NOTE: A machine generated this transcript. Please be aware that it may contain occasional errors in punctuation and spelling.
I will say that any time I consider a diet now, or I really don’t refer to it as a diet, I refer to it more like a lifestyle adjustment. but anytime I’m considering making a lifestyle adjustment that pertains to what I’m consuming for fuel, my raw building blocks. I look at it and I say, is that sustainable? Is that something that I can continue long-term?
Welcome to the Let’s Talk Toxin show. Today, we’re going to talk about something that affects many of us but often goes undiagnosed: fungal toxicity, particularly candida and yeast overgrowth. These sneaky microorganisms can cause confusion and chaos in our systems, especially for women in midlife. If you’re concerned about candida and yeast overgrowth and its effects on your overall health, you’re not alone.
In this episode, I share practical strategies for identifying, addressing, and preventing candida and yeast overgrowth to support your body as you enter midlife. And make sure you stay to the end where I answer questions from women, just like you.
If you’re new here, I’m Dr. Gala Gorman, a licensed acupuncturist, naturopath, and author of “What’s Your Kryptonite?” I wrote the book to help women understand the effects of chronic stress that’s turned toxic. In the book, I share the MOLT Method™ I developed to make it easy to shed stress along with the accumulated toxicity, just like any other creature in nature that’s outgrown its trappings.
Many women find their way to me after trying everything to deal with their annoying symptoms. You may feel like you’ve learned more than you ever wanted to know about health and you still aren’t healthy. It’s time for a different approach. Symptoms are directly related to stress, but stress isn’t easy to master, and it isn’t going away.
If you’re ready for a new approach that will lead to stress mastery, I highly recommend joining me for the monthly events and challenges in my membership. It’s perfect for those who have a strong sense they’re missing something important that’s the key to optimal wellness.
In the membership, we apply the MOLT Method™ I developed. MOLT is an acronym, M is for mindset, O is for order, L is for lifestyle, and T is for toxins. It’s designed to help you shed stress, cruise through mid-life symptom-free, and end issues like chronic fatigue, insomnia, and even weight gain. So join us and turn your knowledge into real change.
In this next segment, I share information from research studies related to toxicity. You can think of it as a Toxin Trend. The T in MOLT stands for toxins, and I can say with confidence that every symptom is caused by accumulated toxicity. I evaluate 12 categories of toxicity when I’m working with someone to unravel a health mystery. Our world is full of man-made substances that our bodies were not designed to deal with. Couple this toxicity with an overwhelming amount of toxic stressors the body was designed to manage, and it’s no wonder women find themselves playing whack-a-mole with symptoms.
So here’s a great example of a Toxin Trend, and it’s talking about climate change and how climate change is having a significant impact on fungal growth and distribution. This is particularly affecting the spread of mycotoxins or mold, and mycotoxins are a different category of toxicity that I evaluate in my 12 categories of toxicity.
So we’ll talk more about mycotoxins in the future, but in this particular research study, it’s referring to the global rise in temperatures and the shift in weather patterns that we’re seeing and how that’s impacting the footprint essentially, various fungal species and some of these cause diseases in humans and crops. And so they may not have been native to a certain area, but because of some of these pretty dramatic shifts, they’re growing in places that they had not been seen previously.
So, one of the most notable impacts is the expansion of thermotolerant fungi into new regions. So, Aspergillus species, which produce these aflatoxins, are becoming more prevalent in areas previously considered too cool for their growth. This shift is particularly concerning because aflatoxins are potent carcinogens that can contaminate food crops.
There’s also another species, Coccidioides fungi. That’s a mouthful. I’ll leave that to the scientists to perfect, but this fungi is responsible for valley fever, and it’s moving northward in the United States, and it’s projected to even reach the Canadian border by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions continue to escalate.
Climate change is also altering the cycles of drought and intense rainfall. And this increases the risk of fungal diseases for plants and humans. For instance, prolonged droughts followed by periods of heavy rainfall. This is definitely what we’re seeing now, creates like an ideal condition for the growth and dispersal of the spores of these fungi. And this is essentially how they spread.
