Candida and The Human Microbiome 255This is really just another subjective symptom of the kind I described in
Chapter 10, but often nothing would dissuade them from their own
interpretation of events. The trouble magnifies when such individuals go
on to write articles or even, God forbid, a book about Candida!
Because of the confusion I have described, I will use the
terms Candida, yeast syndrome and intestinal fermentation syndrome
interchangeably in the remainder of this chapter. But we must bear in
mind the bacterial component also. The whole issue of disordered bowel
flora should be referred to simply as dysbiosis or, as we shall soon learn,
disordered microbiome.
Testing for Candida and yeasts
I used to carry out a kind of intradermal testing known as
provocation-neutralization, or Miller’s method. It soon became obvious to
me that skin tests for Candida (Oidium, as we used to call it) were of little
worth – but testing for yeast was helpful; I used to test baker’s yeast and
brewer’s yeast separately.
Nothing really beats a detailed case history and carefully
documenting symptoms. For instance, chemical sensitivity seems to go
almost hand in hand with dysbiosis and one may be leading to the other.
Conversely, dealing effectively with one would relieve the other. This is
knowledge you can’t find in books; it’s just picked up in clinical experience,
from tens of thousands of cases.
There are four symptoms in all that I have found very helpful in
pinpointing candida, yeast overgrowth and other causes of dysbiosis:
- a craving for sweet foods
- a poor tolerance of alcohol
- chemical sensitivity
- abdominal bloating.
This is my ‘awesome four-some’! All four symptoms means almost
a certainty; any three will do for a strong presumptive diagnosis. Craving for
sugary foods is often outstanding.
You can ask for the fasting glucose alcohol challenge test and breath
hydrogen test, as I have described above.