Viruses & Infections
Candidiasis
An overgrowth of the naturally occurring yeast Candida albicans — normally kept in check by healthy gut bacteria but running wild after antibiotic use, poor diet, or immune compromise.
📝 Summary
In short: An overgrowth of the naturally occurring yeast Candida albicans — normally kept in check by healthy gut bacteria but running wild after antibiotic use, poor diet, or immune compromise.
Common causes: Antibiotic use — destroys competing gut bacteria, allowing candida to proliferate; Steroids and birth control pills — trigger overgrowth; High-sugar, high-carbohydrate diet — feeds the yeast.
First thing to try: Eliminate sugar, refined carbohydrates, and all fermented foods from the diet
See a doctor if: First-time vaginal infection — to confirm it is candida and not trichomoniasis or bacterial vaginosis (which require different treatment).
🌿 Overview
Candida albicans is a normally harmless yeast in the intestines, mouth, throat, and genital tract. It overgrows massively when competing gut bacteria are wiped out by antibiotics, steroids, or birth control pills. The yeast then enters the bloodstream and causes system-wide problems. Three out of four adult women have at least one episode. In the mouth it is called thrush; in the vagina it causes vaginitis.
Common signs
- Bad breath, chronic infections, depression, fatigue
- Food cravings (especially sugar and carbohydrates)
- Gas, headaches, indigestion, insomnia
- Mental confusion, panic attacks, menstrual problems
- Adrenal and thyroid problems, hiatal hernia
- Vaginal infection: intense itching with odorless white cheesy discharge
- Oral thrush: white sores on tongue, gums, and inside cheeks
- Also can cause food allergies, athlete's foot, ringworm, jock itch, diaper rash
🔎 Why it happens
Common causes and triggers — spotting yours is often the first step to relief.
- Antibiotic use — destroys competing gut bacteria, allowing candida to proliferate
- Steroids and birth control pills — trigger overgrowth
- High-sugar, high-carbohydrate diet — feeds the yeast
- Stress — reduces stomach acid, allowing candida to enter the stomach
- Mercury from dental amalgam fillings — can induce candida
- Immune compromise: HIV, diabetes, cancer treatment
✅ What to do
Gentle, practical steps you can take at home — start at the top.
- Eliminate sugar, refined carbohydrates, and all fermented foods from the diet
- Eat plain (unsweetened) yogurt daily for acidophilus
- Raw garlic: up to a dozen chopped cloves 2-3 times daily in juice or blended with carrot juice and cranberry juice
- Echinacea: German study — 10% recurrence with echinacea vs. 60% with antifungal drugs alone
- Goldenseal (berberine) — powerful against yeast
- Pau d'arco (lapacho/taheebo) — antifungal; alternate with clove teaA warm drink made by steeping herbs in hot water. How to make a tea →
- Wild oregano oil — one of the strongest antifungal herbs
- Aloe vera juice (2 oz. four times per day) increases white blood cell activity against yeast
- For vaginal candida: apply plain yogurt directly OR use a yogurt/water douche 1-2 times daily until resolved
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🍽️ Eating to help
Food is one of the gentlest medicines — small, steady changes help most.
Favor these
- Vegetables and gluten-free grains (brown rice, millet)
- Fiber (oat bran, flaxseed)
- Plain unsweetened yogurt
- Garlic, broccoli, turnips, kale, collards, cabbage (inhibit candida)
- Beans, almonds, and nuts (except peanuts)
Go easy on
- All sugary foods
- Cheese, alcohol, chocolate, fermented food
- Gluten grains (wheat, oats, rye, barley)
- Meat, pickles, raw mushrooms, vinegar, yeast products
- Milk products (lactose feeds yeast)
- Oral contraceptives, antibiotics, cortisone, Prednisone
Keep carbohydrates below 80 grams per day. White cotton underwear (not synthetic) reduces vaginal yeast colonization. Have mercury amalgam fillings removed if other measures fail.
⚖️ Good to know
- Do NOT use antibiotics or steroids while treating candida — they worsen the condition
- Do NOT use oral contraceptives during treatment
- Avoid wood stoves with nearby woodpiles — wood contains fungi that worsen candida
- Avoid damp, moldy environments and household chemicals
- Avoid chlorinated water
🩺 When to see a doctor
- First-time vaginal infection — to confirm it is candida and not trichomoniasis or bacterial vaginosis (which require different treatment).
- Recurrent infection may indicate diabetes or immune compromise.
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