Herbs 4 Biofilm Protected Candida Glabrata?

Good afternoon, I was wondering which herbal product would be best to help get rid of a Viral fungal infection (Candida Glabrata) thats protected by biofilms making it so difficult to get rid of, even using medicine by doctors, it wont go away. What's the strongest herb that can kill both the biofilm and the candida glabrata infection that I have in my vagina, anal, stomach, mouth, feet, causing inflammation in my body.

Do you drink kombucha?

First, my sympathies. Yeast is no fun when it's out of balance in the body. While I agree doctors aren't always the most helpful for treating these things, they can be helpful for diagnosing. Even when using natural remedies, it's really important to be treating for the right thing. Have you had a doctor confirm that you have a yeast infection? If not, I would start there.

There are lots of things that could cause similar symptoms and require different treatment. I'd also make sure you aren't inadvertently doing anything to create a favorable environment for microbiome imbalances. Be sure to wash the lady parts with water only, no soaps, scented products, etc. including laundry detergent. Wear cotton or other natural fiber underwear and avoid tight pants. Cutting any processed foods or super sugary stuff out of the diet could help as well. I think it's important to remember that yeast is a normal and healthy part of the microbiome, it's when it gets out of balance that's the problem. Trying to kill it off rather than restore balance is likely to lead to other imbalances.

I went down a rabbit hole of researching how to deal with biofilms recently out of curiousity and will see if I can remember what I learned and report back. Hope you find some relief!

There are different complimentary things to do here, since just taking some medicines, even natural ones, doesn't usually work by itself. Since I don't know what you've already tried, I'll just go through it all in a hopefully systematic way. And maybe it can help others as well.
* This turned out to be a really really long post in the making so I decided to split it into few smaller (ahem) ones for easier read. I'll try to post everything today and tomorrow.

It looks like you have a systemic infection/overgrowth of Candida, and yes, dealing with that is a long hard process. I have some personal experience with Candida overgrowth and disbalance of different microbiological flora in my body (intestines/gut, vagina etc.). Besides personal experience I did a lot of research on what is known to deal with Candida, and I'm also biologist and phytoaromatherapist by education/vocation.

One thing with these systemic Candida overgrowths - medicinal treatments and drugs usually don't do much here. Or they can help a bit for a short time, but then they "get back with a vengeance". One of the reasons is the biofilm that Candida forms - think of it as a thin film of thightly packed organisms that is additionaly protected with the outer layer of various compounds and that is really hard to break into. Usually drugs kill "free-floating" organisms and there is a temporary benefit, but when you stop using drugs organisms from biofilm will go through a rapid reproduction and you are full of it again. (Note: this is a simplystic explanation).

Candida overgrowth (I call it like that because those organisms are usually part of the human mucuous flora, but when there is a disbalance due to various reasons Candida gets a serious boost in growth) often happens due to the large use of antibiotics, imunosuppressant agents and antimycotics - either as a part of some therapy or ingested through industrial food (or both).

There is not just one thing that will help us get better, instead a person has to do a combination of strategies that involve:
- remove its source of food for Candida as much as possible - by changing your diet
- take something that will actively "kill the beast" as much as possible - we have different natural solutions here
- supplement your bacterial flora that helps to keep Candida growth in check - I would recommend both with lacto-fermented food and with probiotic supplements (at least in the beginning)
- with overgrowth in bowels (intestines) AND with systemic infections - most often there is also a problem with intestine permeability, thinning of mucose and die-of of intestinal villi - so you have to help those intestines heal
- work on general immunity

It is important to understand that all of the above listed parts are equally important, and that you can't do just one thing and think it will be all good.

There is a possibility of die-off reaction while doing this Candida elimination strategy - basically when Candida starts to die in larger numbers you have a large surplus of their metabolites in your body and liver specifically, that are percieved as toxins by your body, and it can make you sick. Not all people experience it, but it is frequent when trying to get rid of systemic infections. This state usually lasts about a week until your body gets rid of that overload (I'll write more about it and what you can do at the end of this saga).
IMPORTANT: Pregnant and nursing women shouldn't do this anti-Candida treatment due to the possible die-off reaction that can be harmful to babies.

