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Alone, yeast is nothing but cells and their nuclei - there is no intervening tissue, as in a plant or
animal. This means that the relative concentration of material from the nuclei, like nucleic acid and
purines, is high. As a consequence yeast can increase the production of uric acid, the gout factor,
after it has been eaten. This usually does not matter, since the body's capacity to handle it is
adequate. Moreover, the associated alcohol in beer, for example, causes relatively more uric acid
production in the body than would the nucleic acid from yeast.
Much has been written about food sensitivity arising from yeast. A few people may be sensitive to
yeast. However, sensitivity to yeast has been confused with a yeast-like infection, Candida, which
occurs in people from time to time. There is no good evidence that yeast sensitivity leads to
candidiasis or that excluding yeast from the diet helps control the infection. Increasingly, many
people are being diagnosed as having candidiasis. Candidiasis, when it occurs, may present as
thrush in the mouth, balanitis (whitish material about the glans of the penis), as a vaginal infection,
or sometimes affect fingernails or toenails. The situations in which these infections occur are
mostly where the body's immune defence is not functioning well - as in a person with newly
diagnosed or poorly controlled diabetes, or someone given treatment to deliberately suppress the
immune system. It is unlikely that food intake contributes significantly to the development of
candidiasis.
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