I've been looking around these post and can't quite figure out what candida is..can someone explain it to this newbie? Thanks!

Candida is a yeast that naturally exists in the human digestive tract (small and large intestines). Normally it is minimal in its presence because the helpful bacteria that also naturally lives in our intestines keeps it in check. With the heavy usage of antibiotics in our society today, the helpful digestive bacteria in most people has taken heavy casualties. Without this helpful digestive bacteria to assist the body in breaking down and absorbing nutrients out of food into our blood stream, Candida is free to grow, prosper and thrive. If it gets strong enough, it mutates into fungal form, inhibits our body's ability to break down and digest food, and eventually weakens the intestine wall lining. The weakened intestine wall lining becomes more porous and allows undigested food proteins and the candida itself into your blood stream. This overloads the body's immune system and detoxification organs (liver, spleen and kidneys). Left unchecked, candida can lead to food sensitivities, auto immune disorders, and a long laundry list of other medical problems that modern medicine seems to treat with band-aid drugs on an individual basis.

I myself developed symptoms of random muscular twitching, anxiety, sleep starts, food sensitivities, joint pain and stiffness after running, episodes of poor memory/foggy brain and a few others all because of candida. The condition that describes foreign material being absorbed into the blood stream through a damaged intestinal lining is called 'Leaky Gut Syndrome'. For the time being I now have to avoid all wheat/gluten, soy, dairy, caffeine and a few other foods or I start getting the muscular twitching symptoms. Everyone reacts differently to Candida and its symptoms can be vast. Some people experience skin irritations, fatigue, muscular pain (Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue), or many others.

What particular symptoms are you experiencing that led you to look into Candida?

I saw the link for candida/IBS and looked into it...my sister in law has IBS. So I just started looking around to see what all the posts were about. And to see if there was a connection between excess carbs and IBS.

IBS is most often due to Candida. Take out the candida, restore your digestive health, and the IBS symptoms usually go away. I personally had IBS for the longest time and thought it was because of stress. Since I've been on my anti-candida diet and plan I haven't had an IBS episode yet.

Really? I have been on the candida diet for about six months and my stomach is just as bad as ever.

Candida causes food sensitivities too, which can cause IBS flare ups. You may be sensitive to a fruit, vegetable, meat, or something else which is causing your stomach troubles. I, for example, am sensitive to tomatoes and strawberries. Both of these foods cause me problems. Is there something in particular that you eat that causes you grief? In rare cases people become sensitive to the vitamins that are in most foods. If you can see a homeopathic doctor who specializes in digestive health. If you're anywhere near St. Louis, MO, I can recommend one.