#candida

Candida vol 2 no 6 Jun 1973

hii everybody! my year-long fall island is FINALLY finished!!

Candida is an island taken over by parasitic fungi. deep, winding forests, marshy swamps, and rot galore!

DA-5048-6464-8224

Destructive Duo

The yeast Candida albicans (turquoise) and the bacterium Enterococcus faecalis (purple) are two microorganisms that generally live harmoniously inside the human body. Sometimes, E. faecalis has a suppressive effect on the yeast, but other times, these two bugs form a dastardly alliance that results in destructive infections. Scientists are therefore trying to understand how the same pair of organisms can have such different relationships. New research indicates that the particular strain of E. faecalis determines the outcome. It turns out that only bacteria that produce a toxin called cytolysin, which destroys host cells, exacerbates infections. The connection of E. faecalis and C. albicans positions the bacteria in contact with host cells, where its toxin wreaks havoc. Simultaneously, the yeast weakens host cells making them susceptible to the toxin. Knowing which strain of the bacteria is present in an infected patient could therefore inform how aggressive the treatment needs to be.

Written by Ruth Williams

Image from work by Mario Kapitan and colleagues, Ilse D. Jacobsen Lab, Leibniz-HKI

Research Group Microbial Immunology, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology-Hans Knöll Institute, Jena, Germany

Image originally published with no restrictions – hence published here with as Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), November 2025

A yeast infection, or Candidiasis, is a common fungus infection caused by an overgrowth of Candida (a type of yeast, which is a form of fungus). Candida is naturally present within the human microbiome, but it's usually kept in check by the body's immune system and by lactic acid bacteria. If this balance is broken, candidasis occurs, and common symptoms are itching, burning, and thick white discharge.

I've been suffering with this for the past 8 years. Every 8-12 months I'd have it. My ObGym was useless, prescribing me one-time antifungal pills that don't prevent reinfection and over-the-counter medications that did nothing at all.

Fortunately, I found a pharmacist who had the same issues herself, and has read many different studies, and finally formulated, through trial and error, a regiment of probiotic that actually works. Every day you take one capsule orally after breakfast, and one capsule vaginally before going to bed. Here's the correct order:

Step 1 - Clean

This step should last at least 20 days, and is supposed to clean the candida away.

PROBIOBASE (Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii + Enterococcus faecium), both orally and vaginally

Step 2 - Recolonize

Now that the yeast infection is cleared, we need to recolonize the gut with good bacteria. This type of bacteria is key for gut health, so this step must last 40 days.

PROBIOKAL (four different bifidobacteria strains), orally

PROBIOGINECK (four different Lactobacillus strains), vaginally

Step 3 - Maintain

This step is to maintain the progress you've made, and to restore microbiome balance completely.

PROBIOKOSS (Lactobacillus reuteri, fermentum, casei and rhamnosus) orally (you only needed to take this for 20 days, then you are done with oral pills)

CrispAct (Lactobacillus crispatus M247) vaginally (you need to take this for a whole 3 months) (this medication needs to be kept refrigerated!)

Other things that helped

I need to mention how reducing the amount of sugar I eat in my everyday diet has made a huge change and helped A LOT in fighting candidasis. I've always had a sweet tooth, and used to eat a lot of sugar. My pharmacist explained how candida feeds on sugar, and going on a low sugar diet starves it and helps fight it. Moreover, if you have a sweet tooth AND struggle with yeast infection, it's probable that your cravings are actually caused by candida itself! Our intestines are our second brain, and are constantly sending signals and inputs to our actual brain, that inform our behaviour. Gut microbiome greatly influences the type of signals we receive, fungi and bacteria are asking us to eat more of the stuff that nourishes them! So that's why an overgrown candida is frequently associated with intense sugar cravings!

But when I stopped eating sugar two things happened: 1. I was able to fight the infection MUCH QUICKER compared to previous times I had to deal with it 2. My cravings for sugar disappeared. It was like POOF gone. Now I don't eat a lot of sugar and I DON'T MISS IT.

When I was into the thick of it (full blown infection) I completely removed sugar, yeast AND diary. I removed carbohydrates as well, as they quickly turned into sugar when half digested.

Now I do eat stuff like pasta and bread and pizza, but less often than before and I make a point to eat raw veggies before: this slows down digestion and lowers the glycemic index of the whole meal. Remember: the problem is not sugar, but your body receiving a very high dose of sugar in a very short amount of time. A diet of mainly whole foods and a few treats here and there is perfectly healthy and doesn't overfeed candida :)

I still eat stuff like chocolate and pastries and gelato, but waaaaay less often than before and in small quantities.

Another thing that I started doing is ironing my underwear, to sanitize them with heat. I wash things in the washing machine at 30°C and that's not enough to sanitize them from fungus and bacteria. So later I just iron them. This has helped a tiny bit.

Conclusion