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Healthy Home Economist / Archives / Natural Remedies / Pau d’Arco: Best Herb to Beat Back Candida

Pau d’Arco: Best Herb to Beat Back Candida

by Sarah Pope / Affiliate Links ✔

Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • Pau d'Arco Inhibits Candida
  • Candida Diet Recommends Pau d'Arco
  • What Form is Best?
  • How to Use

cut pau d'arco herb in a dish for resolving candida

At no time during the year is the herb Pau d’arco needed more than during vacation or the holidays!

Having an awesome time while on break is wonderful and fine. However, the risk of off-the-wagon eating during this time is quite sneaky. Bad habits can make their way into our regular routine almost without us realizing what happened.

Have you ever experienced this yourself?

A week or two after the vacation has ended, you may still find yourself eating like you did on break! This can domino into candida overgrowth symptoms like waking up with brain fog, eating midafternoon candy bars or donuts for breakfast, and suffering from stiff or painful joints.

Has this has ever happened to you? Then, you know that the first day or two back on the wagon eating 100% healthy is definitely the hardest.

Those little critters known as gut pathogens which are normally in the minority in a healthy, balanced gut had a heyday while you were eating with abandon. They likely multiplied quickly and have increased greatly in proportion to the beneficial flora.

Pau d’Arco Inhibits Candida

The typical pathogen that overgrows during a period of off the wagon eating is Candida. This term refers to a large family of yeasts comprising 150+ species. Six of these are normally responsible for the bulk of human fungal infections.

Under normal circumstances, these one-celled fungi harmlessly inhabit the tissues of humans.

A balanced intestinal tract from mouth to colon easily keeps pathogenic yeasts in check. In other words, the good guys keep candida overgrowth from taking hold.

When not enough beneficial bacteria are present in a given body tissue to keep Candida under control, pathogenic strains can transform from a harmless state into an invasive species.

Candida overgrowth can occur in many tissues of the body. For example, pathogenic yeasts can take hold in the mouth as oral candidiasis known as thrush. It can also occur in the scalp as dandruff, in the feet as fungus toenails, or internally as stubborn vaginal yeast infections and UTIs.

Cutting off Candida’s goodies by eliminating the dietary junk allows the beneficial microbes to re-exert their authority and bring gut pathogens back into subjection. Hopefully, this occurs before they start causing health issues.

Once given a foothold, pathogenic yeast won’t go away easily!

It takes about 24-72 hours of perfect eating to get over the hump in my experience. After that, you will likely find healthy eating comfortable again. You won’t be craving treats or junk all day long. This means blood sugar will stabilize back into a normal steady routine without excessive peaks or valleys.

The good news is that herbs can provide much-needed assistance during those initial difficult hours when the gut pathogens like Candida are clamoring for their sugar fix and you are struggling to put an end to the feeding frenzy.

The best herb to use for this purpose is Pau d’Arco, also known as Tabebuia.

The Pau d’Arco herb is derived from the inner bark of a beautiful, large tree that is native to the rainforests of Central and South America. It will grow in any warm, humid clime. I am fortunate to have two of these beautiful trees, Tabebuia impetiginosa, growing in my front yard.

Candida Diet Recommends Pau d’Arco

I first learned about Pau d’Arco while on the Candida Diet some twenty-five years ago. Although the Candida Diet failed miserably to improve the health either of myself or my husband (we eventually realized that eating traditionally was the way to healing and health, not fad diet silver bullets), we found this powerful herb highly effective at repressing Candida and significantly reducing sugar cravings.

Pau d’Arco has been used as a medicine to counteract fungal overgrowth for centuries. Science is validating these anecdotal observations with solid research. For example, the Brazilian Journal of Biology found that Tabebuia avellanedae, one tree species that is the source of the Pau d’Arco herb, does indeed exert an inhibitory effect on yeasts.

What Form is Best?

Pau d’Arco is most often consumed as a medicinal herbal tea. It is an acquired taste at best! Even after drinking it as needed for the past 2 decades, I still don’t like it much!

The good news is that the taste isn’t so terrible that you can’t drink a cup or two for a few days. This practice will help you get back into the routine of healthy eating with far less agony.

If you absolutely cannot stand the bitter taste, try using a Pau d’Arco tincture instead (this is a good brand to try).

How much sugar is too much? The definition of sugar moderation is less than 36 grams (3 tablespoons) per day. Most importantly, this includes fruit and fruit juice.

