Candida Yeast Overgrowth More Real than Ever and Part of a Larger Gut Issue

Reader Contribution by Kathleen Jade and N.D.
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You may not hear about Candida overgrowth as much anymore, but there’s more evidence than ever that this syndrome is real and is often associated with other gut problems that cause a wide variety of symptoms throughout the body.

Back when I was beginning my naturopathic medical education in the late 1990s, everyone was talking about Candida yeast overgrowth. The terms “chronic candidiasis,” “yeast syndrome,” and “intestinal candidiasis” were the labels most often used for this condition, in which yeasts that belong to the genus Candida (especially Candida albicans) overgrow in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This Candida overgrowth, essentially a chronic, low-grade Candida yeast infection of the intestines, was believed to cause a wide variety of symptoms in virtually every body system.

Denial of Intestinal Candidiasis

At that time, there was very little research on yeast overgrowth in the intestines. It was known then, just as it is known today, that Candida yeasts normally live on the skin and mucous membranes, including those of the GI tract, without causing infection. Conventionally trained physicians were (and still are) taught that Candida yeasts found in the gut, even if they are found in abnormally large numbers, are not causally related to symptoms or disease, do not constitute a health hazard, and do not require treatment.[13]

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