Your diet plays a huge role in how your body manages oral thrush – eating plenty of unsweetened yogurt is a great way to both reduce the current infection, and prevent further ones.
Oral thrush is a fungal infection of the mouth caused by a common organism – candida albicans. While this type of candida is normally present in small quantities in your mouth and gut, it only becomes annoying once it grows out of proportions – a process called candida overgrowth.
Since this abnormal growth happens as a result of a change in the bacterial flora of the mouth, what you eat has a lot to do with it. In early cases of thrush, changing your diet may be enough to get rid of your symptoms; however, if they persist, it’s better to use anti-fungal medications, too.
How does unsweetened yogurt work?
Since thrush is caused by an excessive number of candida colonies in your mouth, keeping them under control is essential in overcoming thrush.
One of the best ways to do so is getting plenty of probiotics. Unsweetened yogurt is full of them.
In a nutshell, probiotics are good bacteria. They help take up the space left by candida albicans, and they don’t allow it to grow. It’s not uncommon for candida colonies to thrive because there’s not enough probiotics in your gut, so taking probiotics is bound to be good for your infection.
Unsweetened yogurt contains a bacteria called Lactobacillus acidophilus, a probiotic shown to reduce the spread of candida albicans by lowering the PH level in the gut.
How should I take it?
Of course, the most obvious way is to eat it. Three cups a day should do the trick, but, depending on the severity of the infection, you may want to eat more.
Additionally, you can also apply it directly over the infected regions, thereby allowing the bacteria to stay longer in contact with the candida colonies. Once you’ve kept it in your mouth for 10 minutes, spit it out and rinse with mouth. You should do this for as long as necessary, since there are no negative side effects.
What if it doesn’t work?
Studies have yet to show that probiotics alone will treat thrush, though it’s pretty certain that they do prevent it. What probiotics do is not allow the candida colonies to grow any further, and thus prevent the infection from spreading.
The best solution is to mix a probiotic-rich diet with other antifungal medication. As you’re taking the treatment, the space taken up by candida albicans will be filled by probiotics. This will help you prevent any further infections and accelerate the effect of the antifungal.
Who can take it?
Unsweetened yogurt is safe for most people, but you should contact your doctor if you’ve got lactose intolerance.
Conclusion
Unsweetened yogurt is a good way to supplement any thrush treatment. It will speed up the healing process and it will prevent further infections, even though it’s not likely to cure thrush by itself.