IBS, Sugar, and Candida (3): Solutions

Have you ever experienced unexplained daytime fatigue? Does your mood fluctuate like a rollercoaster? Do you sometimes struggle to focus, think clearly, or remember things? Do you ever get a fever from time to time? If so, you may be suffering from daytime fatigue, mood swings, brain fog, and occasionally fever caused by Candida overgrowth.

So what should you do to get rid of it? In this post two approaches are suggested: one Western and one Eastern (Traditional Chinese medicine). In other words, you will get advice from 2G (giants and gentlemen). The Western approach is a synthesis of advice from medical giants such as Dr William Davis while on the Eastern side you have to seek help from Six Gentlemen.

Why your doctors not telling you about Candida

Before we start, before we solve the problem… a question probably pops up in your mind. Why did your doctor not tell you about it, about the connection between candida and those problems?

It is because this connection is neglected in conventional health care that some doctors do not suspect daytime fatigue is due to overgrowth of fungi (a claim made by William Davis, the author of the books Wheat Belly and Super Gut).

Western approach

The Western approach moves in three directions: one focusing on diet adjustments, another on a yellow powder remedy, and the third on harnessing Candida’s sister to fight back.

So, are you ready for the battle?

a. forbid the relationship (between Candida & sugar)

The first easy (but cruel) way is to cut off sugar. As mentioned in the previous post, Candida and sugar are a couple who love each other (till death). To stop too much of it from growing in your body, you have to be loveless: Deprive Candida of the fuel (love) it needs to flourish by cutting off sugar.

However, this is not enough. You also need a special diet and what follows is a list of food items for you to take or avoid. Well, this list is not a common one. It is a list universally recommended by four giants, experts on Candida problem and gut health:

• Avoid refined carbs (if sugar is Candida’s lovers, refined crabs are its mistress):
  • reason: Candida thrives on these
    • examples: white flour and products made from it such as white bread (Italian bread, bagels, rolls, buns, wraps, English muffins)
• Take non-starchy veggies and low-sugar fruits:
  • reason: to minimize Candida feeding
    • examples (veggies): asparagus, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, kale, celery, cucumber, eggplant, onion, spinach, zucchini, tomatoes
    • examples (fruits): lemons, limes, and berries
• Take coconut oil and garlic:
  • reason: both are antifungal
• Take fermented foods
  • reason: to help good bacteria grow and balance in your gut
    • examples: sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, yogurt (with no sugar)
• Take whole grains and legumes (in moderation), with a preference for gluten-free and low-glycemic options
  • reason: to prevent Candida from accumulating in your gut
    • examples: quinoa, millet, amaranth, buckwheat, brown rice, oats (certified gluten-free)
• Take apple cider vinegar:
  • reason: to inhibit Candida growth

(Well, I forgot to tell you who the five giants are: William Crook (Author of The Yeast Connection); Hilda Glickman (Author of Beat IBS); Ann Boroch (Author of The Candida Cure: The 90-Day Program to Beat Candida & Restore Vibrant Health); William Davis (Author of Wheat Belly and Super Gut).)

In addition to the above diet, Dr Davis (with two others) has two more recommendations: one about a kind of powder, the other about a sister of Candida.

b. take Curcumin (plain)

Highly recommended by three doctors (Pedre, Ruscio, and Davis) is a kind of powder named curcumin. Why do they all recommend it? Curcumin has the antifungal property to protect your intestines from being leaked (leaky gut) as it is nonabsorbable and act as a protective layer to ‘mend’ your gut. More importantly it also has the ability to strengthen your intestinal barrier, healing you from inflammation (e.g. bloating).

However, when taking it you have to pay attention to the following advice by Dr Davis:

• just plain curcumin, not the kind that gets absorbed quickly into your body
  • reasons: so curcumin remains concentrated in the intestines where it can do its work

c. yeast against yeast: Saccharomyces boulardii

Besides taking curcumin, you can adopt another strategy: employ a sister of Candida (Saccharomyces boulardii) to fight it.

