to wonder how a diet low in yeast can cure thrush

[stubbornstains]

So, I'm currently suffering from feral fanjo fauna, and trying to nuke them with Canesten. I've been looking at old threads about thrush on MN, and notice that a lot of posters recommend a diet that cuts out (are you ready for this?) bread, all alcohol, all sugar, all dairy (don't know why dairy- in for a penny in for a pound I suppose) , mushrooms, Marmite, and anything else containing yeast. So. Leaving aside the fact I'd probably rather have thrush than give up all that lot, how would it work? Taking bread as an example: yes, it's made with yeast. But when you bake it, you kill the yeast. Then you eat it, and it goes into your stomach, which is full of hydrochloric acid, presumably killing any yeast organisms which may be alive within (although thinking about it, obviously stomach acids don't kill all organisms, otherwise how would anybody get food poisoning?). So.....is there any science backing up this type of diet, or is it all bolleaux?

I am home feeling poorly and miserable today must be the yeast in my food but this has really cheered me up, thanks OP I hope your fanjo feels better soon.

I think a lot of people have benefited from the kind of diet which Ampersand is advocating

Yes, its highly likely they have. But not for the reasons suggested, is the point.

Someone needs to take FeralFanjoFauna as a username

"If you're having recurring thrush it could be because the yeast (candida) has got out of hand and has led to Candida Albicans Overgrowth. This happens after a course of antibiotics, or stress, or a diet high in carbohydrates and sugar. CAB if left untreated will spread to all major organs"

Let's start at the beginning:

Do you know that the vagina is not part of the digestive system, meaning the yeast or bacteria in your gut don't travel to your vagina?

The only way Candida would go from your gut to your vagina would be through bloodstream, and if that stuff ever gets in your blood, you will have more things to worry about than thrush.

You called?

And thats Dr Fanjo-Fauna to you!

So, scientifically speaking, we have;

One person on this thread who tried a yeast free diet and it worked.

I tried a yeast free diet and it did not work.

Does that screw the anecdata?

Also to add an anecdote...I've had thrush once, I cured it with canesten. I have an incredibly unhealthy diet (pretty much addicted to sugar) with sporadic fruit and veg thrown in. I'm also rarely ill and don't have any gut issues. So as this diet works for me should I be saying that everyone should do eat the same way? it's just anecdotal.
I'm not overweight at all either.

Reallyanotherone you can add me to the 'didn't work pile'

One person on this thread who tried a yeast free diet and it worked

No, we have one person who tried this diet and felt better. Which may or may not have been attributable to the diet, we don't know, but if it was certainly wasn't for the reasons they thought it was.

Which is quite different.

I suffered with thrush every fortnight for years. Used canestan to clear it up but it still kept reoccurring. Doctors didn't want to do anything, had to buy canestan from different chemists around town as they refused to sell me any more after 3 bouts. So in desperation I did the anti Candida diet. Bloody hard work but it cured not just the recurring thrush but other problems too. It's been a couple of years since I last had thrush, so whilst people can say I'm stupid for believing all the hype, for me it worked.

This thread has entertained me (sorry Ampersand) 😄

Anyway, I've no idea about all the yeasty science stuff...but I had awful recurring thrush from the time I had a Mirena coil put in until I got it taken out 18 months later - would be interested in any scientific theories to explain that! (not going to demand to know your credentials) 😂

I know the sugars don't end up in your vagina. I was more wondering why people would think these foods support yeast growth in the first place.
In the lab yeast extract makes a very poor substrate for growing yeasts, the standard medium used is potato dextrose broth/agar.

Even if the sugars you ate were feeding your yeast infection, removing every trace of sugar from your diet (which you can't do anyway) wouldn't help, because the yeast can "feed" on anything.

In addition to hexose sugars, yeasts can utilise a number of 'non-conventional' carbon sources, such as biopolymers, pentoses, alcohols, polyols, hydrocarbons, fatty acids and organic acids. Other saccharide biopolymers, like starch, inulin, cellulose, hemicellulose, or pectin, can be metabolised by some specialised yeasts directly. Candida species are also capable of metabolising organic acids, proteins, and lipids. In other words, candida can metabolise almost any food you eat.

So if you need to starve the candida in order to get rid of it, you would actually need to starve yourself. And the candida would keep eating even after you were dead.

