Latest / hol+ with Dr. Taz MD | The Future of Medicine is Holistic / How to Get Candida Under Control: Understanding Triggers, Exploring Treatment and Supporting Your Gut
Transcript
- [00:00:00] Dr. Taz: This episode is sponsored by Hol+ a holistic health platform built around [00:00:05] education, personalization, and integrative care. Hol+ blends [00:00:10] holistic, integrative, and functional medicine clinics with learning resources like blogs, [00:00:15] YouTube videos, and of course this podcast, so you're not just treated, you're informed.[00:00:20] [00:00:20] Dr. Taz: The platform also includes holistic health quizzes and a curated wellness shop, helping you [00:00:25] make choices that support your body at the root level. Hol+ is [00:00:30] holistic healthcare designed for real life. Visit us at holplus.co [00:00:35] to learn [00:00:35] Dr. Taz: more about the platform. Again, that's [00:00:40] holplus.co Candida overgrowth occurs when yeast that normally lives in the gut [00:00:45] proliferates beyond healthy levels, often after antibiotics, high sugar [00:00:50] intake, or prolonged stress. Common signs include bloating, cravings, [00:00:55] recurrent yeast infections, brain fog, fatigue, and a coated [00:01:00] tongue. Management of candida combines dietary changes, [00:01:05] targeted antifungals, and rebuilding beneficial bacteria. [00:01:10] Sugar cravings you just can't get rid of, bloating that arrives [00:01:15] every afternoon, brain fog, fatigue, and a white coating on your [00:01:20] tongue. All of these individually get dismissed. Together, they [00:01:25] point to something very specific. Candida in Western [00:01:30] medicine is treated as a localized infection. Thrush or a yeast infection, treat it, [00:01:35] end of story. You may have had experience with this before, getting your [00:01:40] local antifungal or medication to treat it, and then you never think about it [00:01:45] again. Gut overgrowth, in general, is still not widely recognized. [00:01:50] Outside of a severely immunocompromised patients, most [00:01:55] clinicians don't think about candida as an issue. Symptoms are [00:02:00] distributed across specialties, so nobody really looks at the whole picture, right? You have a [00:02:05] gastroenterologist, you usually have a rheumatologist, you might have a hematologist and an [00:02:10] endocrinologist, but there's no candidalogist, right? Nobody is really thinking [00:02:15] about this in, in terms of a, a singular pattern. But candida, [00:02:20] when we apply a different lens, the functional medicine and the holistic medicine lens to [00:02:25] this, the problem is the proportion, not the fact that it's present. Oftentimes, [00:02:30] candida will overgrow, and that's when the symptoms really start. There are [00:02:35] many factors why candida overgrows. For example, antibiotics. We know that candida [00:02:40] overgrows after a course of antibiotics. We also know that yeast produces [00:02:45] metabolites, which is why many symptoms reach beyond the gut. The pattern is [00:02:50] recognizable, and once you know how to look for some of the stuff together rather than separately, then you [00:02:55] can also piece together when you're having a candida flare, when you need help, and [00:03:00] when to work with a provider. Here are some of the common signs and symptoms of [00:03:05] candida overgrowth. We know that intense sugar and carbohydrate cravings [00:03:10] are a sign of candida overgrowth because yeast feeds on sugar and influences [00:03:15] our appetite accordingly. We know that bloating that builds throughout the day, [00:03:20] causing fermentation, producing gas as the day goes on, is a sign of [00:03:25] candida as well. A white or coated tongue is one of the most visible signs, right, and [00:03:30] easy to check in a mirror. And then, of course, recurrent yeast or urinary tract [00:03:35] infections all surfacing in different locations, these are signs of candida as [00:03:40] well. And many people don't realize that brain fog, low mood, [00:03:45] these are metabolites of candida entering your circulation and impacting [00:03:50] how we learn. Skin and nail changes like rashes and skin folds, athlete's [00:03:55] foot, persistent fungal nails, all of these are also