Can excessive drinking cause recurring yeast infections?

Good day there, Eric Bakker, naturopath here, author from Candida Crusher. Here’s another question.

Before you continue reading, take a moment to discover actionable insights about your Candida yeast overgrowth. Our Candida Yeast Quiz is designed to provide personalized recommendations based on your specific symptoms. Don't miss this opportunity to gain valuable knowledge and take control of your health. Click here to take the quiz now!

Eric, could my excessive drinking be the reason I’m getting yeast infections?

Well, have a good think about it. Alcohol is, in my opinion, one of the chief reasons why people maintain yeast infections. Have a think about that; one of the key reasons why people maintain it.

I’ve seen thousands of people with yeast infections over a long period of time, and I find that if a person is resistant about stopping alcohol, it could well be one of the major factors why they can’t get rid of their Candida yeast infection. But not only that, it could also be one of the major reasons why they can’t save enough money or they can’t get rid of their pot belly or why a lot of women are what I call in the BBC, the big bum club. And they’re women who often like eating bread, drinking wine, guys who would like a six pack, maybe some pizza when they’re watching football.

So we all like our own particular type of poison; there’s no doubt about it. We all like alcohol, but some of us like alcohol a little bit too much. Some of us drink too much; we know that. Some of us are alcoholics. My stepfather was an alcoholic. He drank a bottle of whiskey a day for 20 years. Well, that’s a real problem.

So this is something I’d like you to think about. How I define a person who has a drinking problem is I would look at their want and need for drinking. So let’s just say four or five o’clock comes around, if you’re starting to think in your own mind, oh, I’m looking forward to that glass of wine; I really want that beer. And this is a repetitive thought you have; it may well be a problem. Because it’s not the quantity of alcohol you drink, it’s the fact that you want that drink. That’s the problem; it’s the fact that you want it.

This could be chocolate. This could be alcohol. This could be a cookie. Or like in my dad’s case, it could be ice cream. And some folks may eat five or six scoops of ice cream per day and not see it being a problem. So it’s the desire for that particular sweet food that will determine whether you’ve got a problem or not. It’s an addiction. The addiction needs dealing with. And there are reasons why you have that addiction. Maybe you’re not happy.

I’ve written about eating for emotional comfort in my book. There are many of these sorts of things I’ve written about in my book to help you determine whether you’re eating for emotional comfort or you’ve got an addictive personality. And these are the key things that underpin a yeast infection in many cases.

I’ve not read about a lot of these in many books, but I’ve seen these things in a lot of patients and that’s why I’ve written about them. So in Candida Crusher, you can read all about addictions, emotional reasons for eating, and many other of these factors. If you think that you drink too much, you probably do.

So a good thing for you to do is to stop all alcohol for a little while and to see how your digestion goes, how your jock itch goes, or your vaginal infection. And that’s the key time to treat when you finally sever that addiction.

I’d like you to tackle it slowly, and I use a particular type of approach in my clinic called warm turkey. Warm turkey means you slowly lead into something and take it out. Cold turkey means, wham, you stop doing it and that can be pretty hard. I’m going to talk a lot more about warm turkey in another video.

So I hope that answered your question. Thank you.

Before you leave the page make sure to watch My TOP 5 Candida Fighting Foods. I share my 5 favorite foods that beat candida overgrowth. The video is on my youtube channel and you can click here to watch it. Let me know if you have any other questions.