Candida

Could yeast infections impair recovery from mental illness?

April 13, 2018 By Trudy Scott Leave a Comment

Julia Rucklidge, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand and has published a number of studies looking at “micronutrients to treat psychiatric disorders including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), mood disorders, stress, and anxiety,” where benefits were reported. “Despite the positive benefits associated with micronutrients, some factors may limit a positive response, one of which may be the overgrowth of intestinal Candida.”

In this 2013 paper, Could yeast infections impair recovery from mental illness? A case study using micronutrients and olive leaf extract for the treatment of ADHD and depression the authors discuss the impact of candida on gut health and response to supplementation:

a number of factors influence optimal response and absorption of nutrients, including the health of the gut, particularly the presence of yeast infections, such as Candida.

As part of a wider investigation into the impact of micronutrients on psychiatric symptoms, many participants who experienced a yeast infection during their treatment showed a diminished response to the micronutrients.

One particular female client was followed for a 3-year period:

Kate (an alias) is a 24-year-old female of European descent who had participated in the 2010 trial by Rucklidge et al using micronutrients for the treatment of ADHD. In the past, she had been prescribed methylphenidate [Ritalin] by a psychiatrist but could not tolerate the side effects.

For just over 2 years, while using the micronutrient, she had no ADHD or mood symptoms, other than a mild increase around her period.

About 2.5 years participating in the trial, Kate started to feel increasingly unwell and reported the following:

(1) a chronic sore throat; (2) a constant runny nose; (3) cramps; (4) itchy toes, anus, and vagina; (5) rashes on her legs and groin area; and (6) an overall flu-like feeling. Concomitantly, all her psychiatric symptoms had returned… She was moody, anhedonic (unable to experience pleasure), and chronically irritable and was having cravings for sugary and starchy foods. Kate visited her family physician, who diagnosed Kate with a vaginal yeast infection

Over the next year, it was found that her psychiatric symptoms (ADHD and mood) got worse when she was infected with Candida and then her ADHD and mood symptoms improved once she was successfully treated with olive leaf extract and probiotics.

The study makes this conclusion about the role of inflammation, gut health and nutrient absorption:

This case outlines that micronutrient treatment might be severely compromised by infections such as Candida and may highlight the importance of gut health when treating psychiatric disorders with nutrients.

Given the role that inflammation can play in absorption of nutrients, it was hypothesized that the infection was impairing absorption of the micronutrients.

The authors also mention the growing body of literature on the gut-brain connection and how

the gut microbiota can influence brain function and subsequent psychiatric functioning.

Candida is always considered as one of many possible root causes with my anxious clients – it can contribute to anxiety as well as ADHD and depression, and out-of-control-sugar and intense carb cravings.

Olive leaf extract is one of many approaches for eliminating candida is more commonly used in Australia and New Zealand.

Another approach is to use garlic and oregano to kill the candida. I have great success with these products from Designs for Health:

Allicillin – a garlic product that contains Garlicillin®, a blend of garlic oil and parsley oil with specified levels of garlic sulfides and ajoene, the most bioactive compound formed from garlic and
Oil of Oregano – which has powerful antioxidant and intestinal cleansing benefits. It also helps to maintain a healthy microbial balance. This product is standardized for carvacrol and thymol, the principal phenolic compounds in oregano

Probiotics are also part of the protocol, as are dietary changes. Fresh garlic, onion, daikon, olive oil, coconut oil, lemon, apple cider vinegar, fermented vegetables and coconut oil are all therapeutic foods on an anti-candida diet.

In addition to killing the candida and restoring the good bacteria with probiotics, I also use targeted individual amino acids to help reduce the sugar and carb cravings, making it easier to quit the bread, sugar, cookies, cakes and fruit. These amino acids can also help to alleviate some of the anxiety, mood and ADHD symptoms from day one, offering relief and hope right away since eliminating candida is not a quick process:

tryptophan for afternoon cravings and mental worry (tryptophan also has some direct anti-candida effects – more to come on this in the future blog)
GABA for stress-related cravings and physical anxiety
glutamine for intense sugar cravings and low blood sugar
DPA for reward eating and weepiness
tyrosine for cravings due to low energy and low motivation

[all of the above supplements, including Allicillin, Oil of Oregano, various probiotics and an olive leaf product, called Olivirex Combination, can be ordered via my online store – details for creating an account on my supplements page. The category once you login is candida/dysbiosis]

Have you experienced anxiety, depression, panic attacks, ADHD and cravings with candida?

Have supplements that worked in the past stop working while you’re dealing with the candida?

Have you found the amino acids to help with anxiety and cravings while you’re addressing your candida?

Alzheimer’s disease, inflammation, stress and candida: Dr. Rudy Tanzi at IHS 2016

March 4, 2016 By Trudy Scott 17 Comments

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I spent last week in New York city at the Integrative Healthcare Symposium Annual Conference listening to some truly brilliant speakers and would like to share some highlights from the wonderful presentation by Rudolph Tanzi, PhD : What Can Alzheimer’s Disease Teach Us About the Brain, Mind, and Self?

Dr. Rudolph Tanzi is the Vice-Chair of Neurology and Director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, and serves as the Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Tanzi co-discovered three of the first Alzheimer’s disease genes and has identified several others in the Alzheimer’s Genome Project, which he directs. He also discovered the Wilson’s disease gene and participated in the discovery of several other neurological disease genes.

The focus of his research is in identifying and characterizing the genetic and environmental factors involved in neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease and autism.

