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Comment by deskamess | Hacker News Reader

What would it take to make an 'anti-candida diet'. And do foods have this candida fungus in it?

An anti-candida diet is just a diet that is very low in sugar or things that digest into sugars (so minimizing anything that would feed populations of candida yeasts in the gut), while simultaneously consuming things (foods, supplements or drugs) that actively fight or kill off the yeast.

Interestingly, for my mom, the migraines are a sign of the "die-off" symptoms. So we have to be careful not to kill off the candida too aggressively or else it will cause headaches that are too much (so we do it gradually).

Practically, an anti-candida diet is like a keto diet but without the counting carbs and also avoiding dairy - so lots of non-starchy vegetables, meat, fish, avocados etc. basically

> the migraines are a sign of the "die-off" symptoms

It could also be a reaction to the drugs and low sugar.

True, but in her case it tends to be when we've gone a bit aggressive on the anti-candida supplements, e.g. berberine could trigger a die-off (but only sometimes, depending on how well she's managed her diet, so if she fell off her diet and the population of candida bloomed then when she takes berberine it has a markedly more pronounced effect)

Is the diet from a medical doctor (MD) or at least a registered dietitian (RD)? It has a hint of scam like naturpath/homeopath mumbo jumbo. I'm not saying that it is but if it is I detest people who prey on sick, weak, vulnerable people and push their pseudoscience for profit.

The diet might be but the diagnosis often isn’t…

If you happen to live in a state where naturopath is a legally protected term, with state licensing boards and all that, naturopathic doctors are legit medical professionals, and in my experience they can be far more knowledgeable and helpful than registered dieticians (who are also great, within their wheelhouse) not to mention many doctors. The naturopaths I've seen have actually provide links to high quality, peer reviewed research in presenting me with diagnoses and treatment options on occasion. The modern, licensed naturopath undergoes extensive science-based education and rigorous training like any medical professional.

If you live in a state or country where 'naturopath' is not a legally protected term, then yeah, proceed with abundant caution. You may well be seeing a high school dropout who has an unhealthy fascination with crystals, lol.

Is naturopath a legally protected term in the US? I did a few Google searches, but I can't tell.

It varies state by state:

https://aanmc.org/licensure/

States with certifying body and licensing requirements have legal protections on using terms such as naturopath, ND, etc.

> naturopathic doctors are legit medical professionals

But not actual doctors right?

Yes, actual doctors / physicians.

"A person represents himself or herself as a naturopath when that person adopts or uses any title or any description of services that incorporates one or more of the following terms or designations: Naturopath, naturopathy, naturopathic, naturopathic physician, ND, or doctor of naturopathic medicine."

https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=18.36A.030

That just says that you can't call yourself a naturopath without a naturopathy license, but it doesn't mean you have to know anything about real medicine.

Where naturopath is a legally protected term and there is government licensing body, they are given the title ND. As in doctor of naturopathy.

So not a real doctor.

I have a close family member who's an ND in Oregon, and as part of their training they had 4 years in regular college (studying biology/biochem), then 4 years at an accredited naturopathic school, and a 2 year residency. It's highly rigorous and not just quack stuff.

I'm sure there are highly rigorous schools for feng shui too. If this stuff works why isn't it part of mainstream evidence-based medicine? Big pharma conspiracy?

Because "evidence-based" medicine isn't. At least in the US, Medical Training for MDs is probably the most dogmatic science-related discipline. Change is incredibly slow, because tenured professors will lecture positions and practices on topics directly contradicted by the very textbooks they assigned for the class (which they haven't read in several editions). It doesn't take a conspiracy for an incredibly valuable pool of people to remain insulated from things that would challenge their status quo (or worse, the egos of those in charge).

Medicine advances one death at a time - and it's not the deaths of patients, but rather from the death of the old guard.

I'm not saying that candida isn't causative here, but what precisely are you basing the candida hypothesis from? The lab test? There are other plausible explanations for your mom's symptoms, which is why I ask. It could be that exogenous carbohydrates are aggravating brain inflammation, for example, and reducing those carbs lessens the inflammation. Candida could be related but not necessarily the cause.

Again, not trying to debunk you. I'm just curious.

Serum D-arabinitol is a quite solid indicator for candidiasis.

A couple reasons:

Observations of her diet and symptoms. 2 main qualities being observed here. 1 is migraine/headaches, the other is confusion. Both seem to have a 1-2 day delay, e.g. eating a very triggering food then in usually 1 1/2 days she will have migraine/headache, likewise increased confusion. So the trigger foods originally had been observed to be dairy mainly, but we had come to realize many foods were also triggering it in a lower-grade dairy was just very noticeable. So for your hypothesis of it being exogenous carbohydrates, which is a fair hypothesis, for me the fact that dairy is such a trigger makes me think it's not the carbs so much as the whatever is feeding the candida. So basically one of the reasons I believe it's the candida is because observationally, the foods in her diet that caused migraine/headache/confusion lined up with the foods that fed candida. Then going on anti-candida diet we don't have any of those symptoms. Yes it could still be something else. Anti-candida diet is as you say, low-carbs and low sugar which is good for many things. The dairy part though, in particular, leads me to believe it's more than carbs.

Then there's the lab testing that shows in particular indications of a severe yeast infection in the gut, e.g. candida.

So taken together, I'm led to believe candida is the main thing affecting her, though I'm very open to it being something related and not candida as such, but still all evidence so far points to candida.

D-arabinitol does indicate fungal overgrowth somewhere in the body as it's not produced by human cells. This isn't quackery, it's a common test done for yeast infections.

To ease die off, you could try supplementing compounds that break down acetaldehyde. Usually ALDH does that, but synthesis can be impaired. I‘ve read good things about Kislip in that regard.

I've been using Zbiotics for a while now which claims to do the same although I've been using it for the marketed goal of easing hangovers.

Yes, anti hangover supplements often try to reduce acetaldehyde, it’s the same problem there. AFAIK ALDH is really important but often not synthesized in sufficient quantities. Maybe we‘ll hear more about that in future research.

Really awesome, thanks for sharing that information. I'll look into it and give ALDH a try for sure. Thanks again!

I think there’s not that many options for supplementing ALDH directly, but it can be supported by Kislip and other related fermented products like Yoitoki and persimmon vinegar.

If it would be possible, could you provide us more insight into her supplement protocol? Would you recommend Candex or Undecylenic Acid or anything else?

Low sugar diet with non-starchy vegetables such as asparagus, bean sprouts, beets, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli and cauliflower), leafy greens.

That diet made me lose 15 kilograms over 2 weeks, 20 in total after first month. Pretty gruesome, because of the privation, the antifungal supplements and the slow die-off (migraines, sweats, general feverish-ness). Didn't feel hunger once I realized there was no portion-size limit and took the habit of getting full ('les dents du fond qui baignent') of whatever kind of food was left from the diet and still oncd the first month passes, felt so much better in every aspect (transit, clarity of thought, endurance, skin, bloodwork and ... fertility - labs results too).

I was pretty much skepticism incarnated and just what-the-hell-let's-prove-em-wrong-ed it. Whatever it was, either actually candida albicans infestation, or general bad eating habits, or whatever thing that this accidentally changed, or just the compound placebo of the diet discipline... the change was there.

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