Candida spp. (stool)

Candida can multiply when the bacterial gut flora is weakened, for example after antibiotics, with limited immune defence or persistently raised blood sugar. Candida can ferment sugars into ethanol and carbon dioxide and can also form acetaldehyde in the process.

What Candida does in the gut

Candida, especially Candida albicans, is a yeast that lives in small amounts in the mouth, gut and vagina of many people. As a round yeast cell it behaves unobtrusively. Under certain conditions – for example with a changed pH or when bacterial competitors are missing – it forms thread-like hyphae. These adhere more firmly to the mucosa, can penetrate between the cells and release the peptide candidalysin and protein-splitting enzymes. The gut bacteria keep Candida in check: they occupy nutrients and attachment sites, and short-chain fatty acids and lactic acid inhibit hyphae formation.

Low Candida – what happens in the gut?

If Candida is barely or not detectable in stool, this is the normal state for many people. The bacterial gut flora then occupies the niches the yeast could otherwise use; a lack of Candida has no known consequence in the gut.

High Candida – what happens in the gut?

Candida multiplies when bacterial competition is weakened, for example after antibiotics, or when immune defence is limited, for instance with cortisone or other immunosuppressive medicines. Persistently raised blood sugar and acid blockers also favour growth. The yeast ferments sugars into carbon dioxide and ethanol, which contributes to gas formation. If more hyphae form, candidalysin damages the mucosal cells and the immune system responds with a Th17 immune response. Studies have observed more Candida in stool in Crohn's disease, among other conditions.

The interpretation is given in your report.