signs of candida [00:04:00] Now, when it comes to testing, there are multiple ways to look for candida. A [00:04:05] comprehensive stool analysis is probably one of the most useful tests that we find [00:04:10] in practice. It shows what's overgrown, and it shows what's missing, and will pick [00:04:15] up when candida overgrowth is an issue that we need to be paying attention to. [00:04:20] There's organic acid testing as well, and that can reveal yeast metabolites in urine. [00:04:25] But the clinical pattern still matters most, while the research and the [00:04:30] testing keeps getting debated. We want to look at a clinical pattern [00:04:35] where some of these signs and symptoms are leading themselves to candida, and [00:04:40] testing that supports that rather than replacing it. Spit [00:04:45] tests, I know they're online, I know they're all over the place. They're, they're not as reliable, honestly, as [00:04:50] some of these other things that we've talked about here today. In functional medicine, we wanna [00:04:55] know why this balance tipped to begin with. We know that candida exists, but why [00:05:00] is it now a problem? Antibiotics are a common trigger of yeast and yeast overgrowth, along with [00:05:05] chronic steroid use. A high sugar or high refined carbohydrate diet can also [00:05:10] trigger candida overgrowth. It's direct fuel for candida. Stress is a [00:05:15] trigger as well, along with low stomach acid. And I've talked often about hormone [00:05:20] shifts and oral contraceptives, which also alter the gut and the vaginal environment.[00:05:25] Poor sleep and a depleted microbiome means candida has an [00:05:30] opportunity to grow So when we look at all the variables, the research, the [00:05:35] factors, the signs and symptoms, and the test, we land right in the middle in [00:05:40] terms of diagnosing, treating, and turning candida around. Here are the [00:05:45] recommendations that I always give our patients at HolPlus. First off, let's try to [00:05:50] starve candida. Get rid of the sugar, the alcohol, and the refined [00:05:55] carbohydrates. Let's test to make sure we're on the right track. Many conditions often can [00:06:00] share some of the signs and symptoms that we've talked about today. We wanna use [00:06:05] targeted antifungal support. This means we usually like to start with [00:06:10] rehabbing the gut and adding botanicals first. The prescriptions can be a little [00:06:15] heavy-handed and good for a flare, but something we wanna use in those scenarios rather than [00:06:20] necessarily on a day-to-day basis. I love things like oil of oregano, berberine I [00:06:25] mentioned, bioseedin, pau d'arco, so many great herbal formulas that [00:06:30] do support candida and, uh, really helping the body balance candida better. [00:06:35] The prescriptions, of course, the nystatins, the diflucans, we make those decisions [00:06:40] depending on what's happening with the patient. Rebuilding the terrain of the gut, [00:06:45] probiotics, flooding it with good bacteria to suppress candida. Fermented [00:06:50] foods, but not in excess, and fiber, which provides [00:06:55] butyrate to help restore a healthy microbiome. Supporting digestion with stomach [00:07:00] acid and enzymes can also help to keep candida overgrowth at [00:07:05] bay. Now, this is not a quick fix. This is a process and a journey, and it can [00:07:10] take weeks, not days, to turn it around. But over time, many of the signs and [00:07:15] symptoms we've talked about today should get better, from the bloating and brain fog to the [00:07:20] weight gain and insulin resistance. We have seen at HolPlus many of these [00:07:25] things turn in a different direction when we identify and treat candida [00:07:30] the holistic way. So candida is not a fringe idea. It's a balance [00:07:35] problem, and balance is something you can change. Now, have you had any of these [00:07:40] signs or symptoms of candida? Let us know, and maybe there's a surprising one that you did [00:07:45] not expect that our community would benefit from learning. All right. [00:07:50] For physician-curated trusted supplements that we use at HolPlus, visit [00:07:55] our shop, shop.HolPlus.co, where we do deal with candida [00:08:00] every single day