The cornerstone of the medical treatment of candidiasis is diet. For a patient suffering from yeast overgrowth, eating sugar is like pouring gasoline on a fire. The patient needs to avoid sugar and refined carbohydrates, including white flour and rice, and to eat foods rich in protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Additionally, many substances are known to be antifungal, including grapefruit seed extract (GSE), caprylic acid, garlic, berberis vulgaris, and Pao d’Arco tea. Essential fatty acids and lactobacillus (the friendly, beneficial bacteria in healthy colons) are usually required to restore health.
Prescription antifungal drugs including Diflucan, Nizoral, Sporanox, and Nystatin may also be used. Strict avoidance of sugar is necessary to first reduce the population of yeast to avoid uncomfortable symptoms of toxicity from a Herxheimer reaction or “die off.”
Candidiasis doesn’t develop overnight, and its treatment similarly must often be sustained for a long period of time.