Extreme weather events like dust storms and wildfires. And again, you know, if you’re watching this video shortly after it comes out, we’ve just been experiencing these extreme wildfires in California in the Los Angeles area. And this is becoming more frequent due to this climate change.
And what happens as these winds spike and the fires carry things for many miles. The spores end up getting transported to areas that they were not natively found in previously. And again, this just really is introducing pathogens to new areas and the area was not adapted to it. So it takes a while for something to adapt to a new pathogen, whether that’s an area in the environment or our own human body.
So some things to really note here are that fungi has adapted to higher temperatures. And this is definitely going to lead to new pathogens and we’re going to have to find different ways to deal with them. Changing precipitation patterns really affects fungal growth, and the mycotoxins related to growing the crops and extreme weather events really contribute to these spores getting spread, and creating outbreaks in new geographic areas.
So it’s really important to increase the surveillance and watch for these things to pop up so that we can help to mitigate the effects. And to just be aware that we’re going to maybe be watching for some signs and symptoms of some new pathogen activity that then we’re going to have to come up with a new way to deal with.
Chapter 12 in my book, “What’s Your Kryptonite?” is dedicated to helping readers manage what I refer to as Tricky Toxins. Our bodies are bombarded with toxicity, so we have to learn to manage it. So just comment, “tricky toxins”, and we’ll send you a link where you can download the chapter for free. If commenting isn’t convenient, go to DrGala.com/Links and sign up for my Wellness Weekly newsletter. You can respond to any email you receive from me with “tricky toxins,” and we’ll send you a link.
In this next segment, I’m opening the kimono to share how I was challenged to apply my suggestions. I’m Walking My Talk, and here’s an example. Every suggestion you’ll hear from me has been tested in the trenches that includes saying no to symptom suppression over the past four decades. Yes, four decades. I’ve developed processes that work sustainably. Typically, it requires a combination of approaches that I’ve synthesized to address the health issues that show up repeatedly for many women.
The story I’m going to share today is not a recent experience, but it is related to the topic that we’re going to cover in this episode. So, I thought it was appropriate to share it here. If you’re near my age. I’m in my early sixties. You probably are familiar with the craze that was the Atkins diet, the like original, low-carb diet. And at one point. Gosh, it’s been over 20 years ago now I decided to try this low-carb diet because I was accumulating a few pounds, and it seemed to be something that would maybe help to reverse the trajectory in the direction that I was looking for help in, in essence, to lose a few pounds and maybe take off some body fat.
And so what I found with the low-carb diet is that while it was an adjustment at first, I slipped into it pretty easily. Once I got past that initial headachy experience from the severe change. But I did notice that it disturbed my sleep, and I really did not have the luxury of having my sleep disturbed.
So, that actually created additional stress that I didn’t really understand at the time what it was doing to my body. I will say that it worked, the pounds fell off, and generally speaking, it accomplished my goal, my initial goal. So, what I learned as I reflected on this down the road is that this extreme diet was creating a stress response that my body did not have the resilience to handle, especially with my sleeping disturbed. And so anytime something is disturbing your sleep, I do not want you supporting your sleep with medication. I want you to back off on what you’re doing and restore your sound sleep.
The other thing I will say is that this diet did not really care much what type of protein you consumed. It just wanted you to consume protein. Didn’t care about fats and eliminate the carbs. And certainly, there was an emphasis on eating healthy and eating vegetables, but most people tend to hack this diet and use things like cheese and bacon, which we tend to all love, as a way to kind of get through the diet and get the results from it without having to really alter their preferences too much.
What this did was create gut dysbiosis. And I’m going to share more of that story as we get further into this episode, but this gut dysbiosis was another issue that I did not have the luxury of tolerating. So, if you are experiencing issues with gut health, then just know that what you’re consuming and managing your stress levels is extremely important. If not critical for your health and wellbeing.
So as we move forward, just, you know, what I will share is that if the Atkins diet, the low-carb diet would have been really focused on nutrient density with a lot of vegetables, where instead of just focusing on the protein and fat, we were really focused on the vegetables that were lower in carbs.
