Bakers with candida infection
I have been attempting to find information linking bakers to Candida infection with no luck. My questions are:
Does our yeasty environment affect our micro biome?
Can we develop Candida overgrowth from the air?
I apologize for the length of this post. Here is some background info about my lifestyle.
I have been baking naturally leavened breads for 5 years and have never experienced any yeast infections in my entire life. I have recently moved to a "tiny house" where at any given time I have at least two gallons of kombucha fermenting, multiple sourdough starters and yeast water starters, as well as veggies and beer fermenting on occaision.
I would like to think my gut flora is quite healthy and balanced but my body is telling me otherwise. I do not consume a lot of bread or baked goods even though I bake for my profession. I would average 2-3 slices of sourdough bread a week. I also eat a very low sugar and grain diet in general. I focus on fresh vegetables and proteins as well as a lot of fermented foods. I am however very stressed, get an average of 4-6 hours of sleep a night and defiantly struggle with adrenal fatigue.
Any bakers out there struggle with Candida?
is often candida milleri..
according to popular sources, anyway.
Get more sleep....
I never did get the whole "can't eat bread as I have a candida infection" thing at all. All yeasts are as dead as a dead thing in bread once baked. What gives?
-Gordon
is killed off when baked. Candida exist naturally in our bodies. It is my understanding it only becomes a problem when the growth of these yeasts becomes out of control. An unhealthy diet high in sugar will contribute to this. You won't get it by ingesting yeast rather by making a unhealthy environment for them to multiply uncontrollably.
People often mistakenly think they should avoid yeast containing food if they have recurrent thrush. This is a myth as not only is the yeast in bread (and beer) dead as mentioned above it is a different species - thrush is caused by candida albicans.
Your micro biome, by which I presume you mean your gut flora (mainly) is a complex thing but generally needs something significant to unbalance it - like a course of antibiotics or a bout of gastroenteritis. A diagnosis of "systemic candidiasis" is medically spurious and the symptoms are usually caused by something else eg stress, depression or IBS.
Keep on baking as I find it generally a good antidote to stress - unless it goes badly wrong, which only happens occasionally thank goodness.
My current diet is not Candida related, it just happens to be what works best for me. I don't want to know what I can or cannot eat.
I just want to know if I can get Candida from my rather warm small apartment filled with lots of wild yeast.
Or if its a common bakers illness.
I am feeling better and getting more sleep. Unfortunately my stressful lifestyle is bread related. If you really love baking don't open a bakery.
It is everywhere. We are literally covered with it- inside and out. Your small apartment will not make you ill by containing all that wonderful fermentation with you. It may be even more efficient and contribute to your health. After all, aren't you culturing these foods for the benefit of the probiotics they supply? I have found that when the home is richly supplied with fermenting foods, all the foods in the house tend to not spoil as much-rather, they ferment as well.
Anyone that is tired and stressed to the point of distress can be prone to any kind of infection-including yeast infections. I don't think bakers are any more prone to them than anyone else.
Unhappiness can generate stress. Change something so you can be happy. Start small.
Get some kefir. Kombucha and natural pickles won't colonize your gut the way that kefir will, they're more prebiotic than probiotic. Plus kefir makes wonderful spreads for bread if you strain it into a thicker cheese, and the whey can be used in stock making. I add just a bit of sugar and vanilla to mine to make a drink similar to cream soda.
Plus, don't forget that yeast overgrowth isn't the only thing that can put your body and mind out of whack. It's just one aspect of our highly complex bodies. You definitely aren't getting enough sleep, and if stress is getting to you, I recommend mindfulness meditation. This is where you simply pull your attention to what you are doing at the time, and all other thoughts are pushed away. For instance, if I'm washing dishes and the chaos is getting to me, I think "I'm washing the dishes." and I look at the water running over the dishes. Whatever it is you are doing, just be right there in the moment. It's the easiest form of meditation to work into a busy lifestyle, and it's benefits are the same as any other form of meditation. I wrote a paper on it when working for my psych degree, there's a lot of support for it improving the survival rates of patients with cancer.
If you have the time, yoga can also help you relax. You might also try melatonin supplements or other over the counter sleep aids, sleep is going to impact your ability to combat fatigue a lot more than anything in your diet. If you can't relax enough to sleep, you might even consider therapy or anti-depressants. The anti-depressants could help with the stress, but they are also given for insomnia sometimes, in small doses.
If you do manage to get more sleep, and you still have problems with fatigue, don't forget that there are many things that can cause it, like anemia or diabetes, hormone issues, heart problems, and so on. You might want to talk to a doctor.
Still get some kefir though, if you are concerned with gut health there's nothing better.
There is no connection between higher rates of yeast infections with Candida albicans and the yeasts that are used in baking and fermenting. Candida yeasts are part of your body flora and normally in balance with other microorganisms. Only when their environment gets "out of whack", i.e. becomes less acidic, they can multiply and grow in a way that causes medical symptoms.
As others already suggested, this imbalance can be caused either by medication (antibiotics) that surpress those bacteria that normally keep yeast growth in check, or other disruptive factors like diseases, travels, or stress in general.
Karin (MD)
Have yourself tested for diabetes as soon as possible.
Ask a microbiologist, not a baker!