Products that may interest you:
Like all living things, the yeast Candida albicans releases waste into its environment as it consumes food and multiplies.
Unfortunately, because Candida lives inside the body, this means that we get clean-up duty.
An accumulation of two toxins—acetaldehyde and gliotoxin—is especially common in those with systemic Candida overgrowth.
Systemic Candida Overgrowth and Leaky Gut
Candida is a yeast that naturally grows in the gut.
Healthy people have Candida living in their gastrointestinal tract, in their mouth, and in their birth canal. (1) So why doesn’t everyone have systemic Candida overgrowth? As it turns out, this is not the only microbe that you will find.
When your inner ecosystem is in balance, a large number of good bacteria and yeast are thriving. They compete with Candida and other opportunistic microbes for food and space to grow. When your inner ecosystem is in balance, the mucosa of the gut wall is sealed and healthy. And Candida overgrowth is kept in check.
Systemic Candida overgrowth can release two dangerous toxins into the body. When your inner ecosystem is imbalanced, opportunistic Candida can run rampant and quickly spread to affect healthy tissue.
When your inner ecosystem is out of balance, Candida has an opportunity to rapidly grow and take over its environment. Like an aggressive weed, Candida can shoot “runners” or threads of Candida through tissue, making it especially invasive. (2)(3) Worse, Candida overgrowth can make the gut leaky. (4)
A leaky gut is a problem. This is because a sealed gut lining is meant to protect the body from outside chemicals, bacteria, parasites, and food irritants. When the gut lining is leaky, it no longer protects the body. This creates extra work for the liver and for your immune system.
Once the gut is leaky, Candida also has the opportunity to spread beyond the gut. Systemic Candida overgrowth—or Candida that has moved beyond the gut wall—can affect every tissue in the body.
Signs of systemic Candida overgrowth range from digestive troubles to migraines, skin disorders like acne and eczema, stiff joints, and brain fog.
2 Candida Toxins That Can Poison Your Body
Part of what makes systemic Candida overgrowth so noxious is the toxins that it naturally produces during its life cycle—and dumps into your body!
1. Acetaldehyde: One of the pollutants that Candida produces is called acetaldehyde. (5)(6)(7) In Candida, acetaldehyde is a metabolic byproduct—similar to the carbon dioxide that you exhale after inhaling oxygen.
Too much acetaldehyde is the equivalent of alcohol poisoning—an accumulation of acetaldehyde is associated with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. (8)(9) There is also evidence that the toxin acetaldehyde is associated with Alzheimer’s disease. (10)
Studies show that a build-up of acetaldehyde can lead to oxidative stress. (11)(12)(13)
It damages DNA in the cells. It has also been found to increase the risk of alcohol-related cancers. (14)(15)
2. Gliotoxin: Candida and other species of fungus make a poison called gliotoxin. Gliotoxin stimulates the death of cells and the destruction of tissue. In fact, we are still learning about the devastating effects of gliotoxin.
Gliotoxin stimulates the destruction of cells in the liver—your number one detox organ. (16) Gliotoxin also suppresses the immune system and kills cells that belong to the immune system. (17) Remember, both your liver and your immune system play a pivotal role in the protection and detoxification of the body.
Another study published in April 2013 even found that gliotoxin is especially high in patients with MS (multiple sclerosis), an autoimmune disease that affects aspects of the central nervous system, like the brain. (18)
As Candida grows stronger and proliferates, it becomes more poisonous than ever. Studies have found that once a yeast forms biofilm—or a protective matrix around itself—the biofilm increases the production of gliotoxin. (19)
Gliotoxin protects Candida as it grows.
A 2010 article published in Thrombosis and Haemostasis shows that gliotoxin prevents platelets from sticking together, making Candida especially virulent. (20) Platelets are found in the blood, and they help the body to form blood clots—which is especially useful after an injury. Platelets also contain high amounts of a fungicidal protein, which has been shown to kill Candida. (21)
Support Your Detox Pathways
Fortunately, a few shifts in your diet can help your body to detoxify the poisons that Candida produces. In addition to following the Body Ecology Diet, attack Candida from multiple fronts with the Digestive Care Multi to support your detox pathways.
Fermented veggies and probiotic liquids also inoculate the gut with beneficial bacteria. Beneficial bacteria soothe inflammation (or leakiness) and compete with Candida for nutrients. Research published in 2012 shows that lactic acid—produced by good bacteria—inhibits the growth of Candida. (22)
Cruciferous vegetables, such as cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli, help the body to make glutathione. (23)(24) Because the liver relies on a steady supply of glutathione, it also plays a critical role in the detoxification process. When levels of glutathione are low, detoxification slows down, and the liver becomes congested and toxic.
According to research, glutathione can help to detoxify acetaldehyde from tissues. (25)
Glutathione is your most powerful antioxidant. The Liver Power Cleanse in the Digestive Care Multi supports a healthy level of this crucial antioxidant.
What To Remember Most About This Article:
Candida is a yeast naturally found in the gut. A healthy inner ecosystem teeming with friendly bacteria and yeast will compete with opportunistic Candida to keep it in check. But when your inner ecosystem is thrown out of balance, Candida can quickly spread and overtake its environment. It can even lead to leaky gut.
A leaky gut will overburden the liver and the immune system; it will also give Candida full rein to spread throughout the body. Symptoms of systemic Candida overgrowth may include acne, eczema, migraines, stiff joints, and brain fog.
