Obesity and Yeast Infections: What’s the Connection?
As if the overweight men and women of the world don’t have enough to worry about, but yes, obesity is one of the risk factors for chronic yeast infections.
There are two reasons why overweight women get more yeast infections, and why both men and women who are overweight can get skin rashes and oral thrush, both caused by Candida albicans yeast.
The first reason is purely physical: yeast loves warm, moist areas of the skin, and folds of fat create exactly the right conditions for yeast to live on the skin. Yeast can overpopulate areas under the breasts, in the armpit, in the crotch, and in any area that remains damp from perspiration. An absorbent powder used in these areas can help.
The other reason has to do with hormones. As most of us know, obesity is one of the main risk factors for type II diabetes. And the risk of diabetes is caused by something that also causes yeast infections: a change in the hormonal balance due to increased insulin resistance.
Insulin is a hormone your body uses to keep your blood sugar at a safe level. The extra fat cells can make your body resistant to insulin, so your pancreas needs to make more and more of this hormone to be effective. When the pancreas can no longer pump out enough insulin to clear the blood of excess glucose, it is said to have insulin resistance. At this point, you will probably also be diagnosed with diabetes or prediabetes.
Since insulin resistance can cause yeast infections, many women are first diagnosed with diabetes when they see their doctor for their chronic vaginal infections.
How can an overweight man or woman reduce the risk of yeast infections? Staying as dry as possible, of course. But the most important thing to do is improve your health to reduce your risk of diabetes, which is a much more serious condition than a yeast infection. To do that, you need to lose weight, eat a healthy diet, and exercise regularly.
Since insulin resistance can make it difficult to lose weight, it’s important to include exercise in your daily routine. Exercise helps improve the cells’ ability to use insulin. It also helps prevent heart disease, which often accompanies obesity and diabetes. Exercise will also help you lose weight.
And you need to talk to your doctor about a healthy diet that will help prevent or reverse your risk of diabetes. Studies have shown that a good diet, accompanied by regular exercise, is the most effective treatment for insulin resistance.
The Diabetes Prevention Program suggests a diet low in calories and fat. Since yeast loves sugar, you may also want to eliminate sugar from your diet. It will help you reduce the daily calories you consume, help you lose weight, and reduce the risk of yeast infections getting worse.
Your first step if you are overweight and suffer from chronic yeast infections? Talk to your doctor, get checked for diabetes, and follow your doctor’s advice! You can save your life.