Do have in mind that you might look at life-long managing of diet and symptoms. My personal experience is 10 years long and still counting. I have it under control and my diet isn't as rigorous as in the beginning, but I still can't eat and drink all of it like before. I do give my self permission from time to time for some stuff that I know I'll pay for later and I'll have to manage my micro-flora more. That said, I don't find it very hard most of the time, but I did change my diet long-term and to some extent my lifestyle as well (not just due to Candida problems!).

... continuation of my super-long response; this is a 2nd post...

A quick note - Heather said it right - yeasts are a natural part of our microbiomes and the purpose is to find that balance again. When I write "get rid of Candida" what I mean is get it into the balance with the rest of your microbiome.


1. REMOVE THE SOURCE OF FOOD FOR CANDIDA / CHANGE THE DIET

MOST IMPORTANT thing to do long term is - change the diet. This has to do with the part "remove the source of food for Candida". The thing is - you can (try to) kill as much Candida with either drugs or herbs/natural medicine, but if there is a lot of food source for it, it will just (over)grow back and you're stuck in that same cycle over and over again.

Candida species thrive on various sugars - for C. albicans it's a lot of different ones, for C. glabrata it's mostly glucose and trehalose (by current knowledge) - so you have to modify your diet by avoiding sugars and other (simple) carbohydrates. There is some other stuff to remove from the diet too. Depending on the severity of the infection, you may even have to avoid food that are high in complex carbohydrates, at least in the first and most rigorous phase. Those can be added back in the diet in later stages bit by bit, to see if your body can handle them without causing Candida going wild again.

At the beginning this part should include more rigorous diet change (I did some 5-6 months), but after some time, preferrably when test show that you got rid of infection/overgrowth, you can start to eat some of those bit by bit if they don't give you back the symptoms.

Sugars, modern wheat esp. as white flour, industrial yeast and alcohol are the worst and should be avoided long-term (this includes all industrally processed foods that contains those, at least in higher quantities). Other food can, after some time, be added to the diet bit by bit to see if you can eat it without problems. Some of those you can eventualy eat without any problem, some will have to be relegated to eating once in a while.

Foods to avoid/remove from the diet:
- sugar in all it's forms (white, brown etc.),
- syrups - including maple syrup and similar; some even say to remove honey as it is high in simple sugars
- most fruits incl. dried fruits - if it's sweet it has to go, if it's sour than you can try it
- alcohol - here I found that beer is the worst (besides alcohol it has a lot of active industrial yeast, even after 10 years I can get only 1-2 small beers - 0,3 l - per year), but for start you have to remove it all
- vinegar
- white flour - bread, pasta etc.
- industrial yeast - unfortunately used in large quantities everywhere for the speed of baking, brewing etc. (this year I started my own sourdough with wild yeasts and bacteria from the air and so far so good)
- milk and dairy - goats milk is the one that can be ok, depends from person to person;
- starch,
- other grains - wheat, corn, rye, oats, rice etc.; this includes cus-cus, bulgur, cornflakes, muesli, oatmeal etc. (note - in the later phase you can eat some or all of these, depending on your reaction; regarding wheat - stay clear of modern wheat and try spelt, khamut and similar)
- mushrooms can also be a problem
- beans and other legumes and pulses
- all industrial oils and fats
- artificial sweeteners
- industrial cured meats (sausages, bacon, pates etc.) that have different chemical additives (glutaminates, nitrates etc.) and/or sugar
and any food that have those as ingredients.

That includes bread (you can still do some homemade variants but without bakers yeast and wheat flour), sweets, sodas, and almost all industrially processed food (read those ingredients lists!!! **). Watch for added sugar in food and beverages bought in the stores - in ingredients list it can show as: sugar, corn syrup, glucose syrup, high-fructose corn syrup and simmilar; also watch for added wheat/flour, industrial fats, conservans.

Depending on the severity of symptoms you may have to remove completely or eat just small amounts (at least in the beginning) of:
- potatoes
- even some root vegetables such as carrots, beets... (onions and other alliums are ok!!)