That diet might have been more sustainable, but I will say that any time I consider a diet now, or I really don’t refer to it as a diet. I refer to it more like a lifestyle adjustment, but anytime I’m considering making a lifestyle adjustment that pertains to what I’m consuming for fuel, my raw building blocks. I look at it, and I say, is that sustainable? Is that something that I can continue long-term? How would I go out to eat at some of my favorite restaurants and be able to still maintain that approach with kind of minor modifications?
So these are some of the things that I hope you’ll consider when you adopt any sort of major lifestyle adjustment, and really think through like, how am I going to sustain this? Because it’s really disappointing when we’ve made a lot of progress and then we just go back to our previous way of doing things and find that we give all the progress back and maybe even more than that, and then we’ve just dug a deeper hole for ourselves to climb out of, at some point in the future.
Now, let’s talk about a hidden health concern that affects many of us and that’s fungal toxicity. It’s silently impacting our health, especially during midlife. Understanding the difference between candida and yeast is crucial as they’re often used interchangeably, but they really have distinct differences and implications for our health.
Symptoms related to this type of fungal toxicity can be diverse and often mimic other conditions. And that makes diagnosing them really challenging. So, while we can’t completely eliminate exposure to fungal toxins, the good news is that we can take practical steps to reduce our risk and support our body’s natural defense mechanisms.
Let’s explore what recent research tells us about managing fungal overgrowth and maintaining optimal health during midlife and beyond. So, first, I want to talk about the difference between candida and yeast.
So, candida is a type of yeast that naturally lives in our bodies, particularly in areas like the mouth, your gut, and even your vagina. And so while it’s usually harmless, sometimes it can grow out of control and cause infections.
Yeast, on the other hand, is a larger fungi family, and it includes harmful and helpful types. Like those that are used in medicine and food production, think brewer yeast, for example. So yeast is a broader term that includes many types of single-cell fungi.
So candida is just one specific kind of yeast. And a Candida overgrowth can lead to various health issues. So some of the common symptoms include itching, burning, and even a white, chunky discharge in the case of vaginal infections. In the mouth, it might appear as white patches. This is known as thrush.
So it’s important to note that candida infections are common, but not all yeast in our bodies is harmful. So some yeast play important roles in our digestive system and even overall health.
So, how does yeast or candida, in particular, grow out of control? Well, one of the first ways that this happens is with antibiotic use, and what I find with a lot of the women that I work with is they will have a problem like this, either thrush, yeast overgrowth in the mouth, or a yeast overgrowth in their urinary tract or vaginal area, after antibiotic use.
So antibiotics can lead to yeast overgrowth because they kill the beneficial bacteria that normally keeps the Candida in check. So, this is a disruption of the microbiome balance. Particularly in these areas that I referred to. So it’s really important that you use antibiotics only when they’re absolutely called for and that you use natural alternatives if you don’t have a situation that requires using antibiotics.
Another thing too, that really impacts candida is diet and cheese in particular. So, if you’re consuming a lot of sugar or certain dairy products, especially the ones that are really high in lactose, like full milk or the soft cheeses, these often encourage candida growth.
Brie and camembert are really high in mold, and this can really exacerbate Candida issues. You may find that turning to sheep’s milk cheese is helpful for you. Many people started using goat’s milk cheese quite a few years ago when dairy use came into question. But I will say that goat is not necessarily free of the genetic components that are in cow’s milk that are creating most of the problem. And so you may or may not have a problem consuming goat dairy, but sheep’s milk definitely has a different structure. So you may find that it’s more suitable, especially if you’re trying to adopt an anti-candida diet, because this is a big problem for you.
Another thing that I will say can contribute to this is high estrogen levels. So, this is common during pregnancy. This is the reason why women often have issues like this when they’re pregnant. It can also happen with birth control use, but you might also find that if you’ve turned to hormone replacement therapy and you’re altering your hormones at a time in your life when your body’s not designed to deal with them, that can trigger a candida overgrowth as well.
These hormone imbalances create an environment where yeast can grow more easily and make it harder for the body to fight off infections. Estrogen promotes the innate immune invasion of candida albicans through inactivation of some of the alternative systems that the body has to fight this kind of invasion.
