Food Allergies, Sensitivities and Candida

Food allergies and delayed sensitivities to food are very common when there is Candida overgrowth. This is caused by increased permeability of the intestines --- leaky gut. Leaky gut is caused by the breakdown of the intestinal lining by yeast, certain bacteria, viruses and protozoa. Leaky gut allows larger molecules, more toxins and more undigested food particles to cross the gut lining. This leads to many food allergies. (The most common food allergies are to milk, chocolate, peanuts, eggs and wheat.) However, you don't have to be allergic to a food to be sensitive to it. The following are examples of how Candida overgrowth can make you sensitive to a food even though you aren't allergic to it.

If you have harmful intestinal bacteria, your reaction may be due to the way the bacteria process the food. For instance, you might have an overgrowth of Clostridia in your intestines. (This generally harmful bacteria often overtakes the intestinal environment because it is resistant to most antibiotics.) When Clostridia digests the casein found in milk, it produces the vasoactive amines of histamine, tyramine, agmatine, serotonine, putrescine and cadaverine. These can give you a migraine. Thus a migraine induced by milk may or may not be due to a true allergy to milk. It might be due to harmful bacteria acting on that milk. Similarly, if protein keeps you awake, it may be due to harmful bacteria acting on the protein and producing ammonia. It is the excess ammonia that is keeping you awake.

Here is another example of how Candida can induce a sensitivity. Many people with Candida overgrowth are sensitive to monosodium glutamate, or MSG. (MSG is a "flavor enhancer" added to many food products.) This sensitivity can be due to an inactivation of a B6 dependent enzyme called glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase. Hence, if someone is deficient in B6, they can become sensitive to MSG. People with the yeast syndrome are often very low in the active form of B6. This is because the toxins from yeast create a real and a functional deficiency of the active form of B6. Thus yeast overgrowth can cause a sensitivity to MSG.

Here is another example of how a food sensitivity might arise. Many people have noticed that their autistic children do better without gluten and casein in their diet. (Gluten is in most grains. Casein is in most milk products.) This is not a food allergy reaction. It is probably due to a lack of an enzyme called DPP IV, which is needed to break down gluten and casein. When gluten and casein are eliminated from the diet, more of this DPP IV enzyme is available for other important functions in the body. Among other functions, this DPP IV enzyme breaks down opiates and immune system cytokines. This may be the reason that the elimination of gluten and casein can improve learning and memory in some of the autistic.

Sensitivity to food colorings is another example. It isn't an allergy, but it is a strain on the liver. For example, the Fiengold diet for attention deficit eliminates food colorings and salicylates from the diet. Food colorings are phenolics. Salicylates interfere with the liver's ability to remove phenolics by inhibiting the PST enzyme. The liver's PST enzyme attaches sulfates to phenolics. A weak PST enzyme or a lack of sulfates will interfere with the body's ability to remove phenolics, such as food colorings. Candida overgrowth fits into this picture because it reduces the sulfates in the body. Candida may also induce hypothyroidism, which would interfere with the liver's ability to get rid of phenolics. Hence, Candida may contribute to this sensitivity to food colorings and salicylates as found in some cases of attention deficit and autism.