WARNING: The following post may contain TMI (too much information) for the average Joe or Jane.
Approximately one week ago I began a new breakfast ritual of consuming steamed greens with vinegar and Chef Aj’s Faux Parmesan (a blend of nuts, Nutritional Yeast and Benson’s Table Tasty).
No more oatmeal. No more green smoothie. No more coffee.
And I felt great.
That is, until I developed a yeast infection. See, I said this might be TMI for some people.
It did not occur to me that it could be my new morning ritual that posed a challenge for my system. You see, I consider myself prone to yeast infections, getting one about every year to two. They totally suck, but I use the over-the-counter medicine for a week and then it’s gone. I never thought much more about it.
At the same time this is going on, there was a conversation happening in the comments section of HGK about the safety of ingesting Nutritonal Yeast (I recommend finding that comment and reading it a few times, but the summary is this: Nutritional Yeast is a concentrated source of protein and protein raises IGF-1 levels). It seems one of the Vegan’s favorite ingredients has been called into question by researchers. Dr. Alan Goldhammer gave Chef Aj the 411 on the whole business. Bottom line is, we shouldn’t be eating it every day, but occasionally it’s fine.
I didn’t want to believe either one of them! I was so pissed. So I decided to google it myself. What I found was not much about the whole Nutritional Yeast business, but stuff about vinegar and yeast infections. Oh no!
“Yeast infections are caused by the overgrowth of a fungus called Candida. Candida lives in small amounts inside everyone’s body. In small amounts it is beneficial to the body and certainly not dangerous . . . Certain foods can create an environment within the body that encourages the yeast to grow . . . The pH level of the body also affects the growth of Candida yeast. The pH level, which stands for ‘potential hydrogen’ is a measurement of the amount of acid in the body. The scales runs from 0 (high acid) to 14 (low acid). The pH level of human blood should be between 7.35 and 7.45. Pure water has a pH of 7 which is considered to be neutral. Even a small change in the pH level can have a significant effect on our health.
The higher the acid level the easier it is for yeast to grow. Anyone who suffers from yeast infections should everything possible to maintain their body’s pH level at the lowest healthy point possible . . . White vinegar is extremely acidic with a typical pH level between 2.4 and 3.4. This extremely high acid level makes an idea environment for Candida yeast to grow out of control. White vinegar should be eliminated from the diet of anyone who has a yeast infection or is prone to getting them. Most other types of vinegar including balsamic, red wine, and rice vinegar are also highly acidic.
The only exception to the rule is apple cider vinegar which has a pH of 7.5. Often sold at health food stores, organic apple cider vinegar that is unfiltered and unpasteurized can actually lower the acid level of the body. Many researchers believe that a teaspoon or two each day will help to prevent yeast infections as well as improving overall health.
The answer to the question, ‘does vinegar cause yeast infections?’ is yes and no. White, balsamic, red wine, and rice vinegar will definitely cause yeast infections. Natural organic apple cider vinegar will not.” source
So I guess the good news is that I can switch immediately to apple cider vinegar. I can even make my own fruit infused flavors, as Maria pointed out in her blog posting this week, which is exactly what I did. But it’s 4-6 weeks until I have a supply, so I picked up some of this at Whole Foods this morning:
My husband, who is a chemist, thinks this is all b.s. According to Wikipedia, the pH of apple cider vinegar is typically between pH 4.25 and 5.00 if undiluted. Apparently, to get the health benefits of apple cider vinegar you have to get the RAW kind, i.e. the Braggs apple cider vinegar (which I did not get). I guess I’ll be making those jars of flavored vinegar all over again.
Now don’t go blaming Chef Aj. She told me that she eats the steamed kale plain most mornings, but on those days when she just can’t get in the mood for it, she uses some of those expensive flavored vinegars. I’m sure they’re uber delicious. She did not tell me to put the vinegar or the Faux Parmesan on mine, but that happened to be what sounded appealing to me at the time, I really liked how it tasted and so I ate it like that every day. Now I’m looking at having plain steamed kale for breakfast tomorrow morning, at least until I can get myself a bottle of Bragg’s Raw Apple Cider Vinegar.
Anyone else out there have a similar reaction?
Have you ever used raw apple cider vinegar medicinally? What were your results? Is this for real or a bunch of hooey?
I have been taking Bragg’s acv daily and developed a yeast infection as a result.
