Candida Yeast Infection in the Gut

The cause of a common yeast infection is the Candida Albicans yeast bacteria. This yeast exists within the body and thrives on sugar in the intestine, which is why sugar should be avoided or cut from your diet when there is an infection. With a growing presence of Candida in the gut, there will be competition between the infecting bacteria and the normal good bacteria in the body. This leads to a reduction in good bacteria that may lead to many other symptoms. Eventually, the yeast begins to take over and takes up residence on the walls of the intestine. This is very bad because it facilitates waste products from the infection to travel into the blood, which creates yet more problems in the body.

The depletion of good bacteria must be addressed, which is why it is recommended to take yogurt containing active cultures in your diet. Some drugs (antibiotics) can be counter-productive because, although they kill the yeast, they are harmful to good bacteria as well and so do nothing to restore the natural balance of the body. Sometimes, a yeast infection may develop after a patient has been taking a course of antibiotics for another condition. Other factors, which can lead to a depletion of friendly bacteria, are the use of hormones such as steroids, birth control, alcohol, Pepcid/Zantac, stress, or just bad diet. We need these friendly bacteria for various reasons to keep us healthy. They help in producing short-chain fatty acids, a helpful source of energy, they also produce nutrients including B vitamins and vitamin K. Furthermore, they aid in metabolizing drugs, carcinogens, and hormones and enhance the immune system. Finally, they keep the pH of the gut at a healthy level and will normally keep harmful bacteria levels down.

Overgrowth of Candida in the small intestine can often be misdiagnosed. There are a wide range of symptoms because of the yeast and the toxins entering the blood stream. These include “leaky gut”, chronic fatigue, muscle weakness, bone pain. There may also be symptoms from an immune response, such as hives, facial rash, sinus congestion, eye irritation. Nervous symptoms like anxiety or obsessiveness may also occur. A Candida infection may be diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome due to excess gas, bloating, or chronic diarrhea. It is difficult to determine the real cause, especially if one is not looking for it. One pointer is to assess how the symptoms change when sugar is consumed. If sugar appears to cause worsening symptoms, the possibility of Candida should be considered.