Let’s Talk About It: Thrush

Let’s Talk About It: Thrush

In my series ‘Let’s Talk About It’ I’m delving into areas of health which my clients are often embarrassed or shy to discuss but have been suffering with symptoms of for years.

I cannot tell you how many women I’ve worked with over the years who have suffered with chronic thrush. In some cases, it’s a constant low lying issue and they have to be careful with baths, underwear and soaps or in others it comes on after every period, month after month.

What Is Thrush

Essentially thrush is an overgrowth of yeast in the vagina. It’s something that most women will have at least once (and only once if their lucky) in their life. Despite it being such a common experience, it isn’t widely discussed and so many of the easy changes you can do to support thrush symptoms aren’t well known.

You have many different microbiomes across the body, in the mouth, vagina, gut and skin. The type of organisms living in these microbiomes vary from yeasts to bacteria with many variations of each. There are a few main categories:

Commensal – Sometimes referred to the ‘good bacteria’ they help to keep the pathogenic and opportunistic bacteria and yeasts in check and so are a big part of your immune system.

Pathogenic – This is a true ‘bad’ bacteria like salmonella  

Opportunistic – This is the category thrush falls into, opportunistic yeasts and bacteria are fine in small numbers. They don’t do much for the microbiome and don’t really cause too much trouble so long as the commensal bacteria keeps on top of them. However, when they have the chance to grow, they proliferate and lead to thrush or bacterial vaginosis. Hence the name, opportunistic.

What Can Chronic Thrush Tell Us

In my clinical work I think about the body as one big system instead of lots of little systems – nothing happens in isolation! What happens with the skin can tell us what’s going on internally and with thrush it’s no different.

Low Immunity – When the overall immunity is low, I often see recurrent infections like tonsilitis or thrush. Working on supporting the overall immune system can go a long way to support the frequency of which thrush occurs.

Clinically I’d also be looking into the drivers behind a low immune system which can sometimes be attributed to stress, poor sleep, gut health, or viral load.  

High Stress - When we spend time in sympathetic mode otherwise known as ‘fight or flight’ the immune system takes a back seat. Chronic high stress can decrease the efficiency in which the immune system functions. Sometimes I see this as clients who take a long time to bounce back from colds or recurrent thrush.

Blood Sugar Imbalances – studies have found a link between high insulin levels and occurrences of thrush. Yeast feeds off of sugar and so higher levels of sugar in the urine could possibly contribute to thrush.  Sugar also feeds yeast which may contribute to the severity and/or frequency of thrush.

Vaginal Microbiome Imbalance – It’s no coincidence that you get thrush after you take a course of antibiotics. Antibiotics are excellent when it comes to wiping out a bacterial infection. The downside is that they can ‘wipe out’ the commensal bacterial, often resulting in thrush. There are certain probiotics you can take which target the vaginal microbiome, I will list them below.

What Contributes To Thrush

Stress

Antibiotic Use

Hormonal Imbalances

Periods (often due to the change in vaginal PH after a period)

Vaginal Dryness (often seen with post/perimenopause or with hormone conditions like PCOS) this is due to the immune function that cervical mucus (discharge) offers

How To Manage Thrush With Diet

Avoid Yeast Rich Foods – Foods rich in yeast like bread, pastries, pasta and mushrooms can contribute to thrush

Probiotic Foods – Include probiotic rich foods to support your microbiome like sauerkraut, kimchi, olives in your daily

Reduce Sugary Foods – Remember that yeast thrives on sugar so reducing sugar whilst you have a thrush breakout can be a good place to start

Take a Probiotic -  Here are my top probiotic foods for supporting the vaginal microbiome:

 Maintenance Dose - BioKult For Women.

 Saccharomyces Boulardii - This can be helpful during active thrush, not safe for pregnancy or breastfeeding.

Active Thrush Probiotics A probiotic supplement like this which has 50 billion bacteria per capsule is most helpful during an active thrush infection. Start here before moving onto a maintenance dose.

Final Thoughts

Thrush is very common – you’re not alone! There are many possible reasons behind thrush and you can positive influence your body with dietary and lifestyle changes.

Learn what your unique drivers are along with trying some of the suggestions above to support a healthy digestive system.