>> "No form of vinegar changes body pH or has any effect on toxins. The body's natural processes, mediated largely through the liver and kidneys, eliminate waste products and toxic substances." It's as if you are still rejecting the efficacy of Cinchona bark for treating malaria because the Amazonian Indians haven't discovered the formula for the quinine it contains. Instead, they say that the bark of the Cinchona tree contains the spirit of the God Xohopichulato, which destroys the evil spirit that causes malaria. If you want to rest in your beliefs that there is no Xohopichulato and therefore Cinchona cannot help with malaria, fine. Just don't pretend it is science. It is arrogant ethnocentrism, not scientific empiricism. Your arguments are based on an arbitrary and artificial definition of the word 'toxin'. You are ignoring the fact that ordinary substances can build up to toxic levels under many conditions - for example, glucose can build up to toxic levels when there is insulin resistance. In such a case, anything that reduces insulin resistance or lowers glucose levels would in fact be a 'detoxification' process. Likewise, immune hormones like the interferons and interleukins are necessary under certain conditions, but at higher doses (ie when there is infection or chronic inflammation) they often cause side effects that range from unpleasant to lethal. In SARS, H5N1 bird flu, and other killer influenzas, the body's immune system destroys the body. Immune hormones that might sometimes be beneficial are produced at toxic levels. This is quite different from your idea of metabolic toxins that are normally handled by the kidneys and liver. The short chain fatty acids present in vinegar (acetate, proprionate, butyrate) have been repeatedly shown to lower inflammatory cytokines (which have been implicated as a contributor to migraines). These simple compounds also affect levels of leptin, adiponectin and other compounds that regulate glucose, and there is research implicating this in the pathogenesis of migraines. You have stooped to pseudoscience by refusing to look at the evidence that vinegar can dramatically change certain chemicals in the body. You seem to take comfort in linguistic tautologies about 'toxins' that have little bearing on the underlying facts of the matter. Here is a link that might be useful: Glucose, Adiponectin, Immune Hormones and Migraine.

The short answer: The list exists to make money for lawyers. Lots of drugs on it are effective for a variety of indications, but may have side effects that can be exploited in lawsuits (which mostly benefit attorneys). Of course, this is an herbalism forum and neither I nor anyone else has suggested that posters take prescription drugs for bladder infections. What's been pointed out is that ACV has no demonstrated effectiveness (or any mechanism by which one could imagine it being effective) against such infections. Cranberry juice, on the other hand, does have some evidence in its corner. "I have noted that tests for natural medicines printed in the peer reviewed journals use doses clearly below the theraputic dose recognized by the majority of herbalists for their studies. I noted this in tests printed in the New England Journal of Medicine, no less. This crap must stop. That it goes on at all is WHY there is a growing number of people using herbal methods. I have also noted that herbs that are usually used in a mixture with other herbs are tested alone, in a way they are not used. This happens with tests of Chinese herbs." This would be an interesting subject for a separate discussion, to include any examples of studies supposedly using suboptimal doses of herbal drugs. As to mixtures, there are in fact numerous studies looking at them. What can be problematic is when a mixture contains one herb believed to be the effective agent and the rest may or may not be filler. The only way to know if the purported effective component works is to test it separately (it could be, for example, that one or more other components of the mixture actually interfere with the active herb which might work better on its own). One old-time example is the folk remedy for heart failure that an 18th century British physician, William Withering studied, and discovered that while multiple elements in the herbal mix were unrelated to its actions on the heart, one herb (digitalis) was responsible for increasing heart contractility. That discovery paved the way for digitalis' use in general medicine (at a standardized, safer and more effective dose than one could count on in a home remedy). Chinese herbal mixtures are notorious for containing elements not listed on the label. "Contamination" (apparently deliberate) has included powerful prescription drugs (such as indomethacin and steroids) or toxic herbs like aristolochia, so that would be a major reason for being careful about using such mixtures. To get back to the cry of "They don't want you to know" (about supposedly cheap and effective home remedies): this hits close to home for me and many other health professionals who have experienced serious illness in ourselves or close family and friends. My mother (a physician) died of colon cancer. Does anyone doubt that she would have been willing to use a cheap home cure and enthusiastically promoted it to others if one existed?

The difference is that apple cider is just that, apples smashed and then pressed to extract all their juices. It's a sweet drink. Vinegar has gone through several chemical changes, first you ferment the cider from the apples, just like you are making beer or wine. Then a "mother" is introduced. There is no good way to describe a mother. If you have ever had a batch of vinegar sit around and get a nasty looking snotty mass in it, then you have seen a mother. The mother eats the sugars and converts them to acid. Fresh cider is sweet, then after fermenting it contains alcohol (like beer or wine) and then the mother converts the whole thing to vinegar. Air is what vinegar needs. Beer and wine are sealed to keep out air, but for vinegar to happen you need air, so you usually make it in a wooden barrel or a container larger than you need. The only downfall with making your own vinegar is that you never know the percentage of acid. You can use it for cooking but not preserving. So you can make salad dressing but not pickles, just because you can't be sure that it is strong enough to keep bacteria from growing. If you search the web you will find directions of making vinegar, even buying a mother. I am just now getting into making my own wine etc, so I have only read about the process. Good Luck!! Tami

I agree that many people tend to want a magic RX pill for everything. and often don't want to be active in managing their health with healthier lifestyle changes. However seeking out woo remedies or believing in the concept of good foods, bad foods super food pretty much the same type of thinking. There is one and only one cure for the common cold. Time. The vinegar is not magic. The magic is the hot drink (or really the steam from it) if you happen to like hot drinks. Honey is no more magical for soothing a throat than a lifesaver. It's sweet, it temporarily coats. So does a popsicle. I don't care for hot liquids as a rule so my body tends to crave spicy food when I'm ill. Maybe it helps to clear the sinuses or maybe I like it because my taste buds are dulled too much for bland foods. I don't overthink it. Unless I develope an infection the illness will go away in X number of day no matter what I do or don't do other than rest and stay hydrated. I'm sure not going to tell everyone that the spicy chili verde cured my cold. LOL