Dr. Tanzi shared this fundamental information:

the Alzheimer’s disease pathology begins in all of us after the age of 40
two thirds of those with Alzheimer’s disease are female
and women are especially susceptible after menopause
head injuries increase the risk
these genes predispose us to the disease: APP, PSEN1, PSEN2 and APOE

Most of the above apply to me (I know I have the APOE gene) but I’m less concerned about Alzheimer’s disease that I have ever been and this is based on what was shared later in his presentation.

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Dr. Tanzi’s whole presentation was fascinating and the section on fungi/candida, although concerning, was promising because we can do something about candida. This is the paper he shared: Different Brain Regions are Infected with Fungi in Alzheimer’s Disease with this question: Are clinical microbial pathogens triggering Alzheimer’s disease?

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It was really interesting to hear that

the amyloid is an antimicrobial agent in the brain and provides protection against the candida/fungi
and that that the amyloid plaques also provide protection against Borellia, periodontal bugs, Herpes Simplex 1 and other infectious agents

What was most encouraging was this:

your brain can handle tons of amyloid plaques and tangles and yet not develop Alzheimer’s disease.
the big deciding factor seems to be inflammation
“resilient brains” had plaques, no inflammation and no Alzheimer’s disease!

So these are some of my thoughts:

Tanzi did share that many people with Alzheimer’s disease suffer from depression and agitation. Here is a paper I retrieved; it does state that depression is worse when benzodiazepines have been used and we know benzodiazepines have been found to contribute to dementia so we need to consider this too.
We also know anxiety is a factor in Alzheimer’s disease and this study “showed that anxiolytic behavior…is predominantly due to cox-2 mediated neuroinflammation induced neurodegeneration in the brain.”
Some of the same underlying causes of anxiety and depression seem to be underlying factors when it comes to Alzheimer’s disease – like candida and inflammation – and there is something we can do about this. We can get rid of the candida and can use natural methods to reduce inflammation starting with eating an anti-inflammatory diet with wild oily fish, no gluten, no sugar and reduced carbs.

Dr. Tanzi also shared these for preventing Alzheimer’s disease:

Social engagement (this is why addressing pyroluria/social anxiety is important – interestingly zinc, vitamin B6 and evening primrose oil are anti-inflammatory)
Learning new things
Reducing emotional stress and deep sleep (this is where my work with the amino acids comes in – interestingly I found this study that discusses how enhancing GABA signaling can prevent cognitive decline in mice with the apoE4 gene)
Exercise (also so beneficial in anxiety and depression)
And nutrients like ashwaganda and cat’s claw (to address stress and kill infections/candida)

Clearly I have more reading and researching to do! As you can tell I love putting all the puzzle pieces together.

I’ve also got more to share from Dr. Tanzi’s talk and will do so next week. Stay tuned for more information on his “three- dimensional human stem cell-derived neural culture system that recapitulates Alzheimer’s disease plaque and tangle pathology.”

Feel free to ask questions and share your thoughts in the comments section.

The Anxiety Summit – Conquering those yeastie beasties (candida) once and for all

November 6, 2014 By Trudy Scott 41 Comments

Dr Mikell S. Parsons, DC. Certified Clinical Nutritionist was interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Conquering those yeastie beasties (candida) once and for all

Yeastie beasties/ candida: what it is and how common it is
How to assess if you have it and symptoms of overgrowth
Why craving sugar is a HUGE sign of a yeast overgrowth
How yeast can be a cause of weight gain
How do we get it and is it contagious
Protocols for getting rid of the yeastie beasties
Methylation and mercury toxicity and candida?

Here are some snippets from our interview:

We’ve got a lot of different microbes in the gut, and we’re supposed to have them, but they’re all supposed to be in the right balance. It’s when the body gets out of balance, yeast is opportunistic. I tell my patients yeast is like a covert spy. It’s laying in the background, doing its thing, acting like everything is cool until the body gets out of balance. And then it can just grow like crazy. And that’s when people start to get symptoms. So we’re all supposed to have it, but the question is will your body provide the opportunity for yeast to kind of take over.

I’ve found it in people who may not have had antibiotics in the last five years or so. But they’re eating a lot of food that is higher in sugar, and they’re not eating vegetables and even good sources of protein. So if you coat your body from the inside with a lot of sugar, that candida starts to kick up their heels, and it’s like a fire. If you want a fire to build, keep putting wood on the fire. If you want to put the fire out, you take the wood away and you cover it with water.

Candida can cause anxiety, depression, leaky gut, reflux and heartburn, brain fog, irritability, low libido, chronic fatigue, weight gain and the feeling of where is my next sugar fix.

Here is the 2013 study we discussed: Could yeast infections impair recovery from mental illness? A case study using micronutrients and olive leaf extract for the treatment of ADHD and depression.

Micronutrients are increasingly used to treat psychiatric disorders including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), mood disorders, stress, and anxiety. However, a number of factors influence optimal response and absorption of nutrients, including the health of the gut, particularly the presence of yeast infections, such as Candida. As part of a wider investigation into the impact of micronutrients on psychiatric symptoms, many participants who experienced a yeast infection during their treatment showed a diminished response to the micronutrients. One case was followed systematically over a period of 3 y with documentation of deterioration in psychiatric symptoms (ADHD and mood) when infected with Candida and then symptom improvement following successful treatment of the infection with olive leaf extract (OLE) and probiotics.

You can get a copy of her fun and educational video here Sexy from the Inside Out: The Art of Poop.

If you are not already registered for the Anxiety Summit you can get live access to the speakers of the day here www.theAnxietySummit.com