What Is Candida And Why The Fuzz?

What they are and how they do (not) work

There is so much written on what is candida on the web and it feels that most authors are just copying what somebody else wrote without really taking the effort to verify what is correct and what is not.

My goal here is to help you understand some basics so you have the foundation to evaluate claims and treatment protocols and empower you to make educated decisions. Let's get started.

In biology all organisms are classified according to an indexing system using what is called the binomial nomenclature. In other words all living beings from bacteria to mammals are organized according to our current understanding of their (genetic) origins and characteristics.

The category of "life" being the broadest moving up the chain to individual members of a specific species (See Illustration). In this system candida is a yeast in the family (kingdom) of Fungi.

Within the candida family there are a lot of other species but candida albicans happens to be the one responsible for the majority of intestinal and bloodstream yeast infections.

Other species of Candida include:

• C. Tropicalis
• C. Stellatoidea
• C. Glabrata
• C. Krusei
• C. Parapsilosis
• C. Guilliermondii
• C. Viswanathii
• C. Lusitaniae
• C. Parapsilosis
• Rhodotorula mucilaginosa
  
  

All of the above species can become pathogenic (disease causing). Extensive testing and singling out one particular strain is an exercise in futility.

All of these strains are candida yeasts and have something in common which makes them interesting. Yeasts by their very definition are single cell organisms. Molds on the other hand belong just like yeast to the kingdom of fungi but are defined as multi-cellular organisms.

Now the fascinating thing about candida is that it has the ability to change from one form of a single cell yeast to a multi-cell mold-like fungus (also called phenotypal switching).

Why is this important? Well, it happens to be that the single cell yeast form of Candida is benign and actually performs some useful functions while the multi-cellular candida yeast form on the other hand is pathogenic in nature and is what is giving us all the headaches.

The multi-cellular candida form will develop hyphal outgrowth which can be best visualized as long tentacles. One of the things they do is penetrate locally the mucosal membrane of the intestinal lining.

The consequence of course is that the integrity of your intestinal wall is compromised and that toxic and partially digested peptides are absorbed by your body, a condition called "leaky gut syndrome".

As time goes by the morphed candida will be absorbed by your bloodstream and hitch a ride to in search of the most hospitable condition for it to proliferate. Another important point is that the pathogenic form of candida produces neurotoxins which are so small that they are directly absorbed by your body and have been linked to various degenerative mental diseases such as autism and ADHD.

This process happens over time and creates a viscous cycle developing over time from what was originally a localized condition to what is now become systemic candidiasis. This process does not stop here either but is the starting point for the degenerative process resulting in other severe related candida illnesses.

The true underlying cause of candidiasis and related degenerative diseases is a disturbed intestinal environment. As conventional medicine normally does, it will treat pathogenic candida as if by doing that you solve the problem.

Only by restoring a healthy internal environment will you heal from pathogenic candida and other related degenerative diseases! Candida is really a the consequence and marker of intestinal dysbiosis and not the problem itself.