So, what kind of related symptoms might you see if you have a candida overgrowth? So, the first I mentioned this a moment ago, thrush. This is a common manifestation of a candida overgrowth in the mouth and throat. And so the symptoms include white patches in the mouth and throat, redness and soreness, and difficulty swallowing. So, if you find that you’ve got redness with these white patches, that’s a clear indication that you’re struggling with thrush.
Sinusitis is also an indication that you’re having a problem with a candida or yeast overgrowth. This might be other types of mycotoxins as well. Maybe not Candida, in particular. So again, we’ll talk more about mycotoxins in a future episode, but sinusitis includes congestion or even post-nasal drip, even facial pain or pressure. You might also experience headaches and even have your sense of smell altered.
The next thing that we’ll want to talk about is a vaginal yeast infection. And this is probably the most common result of a candida overgrowth. And it’s often accompanied by itching, burning, soreness of the vaginal area. And may even have a thick white odorless discharge urinary tract infections.
I mentioned this a moment ago as well. When you’ve got a candida or yeast overgrowth, it can definitely trigger the symptoms of a UTI. That burning sensation and pressure feeling when urinating, maybe frequent urges, and you just don’t feel complete when you urinate, you might also have some pain in the lower abdominal area.
In some cases, candida UTI can even be asymptomatic, meaning you don’t have any symptoms. And this happens often in a patient that had to have a catheter inserted. And so if you’re finding that you’re having symptoms or something just doesn’t feel right, I want you to make sure that you are looked at by a medical professional and rule out that you don’t have something growing that needs to be addressed professionally.
We are going to talk in a moment about some natural remedies you can turn to and use to take care of any sort of early signs of an overgrowth.
Remember, you can get the Tricky Toxins chapter of my book, “What’s Your Kryptonite?” for free. Just comment, “tricky toxins,” and we’ll send you a link where you can download the chapter. If commenting isn’t convenient, go to DrGala.com/Links and sign up for my Wellness Weekly newsletter. You can respond to any email you receive from me with “tricky toxins,” and we’ll send you a link.
So, now let’s continue with a few practical ways to address the risks of long-term unmanaged candida infections and eliminate the overgrowth of candida or really any kind of yeast.
So, these fungal issues affect more than just our digestive system. They can actually impact our overall health and increase our risk of various complications during midlife, but there is some good news: even small changes in our daily routines can significantly reduce our risk of overgrowth and support our body’s natural defense mechanisms.
So don’t forget, when I’m done, drop a comment to share which candida-fighting tips you’re planning to try and why you think they’ll work best for your health based on the signs and symptoms you’re experiencing.
So, let’s continue here with the risks of long-term unmanaged infection. So this chronic discomfort really impacts your quality of life, and you’re going to have persistent itching burning pain. And what you might find is that maybe you seem to get it in check. But the minute you consume any offensive food or have a really stressful period. And I don’t mean period, necessarily in your menstrual cycle. I mean, period in your life, you’ll find that the symptoms flare back up.
In a study of women with recurrent vaginal infection, 63% reported ongoing symptoms even after completing maintenance therapy. So, as you can see, this is a very common problem to have a recurrence. The increased risk of recurrent infections is about five to eight percent. And this is defined as four or more episodes every year.
So, these frequent infections are extremely frustrating to manage and really are going to require long-term suppressive therapy. And I would say therapy in the form of some of the natural remedies that I will talk about here in a moment.
More serious complications, if you leave this untreated, is that they may spread beyond the vaginal area, potentially even entering the bloodstream in rare cases. So, this can lead to invasive candidiasis, a serious condition, risky for women with uncontrolled diabetes in particular.
Now, the moment you’ve been waiting for, let’s talk about how to eliminate an overgrowth of candida and yeast.
And so the first thing you’re going to want to do is adjust your diet, and really this is more of a lifestyle because if you struggle with these issues, I just talked to you about the risk of recurrent infections. And so, as you adopt some of these modifications, this is something that you’re going to want to really practice long-term.
