Does Coconut Oil Kill Yeast

Does Coconut Oil Kill Yeast

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Beth Krietsch is a freelance health and food writer with a Masters's Degree in Public Health Nutrition. She covers wellness for Byrdie, with an emphasis on food and nutrition.

Medically reviewed by
Sara Twogood, MD

Sara Twogood, MD is an obstetrician-gynecologist at Cedars Sinai with a passion for educating the public about female health and wellness.

Anna Harris is an experienced fact-checker and researcher and a beauty writer and editor.

Felice Gersh , MD, is an OB/GYN and founder and director of the Integrative Medical Group in Irvine, California.
Kecia Gaither , MD, is double board-certified in OB/GYN and maternal-fetal medicine and director of perinatal services at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln.

Byrdie takes every opportunity to use high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial guidelines to learn more about how we keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.

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Byrdie is part of the Dotdash Meredith publishing family.

If you’ve never had a yeast infection , count yourself among the lucky ones. Yeast infections are a surprisingly common condition, affecting somewhere around 70-75 percent of women at least once in their lifetime. Unfortunately, 40-50 percent of women will go on to experience a recurrence, as well. If you’ve had a yeast infection, there’s a solid chance you were willing to try nearly anything to alleviate the itching, burning, and other uncomfortable sensations that came along with it.

So if someone told you (i.e., TikTok) that coconut oil could be used to treat a yeast infection, would you try it? There are some rumors out there that coconut oil can do just that. So, to get to the bottom of this mystery, we reached out to two OB/GYNs, Dr. Felice Gersh and Dr. Kecia Gaither. Keep reading for more on using coconut oil to treat or even prevent a yeast infection.

Even though there are a number of over-the-counter yeast infection treatments available, yeast infections can still be tricky to get rid of. And for some women who have a particularly delicate vaginal microbiome , some of the more conventional yeast infection medications might even promote bacterial vaginosis and other conditions, leading to a tricky cycle of illness and infection.

Within a healthy vaginal ecosystem, there’s a balanced mix of bacteria and yeast, though this balance can be thrown off from things like the overgrowth of certain types of fungus, or when the fungus moves deeper into the vaginal cell layers. This can happen for all sorts of reasons, ranging from taking antibiotics, to pregnancy, increased estrogen levels, or even a weakened immune system.

The reason coconut oil has been suggested as a yeast infection treatment is that coconut oil is known to have antifungal properties. This is promising given that most vaginal yeast infections are caused by a fungus called Candida albicans. There isn’t a ton of research available that looks into the effectiveness of coconut oil in treating yeast infections, but in one study, coconut oil was shown to be effective as an antifungal agent against Candida albicans. Further research is needed before we can definitively say coconut oil can be effective in treating yeast infections.

Gynecologists have differing thoughts as to whether coconut oil can be used to treat a yeast infection. According to Gersh, coconut oil can kill yeast and can be used to treat vaginal yeast infections.

“Coconut oil is a fatty acid that has powerful antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-parasite, and antifungal properties,” she says. “In other words, it can kill various bacteria, viruses, parasites, and certain species of yeast.”

But Gaither isn’t so sure coconut oil is effective in this way. “There is no known confirmatory research indicating coconut oil as an effective methodology for treating vaginal yeast infections,” she says.

She explains that while yes, coconut oil does have antifungal properties, the strength of its antifungal properties may not be enough to eradicate a vaginal yeast infection. She adds that coconut oil could also alter the vaginal microbiome in a way that increases someone’s risk for other vaginal infections.

“It’s best to consult your health provider to verify that a yeast infection is the correct etiology, and prescribe effective antifungal treatment to eradicate the monilial infection,” she says.

Gersh also cautions that coconut oil shouldn’t be used to treat a yeast infection among women who are pregnant, as there isn’t sufficient safety data available on this. Additionally, she says coconut oil shouldn’t be used for recurring yeast infections, and that you should always confirm that you have a yeast infection before using this treatment.

If you have a yeast infection and want to give coconut oil a try as a treatment, you have a couple of different options for going about this. Gersh recommends applying coconut oil to a clean tampon and then inserting it into your vagina. Alternatively, “it can also be rubbed into the tissues with fingers.” She suggests using coconut oil this way at bedtime until your symptoms resolve.

There are many different ways to treat or prevent a yeast infection. For prevention, Gaither suggests methods like increasing your intake of yogurt, taking probiotics, and taking acidophilus tablets. These "may be effective in reducing the chance of acquiring a yeast infection, by increasing the concentration of Lactobacilli in the vagina" she explains. "Lactobacilli help to prevent Candida from growing out of control." Other recommended treatments including showering and changing after exercise rather than remaining in the same clothing, not using scented products (including scented soap) in your vaginal area, keeping your vaginal area dry and clean, and avoiding douching.

