Proponents of the epidemic of Candida overgrowth openly admit there’s not enough science on the subject. (Popular naturopath Josh Axe even mistakenly describes Candida as a virus when discussing toenail fungus, which is kind of like calling a giraffe a plant.) Other physicians list serious autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus as “symptoms” of yeast overgrowth, yet not a single study has shown that these conditions can be incited by yeast. Indeed, some of the symptoms people have linked to Candida don’t make any sense.ĭoctors proclaim, for instance, that nail fungus is a symptom of Candida overgrowth, yet most nail infections are caused not by Candida but by dermatophytes, a very different kind of fungus Candida nail infections, which are rare, only afflict people with vascular conditions. Those kinds of claims are “absolute hair-raising nonsense,” concludes Bernhard Hube, a biologist who studies fungal infection biology at the Hans Knoll Institute in Germany. The popular claims being made about yeast and how they affect people, he says, simply “aren’t scientifically justified.” Saying that yeast are associated with, and can perhaps aggravate, a few specific diseases in mice is very, very different from proclaiming that most people suffer a collection of vague symptoms because their bodies have been overtaken by yeast. Iliyan Iliev, a mucosal immunologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, has been investigating the link between yeast and various diseases in mice. (Crohn’s patients often have higher-than-normal levels of antibodies against components of Candida and other yeast.) The associations between yeast and other gastrointestinal conditions are still just that-associations-and so far no one knows whether the yeast play a causal role or whether changes to yeast populations might be a consequence of the conditions. With Crohn’s, researchers are careful to note there’s no evidence that fungi cause the disease-they do, however, seem to aggravate the inflammatory response, at least in mice. Some research has, for instance, linked yeast such as Candida to a few gastrointestinal conditions, including Crohn’s Disease and Graft-Versus-Host Disease. There are certainly other health issues in which yeast could play a role, too-but they are limited in scope and still quite uncertain. Thankfully, these same doctors offer tests to diagnose the problem (some sold direct to consumers cost upwards of $350) and of course they also sell cures, a few of which you can buy directly over the Internet for hundreds of dollars. Worse, it’s all our fault, because Candida thrive in part due to our poor lifestyle choices-sugar, alcohol, contraceptives, stress, and antibiotics, among other things. Such doctors blame pesky Candida for pretty much every annoyance you can fathom: allergies, asthma, impotence, food cravings, acne, headaches, fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, rashes, bloating, autoimmune diseases, mood swings, itching, nail fungus, insomnia, low sex drive, and weight gain. In an article over at Goop titled “The Insidious Yeast Infection We All Have And How To Treat It,” functional medicine doctor Amy Myers claims that nine out of 10 patients she sees suffer from Candida overgrowth and that it is wreaking havoc on our country's health. The idea goes something like this: Fungi, which include yeast such as Candida albicans, are a small but important part of our gastrointestinal flora, but they can also “overgrow.” When they do, they can “break down the wall of the intestine and penetrate the bloodstream-releasing toxic by-products into your body” and leading to a host of unpleasant symptoms. That’s what a lot of alternative medicine doctors tout, and the claim has now reached fever pitch thanks to the Internet and social media. Yeast: Essential for bread, terrible for your body.
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