Candida Causes Dozens of Disorders
Apr 19, 2009 
Suzy Cohen, R. Ph., is a licensed pharmacist with nearly 20 years of clinical experience. The author of The 24-Hour Pharmacist (HarperCollins, July '07) and Drug Muggers; she is "America's Most Trusted Pharmacist," and has helped millions of patients in various clinical settings, such as retail, hospital, nursing home pharmacies, and through her 
nationally syndicated column, "Dear Pharmacist." A former spokesperson for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Suzy Cohen is a member of the Institute of Functional Medicine, The Association of Natural Medicine Pharmacists and The American Pharmacists Association. You can subscribe to Suzy's free weekly newsletter or ask her a question at her DearPharmacist website.
Dear Pharmacist,
I’ve been suffering with abdominal cramps, bloating, a yellow toenail and a white-coated tongue. My doctor told me I have a candida infection and prescribed Diflucan. This requires liver testing. Even though my tongue and toenails are yucky, I’d rather deal with that than damage to my liver. What other options will help me get rid of candida? --E.H. Gainesville, Florida
Answer:
All of us have this yeast Candida albicans inside our bodies, but when your immune system is overworked, the yeast growth gets out of control and causes widespread, uncomfortable symptoms. Candida overgrowth (candidiasis) may cause irritable bowels, bad breath, constipation, eczema, psoriasis, vaginal yeast infections, jock itch, athlete’s foot, ringworm, and cancer.
The brain gets involved too, and some people experience headaches, brain fog, mood swings, anxiety, as well as intense cravings for sweets and starches. That’s because candida needs sugar to grow. If you have a sweet tooth and a stressful life (and thus a compromised immune system), you will make candida spread like wildfire. Starve it to death by avoiding white sugar and carbs then boost your immune system with antioxidants, glutathione and vitamin D.
Doctors will usually attempt to kill candida with drugs. Using drugs long-term is not wise because candida replicates and comes back with a vengeance. This nasty trick is called “resistance.” Besides, if you don’t change your diet and boost immune function, you will need drugs forever, such as:
Nystatin- This prescription drug does not leave the gut so it is only helpful for thrush or candida overgrowth in the GI tract.
Monistat or Micatin- Over-the-counter creams used for vaginal yeast infections or jock itch. 
Diflucan- This medication gets into the bloodstream to kill fungus everywhere but it may adversely affect your liver; it also interacts with blood thinners, diabetic meds and a popular diuretic, HCTZ. A drug with similar anti-fungal properties is Nizoral.
The good news is that there are natural anti-fungal herbs available that do battle with candida and other nasty germs that try to make us sick. The following dietary supplements are well-studied and sold at most health food stores:
Oil of oregano- a very powerful, natural and safe herb; choose a pure brand, one that is organic and not genetically modified (written as, “non GMO”).
Pau d’arco- Fungus doesn’t normally grow under Pau d’arco trees which are native to the Amazon rain forest. Pau d’arco can demolish candida, H. pylori, and some strains of aspergillus, pneumonia and staph.
Grapefruit Seed Extract (or GSE)- I think this one is incredibly effective and it’s very inexpensive.
Olive Leaf- It has broad spectrum abilities so it destroys many dangerous pathogens.
Saccharomyces boulardii- This supplement contains a friendly yeast originally extracted from lychee and mangosteen (fruits) and it drives out candida; some brands include Reflor, Florastor and DiarSafe.
Candidase- This brand contains two enzymes that control yeast overgrowth.
Did You Know? Zinc supplementation protects against damage to the digestive tract from alcohol.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Any products mentioned or information within this column is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
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Reader Comments (4)
-Tennille
www.yeastfreeliving.com
Not sure where all the animosity comes from, but that also can be a detriment to your health. Maybe you should seek counseling. I , as Tenille in the other post, have suffered from yeast symptoms for 3 years. Most my symptoms were not very classic symptoms, I had a sinus infection that I could not get rid of, extremely low energy, and headaches almost daily. I went to doctors, specialists, dentists, optometrists, had almost every test done to mankind and no one could figure out what was wrong. It wasn't until I went to a naturopath and he put me on a yeast cleanse that I started to have dramatic improvements. So, I can say, that i don't care if there is scientific evidence or not, maybe we are not advanced enough to detect it. Just because it can't be explained, doesn't mean it is not a possibility. At one point man thought the world was flat. All I know is that it worked for me. The pro to anyone who thinks that they might have a yeast problem, is that unlike antibiotics trying it can't hurt you, and who knows it just might help. So, I encourage anyone to add helpful information that might help someone else.