Here are a few ways yeast infections can be treated, according to our experts:

Keep in mind that you should always speak to your health care practitioner before using any of these methods.

Coconut oil is known to have antifungal properties. It may be effective at treating some yeast infections, though there isn’t much research available right now to prove its efficacy in this way. If you decide to try using coconut oil to treat a yeast infection, it’s important to consult a healthcare professional first. And don’t forget to confirm you definitely have a yeast infection before trying this, too.

Zeng X, Zhang Y, Zhang T, Xue Y, Xu H, An R. Risk Factors of Vulvovaginal Candidiasis Among Women of Reproductive Age in Xi'an: A Cross-sectional Study . Biomed Res Int . 2018;2018:9703754. doi:10.1155/2018/9703754
Cleveland Clinic. Yeast Infections . Updated October 26, 2019.

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In Candida , Health News , Home Remedies by Candida Specialists September 15, 2017 2 Comments
Using coconut oil for yeast infection may offer many benefits but can also cause unpleasant side effects when used incorrectly. This experts guide summarizes our experience working with coconut oil for candida and yeast infections. We looked into traditional remedies, published medical studies as well as the thousands of the coconut oil for yeast infection reviews we gathered over our many years of practice.
We hope this guide will help you enjoy the many coconut oil benefits while minimizing the risks.
Coconut oil is a very good choice for yeast infections and candida overgrowth issues, with many known health benefits and uses. What makes coconut oil especially good for yeast infections is a unique combination of benefits of coconut oil:
Coconut oil antifungal properties are well known and were demonstrated in many studies as effective against candida and yeast infections ( source 1 , source 2 , source 3 ). The fact that coconut oil kills candida and yeast can help with yeast infections and candida issues, but can also cause a healing crises or candida die off when used internally. If you have never used coconut oil internally before, start with a 1 teaspoon (5 grams) and test your body’s response.
Using coconut oil for yeast infection on skin is a very popular home remedy. Besides coconut oil antifungal properties, the fats in coconut oil can help to soothe and relieve the irritated skin. On its own however, coconut oil may not be effective enough to relieve cases of yeast infection itch, candida rash, yeast rash and other yeast infection on skin issues. For this reason, it is usually combined with other more potent ingredients such as ozonated olive oil. See the coconut – ozonated olive oil cream recipe section to learn more.
Due to its mild calming effect on the skin, coconut oil is commonly used in combination with other antifungal essential oils as a carrier oil. Most antifungal essential oils such as tea tree oil are too strong to be applied on the skin directly. Using coconut oil to dilute their strength can help making safer skin creams that are more mild and less likely to irritate the (already irritated) skin.
Coconut oil is one of the most famous candida diet staples. Coconut oil antifungal properties is one reason. The second reason is that coconut oil is one of the best natural sources of medium chain triglycerides (MCTs). MCTs are fatty acids that are easily assimilated by the body, providing a quick non-jittery energy that can last for long hours. This makes coconut oil an excellent choice during the candida diet, as a substitute to high carb foods. Many people that have been on our candida diet plan are surprised to learn how much energy they get from coconut oil or coconut butter, despite going low on carbs while on the candida diet. In fact, replacing carbs with coconut oil or coconut butter is a very popular strategy among athletes that need to lose weight before a competition, but still need to maintain high energy levels. If you are lucky enough and can get a real fresh organic coconut at your local store, you may want to consider getting all these benefits straight from the source. With practice, cracking coconuts may not be as hard as you may think.
To see examples of recipes for candida diet using coconut oil:
The MCTs oils in coconut oil are well known to promote brain health and memory function. As research suggests, ketone bodies derived from the MCTs can serve as a good energy source in the brain, even better than glucose for some people ( source 1 , source 2 ).
Coconut oil benefits for yeast infections and candida are very well documented and studied. Coconut does have a few potential side effects and disadvantages you should know before you use it:
Coconut oil antifungal properties can kill candida and yeast, but can also cause a healing crises or candida die off detox symptoms when used internally. For this reason, if you have never used coconut oil internally before, start with a 1 teaspoon (5 grams) and test your body’s response. Besides the potential coconut oil detox symptoms, consuming coconut oil on an empty stomach is known to cause diarrhea. This laxative coconut oil bowel movement affect may be beneficial however, to relieve constipation for some people.
On its own, coconut oil is not effective enough to treat a typical systemic candida overgrowth infection, as many other factors need to be considered and addressed during the treatment. Coconut oil does have however, many uses and potential benefits when it is combined as a part of the candida treatment.
Using coconut oil for yeast infection on skin can help in mild cases, but may not be effective enough for skin issues that cause a higher discomfort level. Issues such as itchy skin, candida rash, yeast rash and others typically requires something stronger in order to get a significant relief. Coconut oil on its own may not be enough to ease these unpleasant symptoms. For this reason, coconut oil is usually combined with other more potent ingredients. See the coconut – ozonated olive oil cream section to learn more.
