The following is the story of how I came to discover the remarkable skin health benefits of a supplement called caprylic acid – a fatty acid best known for its high concentrations in human breast milk and coconut oil. Incidentally, coconut oil is one of the best oils you can use for skin and hair care needs. Not in small part due to its high concentration of lauric and caprylic acids - both incredibly beneficial to the health and vitality of our hair and skin.

My Experience with Caprylic Acid

Being a recently minted hot yoga addict, I started to notice after a few                               months that I was developing a strange rash on my belly. I thought it was just an irritation rash from the rubbing of sweaty clothes on my skin at first Image from: Kratom IQ. So as a remedy, I tried to change out of my soggy clothes and shower off as soon as class let out. It seemed to help, but then I noticed as my stress levels got higher, the rash intensified and even became painful and blistery.

I knew there had to be more to it, so on a routine visit to my doctor, I asked her what she thought it might be. She looked at it and knew instantly. It was a yeast (candida) infection of the skin. I hadn’t even known that yeast could infect the skin like it can infect the gut!  The thing is, we always have some of this organism on our skin and in our gut, it can just grow out of control given the right environment, namely in environments with constant moisture and lack of light and oxygen. Stress certainly doesn't help. Related: Kick Cold Sores Before They Even Start!

She recommended using a topical anti-fungal cream to help keep it under control. Also keeping the area dry and aired out was important since yeast thrives in moist, oxygen-deprived places. So I did this, and it started working to help keep it under control.

However, it kept creeping back and never fully went away. This prompted me to research if I could take anything internally to help with these embarrassing and disconcerting outbreaks. I’ve always been a strong advocate for supplementing one’s diet. I always believed that no matter how balanced and un-processed our diets, we still may be missing out on some key nutrients that our body specifically craved and needed on a base level.

I wanted something natural of course. I didn’t want to take a pharmaceutical antifungal since these tend to have all kinds of side effects, ranging from annoying and temporary to potentially serious and long term. Related: MSM for Bright, Bouncy and Glowing Skin - at ANY Age

Caprylic Acid – A Powerful Remedy for Yeast Infections of the Skin, Acne and Eczema?

I came across some interesting, mostly anecdotal evidence that caprylic acid, a fatty acid and main component of coconut oil and breast milk, had seemed to really help people with a multitude of skin issues, including topical yeast overgrowth. Many people even claimed caprylic acid cleared their acne and made eczema disappear.

Without hesitation, I ordered a bottle – which by the way, was very reasonably priced. I started taking the supplement once with lunch and once with dinner and planned on scaling back to once a day with lunch once any effects were seen (if there were any effect).

Well, I didn’t need to wait long. After less than a week, I noticed that my rash had all but disappeared. After weeks of trying various antifungal creams, this supplement had actually eliminated my rash within days.

Why Would Caprylic Acid Have Healed My Yeast (Candida) Infection?

If you look at the nutritional properties of caprylic acid as they relate to alkalinity, you will find that it has immensely alkaline effects on the internal workings of the human body. Related: Alkaline Water's Numerous Health Benefits

Alkalinity it must be noted, has not been outright credited with any skin health benefits of this fatty acid. It is however likely that this is a major reason, or an important one of many, for its skin-healing properties.

People with overly acidic tissues often experience skin issues of all types. Being too acidic internally is also highly inflammatory. If you want great skin, you have to alkalinize your body to bring down the acid/alkaline ratio.  

UPDATE 10/7/20: In addition to caprylic acid, I've also found the occasional addition of oregano oil to be helpful. Oregano oil comes in small capsules that can be taken up to twice a day. It is a very potent oil, so start with a small does. I only add this to my regimen when the caprylic acid alone doesn't seem to fully do the trick. 

It's worth noting, caprylic acid has become a staple supplement that I take every day for its multitude of additional benefits aside from controlling candida, so if I'm really bumping up my hot yoga classes, or I've been sweating a lot otherwise and am unable to shower right away, I'll add some oregano oil into the mix.