Can you cheat here and there, not regularly, not every week, but here and there? Yes. And probably get away with it. But it’s going to be really important that you reduce your sugar intake and your refined carbohydrates because essentially, when you eat refined carbohydrates, think anything that breaks down really fast, like rice and pasta, that sort of thing.
Reduce your refined carbohydrate intakes because they convert to sugar essentially in your system, focus on consuming probiotic-rich foods like yogurt. I purchase sheep’s milk yogurt, and this is a really great alternative when you have an issue with dairy, like I do. And I recommend that every mature woman limit their dairy consumption, especially cow’s milk dairy. So this yogurt will have active cultures, which can be helpful. These can really help promote the healthy vaginal bacteria.
You want to also maintain proper hygiene. So you want to wear breathable cotton underwear and really avoid staying in wet or sweaty clothes for extended periods of time. If you find that you’re exercising and then running errands or even going swimming and then sitting in a damp bathing suit. These can really contribute to the problem. And so, you’re going to need to change into dry clothing as quickly as possible and then consider these natural remedies that can be extremely helpful.
I personally will use tea tree oil. You can get some suppositories vaginal suppositories that will really help in this area. Boric acid is another alternative for the suppositories. I just know that a review of studies suggested that tea tree oil may have antifungal properties that really guard against a lot of candida species.
If you’re considering using essential oils, you probably want to test that topically on your skin, just on your arm. That sort of thing to make sure that it’s not going to create any sort of reaction for you. Most people don’t have a problem with tea tree, but you just want to be cautious there.
So sometimes, these powerful remedies that we use as our natural alternatives can create irritation or even interact with other medications. So, it’s important to use even natural remedies wisely.
In this next segment, the answers I give to questions I receive quite often apply to and would be helpful for most women.
I’ve accumulated a few related questions, and I’ll answer them in this segment that I refer to as Ask Away. And if you’d like to ask a question, I created a form so that it’s sure to get answered. And your question could be shared in a future episode, helping many other women. So comment “QUESTION”, and we’ll get you a link to the form. If commenting isn’t convenient go to DrGala.com/Links and sign up for my Wellness Weekly newsletter. You can respond to any email you receive from me with “QUESTION” and we’ll send you a link.
Can hormone replacement therapy increase my chances of getting a yeast infection?
So, I spoke about this in depth in the whole episode. And so, I encourage you to watch the entire episode, but basically, the goal of hormone replacement therapy often is to increase estrogen. And I will say that as we’re going through menopause, our body is designed to function on less estrogen. And there’s a lot of things that are going on internally that our body already is under additional stress and trying to manage.
So, if we’re trying to essentially reverse our body’s natural process, that is putting more stress on the body. That’s not the way HRT is sold, but if you have been using HRT or are considering it, just know that if you’ve seen signs of some of these additional symptoms, they very much could be related to trying to increase your hormones at a time in your life when your body’s not designed to handle that.
And yes, they can promote fungal growth. They might also disrupt the natural balance of vaginal flora, and they can even increase vaginal glycogen. So glycogen is essentially our store of sugar. And so, it makes sense that this is essentially a food source for yeast. So, it’s no wonder that using HRT really does increase your risk for developing candida overgrowth or other types of yeast infections.
Are there any natural remedies for treating recurring yeast infections in older women?
Well, first of all, I will say that probiotics applied directly to the vaginal area can help that you want to kind of treat this from both directions, essentially. So if you’re having issues with vaginal yeast infections, then you can use probiotics vaginally, certainly.
But I will also say that we want to be treating this systemically, meaning we’re going to adjust our diet, including potentially adding something like yogurt. I recommend sheep’s milk yogurt that has live cultures that helps to improve gut health.
I mentioned previously and in the full episode tea tree oil, tea tree oil has antifungal properties. And I use tea tree oil for all sorts of things to really help to control any sort of infection that might try to be getting some momentum going. So tea tree oil, you can find tea tree oil suppositories, but I recommend that you test to make sure that you do not have a sensitivity to tea tree oil before inserting a suppository into such a delicate area, and then find out that you’ve created some additional problem that you’ve got to manage because you have some reaction.
