Several years ago, I was very sick. I couldn’t get out of bed and had lost the drive to put up with the day to day grind. My doctor told me that I had psychosomatic symptoms, and that I should talk to a professional.

The beginning of the illness began with a month-long prescription of a strong antibiotic, and after completing the antibiotics – I was never the same.

I had terrible symptoms that affected every part of my body. My doctor kept telling me that it was nothing, that there was nothing wrong with me – but I knew that it couldn’t be true.

Finally, I went to a naturopathic doctor for some answers.

“Candida”, the naturopathic doctor told me after several tests. “You have candida, and this is what you’ll have to do to kill it.”

Did I have candida? Or was candida some make-believe disease that only existed in the text books of naturopathic doctors?

I had to find out. This article is from the months of research on the subject.

Where Did Candida Come From?

Let’s begin this article at the history of candida and how it became a popular diagnosis to naturopathic doctors.

In 1986, Dr. William Crook released a publication called “The Yeast Connection” by Dr. William Crook. The publication discussed candida overgrowth as an issue in that occurs in our body and that this overgrowth creates a host of unpleasant symptoms.

Yet, the discovery and research of candida goes before the writings of Dr. William Crook.

Dr. C. Orian Truss, in 1978, when antibiotics, refined carbohydrates, high sugar consumption, and predominate lifestyle of stress began to flourish in society. According to Truss’s research, the way we live our life each day and the foods we eat has turned people into “yeast factories” that cause yeast to thrive and over-populate in our bodies.

In 1984 Dr. C. Orian Truss wrote a book entitled “The Missing Diagnosis.” Truss believed that candida affected more than just our skin, but our entire body. His study revealed that people saw a huge difference in their candida symptoms just through eating fewer carbohydrates each day.

The research of Truss was continued by Dr. William Cook and popularized in our world as candida overgrowth.

Candida is when the natural and safe yeast in our gut becomes out of balance and overgrows. The yeast begins to transform into a fungus, and its roots penetrate the walls in our intestines. This causes leaky gut (which isn’t a recognized medical diagnosis) and allows the candida to spread throughout our entire body.

With the research of Dr. Truss and Dr. Crook, more and more people’s attention was directed at the possibility that Candida albicans could be the reason for their illness.

Yet, most of the medical world still claim that candida is a myth and that it’s a made-up illness.

So, is candida real? You’ll have to come to your own conclusions.

Is Candida Real?

In our world today, Candida seems to be promoted by naturopathic doctors and rejected by most medical practitioners.

My gastroenterologist told me that Candida does not exist in the gut and that my problem was not candida overgrowth; in fact, he stated that it was only a fairytale. He did acknowledge that something was wrong in my gastrointestinal tract but didn’t know exactly what that was.

This is where the problem lies. Is there any proof that candida is actually a legitimate issue, and why doesn’t doctors acknowledge that it’s real?

In a paper written in 2004 in sciencedirect.com and gastrojournal.org it stated,

“Fungi may colonize the small intestine and may be pathogenic and/or cause GI symptoms.”

© 2014 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An article in the Science Daily stated that a “common yeast” may actually worsen IBD symptoms in Crohn’s disease.

The article said,

While most studies have focused on bacteria, the dominant microbial inhabitants in the gut, scientists at University of Utah Health Sciences used mouse studies to show the role of yeast in aggravating the symptoms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

University of Utah

These articles do not directly state that candida exists, but they do acknowledge that yeast exists in the gut and causes bad GI symptoms or agitate other illnesses.

We know that yeast exists in the gut because it can be found in a simple stool sample, which by the way, is one of the most accurate tests to see if a person has candida.

So why is it rejected by most of the medical world?

I think there could be a couple logical answers to this. It could be that there isn’t enough information and studies done on the subject, so doctors never learn about its possibility. It also could be that there’s too much money to be lost if doctors stopped treating IBS with their favorite pet medications. These medications only treat symptoms and not the root cause. IBS is a diagnosis that includes anything to do with the GI tract. It’s basically the doctors admitting that they have no idea what could be the issue, so they state that your gut is irritated.

It’s not me to say, because I am not a doctor and I don’t play one on TV either.

I believe that there are enough studies to prove that yeast is in our GI, and can cause issues.

Overall, I’m saying that candida’s existence isn’t something that’s unbelievable. In fact, when you add together all of the research available, it makes a lot of sense.

An Unbalanced Approach With Candida

I believe that candida is an actual issue and should be recognized as one. I also believe, after reading articles, forums and Facebook Groups, that it can be taken too far.

Let me explain.

It seems like we’re adding more and more symptoms to the candida symptoms list every day. when someone has a different symptom, they automatically claim that it must be their candida. Which could be true, or it could be false. It’s just that everything now is linked back to candida which I do not think is the case.

The internet is full of information and facts that don’t make sense, and this is the same with candida.

I read an article recently by Kim Evans on huffpost.com that stated:

An estimated 90 percent of the population has a problem with candida overgrowth, although most don’t know it.

Antibiotics Cause Cancer? | By Kim Evans

Even if this was true, how could it ever be proven? This type of ideology can bring us to the same place as the doctors that reject that candida exists.

We must have a balance approach when it comes to candida. Another way people become unbalanced in their approach with candida is when they figure out ways to treat it themselves.

I’ve heard of some pretty crazy treatments for candida – some that are extremely dangerous. I understand that people who are desperate will try anything, but this is where the problem lies.

You have to trust what works and has been tested, and be patient that your body will win over candida in the end.

Again, it comes down to a balanced approach. I agree that the candida symptom list is large, but we have to be reasonable when we consider what is actually caused by candida.

The Connection Between Candida and IBS

I do believe that candida is often diagnosed as IBS.

According to the Mayo Clinic,

The precise cause of IBS isn’t known.

Mayo Clinic: Irritable Bowel Syndrome

The website also states that one of the causes of IBS is changes in gut microbes which would be the same reason candida overgrows out of control. The good bacteria in our gut is depleted and it allows the yeast to multiply.

In my research, there is a strong connection between IBS and candida.

Notice the Similarities between candida and IBS when it comes to their symptoms in the chart below. We researched all the known and popular symptoms of both candida and IBS to help you compare how similar they are:

How is the good bacteria destroyed? For me it was the overuse of antibiotics. It’s no secret that we are over-using antibiotics in our society.

IBS is when doctors don’t know the exact issue and state that something is irritating your intestines – yes, this is true. Doctors would say that they do not know the exact cause, but decide that the best course of action is to throw medication at the symptoms. Does this make sense to you?

Why not take steps to eliminate candida, and see if it makes a difference?

Treating IBS as candida made a difference for Dr. Truss’ patients in 1984. Changing ones diet and replenishing the good bacterial in their gut showed amazing results.

Treating Candida

Treating candida comes down to two simple steps.

You need to kill the yeast directly (using an anti-fungal) and by starving it through changing your diet; then replenishing the good bacteria in your gut.

It’s also a good idea to take some supplements like B vitamins and magnesium to rebuild what candida has torn down. I listed below the ones that I purchase on Amazon.

B Vitamins – Amazon
Magnesium – Amazon
Berberine (Kills the yeast and heals the gut) – Amazon

When I was really sick with Candida, I used this ebook to learn as much as I could about the illness. The ebook is called “Yeast No More,” It’s a great resource that walks you through everything you’ll need to know to be successful with candida.

Click here to read more about Yeast No More.

Conclusion

Is candida real? Yes. It is.

It’s an issue in our world, and it doesn’t get the respect it deserves.

If you have been diagnosed with IBS, why not begin steps to fight off candida? What do you have to lose?

I hope this article was a help to you.

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