Main source of food are proteins and fats + veggies:
- meat and eggs and entrails (offals???, what is the right word here?) - preferrably organic, not treated with antibiotics!,
- fish and sea organisms,
- different plant oils - cold pressed and non refined, e.g. olive oil, coconut oil
- animal fat in various forms (and from different animals) and butter
- nuts and seeds - but not peanut!
- vegetables (that are not high in carbohydrates)
- herbs; spices; incl. ginger and curcuma and similar
- lacto-fermented food - sauerkraut and other veggies, homemade yoghurt and kefir preferably from goat milk (industrial ones don't count here) - non-pasteurised (the process kills lactobacillus bacteria that are one of your biggest allies in restoring balance in the organism!!!)
- homemade cured meats are ok - it mustn't have chemical conservans and sugar!!!
- homemade condiments made with quality ingredients (and no sugar)

This list could be problematic for vegetarians and vegans, in terms of getting all the needed nutrients without grains and legumes. LCHF and paleo type diets have a lot of good and nutritious recipes for inspiration - for everyone, including vegetarians and vegans.
Stevia is a good natural sweetener; psyllium is good as source of additional fibers but also for making baked goods; nuts, seeds and coconut can be used as flour substitutes.... Important thing is - you shouldn't be hungry while doing this. If you're losing weight but don't have that extra to loose - use more of the root vegetables.

**Ingredients list in the food is something that is obligatory in EU. I do not know what is the situation in USA and other parts of the world. Hopefully it will be available everywhere in not so long time.... people shoud know what they are eating!

...3rd post...

Some more thoughts on diet:

Important food to incorporate, if you can, as much as you can. If you haven't eat lacto-fermented food with the live cultures, start slowly, your gut has to get used to it.
- garlic
- coconut oil (cold pressed and non-refined) - has antifungal properties
- soup from animal bones, cartillages and tendons - good for regenerating intestinal wall cells and healing so called leaky gut
- lacto-fermented food - such as sauerkraut (or other veggies), yogurt and similar - just make sure it really does have live lactobacteria in it, again homemade or from small producers or farms should be the thing, industrial ones usually can't do much here
- kefir - this one has to be homemade (or possibly some made locally on a daily basis? farmers market and such?), industrial ones aren't made with the kefir grains, but just some mixed cultures instead and it's definitely not the same thing

How strict it should be regarding food listed in my previous post?
It depends on how serious the problem with Candida overgrowth is. General rule of the thumb is - the bigger the problem, your diet has to be more strict. Food & beverages with sugars, high in carbohydrates (such as all grains), made with industrial (bakers) yeast (incl. vinegar) and any alcoholic drink are prime food for Candida so let that be your main guiding line.

Slowly introducing the diet vs. going hard with it at once (and is it long term?)
Again, it depends on your situation. For some it will make sense to cut the unwanted ingredients all at once, for some it will have to be a more gradual change. I feel that the best way is the one that will ensure you can stick with the diet long term.  
Most rigorous diet is for the beginning of the process of restoring the balance in our microbial flora, but for anyone who has a bigger problem with Candida some more relaxed version of the diet will be long term and possibly for life. And what that diet will actually be is determined by what your body and your microbial communities will be able to handle (after you deal with the Candida inbalance).
Life being what it is, if it's a long term as in years and years, you'll probably have ups and downs regarding how good you can eat due to numerous reasons. Learning how to manage what you eat and what simptoms you can expect and how to deal with it is the key here.

What about cravings (for sweets and such)?
Depending on your diet so far, cravings could be a problem, especially if your style was heavy on the carbohydrate side. Small piece of dark chocolate (e.g. 80% cocoa) now and then could be a solution. Or some odd meal with potatoes or beans or grains such as amaranth, quinoa, millet, buckwheat or wild rice.
It's better to give yourself some "manouvering space" than not being able to stick to the change in your diet. Again, not everyone has to be really strict, it depends how serious your problem is.


It's long past the bedtime here so I'll continue sometime tomorrow with herbs, probiotics and similar that can help us in restoring the balance of our microbial flora and keep Candida in check.

I don't really have ~herb~ suggestions but do have some enzyme supplement suggestions.

I'm working with a naturopathic doctor to heal my gut. I had a different issue with klebsiella pneumoniae, the one responsible for respiratory pneumoniae, which naturally has a wildly resistant biofilm due to the over use of antibiotics for it.

My ND has me taking this for the biofilm disruption.

I have also heard this systemic enzyme works well against biofilms, though I am not using it for biofilm disruption. My mom uses it to help regulate her blood pressure, though, and it does great work! All of the products I have taken from Mitolife are amazingly strong and effective.