A Candida Cleanse

Overview

A candida cleanse might be the cure-all if you feel just plain lousy. Candida cleanses purport to cure everything from sexual disinterest to gastrointestinal bloat to the irresistible urge to reach for the last jelly doughnut---or the last beer. But candida cleanses and the condition they claim to cure are a topic of heated debate between conventional medical doctors and alternative practitioners.

What Does It Cure?

Candida albicans is a fungus normally present on the human body, including the mouth, intestinal tract, and in women, the vagina. Integrative physician Dr. Andrew Weil, who received Forbes' "Best of the Web" award in Alternative Medicine, notes that the concept that Candida albicans is a "major pathogen that can weaken the immune system" was first popularized by Dr. William Crook in his 1983 book "The Yeast Connection." Candida albicans can "get out of control," Weil notes, causing vaginal yeast infection, thrush (yeast infections of the mouth) and gastrointestinal upset. However, a candida cleanse purports to cure a systemic medical condition called candidiasis hypersensitivity. This goes by other names as well, including yeast syndrome, systemic candidiasis, yeast allergies, chronic candida, candida overgrowth syndrome (COS), and the "yeast connection."

Yeast Syndrome

Weil notes that Crook's assertions about Candida albicans included that the fungus causes a host of serious problems, such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune disorders. Dr. Stephen Barrett of the National Council Against Health Fraud states that those who feel they suffer from yeast syndrome suffer from a dizzying array of symptoms, including fatigue, irritability, abdominal bloating, depression, anxiety, dizziness, weight gain, ADHD, sugar and alcohol cravings, hives, infertility, and impotence---to name only a few.

What Is a Candida Cleanse?

The solution to yeast syndrome offered by many alternative practitioners is a candida cleanse, which eliminates the foods that allegedly cause the illness. These may include sugar, white flour, yeast and cheese and other foods that purportedly cause yeast (candida) to overgrow, state Mayo Clinic experts. WholeHealthMD.com states that Crook's book advocates eschewing all packaged and processed foods, melons and mushrooms. In addition to avoiding taking antibiotics, which purportedly cause yeast syndrome, natural remedies can be used to include goldenseal, garlic, oregano oil, echinacea and lactobacillus acidophilus.

The Problems With a Candida Cleanse

The problem with a candida cleanse is that the conventional medical community doesn't believe that such a condition exists. The Mayo Clinic notes that there's scant evidence available to support such a diagnosis and no research conducted on the efficacy of a candida cleanse diet on a medical condition that's not recognized. Weil, himself a proponent of alternative therapies, states that treatments for yeast syndrome waste patients' time and money. "Anyone with yeast growing in the blood or vital organs would be critically ill in an intensive care unit," Weil states. "Despite this medical reality, systemic candidiasis remains a popular diagnosis in some segments of the alternative medicine community." In fact, as early as 1989, candidiasis hypersensitivity was listed by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration as one of the "Top 10 Health Frauds."

What a Candida Cleanse Does

The Mayo Clinic states that a candida cleanse diet doesn't prevent yeast from growing in the digestive tract. But it might make people feel better simply because it encourages healthier eating. Avoiding sugar and flour means eschewing foods with little nutritional value. After a few weeks of eating fresh foods---rather than those that are processed---people simply feel healthier.