wellness platform.
Fenwa Milhouse, M.D., is a board-certified urogynecologist and co-founder of Down There Urology, a sexual and urological health center in Chicago, Illinois.
Gowri Reddy Rocco, M.D., is a physician who specializes in family medicine and regenerative anti-aging medication. She’s committed to helping people maintain sexual function and hormone health as they age.
To better understand how apple cider vinegar could help with erectile dysfunction, you have to connect the dots between ED and certain chronic diseases.
As urologist Justin Houman, M.D., explains, both diabetes and cardiovascular disease are major risk factors for erectile dysfunction. It’s true: Research suggests more than 50 percent of men with diabetes and roughly 70 percent of men with abdominal obesity have some degree of erectile dysfunction (2, 3, 4).
While the pantry staple certainly adds some zing to your taste buds, it probably won’t have the same impact on your erections—especially if you’re generally healthy.
That said, apple cider vinegar may support healthy blood sugar levels, weight management, and cardiovascular function (5, 6, 7)—which could positively affect erectile function. So it isn’t far-fetched to think that improving health markers connected to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity can indirectly help erectile function, Houman suggests.
Some data suggests that men with diabetes are three times as likely to experience erectile dysfunction compared to those without the disease (8).
Having elevated blood glucose (sugar) levels for prolonged periods can damage your blood vessels, including those in your penis that are essential for getting hard (9). Your blood vessels must be able to relax (widen) to invite blood into the penis and then contract (tighten) to keep that blood there (10). This is where apple cider vinegar can assist: some research suggests it may be able to help keep your blood sugar levels steady.
A 2023 study published in Frontiers in Clinical Diabetes and Healthcare found that taking two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar daily can help lower fasting blood sugar levels in people with diabetes in as little as two months (11). A 2019 study showed similar findings (12).
One thing to remember: Apple cider vinegar can’t repair blood vessels that are already damaged. (Prescription medications and surgery are proven methods (13, 14).) But it may help protect your vessels from further damage—which may also prevent erectile issues from worsening.
Of course, ACV shouldn’t replace other diabetes treatments. “If you have diabetes, it’s crucial to also focus on reducing stress, eating a balanced diet, and ensuring sufficient sleep,” Rocco says.
Your ticker plays a crucial role in maintaining erections by pumping blood to your penis. If your heart isn’t functioning optimally, your erectile capabilities can fall short, too. The researchers of a 2021 study go as far as to say erectile dysfunction is a “hallmark” of cardiovascular disease (15).
Apple cider vinegar won’t magically reboot your heart health or revive your erections. However, research suggests that consuming apple cider vinegar may lower cholesterol levels—a significant risk factor for heart disease and ED (16, 17).
One 2021 review of nine clinical studies revealed that taking just one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar daily for about eight weeks may lower total cholesterol levels (18). Other research suggests that combining AVC with a healthy diet can help lower LDL (harmful) cholesterol levels more effectively than healthy eating alone (19).
The secret to maximizing apple cider vinegar’s potential heart health benefits? Pair it with other healthy lifestyle habits, like regular exercise, a balanced diet, and keeping your weight in check, urogynecologist Fenwa Milhouse, M.D., says.
Obesity can cause insulin resistance, blood vessel damage, and hormone imbalances like low testosterone—all of which can contribute to ED (20, 21). Interestingly, Rocco says apple cider vinegar may have an appetite-curbing effect on the body, which could make it a helpful tool for weight loss.
One 2022 study found that consuming a shot of apple cider vinegar with meals helped people feel fuller for longer (22). Since increased satiety can translate to reduced calorie intake, weight loss could follow.
Still, the liquid remedy isn’t the holy grail for dropping or maintaining weight, Milhouse says. Upping your physical activity, eating healthy, managing stress, and improving sleep quality are better, more proven weight loss strategies (23).
Whether you’re a professional chef or a kitchen newb, there’s no shortage of accessible ways to incorporate apple cider vinegar into your daily routine. Options for supporting erectile dysfunction with apple cider vinegar include:
To be clear: You should never, under any circumstance, lather your penis with apple cider vinegar—it’s way too acidic for sensitive private parts.
“For most, apple cider vinegar is very safe to take,” Milhouse says. However, too much of a good thing can backfire.
Since apple cider vinegar is very acidic, drinking it straight can cause unwanted side effects. “Too much apple cider vinegar can potentially erode tooth enamel and worsen acid reflux,” Milhouse explains.
There are easy ways to dodge these problems. To lower your chances of an upset stomach, cut ACV’s acidity with alkaline foods like avocados or bananas. To protect your pearly whites, drink it through a straw or swish water around your mouth after taking a shot.
But if your burp count continues to multiply or your tooth sensitivity skyrockets, it might be time to cut back.
While apple cider vinegar isn’t a direct solution for erectile dysfunction, several interventions can help you. “The condition is very manageable with the right medical and psychological support,” Rocco says.
Sold under well-known brand names Viagra and Revatio, sildenafil is an oral medication that’s taken about an hour before sex (24). The drug boosts blood flow to your penis when you’re aroused by blocking a natural enzyme (PDE5) that usually restricts it, explains Houman (25). You can expect sildenafil to last around 3 to 5 hours (26).
Tadalafil (sold under the brand name Cialis and Adcirca) works similarly to sildenafil but lasts a lot longer—up to 36 hours (27). Like sildenafil, you need to be aroused for tadalafil to work.
If you’re physically healthy, medications like sildenafil and tadalafil may not address the root cause of your problem. If you have performance anxiety or you’re navigating difficult relationship issues, you may have psychological ED. Like the vascular kind, psychological ED is treatable. It just requires a different type of treatment: Therapy.
“Sex therapists—certified mental health therapists that help with sexual dysfunction—are a highly under-utilized [option] to treating erectile dysfunction,” Milhouse says. These professionals help people navigate performance anxiety, guilt, and shame that can result in the inability to get or maintain an erection, she says.
Ask your urologist or primary care physician if they have any contacts for sex therapists in your area. Alternatively, Psychology Today has a robust online search option that allows you to find professionals by zip code.
While apple cider vinegar can help boost overall health, it can’t treat erectile dysfunction on its own. However, research has shown that it may help lower blood glucose and total cholesterol levels, which could ultimately improve erectile function. It may also help you lose weight by slightly suppressing your appetite, which can protect the function of hormones—insulin and testosterone—that are important for erections. If you’re struggling with ED, talk to your doctor about treatment options, such as medication and therapy.