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 email 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.