In the article Laura takes apart nutrition myths, including the statement "Candida overgrowth leads to 'leaky gut.'" Here's some of what she says (just a few quotes, I highly recommend you read Laura's entire piece to fill in the gaps as it's really enlightening):

"... Candida totally gets the blame for "leaky gut"... [but] there's no solid evidence (maybe a couple of sketchy papers) to connect Candida overgrowth with increased gut permeability or any of the other sh*t it gets blamed for....

What I find totally bonkers about this whole candida and leaky gut thing, is the so-called 'treatment' for it. Basically eliminating all 'sugar.' This is so confusing because basically all nutritious foods have some sort of sugar in them, including fruits and vegetables."

Okay, so after that article I'm feeling pretty red faced about championing yeast free as it's linked with these theories about candida. I knew I didn't have leaky gut as my symptoms are fairly mild. But I am definitely conscious of my sugar intake and even wrote a post about low-sugar fruit for this reason when I started out.

The second article took the cringe factor to another level though.

It was a piece from Angry Chef Anthony Warner entitled Captain Science vs the Army of Fungus. I think you can already tell from the blog post title where that one is headed...

If you read the full article (which I highly recommend) be prepared for plenty of swearing. Here are a couple of quotes that don't involve curse words:

"The prospect that invasive candidiasis might be present in large proportions of the population is fanciful, bizarre and so far from the medical consensus as to be laughable... No good studies exist to back it up, and when the condition has been researched, no evidence has been found to suggest that it is in any way real....

The Yeast Connection [the 1986 book by Dr William Crook]... ticks all the boxes required for a faddy false belief to take hold and grow. Candida overgrowth is a masterful example of the pseudo-science playbook, covering all the steps required to tap into people's fears and uncertainties."



So where do I go now? I am writing a blog about eating 'yeast free' - but now I'm reading it's all based on pseudo-science! Should I bury myself under a duvet and never surface again?!

You may well have read my earlier blog posts about my food intolerance 'diagnosis' (I've admitted a blood test is not the perfect way to do it) and also my musings about whether I should be doing 'yeast free' or 'anti-candida' and what the difference really is. I always found the whole thing a bit confusing, which was part of the reason for setting up The Flourishing Pantry.

I suppose it makes sense that when I searched yeast free diet that there wasn't really a consensus out there about what it was or included / excluded. Perhaps it was because it's all just made up...?! And googling 'yeast free diet' didn't, sadly, direct me to articles like Anthony and Laura's about the actual SCIENCE behind this theory, or lack of.

I'm hugely relieved that I never read Dr Crook's book or got deep into Dr Zoe Harcombe PhD's anti-candida diet which Anthony mentions in his piece. Why didn't I read them? Well as I mentioned in a previous post it's because when I read the list of things on the anti-candida diet it never quite sat right with me.