Candida - Barriers to Healing
Moving Beyond this Common Cause of Brain Fog, Fatigue, Depression, Anxiety, Mood Swings, Insomnia & Carb Craving
Because I’ve discussed candida in a previous podcast episode, this newsletter will focus on factors that can make it difficult to move beyond candida overgrowth. But first, for those less familiar, here’s a brief introduction:
Candida is the most common fungi in the microbiome. Several factors, including antibiotic exposure, can lead to its overgrowth and colonization in the gastrointestinal tract. Brain fog, fatigue, anxiety, depression, mood swings, insomnia, carbohydrate cravings, and gastrointestinal symptoms (especially constipation) are common symptoms. Children with candida overgrowth are often diagnosed with ADD.
Assessment can be done through blood, urine, or stool testing. I prefer to use urine organic acid testing, which measures yeast metabolites. The main aspects of treatment include antifungal medication or herbal treatments and a low-carbohydrate diet. Candida thrives on sugar and carbs. For some, dietary interventions and antifungal medication are sufficient, but for many, candida can be a chronic challenge.
Okay…I wasn’t trying to come up with a list of 10 this time, but mysteriously, this still turned into …
10 Barriers to Healing From Candida Overgrowth
1. Low Zinc
Aside from being one of the superstar nutrients in brain health, zinc is a superstar for the immune and gastrointestinal systems. If we are relatively low in zinc, we can be more prone to infections and overgrowths, including candida overgrowth. Instead of typical lab ranges, I consider the Walsh-Pheiffer optimal range when dosing zinc. Interestingly, zinc is one of the nutrients that candida uses (which may add to the depletion). Despite that, I will support the immune system by optimizing zinc. Malnutrition and decreased absorption due to alcohol and certain medications can cause low zinc. High pyrroles, high oxidative stress (from illness, inflammation, infection, toxicity), and aging are common causes I see in my work. Most people with brain conditions and most people over the age of 65 have relatively low zinc levels. Normally, zinc is checked along with copper. Because zinc supplementation can bring copper down, I don’t recommend zinc until I know where both levels are.
2. Mold & Metal Toxicity
Mold weakens the immune system. It is very common for those with mold toxicity and colonization to have candida. If someone with candida can’t tolerate antifungals, I’ll suspect mold toxicity. If they’re already toxic from mold, the toxins released from dying off candida can worsen symptoms. Identifying and addressing mold may be necessary for some to move beyond candida.
Heavy metals (mercury, lead, aluminum) can also be at play, as they can harm the immune system and the microbiome. Interestingly, candida protects itself against metal toxicity by absorbing heavy metal into its biofilms (shared protective coverings) and transforming them into smaller particles. These smaller particles are less problematic than the heavy metals for candida. For us, however, they more easily tissue barriers (including the blood-brain barrier) and trigger inflammation.
Chemicals aren’t doing the microbiome and the immune system any favors either, as I’ll get to below. In short, when we are toxic, we have a harder time moving past yeast. Toxicity and secondary oxidative stress are prevalent in brain conditions. Candida is too.
3. High Blood Sugar
Sugar (from refined sugar, refined carbohydrates, and a high-carb diet) will feed candida. This is particularly frustrating, as candida often drives persistent and intense cravings for sugar and carbohydrates. Eliminating sugar is necessary for most who want to move past this. For some with candida overgrowth, carbs may need to be less than 60 grams/day, and for others, even 40 grams. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach because there are many variables, as I’m listing here.
4. Lack of Movement & Exercise
What we put into our bodies isn’t the only thing that impacts our blood sugar. Exercise has a big impact on blood sugar regulation, which is why it’s such an important part of treating diabetes. You won’t necessarily hear about it as a treatment for candida, but it really should be. Exercise will also help promote detoxification, lower stress, and increase the movement of food through the gastrointestinal tract - all are important in healing from candida.
5. Stress
When we are under acute stress or chronic stress, we usually have higher levels of cortisol and higher catecholamines - dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine or adrenaline. Together, these will cause our blood sugar to increase - all in an attempt to prepare our body for fighting or fleeing. We can live with persistent stress in endless ways. There is the stress of modern life, our unique daily stress, stress from trauma or early attachment experiences, relationship stress, especially if we haven’t learned how to set healthy boundaries, the stress of needing certainty, and fear of the unknown…there is even the stress of futility - if we don’t feel purposeful in our lives. We can also have internal stressors such as chronic toxicity or inflammation. EMF can keep us in a stress response.
Some of us are genetically more vulnerable to a more exaggerated stress response. Examples could be slow COMT or MAOA (which clear our stress neurotransmitters), high copper (which can result in high adrenaline states), high pyrroles (which impact the calming neurotransmitter GABA), or the CAPS personality profile (as described in RCCX theory)—not unlike the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP).
Just as there are endless ways to have chronic stress, there are endless ways to lower stress, which I’ve written about in other newsletters.
6. High Estrogen
High cortisol isn’t the only hormone that can contribute to persistent candida. High estrogen can also. It has been shown that estradiol (E2) impacts the expression of several genes that help regulate candida. Estrogen can be high for several reasons, including birth control, hormone replacement, and high exposure to synthetic xenoestrogens (chemicals in household products and pesticides). Estrogen can also be high due to alcohol use, impaired liver function, and higher body fat (our fat tissue can make estrogen). If someone has a slow COMT variant, they may have more difficulty metabolizing estrogen (and catecholamines). Aside from lowering xenoestrogens, we can support estrogen metabolism and avoid adding more estrogen.
7. Lack of Gut Motility
If our food isn’t moving through our digestive tract, candida has more opportunity to overgrow. Slow gastrointestinal motility can be caused by diabetes, hypothyroidism, and connective tissue conditions, such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). Toxicity or stress, which can put our body into a sympathetic state (fight or flight), will decrease the movement in the GI tract. When we are sedentary, there is less blood flow to the digestive tract, which also impacts motility.
When candida starts to die off from antifungals and dietary changes, toxins are released. If those toxins aren’t eliminated with the stool, they are reabsorbed. This can add to further toxicity and make someone feel pretty bad. This is why addressing constipation is an important first step when treating candida. There are several tools to help stimulate gut motility. One example is accessing the vagus nerve.
8. Insufficient Digestive Enzymes, Stomach Acid, and/or Bile Acids
Poorly digested food can become a source of fermentation for candida in the small intestine and can also cause constipation. Some (not all) individuals may need digestive support such as digestive enzymes, betaine HCl, and, less commonly, bile salts.
9. Unaddressed Biofilms
Biofilms are protective coverings made by candida and other microbes to protect themselves. They can prevent antifungals from being able to do their job. There are particular supplements and herbal treatments that can help break down biofilms.
10. Inadequate Beneficial Bacteria
Candida overgrowth often starts when antibiotics knock out enough of the beneficial bacteria that have been keeping the candida in check. Probiotics can help replace some of those bacteria and start to crowd the candida out. Not everyone tolerates probiotics, including some with histamine intolerance, due to the “high histamine” bacterial strains. Increasingly, however, there are other probiotic options available.
As you can see, many opportunities exist to support healing from candida and its many symptoms.
If you’ve had experience with this or are a practitioner, please feel free to add what you find helpful.
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Until next time,
Courtney
Medical Disclaimer:
This newsletter is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment for either yourself or others, including but not limited to patients that you are treating (if you are a practitioner). Consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having.
Not sure what this wants - I simply want to know where you are located.