~Created by one MLM, perpetuated by another ~
You may have seen a handy, free, at-home Candida test being spread on social media lately, particularly by distributors of Total Life Changes (TLC) products. TLC is a multi-level marketing (MLM) company selling health-related products, introduced to the island last year.
You should take this test, you see, because Candida may be stopping you from achieving your health and weight-loss goals.
Simply spit into a glass of water first thing in the morning. If the saliva “remains floating in a nice, cohesive ‘blob’, you’re most likely pretty much Candida-free.” However, if it develops ‘tendrils’, suspended cloudy specks, or sinks to the bottom, that would indicate a “Candida overgrowth” situation.
To make sure this is reliable, you’d better use bottled water (as tap water may contain chemicals that can interfere with the test) and keep checking every 15 minutes for up to an hour for any changes.
This test is complete bogus – that, on its own, would hardly be news, given the notorious reputation of MLMs in doling out misleading health information in order to sell products.
The real kicker is that the sham was created by another MLM company, in order to convince people that they need treatment for an ailment they don’t have. Global Health Trax was also identified specifically by Consumer Awareness Institute as being a product-based pyramid scheme, based on its compensation plan, in a 2008 report made public by United States’ Federal Trade Comission (FTC).
Global Health Trax, established in the 90’s, pushes treatment for Candida overgrowth/ problems with yeast. “Since at least 70% of people have a yeast overgrowth – YOU probably have one too!” – the company still pushes this on its current website, along with the spit test.
Actually, even if the spit test shows that you “probably have normal levels of yeast under control,” you should still buy its star product, ThreeLac, to maintain good bowel flora. If you didn’t do so well, however, “it may take up to 5 packets a day to start to support a reduction in yeast colonies.”
The spit test is featured on Quackwatch’s list of ‘Dubious Diagnostic Tests’, a compilation of so-called medical tests with little-to-no diagnostic value. A few of the tests listed (which include blood and urine tests) are “legitimate for some purposes but are used improperly for others.”
What does the spit test, and possibly those creepy tendrils, actually tell you? Not much, as it produces both false positives and false negatives for Candida overgrowth. It only tells you that your spit is a bit thick. You may or may not have some sort of allergy or virus, but slight dehydration is the best explanation for this, which isn’t that odd if you just went 8+ hours without a drink of water.
‘Candida overgrowth’ hype
Candida overgrowth (along with ‘Leaky Gut’) is a common false diagnosis and has been an overhyped scapegoat for any vague medical malady you can imagine. Furthermore, everyone has Candida, it’s a normal component of your intestinal flora. Overgrowth of Candida is serious, but rare, happening mostly to people with weakened immune systems. It is not a concern for “at least 70% of people”.
Candida overgrowth is a star concept in the “alternative” health world with the idea being perpetuated mostly through social media and companies trying to sell expensive treatments.
It’s often accepted with open arms by people who are suffering from real and confusing medical issues. What’s more, “treatment” often includes simply eating healthier – cutting down on sugar and eating more vegetables, for example – which makes people with vague complaints such as fatigue and weight gain, feel better.
Too bad that doesn’t work for people with, say, schizophrenia, who delay getting real treatment when they believe the Candida hype instead.
These “yeast problems” also came up in discussion with TLC distributors on island, which shows that the marketers have been taught the same ideas, and perpetuate them as well.
An excerpt from Quackwatch/ Stephen Barrett, M.D.:
“Candida albicans (sometimes referred to as monilia) is a fungus normally present on the skin and in the mouth, intestinal tract, and vagina. Under certain conditions, it can multiply and infect the surface of the skin or mucous membranes.
“Such infections are usually minor, but serious and deeper infections can occur, especially in patients whose resistance has been weakened by immunosuppressant drugs and serious illnesses such as AIDS.
“However, some practitioners claim that even when clinical signs of infection are absent, yeast-related problems can cause or trigger multiple symptoms such as fatigue, irritability, constipation, diarrhea, abdominal bloating, mood swings, depression, anxiety, dizziness, unexpected weight gain, difficulty in concentrating, muscle and joint pain, cravings for sugar or alcoholic beverages, psoriasis, hives, respiratory and ear problems, menstrual problems, infertility, impotence, bladder infections, prostatitis, and ‘feeling bad all over’…
“According to its promoters – some of whom practice ‘clinical ecology’ – one out of three Americans suffers from yeast-related illness… Many clinical ecologists view this alleged problem as an underlying cause of MCS [multiple chemical sensitivity- Ed].
“It is also touted as an important factor in AIDS, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and schizophrenia, as well as "hypoglycemia," "mercury-amalgam toxicity" and at least twenty other conditions.
“In recent years, proponents have suggested that chronic fatigue syndrome and Candida infections are closely related. This article uses the term "candidiasis hypersensitivity" in quotation marks to indicate that neither infection nor actual allergy is present.”
MLMs in particular
Stephen Barrett, M.D, creator of Quackwatch, is a pioneer in public health education, specifically when it comes to false and misleading health claims in alternative medicine. MLMs became so prominent in this arena that Barrett started a separate website, www.mlmwatch.org.
Vice President of National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF), Barrett has “examined the offerings of more than 100 MLM companies offering health-related products, and has concluded that every one of them has made false or misleading claims in their promotional materials.
“The products that have nutritional value (such as multivitamins) are invariably overpriced and usually not needed. The products promoted as remedies are either bogus, unproven, or intended for conditions that are unsuitable for self-medication,” as disclosed in the NCAHF Position Paper on Multilevel Marketing of Health Products.
The same paper advises consumers to “avoid health-related multi-level products altogether.”
Extensive investigation by Truth In Advertising (TINA) revealed in 2016 that “there is a systemic problem within the MLM industry when it comes to health claims. Thousands of distributors are marketing MLM products to treat or cure diseases, with many relying on wildly inappropriate health testimonials to market their wares and the business opportunity.”
TINA found a whopping “97 per cent of DSA [Direct Selling Association – Ed.] member companies selling nutritional supplements have distributors deceptively marketing their products with unsubstantiated health claims.
TINA.org catalogued well over a thousand illegal disease-treatment claims made by distributors during this research.
For more on the misinformation surrounding Candida overgrowth, see Dubious "Yeast Allergies" (2005) by Stephen Barrett, M.D. via Quackwatch, and The Candida Overgrowth Problem: Too Much Yeast? No, Too Little Science (2017) by science and health writer Melinda Wenner Moyer.
