Dealing With Candida Overgrowth: Saccharomyces Boulardii and Fermented Foods
If you have gastrointestinal (GI) problems, as so many of us who consume industrial food do, then you know what a complex and tricky issue it is to deal with. Who doesn't love cheap and tasty, "easy" food? Who isn't "too busy" to spend more time preparing meals? Most of us deny that our diets are unhealthy until issues like pain, bloating, or yeast infections alert us to the inconvenient truth that we need to make some changes.
If you've been keeping up with the latest research related to the human microbiome, then you already know that conditions like inflammatory bowel disease (IBS), Clostridium Difficile infections, and Crohn's disease are the result of upsets to gut ecology. I almost feel guilty mentioning my own issues related to candida overgrowth (an excess of Candida albicans and its waste products leading to aches, brain fog, bloating, and malaise) because my symptoms seem minor compared to what I have seen other people go through.
After five months of trying various dietary and supplementary options in an attempt to deal with candidiasis, I can share the following notes:
Stay away from antibiotics. Unless needed for a life- or limb-threatening illness, antibiotics will further upset your microbiome. Worst case, take probiotics following a round of antibiotics. (http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(09)00293-5/abstract)
Anti-fungal medications are just a temporary fix. Over-the-counter treatments for yeast infections such as Monistat, Miconazole, Clotrimazole provide a quick fix to the unpleasantness, but if you really want candida problems to go away permanently, you will have to make long-term changes.
Anti-fungal supplements only help a little. Search Dr. Google (because your G.P. couldn't help with this one, other than to send you off for a battery of tests that said you were "normal") and you will find lots of advice on anti-fungal supplements: caprylic acid (from coconut oil), oil of oregano, garlic, grapefruit seed extract, anise seed, and so on (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maura-henninger-nd/five-steps-to-treating-ca_b_4810659.html). Consumed in reasonable amounts, the ones that I've listed here are safe, and they do seem to help reduce C. albicans populations somewhat, but they won't restore balance to your microbiome.
Anti-candida diets tell you what to avoid, but not what you need to add. Cutting out all sugar is brutal. Most "anti-candida" diets require that you abstain from fruit, any type of bread, wine, vinegar; even sweet potatoes and other "sweet" vegetables. I found the diet to be overly limited, and takes a long time (!) to get results. Most of us don't want to be on a restricted diet for years waiting to get better.
Fight yeast with yeast. For me, things started to turn around when I started taking prebiotics (resistant starch) and probiotics, especially Saccharomyces boulardii. You can buy the capsules on Amazon or at select health food stores, but remember, yeast in a capsule is in stasis and is more effective when revived in a culture. Anyone who has made wine or bread knows that you can get a culture of yeast going in a bit of warm water if you add some sugar to feed it. My favorite culture included a capsule of S. boulardii, 4 cups lukewarm water, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1/4 cup flax seeds. Once S. boulardii was established (1-2 days), I took 1/8 to 1/4 cup a day, replacing the water and a small amount of sugar daily. After trying this for a few weeks, I noticed improvements in my mood and my joints no longer ached, but I discontinued it because all the prebiotics and probiotics I was consuming were leading to loose bowels. The point is simply that S. boulardii competes with C. albicans in the microbiome, thereby reducing the harmful yeast, but after doing its work, the S. boulardii won't stick around. (for basic info on this species, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccharomyces_boulardii)
Make fermented foods with live cultures a regular part of your diet. This is where most people will interject, "I eat yogurt!" Then I will point out that yogurt is processed and refrigerated, so the beneficial cultures are mostly dead. Canned sauerkraut is completely sterile. You'll get better results from making soured cabbage yourself. Coarsely chop cabbage, add filtered or boiled water cooled to room temperature to cover, with a ratio of 1 cup water to 1 tbsp sea salt. You can also add pieces of ginger, garlic, chipotle peppers, etc. for whatever flavor you fancy. After about a week, you will have a living probiotic culture that will serve as a healthy dietary supplement for your internal microbiota.
Make a variety of foods rich in Omega-3 part of your long-term strategy. Fish from sustainable and less-polluted sources (whether trout or the humble sardine) contain oils rich in Omega-3, which will enhance your overall wellness and immunity. Vegetarian sources include flax and the usual roster of nutrient-rich vegetables that we are all encouraged to fill half our plate with at every meal. Your microbiome will adjust to this new regime, and thank you for it with better health.