A large percentage of the fats in coconut oil are saturated fats. The link between excessive consumption of dietary saturated fats and coronary heart disease has been well documented and suggested by many studies ( source ). It is debatable however, whether saturated fats from coconut have the same negative effect as the saturated fats from animal sources such as red meat. Most of the studies done on this subject didn’t differentiate between these. Another important factor that was not addressed in these studies was whether the consumption of the saturated fats also coupled with a diet high in carbs, which is a common dietary pattern known to cause many health problems.
On the other hand, some studies suggest that a diet rich in extra virgin coconut oil may improve the good cholesterol (HDL) and reduce the waist circumference ( source ).
We get many questions on this topic. One of the easiest way to know the affect coconut oil has on your health, is to work with your doctor and check the related factors in a standard blood test. Before using coconut oil, and after. Based on our practice, we have not seen any negative impact of coconut oil, as long coconut oil was not used excessively and that it was used as a part of a low-carb diet.
Before you use coconut oil for yeast infection, a few useful tips about coconut oil:
To use coconut oil for yeast infection on skin:
The protocol shown above may be also useful for nails and toenails fungus, with a few simple modifications. To use coconut oil for nails and toenails fungus:
Using coconut oil for male yeast infection may provide some relief, especially when it is combined with the ozonated olive oil. Many men have found this simple natural home remedy to be very effective for penis yeast infections:
Ozonated olive oil is olive oil that had ozone added into it. Ozonated olive oil is considered one of the best natural remedies for yeast infections and candida issues with a solid record of published human studies on its effectiveness and safety against candida ( source ), especially in cases of vaginal yeast infections ( source ), mouth irritation ( source ), oral thrush ( source ) and skin issues ( source ).
The reason Ozonated olive oil works so well for yeast infection is due to the unique combination of the health benefits of both ozone and olive oil:
On its own, ozonated olive oil is very effective and safe for yeast infections and candida issues. Combining it with coconut oil creates a richer cream that has the coconut oil scent and feel many people like, as well as the pleasant coconut oil flavor if you plan to use it for mouth irritation and oral thrush.
To make the coconut – ozonated olive oil cream:
To use the cream for specific yeast infection concerns:
Using coconut oil for vaginal yeast infection is based on the idea that coconut oil antifungal properties may be effective for the yeast infection in the vagina. The evidence however, is quite limited, especially when it comes to human studies on the effectiveness and safety of coconut oil for vaginal yeast infections.
Based on our many years of practice of working with thousands of different cases of vaginal yeast infections, we believe that coconut oil may not be the best solution for vaginal yeast infections. Using coconut oil either as coconut oil suppository, coconut oil tampon or by douching with coconut oil has worked for some cases, but wasn’t strong enough to help in the majority of the cases. In addition, many women that used coconut oil for their vaginal yeast infection experienced increased irritation and burning.
A better option based on our experience that is also backed up by published human studies is ozonated olive oil ( source ), which was shown to be both safe and effective for vaginal yeast infections. See the Ozonated olive oil tampon home remedy for a step by step instructions.
We get many questions on douching with coconut oil and douching in general. Douching is a very popular home remedy for vaginal yeast infection, although based on our practice it may cause many problems. When done excessively, douching can disrupt the the good bacteria in the vagina which may cause the yeast infection to become worse with more irritation and discomforts. Many studies that evaluated the effectiveness and safety of douching for yeast infections concluded that the risks outweigh the benefits. The recommendations of these studies was that douching may be harmful and should not be considered as a common practice ( source ).
If you have vaginal yeast infection, a few things you should know:
Coconut oil pulling is one of the best ways to use coconut oil for oral thrush as well as to maintain a good oral hygiene and health. Coconut oil pulling is a natural remedy that has a very long history of traditional use with its benefits also backed up by science ( source 1 , source 2 ).
Oil pulling comes from Ayurvedic medicine (Ayurveda), one of the world’s oldest medical systems that originated in India more than 3,000 years ago. Oil Pulling (also known oil pull) is an oral therapy that uses oil to promote oral health and oral detoxification.
The idea behind oil pulling is that certain oils have the ability to draw and pull toxins, bacteria and other pathogens from the mouth and saliva, so by swishing it in your mouth for as long as 10-20 minutes, these toxins are attracted and mixed with the oil. When you spit that oil mixture, you are actually cleansing and detoxifying your entire mouth by removing these toxins.
To oil pull with coconut oil for thrush:
Coconut oil pulling is a perfect example of a natural remedy that combines the best of both worlds: natural medicine time proven traditional methods an
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