You’ve just finished (or are perhaps still involved) with the consumption of calorie laden holiday treats and are now wishing that you didn’t eat that second third slice of pecan pie, never mind God knows how many Christmas cookies. While some might pause to reflect on waistlines or thighs, your main concern is your vagina. Is this sugar binge going to lead to a yeast infection?
As a specialist in vulvovaginal disorders, I hear concerns about diet and yeast infections all the time. The specific concern being sugar consumption will cause yeast to over grow and then, voila, there is a post-holiday tempest in the vagina to wrangle.
On the surface the idea sounds plausible. After all, sugar is a food source for yeast and bacteria, like fertilizer. So, too much of a good thing and the secret garden could be over run in no time with all manner of yeastie beasties.
Except that’s not how it works.
The sugar consumption-yeast connection is an urban myth, perpetuated it seems both by many well-meaning, but ill-informed, health care professionals as well as purveyors of snake oil (you know the ones who want to sell you the cleanses, diets, and books designed to help you rid your body of yeast).
First of all, yeast is normally found in the vagina. At some point in a given year 70% of women with no vaginal symptoms will have yeast in their vagina.(1) It is the over-growth of the normally present yeast that produces symptoms and what we call a yeast infection. Typically, yeast over grows when the vaginal ecosystem is somehow upset and lactobacilli, the good bacteria that keep yeast and bad bacteria in check, somehow get depleted.
Second of all, eating a lot of sugar does not increase the colonization of the bowel with yeast (and it is normal to have yeast in the bowel), which is how the yeast actually gets into the vagina (2). So if you challenge you bowel with a binge of pie, cake, and candy canes, while you may get some indigestion and gas, your bowel will not be run amok with yeast. As a corollary, the fact that diet doesn’t change yeast colonization in the bowel clearly means that cleanses are of no value in the prevention of yeast infections.
And finally, having a lot of sugar does not change the level of sugar in the vagina (yes, some one studied this, see reference 3#). The researchers gave women with and without a history of vaginal yeast infections a drink with a lot of sugar (glucose) and measured their blood and vaginal sugar before and after the drink. The sugar levels in the vaginal secretions did not change for either groups, women with a history and those without a history of yeast infections. Basically, if you are not a diabetic, your body can handle its sugar.
So enjoy a little holiday cheer. Don’t go nuts re-arranging your diet if you think you have chronic yeast (although get a correct diagnosis as almost 70% of women who have been told they have chronic yeast have actually been misdiagnosed) and steer clear of any providers and web sites selling or promoting dietary therapies and cleanses for yeast.
References:
1) Beigi et al. Obstet Gynecol 2004;104:926-30.
2) Weig M et al. Am J Clin Nutr 1999.
3) Ehrström S et al. Obstet Gynecol. 2006 Dec;108(6):1432-7.
Asking for clarification:
1. By “chronic yeast” do you mean a chronic condition of having excess yeast organisms in the vagina, or something else?
2. Citation for “almost 70%”?
Posted by Liz Ditz | December 26, 2011, 2:56 pmThank you for the article. The fact is, for me, ie suffered from yeast infections regularly since having my kids in the last 6 years. In May 2011 I cut out sugar completely for 3 weeks — every last bit. After those 3 weeks I reintroduced it little by little, and 7 months later I eat about 20% of what I used to, found basically in yogurt and in snacks like muffins. I haven’t had a yeast infection since. I know this doesn’t follow your content here, but for me, cutting way back on sugar has been the ONLY cure for my regular yeast infection problems. No reference for evidence based medicine in this case, simply the truth from my experience. I’ll be keeping it up because of my results.
Posted by Allison | December 26, 2011, 4:23 pmThank you for writing this. I have had chronic yeast infections, and just got done with a nurse practitioner that refused to culture, and kept advising diet, flax seed oil, morning primrose, and orgasms. It was stupid, and being a science minded person, I kept asking for better information. She fired me as a patient, which was great, because the OB GYN that saw me next cultured me, and immediately found it was yeast. Five months of agony wiped out with one OTC treatment for yeast.
I would love to see more myth debunking on this issue because it seems when things go wrong with a woman’s vulva/vaginal area, there are even medical professionals that push bad advice.
Posted by That gal with a vagina | December 26, 2011, 5:13 pmThis myth might have come about because of warnings for diabetics (just guessing – I have no evidence
). MedlinePlus is a great resource for non-medical people who want to look for medical information. It is put together by the National Library of Medicine which is part of the National Institutes of Health in the US. Here is the link for vaginal thush: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001511.htm
Posted by Catherine Voutier | January 2, 2012, 6:34 pmMy lifesaver from chronic yeast infections, LADY SOMA CANDIDA Pills. A couple of months ago I began to take them based on a recommendation from my gynecologist and have not seen a yeast infection since.
I have been going to doctors for 15 yrs about my chronic infection and nothing ever solved this problem for me. I tried diets, dye-free panties and toilet paper, yogurt, garlic, boric acid, prescription creams… nothing helped. I recently read a new study about how this Lady Soma Candida pills creates an environment in your intestines that is anti-yeast. Your intestines is actually where the yeast spores form and then cross from the rectum over into the vagina when conditions and hormones are right.
Try it, I hope it helps you. It has been a miracle for me and the only thing that ever helped.
Posted by BritneyS | January 25, 2012, 7:49 pmmy stomach was aching mind head was pounding i had psosrisis on my scalp and corners of my mouth plus i had itchy anus. i stop,eating sugar for 1 day and these symptoms were dramatically decreased plus i had a elevated energy level. i totally disagree with your article and from other web pages who arenot trying to sell me something you are in the minority.
Posted by jsamc@sbcglobal.net | January 31, 2012, 8:08 amStop eating for sugar for one day and you were cured? Glad you feel better but studies do not support your claims.
Posted by Dr. Jen Gunter | January 31, 2012, 11:38 pmI have been going to Obgyns for the last two and a half years trying to figure out why I’m getting yeast infections 1-2 times a month. I’ve taken over 14 diflucans in one year alone. I have have several of these infections cultured, the came up as Candida A. I have been tested 3 times for std’s, once for HIV and came very close to getting a vular biopsy. I was also tested for diabetes and was neg. If not sugar then what could be causing this? Hormones? Cortisol from stress? I’ve done everything I can think to prevent them except get a sex change. (Joke) But…where do go next if not sugar? My the way I do notice I get them after eating large amounts of sugar or drinking wine.
Any ideas?
Posted by Hannah | May 10, 2012, 7:46 pmi have a problem when i am having sex alot of water comes from inside of me and it makes it difficult for both me and my partners to enjoy sex what causes this the bed wil be filled with wetness like water
Posted by byoren | May 24, 2012, 3:28 am