Re: Here's how

all research that I have read says that candida thrives in an overly acidic environment

All the "research" you have read is wrong.

Candida is a yeast that has the ability to turn into a fungus. It's DIMORPHIC. In a petri dish, in the absence of any competition (or the body's immune system) all that is required is a pH above 4. That's the cut-off point. Below 4 it remains a yeast.

What you probably read, and the only roundabout connection to be made re: acidity, is that an overly acidic body does not operate at peak efficiency or performance. And this would impact the immune system. So an acidic body might struggle more to combat fungal candida due to a sub-par immune system. Other than that, the people you were reading have got it backwards.

Women frequently get "yeast" infections (i.e. fungus infections) after a round of antibiotics, b/c the antiBx kill off too many good bacteria in the vagina. Without the competition, and the acidic output of those bacteria, candida blooms.