Candida overgrowth produces two toxins—acetaldehyde and gliotoxin— that can wreak havoc on your body. Making simple changes by adding fermented veggies and probiotic liquids to your diet can strengthen the gut with beneficial bacteria to prevent the spread of Candida.
You can cleanse poisonous Candida byproducts with the Digestive Care Multi to support healthy detoxification. The Liver Power Cleanse in the Digestive Care Multi contains the powerful antioxidant glutathione to detoxify acetaldehyde from tissues.
- Calderone RA. Candida and Candidiasis. 2002. ASM Press, Washington DC.
- Mavor AL, et al. 2005. Systemic fungal infections caused by Candida species: epidemiology, infection process and virulence attributes. Curr. Drug Targets 6(8): 863–874.
- Vylkova S, et al. 2011. The fungal pathogen Candida albicans autoinduces hyphal morphogenesis by raising extracellular pH. mBio 2(3):e00055-11. doi:10.1128/mBio.00055-11.
- Klotz SA, et al. 2010. The Perfect Adhesive. Environmental Microbiology, Geomicrobiology, Soil Microbiology, Biocontrol 1, 838-844.
- J Tillonen, et al J. Role of Yeasts in the Salivary Acetaldehyde Production From Ethanol Among Risk Groups for Ethanol-Associated Oral Cavity Cancer. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 1999; 23: 1409–1411.
- PK Mukherjee, et al. Alcohol dehydrogenase restricts the ability of the pathogen Candida albicans to form a biofilm on catheter surfaces through an ethanol-based mechanism. Infect Immun. 2006 Jul;74(7):3804-16.
- M Mohd Bakri. The expression of Candida albicans acetaldehyde producing enzymes in C. albicans infected mucosal lesions: a potential role in some oral cancers. Univ of Otago. 2011.
- ML Hard, et al. The role of acetaldehyde in pregnancy outcome after prenatal alcohol exposure. Ther Drug Monit. 2001 Aug;23(4):427-34
- NL Day, et al. Prenatal alcohol exposure: a continuum of effects. Semin Perinatol. 1991 Aug;15(4):271-9.
- S Ohta, et al. Mitochondrial ALDH2 deficiency as an oxidative stress. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2004 Apr;1011:36-44.
- M Tong, et al. Acetaldehyde-Mediated Neurotoxicity: Relevance to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. 2011; 2011: 13.
- PS Brocardo, et al. The role of oxidative stress in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Brain Res Rev. 2011 Jun 24;67(1-2):209-25. Epub 2011 Apr 3.
- H Joenje. Metabolism: Alcohol, DNA and disease. Nature. 07 July 2011; 475, 45–46. Epub 2011 July 06.
- International Agency for Research on Cancer Monograph Working Group, Special Report: Policy A review of human carcinogens—Part E: tobacco, areca nut, alcohol, coal smoke, and salted fish. The Lancet 2009 10, 1033–1034.
- K Nakamura, et al. Acetaldehyde adducts in the brain of alcoholics. Archives of Toxicology. 2003; 77 (10): 591–3.
- Wright, M. C., Issa, R., Smart, D. E., Trim, N., Murray, G. I., Primrose, J. N., ... & Mann, D. A. Gliotoxin stimulates the apoptosis of human and rat hepatic stellate cells and enhances the resolution of liver fibrosis in rats. Gastroenterology, 2001; 121(3), 685-698.
- Sutton, P., Newcombe, N. R., Waring, P., & Müllbacher, A. In vivo immunosuppressive activity of gliotoxin, a metabolite produced by human pathogenic fungi. Infection and immunity, 1994; 62(4), 1192-1198.
- de Arruda, M. S. P. Effect of c. albicans infection on experimental autoimmune encephalitis. 2013.
- Bruns, S., Seidler, M., Albrecht, D., Salvenmoser, S., Remme, N., Hertweck, C., Brakhage, A. A., Kniemeyer, O. and Müller, F.-M. C. Functional genomic profiling of Aspergillus fumigatus biofilm reveals enhanced production of the mycotoxin gliotoxin. Proteomics, 2010; 10: 3097–3107.
- Bertling, A., Niemann, S., Uekötter, A., Fegeler, W., Lass-Flörl, C., von Eiff, C., & Kehrel, B. E. Candida albicans and its metabolite gliotoxin inhibit platelet function via interaction with thiols. Thrombosis & Haemostasis, 2010; 104(2), 270.
- Yeaman MR, Ibrahim AS, Edwards JE, et al. Thrombin-induced rabbit platelet microbicidal protein is fungicidal in vitro. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1993; 37: 546–553.
- DR Tucker, et al. Protection of Vaginal Epithelial Cells with Probiotic Lactobacilli and the Effect of Estrogen against Infection by Candida albicans. Open Journal of Medical Microbiology. 2012; 2(3), 54-64.
- LI Wang, et al. Dietary intake of Cruciferous vegetables, Glutathione S-transferase (GST) polymorphisms and lung cancer risk in a Caucasian population. Cancer Causes Control. 2004 Dec;15(10):977-85.
- TK Lam, et al. Cruciferous vegetable consumption and lung cancer risk: a systematic review. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009 Jan;18(1):184-95.
- H Anni, et al. Binding of acetaldehyde to a glutathione metabolite: mass spectrometric characterization of an acetaldehyde-cysteinylglycine conjugate. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2003 Oct;27(10):1613-21.