Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
https://www.byronherbalist.com.au/appointments/ to work with me.
Brain fog is something I hear about all the time in clinic, but there’s a particular presentation that makes me start thinking about Candida. It’s not simply feeling tired or struggling to concentrate. People will describe fuzzy thinking, poor word recall and short-term memory issues, but alongside that there can be headaches, irritability, dehydration and sometimes this strange feeling of being mildly drunk or permanently hungover — even when they haven’t touched alcohol.
In this video I’m looking at one possible reason for that pattern: acetaldehyde. Candida can produce acetaldehyde, which is also an important part of what makes us feel so terrible after drinking alcohol. When that hangover-like brain fog is sitting alongside digestive symptoms such as bloating, gas, abdominal discomfort or changes in bowel movements, particularly with a history of repeated antibiotics or symptoms that flare with refined carbohydrates, Candida starts moving further up my list of things worth investigating.
That doesn’t mean every case of brain fog is Candida, and I don’t think you can make that diagnosis from one symptom or one test. I’ll talk through the broader pattern I look for in clinic, where stool testing can sometimes fall short, when I consider an Organic Acids Test, and why ultimately the response to treatment can become an important part of working out whether Candida was actually contributing to the problem.
https://www.byronherbalist.com.au/appointments/ to work with me.
Brain fog is something I hear about all the time in clinic, but there’s a particular presentation that makes me start thinking about Candida. It’s not simply feeling tired or struggling to concentrate. People will describe fuzzy thinking, poor word recall and short-term memory issues, but alongside that there can be headaches, irritability, dehydration and sometimes this strange feeling of being mildly drunk or permanently hungover — even when they haven’t touched alcohol.
In this video I’m looking at one possible reason for that pattern: acetaldehyde. Candida can produce acetaldehyde, which is also an important part of what makes us feel so terrible after drinking alcohol. When that hangover-like brain fog is sitting alongside digestive symptoms such as bloating, gas, abdominal discomfort or changes in bowel movements, particularly with a history of repeated antibiotics or symptoms that flare with refined carbohydrates, Candida starts moving further up my list of things worth investigating.
That doesn’t mean every case of brain fog is Candida, and I don’t think you can make that diagnosis from one symptom or one test. I’ll talk through the broader pattern I look for in clinic, where stool testing can sometimes fall short, when I consider an Organic Acids Test, and why ultimately the response to treatment can become an important part of working out whether Candida was actually contributing to the problem.