Fucking hell feralfanjofauna, I think I'm in love. Not only have you immortalised my catchy turn of phrase, you're talking proper science shit. Too proper for me to understand right now, as I'm rushing off to try out my (mostly) recovered fanjo with a gentleman friend . Will read and inwardly digest tomorrow. But it's good to hear that my lunch of fancy sourdough bordelais (half price special!) with marmite won't have awoken the sliumbering beasts....

"I'm rushing off to try out my (mostly) recovered fanjo with a gentleman friend "

Oh no. If you dosed it up with Canesten last night, your fanjo is now an acid vat. Your gentleman friend will not thank you for it and if DH's ongoing trauma +10 years after that one time is any indication, he will never forget it, either

Personally I don't eat with my fanjo. :o

Some of the people saying that things "worked" appear to have a different definition of the word "worked" from me.

Forgive me for my superficial understanding of biology, but surely the sugar free candida diet can work because you've not overloading your other systems (liver, kidney etc) by keeping your blood sugars at sensible levels, allowing your body to fight infection etc?

I have an autoimmune condition which is largely asymptomatic but was discovered via blood tests by a dermatologist & rheumatologist because I had a rash on my face. We had a gut health practitioner do a presentation at work, and I paid her afterwards for a private session where, after some tests, she advised cutting out eggs and dairy.

Bizarrely, within 8 weeks of doing this, my 10 year old verruca farm (30+ on my feet) spontaneously disappeared, in addition to feeling (nearly) immediately less fatigued and foggy. It may be terribly co-incidental but it worked for me.

Science is awesome but there is precious little out there on the issue of the impact of diet. I'm not sure that many of the internet quack doctors are on the right path but there is nowhere near enough recognition that diet can (in some but not all cases) influence chronic disease.

OP i just want to congratulate you on one of the most naturally hilarious ops i've read in a while.

Laughed so much at "in for a penny in for a pound i guess"

"sugar free candida diet can work because you've not overloading your other systems (liver, kidney etc) by keeping your blood sugars at sensible levels, allowing your body to fight infection etc?"

That short sentence presents such a target-rich environment that I don't know where to start.

• Kidneys have nothing to do with digestion. Everything is already digested by the time they go into the blood, and it is the blood that passes through kidneys.

• Kidneys also have nothing to do with fighting infection.

• Liver does have to do with digestion, but you can't "overload" it by eating a bit of bread, fruit, and other kinds of sugar.

• Liver also has nothing to do with fighting infection.

• You don't "allow your body to fight infection" through eating or omitting from your diet certain food groups. Your immune system either works properly or it doesn't (if it is compromised, as after chemotherapy or if you have AIDS), in which case your problems will be far more significant than a bit of thrush in your fanjo.

• You also don't "allow your body to fight infection" by keeping your blood sugar at a certain level. Diabetic people who closely follow their blood sugar level still get sick and infected. In fact there is an inverse relationship at play: Infection and sickness tends to increase blood sugar levels which body easily corrects with insulin as long as you are not diabetic.

Unless a person has diabetes, blood sugars levels are tightly regulated to stay within a narrow range - this is irrespective of having a diet of milk shakes and mars bars or being on a 'low sugar' one. That is the role of insulin and glucagon.

Oh my people.

Unless a person has diabetes, blood sugars levels are tightly regulated to stay within a narrow range - this is irrespective of having a diet of milk shakes and mars bars or being on a 'low sugar' one. That is the role of insulin and glucagon

See also: low carb/no sugar diets. There is some utter crap being bandied about atm regarding insulin. People don't seem to get blood sugar is fairly stable unless you have a medical issue.

Isn't yeast infection a flora rather than a fauna (pedantic)? BSc Biology 2.1.

Yes, load of rubbish.

I get thrush once/twice a month, sometimes more if I'm unlucky. I look into a low yeast diet, just found bullshit articles.

Plus, common sense should tell you it couldn't help.

I went through a year of having tbrush pretty much constantly. Caneston doesn't work and I'm desparation I tried something I'd read about which was making pessaries from organic extra virgin coconut oil and tea tree oil. It cleared it in a few days and I use it now if it ever flares up. It's very cheap and easy so not much to lose by giving it a go.

Btw, I work in evidence based medicine. The drivers behind what makes a topic have a good evidence base are financial. The absence of research is not the same as evidence something doesn't work.