Do you have candida skin rashes? Or rashes that you believe are triggered and flared by candida? It’s certainly possible! Candida is one of the big gut factors that can shift the balance of your gut (and ultimately your skin) towards dysbiosis. If you recall in previous episodes of the podcast, we’ve discussed how your gut microbiome balance essentially can set the tone for your skin’s bug community. Whether you suspect you’ve got candida or know for sure that you do, today’s episode is the first of a series exploring Candida as a skin rash root cause. It can impact pretty much any skin condition including eczema (atopic dermatitis), psoriasis, rosacea, seborrheic dermatitis, lichen sclerosus, tinea versicolor and more! In this episode: Why you might be wrong about having candida even though you have a lot of symptoms Why dandruff is not a scalp problem — it’s a gut problem Diet suggestions to make if you have candida How to manage your expectations on your healing journey QUOTES: “The best test for candida is a urine test that looks for the organic acid D-Arabinitol. The spit test you’ve probably seen online is way too subjective and has no science behind it.” “I hear from a lot of clients and readers who have been traumatized trying candida cleanses on their own. They found a DIY kit online that only ended up making their skin rashes worse! Nothing makes an improvement after the flare-up of their symptoms. They feel such a sense of defeat because they blame themselves for making everything worse.” FULL TRANSCRIPT Welcome back to the Healthy Skin Show! In today's episode, I’m talking all about Candida! This is a hot topic because so many people think that candida is one of their root causes just from reading a list of symptoms online. And I totally get it because those lists include a number of symptoms that a lot of people have who have chronic health issues. Before you jump to the conclusion that Candida IS an issue for you (or if you already believe it is), know this… You can have the majority of the symptoms on those lists and NOT have Candida. You can have Candida, but never had a vaginal yeast infection that you can recall. Or you could be one of those people who end up with a mixed bag of bacteria AND Candida (or even parasites) causing the problem. And in this case, just targeting Candida might not improve your symptoms (or will do so only marginally) because it was only one piece of the puzzle. Fast Facts About Candida Overgrowth (To Frame Our Conversation) Here are 8 fast facts that you should know about candida — Candida overgrowth does not respond best to diet alone. The best test for candida is a urine test that looks for the organic acid D-Arabinitol. The spit test you’ve probably seen online is way too subjective and has no science behind it. Candida is a commensal gut organism so it does normally live in your gut. Keep in mind that it is an opportunistic “bug” so when conditions are right, it will overgrow (like when you take antibiotics). The issue with candida is that overgrowth begins in the gut. When we start to manifest outward signs of candida (like various fungal infections… even on your skin, feet or nails), it’s a clue of fungal gut dysbiosis meaning that to really stop the outward expression, you have to address it in your gut. From clinical experience, anti-candida diets can help manage symptoms, but they are difficult to follow and not the most efficient way forward. Candida cleanses can actually cause your skin symptoms to get much worse… so be careful doing one on your own A few big red flags for candida overgrowth in your gut include: multiple and extended rounds of antibiotics at any point in your life, steroid use (like hydrocortisone and Triamcinolone), birth control pill use, excessive alcohol consumption, as well as a long history of the Standard American Diet loaded with processed and refined carbohydrates and sugar. You can have just about every Candida symptom that you read about onli