How butyrate protects against Candida overgrowth

It's well known that antibiotics can disrupt the gut microbiome, but a recent study offers deeper insight into how that disruption leads to fungal overgrowth. Using an advanced gut model (M-SHIME), researchers showed that when key bacterial species like Bifidobacteria and Lachnospiraceae are wiped out by antibiotics like clindamycin, levels of the short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) butyrate and acetate plummet.

These SCFAs play a crucial role in suppressing Candida albicans, an opportunistic yeast that can otherwise thrive in the gut under dysbiotic conditions. The study found a strong negative correlation between Candida abundance and SCFA levels, particularly butyrate. Unfortunately, thanks to modern diets and lifestyles, most people don't produce enough butyrate to keep Candida at bay.

Butter and cheese are the best sources of butyrate. So enjoy!

The key to find candida is to stop feeding it which means to stop eating sugar and carbs. When you do that, anti-candida products like oregano oil can fight it better!

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