To give you an idea of how little sugar this actually is, one navel orange contains approximately 23 grams of sugar.

More than 36 grams of sugar per day causes significant immune system impairment. This limit is based on the research described in the classical compendium Search for Health by Tom Valentine.

How to Use

Two cautions with regard to consumption of Pau d’Arco tea are to start slow! This avoids uncomfortable Candida die-off symptoms.

Secondly, make sure you get the real thing. There are Pau d’Arco imposters out there, so make sure the source of your herb is either the Tabebuia avellanedae tree or the Tabebuia impetiginosa tree. Mahogany bark, for example, apparently has a similar color and aroma to the bark of the Pau d’Arco tree but does not have its beneficial effects when consumed as a tea.

Getting back on the healthy eating wagon is not nearly as tough when you use Pau d’Arco as your ace in the hole!

pau d'arco herb in a porcelain bowl

 

References

Antimicrobial potential of some plant extracts against Candida species

More Information

Biofilms in treating Candida
The 11 Best Natural Antibiotics and How to Use Them
Can Candida Sufferers Drink Kombucha?
Slippery Elm for Natural Digestive Relief
Rooibus Tea: Delicious and Naturally Caffeine Free
Top 3 Herbs for Fertility

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Category: Natural Remedies
Sarah Pope

Sarah Pope MGA has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. She is a summa cum laude graduate in Economics from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

She is the author of three books: the bestseller Get Your Fats Straight, Traditional Remedies for Modern Families, and Living Green in an Artificial World.

Her four eBooks Good Diet…Bad Diet, Real Food Fermentation, Ketonomics, and Ancestrally Inspired Dairy-Free Recipes are available for complimentary download via Healthy Home Plus.

Her mission is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.

Sarah was awarded Activist of the Year in 2010 at the International Wise Traditions Conference, subsequently serving on the Board of Directors of the nutrition nonprofit the Weston A. Price Foundation for seven years.

Her work has been covered by numerous independent and major media including USA Today, ABC, and NBC among many others.

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Reader Interactions

Comments (80)

  1. Linda Rinaldi-Luce

    Dec 31, 2020 at 4:41 pm

    Can anyone chime in on how long one can use pau d’arco to treat Candida? I began taking it 10 days ago and I am experiencing die-off effects. Would be good to know how long to continue taking- Thanks!

    Reply
  2. Susan

    Feb 11, 2019 at 3:22 pm

    Hi Sarah,
    Is Pau D’Arco safe to use during pregnancy? I’m suffering from a terrible on going and non stop yeast infection and I’m afraid I will be transferring it to my baby when he’s born.
    Please help!

    Reply
    • Sarah Pope MGA

      Feb 11, 2019 at 7:43 pm

      I would suggest reaching out to your practitioner about any questions you may have about herbs during pregnancy.

  3. Maurice Powers-turner

    Oct 28, 2018 at 8:19 pm

    I started with the Candida Diet and 3 weeks later I am still having great success!!! I’m even losing weight after over 25 years of not being able to get off the pounds….and believe me, I did everything! I am adding this tea as I know it will help me. However, I believe it is foolish to state that “traditional eating” is best. What works for you may not work for others and if the candida is severe (as it is in my case), think how much better it is to eliminate foods to loosen the foothold on the body With the add of herbals and then reintroducing said foods slowly. One can then have a clear determination of what they are sensitive to and what is safe to eat! I have found this very valuable…plus, looking for the quick fix and not being willing to “be a little uncomfortable” is a hallmark of american attitude. What’s more, “ traditional” american eating is actually what is killing people……I vote wholeheartedly for the candida diet….I am satisfied and finding that I am no longer “dying of starvation”! I love this and will add PAu D’arco to my daily practice.

    Reply
  4. Jen

    Sep 21, 2018 at 8:28 pm

    You said you and your husband are “traditional” while using pau d’arco. What does that mean exactly? I’ve been trying the candida diet with little luck so wanted to know what your diet entailed and avoided. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Sarah

      Sep 21, 2018 at 9:19 pm

      Traditional diet is not strict enough to resolve candida. I would recommend the GAPS healing diet for that purpose. More in this article. https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/heal-your-autoimmune-disease-now/

  5. Annette Blair

    Apr 23, 2018 at 3:02 pm

    Pau D’Arco by PipingRock is made of Tabebuia impetiginosa,

    Reply
  6. Rita R.

    Feb 22, 2018 at 3:30 pm

    Why not, and are there any alternatives for the stomach?

    Reply
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