The sister is recommended by not only by Dr Davies, but also two other experts. One is Dr Michael Ruscio, a clinical researcher working fervently to reform and improve the fields of functional and integrative medicine; and the other is Kerry Beeson, a Nutritional Therapist.

According to them, the sister, a type of probiotics, has antifungal effects of inhibiting populations of Candida and keeping it from growing in the intestines, and most importantly of all, disrupting fungal biofilm (breaking apart the protective shield that fungi make to keep themselves safe).

Moreover, Beeson also points out that Saccharomyces boulardii has a special power: it stops Candida from moving out of your intestines. It does this by making a special natural medicine (called caprylic acid) that fights its sister, Candida.

Eastern approach: Asking help from Six Gentlemen

Well, if you want to try an alternative method, in the world of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) there is a herbal formula named Six Gentlemen Decoction. (What is decoction? A way to make medicine by boiling herbs or plant parts for a while to extract their active ingredients.)

Unlike the medical giants mentioned above, the Six Gentlemen are not real persons, but six ingredients that treat you gently: Ren Shen (Ginseng), Bai Zhu (Atractylodes), Fu Ling (Poria), Zhi Gan Cao (Licorice root), Chen Pi (Tangerine peel), and Ban Xia (Pinellia).

Benefits of taking Six Gentlemen Decoction

How do the Six Gentlemen help you stop Candida from overgrowing?

• Candida likes to grow when your body’s digestion is weak and there is too much moisture (Dampness in terms of TCM). The Six Gentlemen help strengthen your digestion and gives your body more energy (Qi in terms of TCM) to work better.
• When digestion improves, your body can better control moisture and balance things inside, so Candida has less chance to grow out of control.
• The Gentlemen also help reduce feelings like nausea, tiredness, and bloating that often come with Candida overgrowth.
• The Gentlemen fix the “home” where Candida lives, making it less comfortable for the yeast to stay and grow.

(However, the Six Gentlemen live up to their name: they don’t attack Candida head-on. Instead, they work behind the scenes, strengthening your gut and restoring balance so the yeast can’t take control. Which is the essence of TCM: fortifying your body rather than waging war on bad bacteria.)

References (Western)

Boroch, A. (2020). The Candida Cure: The 90-Day Program to Balance Your Gut, Beat Candida, and Restore Vibrant Health (Revised Edition). HarperOne, New York, NY, USA.

Davis, W. (2018). Super Gut: A Four-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight. Rodale Books, New York, NY, USA.

Glickman, H. (2016). Beat IBS: A Simple, Five-Step Plan for Restoring Your Digestive Health. Little, Brown Book Group, London, UK.

Mayer, F.L., Wilson, D., & Hube, B. (2022). Interactions between Candida albicans and the resident microbiota. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 12, 9531752. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9531752/

National Library of Medicine. (2021). Candida Biofilms: Formation, Structure, and Antifungal Resistance. In Biology Insights. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560624/

Pedre, M. (2021). Happy Gut: The Cleansing Program to Help You Lose Weight, Gain Energy, and Eliminate Pain. Harper Wave, New York, NY, USA.

Ruscio, M. (2016). Healthy Gut, Healthy You: The Personalized Plan to Transform Your Health from the Inside Out. Rodale Books, New York, NY, USA.

Seifert, K. (2011). The Fungi: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

References (Eastern)

Me & Qi. (n.d.). Candidiasis: Causes, symptoms, and TCM treatment. Retrieved from https://www.meandqi.com/symptoms/candidiasis

Me & Qi. (n.d.). Liu Jun Zi Tang (Six Gentlemen Decoction) – TCM herbal formula. Retrieved from https://www.meandqi.com/tcm-education-center/formulas/liu-jun-zi-tang

Pappas, P.G., Kauffman, C.A., Andes, D.R., Clancy, C.J., Marr, K.A., Ostrosky-Zeichner, L., … & Sobel, J.D. (2018). Clinical practice guideline for the management of candidiasis: 2016 update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 62(4), e1–e50. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29690597/

Zhao, L., Feng, Y., & Chen, D. (2018). Traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of patients infected with Candida: A review. Frontiers in Microbiology, 9, 5979528. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5979528/