Candida grow in badic enviroment not in acific!! Thsts the reason in past when women had vaginal candidiasis they used to apply yougurt which contain Lactobacilli which turns the ph to acidic hence eliminating yeast…
Hello Beck. I can believe that you developed candida while taking Bragg’s apple cider vinegar. I don’t know why it happened though. Thank you for the information.
Hello Ali! Learn to spell and also check the accuracy of your facts.
Regarding the effects of pH on candida: The yeast form exists in an acidic (pH 7) the hypha form exists. This hypha form is practically impossible to get rid of even with ant-ifungals (50% mortality rate in systemic candidasis). There are four other forms. Presence of CO2 and starvation encourages the hypha form to be aggressive, which is not good.
Maintaining healthy stomach acids via eating bitter greens helps keep candida in conquerable yeast form in the gut. Most of the gut normally is acidic unless something is interfering with its functioning. The duodenum is an exception because its environment is basic and more prone to hypha form of candida colonization. The mouth and other orifices have variable pH. Drugs, stress, poor sleep habits, etc will encourage the growth of candida. Some people believe that once it is in you it will just gain ground each time you get run down. It can make your life miserable to the dead end.
Note that the blood’s pH is about 7.4. The inside of cells is abut 6.8. So if candida escapes your gut and gets in other organs who knows what it will do and if you can get rid of it. It probably can hide itself in cysts and biofilms making you sick and never being detected. Conventional medicine dogmatically does not believe this can happen in healthy people.
More at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5137381/
No, Ali’s correct! Yogurt’s friendly bacterial cultures and acidity do eradicate vaginal yeast infections, I have been told by women who’ve remedied themselves with using plain yogurt.
I read your link. Big whoop. Lots of technical detail but I suppose the takeaway to you is “lower pH spells open season for Candida albicans” or some such warning, no particulars that actually pertain to “vinegar” potentially triggering candidiasis takeover, and you even dissed it on grounds it doesn’t support one of your contentions. So your point was what again? That you can believe Beck acquired her infection from consuming cider vinegar, and Ali should learn to spell?
Ali is probably a non-native English speaker, but he made a a clear point. You however, choose peculiar axes to grind.
Yes and yes again. Also women are generally advised to skip all commercial douche products, except vinegar dilluted with water if douching is ever employed
Regarding Ali’s comment and my above response to him my questions is, if candida mutates to its yeast form which is the preferred state when it is in an acidic vinegar then why shouldn’t we drink white vinegar? And with apple cider malt vinegar by Bragg’s, which is purported to be basic, why is this safe to drink if it crates a basic environment that will transform the candida into its aggressive and damaging hypha/mold from?
We should note that just because a food is acidic doesn’t mean that it will make you acidic; it depends on how the body digests and metabolizes the food. Also, candida can change the pH of its environment to control its form.
For 2 days straight I drank tea, honey and Bragg acv. Now I have what I think may be a yeast infection.
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I thought sugar feeds Candida. If you are prone to yeast infection, stop feeding it with sugar (easier said than done).
I periodically will take Braggs either by itself or with warm water, lemon, and fresh ginger root. I cannot say if it has given me yeast issues, but I’ll definitely keep it in mind.
Life is about balance.
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Thank you for sharing this, it confirmed my doubt. So I went to put it to a test yesterday, and goodness gracious, did I had an extreme distention, bloat and discomfort??!!! 5 years ago I first started consuming ACV without knowing that it can do you any such harm. I mean all the world of health pros will glorify it so much, you’ll think it is just a health food! Recently, while searching the net about sibo/sifo/candida being behind my persistent abdominal bloat and fatigue, I stumbled on a forum where some people where actually angry with their acquired bloat post ACV. It made me google and your article was among the very few confirming the same. Most professionals recommend eliminating all vinegar with exception of ACV to treat yeast/ candida. Some however warn against ACV. Both sides are registered practicing medical experts (no random opinions), still result is best seen on yourself! I wonder if you had any success eradicating yeast and how? My low fodmap and water fast plus loads of supplements and treatments don’t do much difference, if not at all.
So many incorrect things in this article.
Fist of all, apple cider vinegar does not have a pH of 7.5. Apple cider vinegar is highly acidic with a very low pH. You don’t have to believe me — use a oH meter.
Second, you want to lower your body’s pH to avoid candida overgrowth… but avoid acids? Except acids lower pH?
I don’t think you know much about what you’re talking about.