I’ve always been healthy in my 51 years, and 15 lbs underweight for my height. I moved to Japan (from the USA) about a year ago and after three months of living here, I noticed a sore tongue (and occasionally achy knees), especially when eating acidic foods (a piece of pineapple put me on the roof!) or after drinking alcoholic beverages.
A dentist gave me some ointment but it didn’t help, doctors are puzzled, and their pills haven’t helped either.
In my internet research I’ve read that others have suffered when changing their living environments, and hence, diets. Unfortunately the Japanese staples, miso, tofu, soy sauce and white rice are Candida-boosters. Nine months now and it’s time to try a strict diet, but eating out in Tokyo has been a deal-breaker.
-Joe
Joe-
A good thing about your situation is that a tongue infected with candida is really easy to diagnose because of the colonies of candida cells being able to be visibly seen on the tongue. Since the doctors couldn’t see this, I would say your problem isn’t Candida related.
My gut feeling is, that yes it does have something to do with the soy products but it is probably due to the plant estrogens that are found in soy based products and not candida. Have your hormone levels checked and see if there is an elevated estrogen level beyond what’s normal.
Your tongue looks like “Geographic Tongue” also called Glossitis. If I’m right, you can ask your doctor or dentist. Usually its from a B vitamin deficiency…which can stem from a gluten problem (celiac’s) or from a diet that is deficient in Bs or can be from a problem producing “factor” neccessary for properly absorbing the B vitamin. Do get it checked, it can do far worse than the painful Geographic Tongue. It may have caused me to lose a large amount of hearing in one ear. I thought it was harmless, now I know. You have to be careful, Folates, B12 and B6 and B2 are related, and what appears to be one deficiency can be another.