Beating the yeast: How to fight candidiasis

Bloating and indigestion, eczema, poor circulation and easy bruising are just some of the many symptoms of an overgrowth of Candida albicans, a natural yeast that occurs in the body.

Surprisingly most of us – including our very own doctors – often fail to recognise the symptoms.

Our guts are home to some 1.8kg of weight in live micro-organisms, say doctors, comprising both friendly and unfriendly bacteria. Candida albicans is one of the unfriendly ones – and, left to grow uncontrolled, it can wreak havoc on the body.

"Everything we're eating, drinking and doing today can cause an overgrowth of Candida albicans," said clinical nutritionist Erica White, author of the bestselling Beat Candida Cookbook and a sufferer of candidiasis (or yeast infection) for 53 years.

"The average Westerner is reckoned to eat more than his own body weight in sugar every single year, whereas 100 years ago the average was only 10lbs [4.5kg]. You know what happens from baking when you put sugar with yeast in a warm place: it ferments and increases.

"And that's exactly what's happening in your gut."

Candidiasis: The facts

Sugar – in all its forms – is deemed the number one culprit for candidiasis. We put it in our tea and coffee, eat it in cakes and cereals and in hidden foods such as cans of beans and bottles of ketchup. On top of that, we depend on diets rich in refined foods (such as white bread and rice) and yeast (such as wine and beer), which further stoke yeast overgrowth.

Antibiotics are yet another culprit, as they kill off both the friendly and unfriendly bacteria in the body, leaving more room for yeast to grow.

Hormonal treatments such as in vitro fertilisation or hormone replacement therapy, and even the contraceptive pill, have been linked to candidiasis, as the yeast increases with changes in hormones.

And stress acts as a stimulant to trigger the release of sugar in the blood, which then encourages candidiasis too, said White.

"Candida starts out as a spore but grows into a fungal form, which burrows through the intestinal wall and enters the bloodstream," she said. "It then gets into tissues, muscles, joints and skin – and releases its 79 toxins that affect the brain and nervous system."

That is why candidiasis is so far-reaching in the body. It is been associated with a whole host of symptoms, ranging from skin conditions (such as rashes, acne, fungal nails) and digestive tract problems (such as heartburn, bad breath, indigestion), to thrush, infertility, loss of sex drive, nasal congestion, muscle aches, fatigue, depression, moodiness and insomnia – and the list goes on.

The diagnosis

A person does not need to demonstrate all of those symptoms to have candidiasis, said clinical nutritionist Helena Oades.

"Some people only have one or two of those symptoms, as it manifests differently in different people. That's why it's so difficult to diagnose," she added.

Doctors tend to rely on laboratory and stool tests to check for an overgrowth of Candida, but "these can be misleading", said White.

"Candida doesn't swim around loose in the intestinal tract, but lives burrowed in the gut walls. This means that not only can it go undetected in endoscopy examination, but it will not necessarily even show up in a stool specimen," she said.

Its difficult-to-diagnose status means that candidiasis is often diagnosed as IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which experts are increasingly attributing to yeast overgrowth.

Babies at risk

While Candida albicans is more commonly known as the yeast that causes thrush in women, its overgrowth affects men and children too.

Pregnant women are particularly at risk of passing the yeast infection on to their unborn child, who can pick up the overgrowth and adopt health problems either immediately or later on in life, said White.

"Grommets, eczema, colic, asthma and food allergies are all extremely common in children born to mothers with candidiasis.

"And if they're put on a standard, high-sugar diet, the yeast just flourishes."

Beating candidiasis

The only foolproof way of getting rid of the beast is to kill it off through your diet, according to experts.

Colonic irrigations – while considered the first port of call to rid the body of any toxins – are not recommended as they rid the body of both the good and bad bacteria, leaving you more prone to any yeast overgrowth, said clinical nutritionist and author Erica White.

White and fellow nutritionist Helena Oades recommend following a yeast-free diet for at least a month, during which time sugar (including artificial sweeteners), fruit, cheese, vinegar (and its products, such as pickles), refined foods (such as white bread and rice), cakes and bread (unless it is wholegrain and yeast-free) are all off-limits.

How long you have to remain on the diet is determined by how much candida is living in your body and how easily your body gets rid of it, said Oades. "For some that means just a month, for others that can mean much longer. It's best to have a nutritionist help plan the diet with you."

The diet is supplemented with vitamins and minerals, as well as anti-fungals to detoxify the liver, kill off the yeast and repopulate the body with beneficial bacteria. Many people start to feel worse before they feel better, a process known as 'die-off'.

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