Make exercise part of your daily routine. Candidiasis is a symptom of general unhealthiness. If not getting exercise is as bad for you as smoking, then it's time to stop the denial. Moderate exercise is a necessity of life; never a waste of time.
Cheers!
If you've been keeping up with the latest research related to the human microbiome, then you already know that conditions like inflammatory bowel disease (IBS), Clostridium Difficile infections, and Crohn's disease are the result of upsets to gut ecology. I almost feel guilty mentioning my own issues related to candida overgrowth (an excess of Candida albicans and its waste products leading to aches, brain fog, bloating, and malaise) because my symptoms seem minor compared to what I have seen other people go through.
After five months of trying various dietary and supplementary options in an attempt to deal with candidiasis, I can share the following notes:
Stay away from antibiotics. Unless needed for a life- or limb-threatening illness, antibiotics will further upset your microbiome. Worst case, take probiotics following a round of antibiotics. (http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(09)00293-5/abstract)
Anti-fungal medications are just a temporary fix. Over-the-counter treatments for yeast infections such as Monistat, Miconazole, Clotrimazole provide a quick fix to the unpleasantness, but if you really want candida problems to go away permanently, you will have to make long-term changes.
Anti-fungal supplements only help a little. Search Dr. Google (because your G.P. couldn't help with this one, other than to send you off for a battery of tests that said you were "normal") and you will find lots of advice on anti-fungal supplements: caprylic acid (from coconut oil), oil of oregano, garlic, grapefruit seed extract, anise seed, and so on (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maura-henninger-nd/five-steps-to-treating-ca_b_4810659.html). Consumed in reasonable amounts, the ones that I've listed here are safe, and they do seem to help reduce C. albicans populations somewhat, but they won't restore balance to your microbiome.
Anti-candida diets tell you what to avoid, but not what you need to add. Cutting out all sugar is brutal. Most "anti-candida" diets require that you abstain from fruit, any type of bread, wine, vinegar; even sweet potatoes and other "sweet" vegetables. I found the diet to be overly limited, and takes a long time (!) to get results. Most of us don't want to be on a restricted diet for years waiting to get better.
Fight yeast with yeast. For me, things started to turn around when I started taking prebiotics (resistant starch) and probiotics, especially Saccharomyces boulardii. You can buy the capsules on Amazon or at select health food stores, but remember, yeast in a capsule is in stasis and is more effective when revived in a culture. Anyone who has made wine or bread knows that you can get a culture of yeast going in a bit of warm water if you add some sugar to feed it. My favorite culture included a capsule of S. boulardii, 4 cups lukewarm water, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1/4 cup flax seeds. Once S. boulardii was established (1-2 days), I took 1/8 to 1/4 cup a day, replacing the water and a small amount of sugar daily. After trying this for a few weeks, I noticed improvements in my mood and my joints no longer ached, but I discontinued it because all the prebiotics and probiotics I was consuming were leading to loose bowels. The point is simply that S. boulardii competes with C. albicans in the microbiome, thereby reducing the harmful yeast, but after doing its work, the S. boulardii won't stick around. (for basic info on this species, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccharomyces_boulardii)
Make fermented foods with live cultures a regular part of your diet. This is where most people will interject, "I eat yogurt!" Then I will point out that yogurt is processed and refrigerated, so the beneficial cultures are mostly dead. Canned sauerkraut is completely sterile. You'll get better results from making soured cabbage yourself. Coarsely chop cabbage, add filtered or boiled water cooled to room temperature to cover, with a ratio of 1 cup water to 1 tbsp sea salt. You can also add pieces of ginger, garlic, chipotle peppers, etc. for whatever flavor you fancy. After about a week, you will have a living probiotic culture that will serve as a healthy dietary supplement for your internal microbiota.
Make a variety of foods rich in Omega-3 part of your long-term strategy. Fish from sustainable and less-polluted sources (whether trout or the humble sardine) contain oils rich in Omega-3, which will enhance your overall wellness and immunity. Vegetarian sources include flax and the usual roster of nutrient-rich vegetables that we are all encouraged to fill half our plate with at every meal. Your microbiome will adjust to this new regime, and thank you for it with better health.
Make exercise part of your daily routine. Candidiasis is a symptom of general unhealthiness. If not getting exercise is as bad for you as smoking, then it's time to stop the denial. Moderate exercise is a necessity of life; never a waste of time.
Cheers!
Homöopaatia
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