The title might rub some well respected curezone candida support posters the wrong way and that's not my intent, since there was a huge discussion on this about 3 weeks ago. I know a lot of people find cures for their various ailments and then disappear leaving thousands of other curezoners in the dark as to what worked for them and what might help others. So that is my main reason for posting, if it helps one person I'd be stoked.

Alright on to my tongue issue....

I've had a geographically coated tongue since about January or so, at least that's when i started to really notice it. My tongue WAS NOT completely coated white, but the parts that were coated did get pretty thick at certain times of the day and obviously it was causing me a lot of distress and made worry about having bad breath in front of others. I pride myself on taking very good care of myself, so to think I had oral thrush was very upsetting. However I really did start to believe it was oral thrush since literally no matter what I did to my tongue, the coating would not go away or if it did, would return in full force within a day.

Things I tried:

sea salt on tongue: works for 24 hours, then coating comes back big time.

tongue scraper: makes a noticeable difference, but coating returns.

special mouthwashes: again makes a noticeable difference but coating returns.

strict anti-candida diet for 4 months: no grains, no nuts, no fruit

tons of lab testing: including Metametrix GI Effects Stool test which came back negative for parasites and candida after I had been off the diet for a month.

I was also told its your body detoxing which I didn't buy

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In the discussion we had here about 3 weeks ago it was suggested that while its very rare for people to have systemic candida infections, its not rare to have oral thrush. It was said that a pathogen, (parasite, bacteria, dirty bowels, lack of flora) was causing the tongue to be coated and in the case of a severe intestinal infection or poor digestive function, your coated tongue was a reflection of your internal health.

Again, there IS a lot of validity to the above thoughts and I'm positive many many people on this board do have oral thrush from a pathogen, BUT also know that many of us who are suffering from coated tongues DO NOT.

Another thing I want to say is I LOVE CUREZONE, I really do. Its a wonderful resource and has certainly helped me understand how to heal naturally and also really brought about a strong interest in holistic health.

However by those same merits I think being on this site too much can and WILL drive you f-in CRAZY!!! There is SO MANY people giving advice that a) have no business doing so b) speak with conviction and provide research papers as their evidence when CONFIRMING a diagnosis of another member who is suffering WITHOUT even SEEING them!! That is crazy to me!! Absolutely CRAZY!! Just because 20 people have a coated tongue does not mean they all have a candida over-growth. As much as candida does go under-diagnosed by Western Medicine, perhaps it tends to be over-diagnosed on the 'net as the answer to the wide assortment of random symptoms many people have.

Okay so back on topic:

What did I do? I started reading that geographic tongue specifically could be caused by a vitamin mineral deficiency. Now I'm sure everyone who has geographic tongue is not deficient in the same vitamin so it should be obvious that this method won't work for all with this issue. So I'm at my sister's house last night helping out with her new twins. I eat my dinner and then grab a handful of pecans and eat them as well. I go over and I'm watching tv and notice that my tongue doesn't have a metallic taste to it. I notice I can't feel a coating, but continue watching tv. A while later I go to the bathroom and check out my tongue, no joke 85% of the coating is GONE! Yes there is still a teenie tiny bit of white in the middle and outter edges, but DRAMATICALLY reduced, my tongue is 90% pink. No mouthwash, no anti-fungal, no diet change etc.

I looked up the vitamin mineral profile on pecans and they have several anti-oxidant properties so its tough to say which vitamin/mineral I'm deficient in, but I have a hunch its zinc since I supplement with A, E, omega's and D. That would also explain my skin's slow wound healing.

I had been the the anti-candida diet and religiously avoided nuts since they can be a breeding ground for mold/fungus. My diet is incredibly healthy, all organic, tons of water, exercise, sleep early etc. But to have an answer to this issue is incredible.

I plan on doing some testing with a functional medicine practitioner to figure out what I'm deficient in and I'll definitely report back for those of you who are suffering from geographic tongue.

What I have been doing for the past day is just eat a handful of pecans a couple times a day and its keeping my tongue clear.


Hope this helps someone and helps some of you realize that sometimes the answer is really something simple, rather than something a little more complex like a bowel cleanse, parasite cleanse or something else.




Alright I'm out...