Some people do find that using tea tree oil “straight” is too strong for them and you’ve got to dilute it. So you might find some appropriate, again, all-organic, all-natural vaginal cream. And then just add a couple of drops of tea tree oil that would essentially dilute it. I find I don’t have a problem. I can use tea tree oil straight, but if this is a problem for you, you want to dilute it in some really clean oil.
You could even dilute it in castor oil. If you’re using it topically for another area, I wouldn’t put castor oil in your vaginal area. So tea tree oil is just one of those things that you want to always have handy in your home apothecary.
How can I differentiate between symptoms of a yeast infection and other vaginal issues common in mature women?
So yeast infections cause a thick white odorless discharge. So it’s the composition of the discharge and whether or not it has an odor that really differentiates what is going on here. And so again, yeast infections have this thick white discharge, but it has no odor, a bacterial vaginosis is more of like a thin, maybe grayish discharge, but it has a distinct fishy odor. So you’re going to know the difference between these two types of discharges.
Another thing too, to be aware of is that vaginal atrophy causes dryness, and the irritation really can make your vaginal area more susceptible to getting an infection, but you might not even have a discharge because the area is so dry. There’s nothing to sort of carry it to the exterior so that you can see what the discharge looks like.
So if you’re having symptoms of itchiness, maybe burning, that sort of thing, you’re definitely going to want to seek medical advice and have an examination so that you can really get to the bottom of what’s going on and not just wait for a discharge to make its way out of your body to know that you’ve got a problem.
Can certain medications commonly prescribed to older women increase the risk of candida overgrowth?
Well, in the episode, I talked quite a bit about antibiotic use. So I encourage you to watch the whole episode, but antibiotics definitely disrupt the beneficial bacteria, and this includes in the vaginal area. And so I often find with the women that I work with that they will have a flare-up of a UTI or a vaginal infection after a round of antibiotics. And so I really encourage you to avoid using antibiotics unless you absolutely need them.
And there are really rare cases where antibiotics are absolutely called for, you know, think Staph infection or flesh-eating bacteria, that sort of thing. Otherwise, most of the bacterial infections that antibiotics would be appropriate for can be dealt with with natural remedies that then are going to actually allow your body to be stronger having come through the infection.
Steroids also suppress your immune function. This is what they’re designed to do. And so when your immune function is suppressed, don’t be surprised that any sort of pathogen like yeast candida, in particular, would find a way to sort of grow uncontrolled.
And so if you have been on steroids for any reason, really remember even if you had a steroid injection in your knee, that is systemic in your body. And it’s going to affect you in other areas far beyond just your knee. So again, use steroids with caution as well. Especially if you’re one of the women who deals with these recurrent infections because it will most likely trigger a problem for you.
The other thing I will say is that some diabetes medications can affect blood sugar levels, and those blood sugar levels can also contribute to a problem with yeast overgrowth, candida in particular.
Can vaginal dryness associated with aging make me more prone to yeast infections?
Well, decreased estrogen leads to less vaginal moisture. Of course, this is a catch-22 because increased estrogen can trigger a candida overgrowth. And so, really making sure that your estrogen is balanced for your age is the most appropriate approach. Dry vaginal tissue is definitely more susceptible to irritation and infection. And so if you have dryness, there are some natural remedies.
In a previous episode, we talked about vaginal health. And so you’ll probably want to check out that episode, too. If you find that this is an issue that you’re struggling to keep in check. Another thing to really keep in mind is that vaginal pH creates an environment that’s favorable for yeast overgrowth, and again, we talked about vaginal pH in the episode that I referred to a moment ago.
And so if you have recurring issues related to a yeast or candida overgrowth this is something that you feel like you’re dealing with, that you suspect this is a problem for you. Then, I encourage you to check out some of my other videos on this channel.
And remember, if you’d like me to answer your specific question, make sure to comment “QUESTION”, and we’ll send you a link to the submission form. You’ll want to subscribe to the channel notifications to get regular updates.
And that’s a wrap for this episode. This has been the Let’s Talk Toxin show. Make sure you subscribe to my channel on YouTube and activate the notifications. You’ll get a reminder when I’m going live next. Until then, be well.
