Re: Huggins' opinion on candida

Hi there, I have to say that this is a surprising statement of Huggins, considering most of his stuff I find helpful/valuable. I also have his book. It makes NO sense at all to claim that candida is our "friend" (which is the word he has used in the past).

I have seen devastating consequences of yeast overgrowth, both in myself and others on other forums. We have actually been discussing this very thing on the herballure forum (for Amalgam poisoning). I understand that in a heavy metal environment there maybe a certain amount of yeast overgrowth in response to that...this maybe partly to help buffer the metals, or it may well be purely and simply the toxicity itself and lowering of the immune system, so that normal yeast levels get out of control as the body is unable to keep them at lower levels where they should be.

There is a fine line in my opinion. Anything that further encourages the already overgrown yeast (sugars, high carbs, gluten, natural sugars even in fruit/milk etc) can allow this already overgrown yeast to overgrow even further and often to such an extent that the already metal toxic person's becomes even MORE toxic. In fact candida can overtake the mercury and cause many symptoms in itself. I have been in this situation and I can tell you NOT treating yeast caused me to be in a much worse state and suicidal at that. Many people find it essential to treat their yeast with a healthy diet, excluding completely all direct sugars, yeasts, gluten grains and maybe even fruit, high carb vegetables and milk/cheese. Some people may get away with a looser candida diet and still be able to consume limited fruit and non gluten grain and some dairy produce. Others may not.

Yeast overgrowth overloads both the gut and liver with its toxins. This can be a nightmare for anybody trying to detoxify their body of metals and heal. Huggins claims candida de-methylates yeast, yet....I hear elsewhere it METHYLATES it. So what to believe? Well based on what I have seen on forums with mercury poisoning, I have come to the conclusion that candida is a menace and an opportunist. Yeast is normal in the body, but when it overgrows it behaves like an enemy and overwhelms the person's detox pathways and causes so many symptoms that you'd wonder which is the culprit for which symptom? mercury or candida? Whatever condition you are suffering from, be it mercury or viral related/infection, treating yeast is probably one of the wisest moves you can make. I am not talking about aggressive yeast treatment with strong antifungals, which can make a person incredibly sick if they are not careful. Also yeast can apparently absorb and contain heavy metals and killing it off aggressively with antifungals can result in releasing a load of metals as well as dying yeast toxins. I have had this and had to chelate the metals out with DMSA!!! So I believe it really does happen.

But I believe altering ones diet is probably the best and safest way to go (or at least start with). Basically denying the candida what it requires to flourish and feed upon. Starving it out, reduces yeast and bacterial levels and improves the immunity and allows the body to better handle other problems you are dealing with. To NOT do this and continue eating a diet laced with sugars and other undesirables is doing your body a total disservice in my opinion. It is not worth the extra suffering.

The Sugar free diet is not just about reducing yeast, it is a diet that any health conscious person would wish to do for themselves. As for probiotics? I hear mixed reports on this. It is not as drastic as antifungals, but may also cause a lot of symptoms. Some feel it is not wise to do this until one has already reduced much yeast by diet first....but it's up to you.


Sugar, even on its own, not only feeds yeast but causes many far reaching problems in the body. Check out this link and scroll down to find "Foods that damage" "Sugar is poison". There are also plenty of wonderful advice on this site:
http://www.healingnaturallybybee.com/articles/heal13.php#a22


In fact, in Huggins book "It's all in your Head" he himself recommends excluding sugar, caffeine, milk, wheat etc....and making sure a metal toxic person consumes enough protein and fats (meats, eggs, butter etc). Which I believe really helps. So his claims of candida being our "friend" seems contradictory. Because of this, people now think it's ok to feed this organism....but I think what Huggins is "maybe" getting at could be - the yeast will overgrow to a certain extent in response to metals as a form of defense (to an extent).. However, to use this and justify feeding this overgrowth further should never be encouraged, unless the person wishes to inflict further unnecessary suffering on themselves as a result...It does depend on how bad the candida situation is. I believe it is well worth a trail diet to find out just how much yeast maybe playing a role in your sickness/symptoms. You will soon know! Treating yeast can initially result in "yeast die off" which is an increase in symptoms as the yeast is dying. Cravings can also occur. Common die off symptoms can include the following:

Die off symptoms can consist of almost anything, but the most common scenario is that you will have an exaggeration of whatever type of symptoms it is that you already experience. You may experience physical and/or psychological symptoms. Here are some of the most common symptoms of die off:

- brain fog
- poor concentration
- tightness in the chest
- heart palpitations
- fatigue
- muscle and joint pain
- headaches
- sore throat
- anxiety
- depression
- irritability
- crankiness
- diarrhea
- sinusitis
- itching
- constipation
- gas and/or other gastrointestinal distress
- nausea
- intense cravings for sweets and carbohydrates
- cravings for alcohol
- you may even feel like you're drunk, because the yeast puts off alcohol.



Yeast crave sugar, so much so that one can find themselves making all kinds of excuses to continue on a loose diet. Because the cravings caused by yeast when you are trying to starve it, can be so difficult as to drive one almost insane for a time. It is a real difficult transition when you are starving out excessive yeast and it does not die easily! I've been down this road a few times and each time I continued to fight and not cheat on the diet, coming out the other side was well worth the pain!!!

Why compromise ones already weakened or even poisoned constitution for this organism's sake?