i have cfs which has been caused by 10 years of systemic candida. i ordered some d-ribose as its supposed to help with fatigue but i read ribose is a sugar. does anyone know if it will feeds the yeast?

Hi ocdfreak,

I am pretty sure that d-ribose does not feed Candida. It is indeed a sugar but it is a different form of sugar to those used in the normal production of energy from food by us humans and other organisms.

D-ribose is a pentose, it has 5 carbon molecules, while sugars organisms typically use for energy production such as glucose and fructose are hexose sugars, they have 6 carbon atoms.

D-ribose is used by the human body in a completely different way to glucose and fructose. It does not go into the citric acid cycle in the mitochondria of the cell to recycle ATP (energy) as glucose does; instead it enters a completely different metabolic pathway which results in the production of new ATP.

As I have said in another post I am not a microbiologist but I think it is unlikely that Candida and other yeast are able to use d-ribose. However, I have asked Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, a big proponent of using d-ribose, for his opinion on this subject. If he has time he will give us a reply so I'll keep you updated.

thanks, nice to meet you.I thought it might not need it as well but I wanted to make hundred percent sure before I take it as my candida problemsare quite severe.

Ok I've had an email back from Dr. Teitelbaum and he confirms that he has not seen d-ribose encourage Candida in his patients (ME/CFS and fibromyalgia patients who often have Candida problems).

I have severe intestinal Candida overgrowth myself, secondary to the immune dysfunction caused by ME/CFS, and have tried d-ribose. It gave me very noticeable energy boost - so much so in fact that it overstimulated me so I couldn't sleep. So my advice is to try it but start with a low dose and build up to avoid this side-effect. I was only using it for a short time but didn't notice any increase in gut fermentation and symptoms at a dose of 5g/day.

Have a look at the d-ribose reviews page.

I received my ribose and I could immediately see that it is bad for my candida problems. Within 10 minutes of taking it I started to sweat profusely and had a bit of excess itching which I believe is caused by toxins released by the Candida. I also had this experience with xylitol.I don't get this with Stevia.so I actually have afull small bottle of 100 g of ribose sitting here wasted. If anyone wants it, they can email me This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . if this goes against the sites policy, let me know.

i def wouldnt recommend ribose for candida. although i might have other microbes in my gi tract or a different type of fungus causing my problems and the ribose def feeds them. mebbe it doesnt feed candida albicans but i highly doubt it. whatever fungus i got it feeds it.