> Brenda Young wrote:
> ... I drink the
> organic apple cidar vinegar with the mother, and the 
> "infection" is cleared up in three days or so.  It also works 
> instantly (for me) for the hiccups.  Lovely stuff, Paleo or not.  :)
>    
>   Love,
>   Bren, who thinks it's good on spinach, too
> 

Interesting; I was told by a chiropractor some time ago that I had yeast
overgrowth and that I should AVOID consuming yeast of any kind--including
from vinegar--as well as wheat, dairy, sugars and other things. I've seen
people in person and online claim that consuming vinegar makes their yeast
problem worse and I've seen some claims to the opposite (usually re: apple
cider vinegar specifically). It sure is confusing! :-) 

I've never liked the taste of vinegar anyway, and it doesn't seem to do
anything noticeably positive for me, so I think I'll follow my gut and
continue to mostly avoid it. 

Here are some comments from other people who were also befuddled by all the
conflicting advice:

swimmer07-02-2001, 03:35 PM wrote:
"I have a question -- maybe someone can help?
It seems like every time I want to take apple cider vinegar and start using
it on a daily basis, I get a yeast infection. The Balch book says to avoid
vinegar when dealing with Candidiasis -- but I've heard of douching with
apple cider vinegar to treat this. Could drinking the vinegar be triggering
my problem? ..."
(http://www.healthboards.com/boards/archive/index.php/t-13472.html)

2/15/2006: Julie from Victoria, BC writes, "God, how many more hours will I
have to spend reading contradictory opinions on the internet before I feel
like I am on the right path! All there is left is quinoa, millet, spelt,
green veggies and flax seed oil! I am HUNGRY, and french!(no red
wine)...Wheat greass is good, no wheat is allowed, is wheat grass equivalent
to wheat? No vinegar, especially apple cider [vinegar], yes apple cider
[vinegar] is the cure, no potatoes and tomatoes, yes potatoes and tomatoes
are allowed, no dairy, yogurt is the cure, have some everyday. Make up your
minds!?! All I am eating now is steamed green soybeans with seaweed and flax
oil, I am 95 pounds!!! HELP ? Is there a CURE OR WHAT? Then you have the
cures that "they"want to sell you on the internet (treelac) is it a scam? If
80% of the population suffors from candida, it would be good business,
wouldn't it? So I am repeating IS THERE A CURE? I feel like I will have to
have crandberry juice and grapeseed oil for breakfast, flax oil and oregano
oil on greens with almonds and millet, for the rest of my life? That is
depressing as much as having CANDIDA! ..." 
(http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/candida.html)

Steven Bratman, M.D. wrote:
"After watching these food wars for a while, I began to fantasize about
writing a cookbook for eating theorists. Each food would come complete with
a citation from one system or authority claiming it to be the most divine
edible ever created; a second reference, from an opposing view, would damn
it as the worst pestilence one human being ever fed to another. 

Finding examples wouldn't be difficult. I could pit the rules of various
food theories against each other: Spicy food is bad; cayenne peppers are
health-promoting. Fasting on oranges is healthy; citrus fruits are too
acidic. Milk is good only for young cows (and pasteurized milk is even
worse); boiled milk is the food of the gods. Fermented foods, such as
sauerkraut, are essentially rotten; fermented foods aid digestion. Sweets
are bad; honey is nature's most perfect food. Fruits are the ideal food;
fruit causes candida. Vinegar is a poison; apple cider vinegar cures most
illnesses. Proteins should not be combined with starches; aduki beans and
brown rice should always be cooked together."
(http://www.beyondveg.com/bratman-s/hfj/hf-junkie-1a.shtml)

Given the conflicting claims, it looks like anecdotal experience won't solve
the question of why yeast is considered non-Paleo. Anyone come across any
solid studies, archaeological evidence or particularly good explanations of
why yeast is non-Paleo (or Paleo)? Cordain's is the best explanation I've
seen so far, but it could use some more flesh. Without more supporting data
I think it is still not a closed book. It's also strange that Cordain and
Audette didn't put yeast or vinegar on their lists of forbidden
foods--almost as if they weren't sure themselves (or maybe they didn't think
it is consumed in significant enough quantities to bother creating a
category for it).


> Adam Sroka wrote:
> ... I agree with the "good and bad yeast" idea. I also think that Paleo 
> folks would have been exposed to both kinds frequently. 

How so? Frequent consumption of fermented fruit? Or do you think that beer
and mead might have been consumed much earlier and the evidence just hasn't
been found yet?

> ... The fact that 
> yeast plays such an important role in so many aspects of the 
> agricultural diet (bread, beer, wine, etc.) makes it seem conceivable 
> that man was aware of it early on. I am not a fan of theories that 
> require things to be discovered by chance, particularly when 
> they are so 
> prolific (There is no evidence that any culture on Earth ever lacked 
> awareness of them.) 

I'm not sure how you would provide positive evidence that a past culture did
not have an awareness about something (it's impossible to prove a negative).
There is a lack of evidence for yeast consumption among Paleolithic peoples
that tends to be seen as suggesting they didn't regularly consume it.
There's no guarantee, of course, that someone won't find evidence of
Paleolithic yeast consumption in the future. Also, there are traditional
societies that have been observed to lack bread and alcoholic beverages
("fire water") when first encountered, whether they understood the
properties of yeast or not. The question isn't whether the properties of
yeast were discovered by chance or not, it's when was yeast first consumed
regularly--for whatever reason.