Vinegar - friend or foe when treating thrush?

For holistic long term treatment of thrush, food is always an issue. Certain foods are held to feed thrush (eg sugar etc) and certain foods can help the body successfully combat thrush (probiotics etc).

Vinegar is an interesting food, when it comes to thrush, as it is both on the 'prohibited' and 'use every day' lists.

Why is vinegar prohibited? There is no clear evidence (that I am aware of) that consuming vinegar is a problem for people who have thrush, but some people avoid it because it is a fermented food product. There is a school of thought that says fermented food makes the body more prone to thrush. As I said, court is officially out on this (meaning that there are no double blind scientific experiments that say it is definitely a contributing factor in a yeast infection). However, if you find you experience flare ups when you have vinaigrette salad dressings, then by all means avoid it.

The really interesting thing on the 'ban on fermented foods' for yeast sufferers, is that fermented foods are often classified as very easy to digest and therefore good for you. Miso is an example of a fermented, easy to digest food. And I have found in my own experience that foods that ferment in the gut are a greater health problem than foods that were fermented before I ate them. Red meat is an example of something that can ferment in the gut. It can sit there for a while and is fairly difficult to digest.

So I recommend seeing what works for you, and what gives you trouble, try avoiding fermented food, and then try avoiding food that might ferment in you!

Moving on from talking about what we eat, vinegar is a star when it comes to topical home remedies for yeast infections. A vinegar dilution solution can help restore the health of your skin, by restoring its pH balance. Use it in a dilution of about 1 part vinegar to five parts water. You can use it as a mouth wash for oral thrush, a general 'toner' for skin