I've heard apple cider vinegar is good for lowering cholesterol, but can I take white vinegar instead?

Apple cider vinegar is best for personal use inside the body and out, including health issues.

Apple cider vinegar has minerals and other properties not found in white or grain vinegar.

A notable exclusion to this rule is in canning. Vegetables are pickled in white vinegar to avoid the discoloration that apple cider vinegar causes. However, apple cider vinegar can be used in dark colored produce such beets with no problems.

For cleaning, laundry, etc., white vinegar is preferred because, being "white," it won't discolor fabrics or other materials. White vinegar is sometimes cheaper, too, and since cleaning usually takes more volume than personal uses, white vinegar is a more frugal approach to cleaning.

Both vinegars have mild bleaching, degreasing, antibacterial and acidic properties so they can be interchanged (with care) in a pinch, except for health related purposes. White vinegar is pretty much pure acetic acid and water. Apple cider has all sorts of other chemicals in it, so you probably do need apple cider vinegar. It's like red wine... certain chemicals are produced when the fruit ferments, so those are probably what helps the cholesterol (if indeed it does help). There is LOTS of stuff in apple cider vinegar that isn't in white vinegar. O.K. now that you know the difference between apple cider vinegar and white vinegar I noticed that nobody told you that you have to use the "natural" apple cider vinegar sold at Trader Joe's or any health food store. The apple cider vinegar sold in the supermaket has been filtered of anything beneficial to you. The natural apple cider vinegar is very brown and murky looking and very mild in taste. It will have this brown stringy stuff in it called the "mother". You can do a websearch on "benefits of natural apple cider vinegar" to learn more about it.

Good Luck!