Guest guest Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 Overcoming Candida Albicans JoAnn Guest Sep 24, 2004 18:34 PDT Overcoming Candida Albicans by Lindsey Duncan, CN Conscious Choice http://www.consciouschoice.com/health/candida0906.html When Denise first came to my Home Nutrition Clinic she was 32-years- old, working in the entertainment business, and extremely burned out from stress and fatigue. Although she was slim, her stomach was bloated and distended, and she suffered from a chronic chest cough and head congestion. Denise had cold hands and feet, a coated tongue, dry, thinning hair, splitting nails, mood swings, peeling skin, brain fog, and she was extremely weak. She was chronically constipated, moving her bowels about once every other day. Denise's physician had diagnosed her with Epstein Bar Virus and Candidiasis and put her on Niastatin, an antifungal drug. Candidiasis is a yeast/fungal infection caused by the toxins given off by an abundance of the common yeast Candida Albicans. Candida is an organism and, like all organisms, it has to eat and then excrete its waste. It thrives on sugar and other sweeteners, yeast, breads, alcohol, and food molds (yeasts)found in cheese, milk, grapes, mushrooms, and fermented foods (vinegar, tamari sauce, tofu, etc.). It is believed that the organism's waste is the cause of illness in humans. Candida's main home is the intestines--the 29 feet between the mouth and rectum. It's dark in there, it's moist, it's 98 degrees, and the environment has a tendency to be overtaken by candida and other unhealthy bacteria. This is where candida enters the bloodstream and is distributed to the rest of the body. The blood is fed by the intestines so, when candida begins to take over, every part of the body that is fed by the blood will also feed the candida. When candida becomes systemic it weakens our immune system. If these other factors are involved: lack of exercise, poor diet, stress, toxins, illness or overuse of antibiotic or steroid hormone medications, the chances of having a weakened immune system are increased. Candida lives in the mouth, skin, vagina, and intestinal tract in a healthy person, but it is naturally controlled by a healthy immune system and the hundreds of " good " bacteria (including bifidobacteria and lactobacillus) that reside in the intestines. When candida proliferates in the bloodstream and becomes a systemic problem it can eventually result in a plethora of problems including " brain fog, " fungus under the toenails, intense sugar cravings, digestive gas and bloat, cold hands and feet, weak muscles, chronic fatigue, skin problems, mood swings and more. When it has taken over to this degree, you can also bet that the candida has hampered the body's ability to maintain efficient digestion, assimilation and elimination. Who Gets Candida? I would say that a very strong majority of the population in the U.S. has a significant level of candida. How many people have been on antibiotics and have drunk chlorinated water (which destroys bad and good bacteria because chlorine doesn't have the inherent ability to differentiate between the two)? How many of us grew up eating concentrated sugars, starches and carbohydrates? What we have to remember about candida is that everything is relative and it exists in varying degrees. John and Mary, next door, eat poor foods. They may have candida and not realize they don't feel well. So too may the office worker who bloats after she eats and and has a strong craving for sweets searches for an answer to her unwanted symptoms. The problem extends to the chemically sensitive person who must move out of the city to a nontoxic environment and has to wear special clothes. Women and men develop candida infections as a result of too much stress, toxins, antibiotics, and eating the wrong foods. But women are more susceptible to the infection for several reasons. Yeast enters the body easily through the vagina, and hormonal changes--influenced by multiple pregnancies, birth control pills, and estrogen replacement therapy--encourage candida growth. Denise developed a candida infection for a number of reasons. She ate too much sugar and yeast breads, she was taking birth control pills, she had a long history of taking antibiotics, she was under a lot of stress, and she only moved her bowels once a day, or once every other day. I immediately put her on a cleansing and detoxification program. If you remove the mucus, the congestion, and the toxic buildup from the body, then you remove the home where the candida lives. Candida likes a warm, moist, anaerobic environment (without oxygen). It emits toxins which, in effect, decrease the blood flow to and from the site leading to a build-up of more toxins. The more toxins the more candida! Getting Rid of Candida The goal is to eliminate the toxins and arrest the growth of candida. Healthy liver function and a strong immune system, along with a clean intestinal system, are the keys to lasting prevention and control of candida. So--the first thing I had Denise do was change her diet. The average American consumes 52 teaspoons of sugar every day! Denise didn't eat quite that much, but, like most people, she drank two cups of sweetened coffee per day, and she usually had a muffin in the morning or toast with jam. Add on top of that a can of soda (which contains 16 teaspoons of sugar), a tablespoon of ketchup with french fries and a burger, or a cup of tomato sauce (which almost always contains sugar) on pasta, a few cookies, or a bowl of ice cream at night and you're probably already up to at least 40 teaspoons of sugar--candida's favorite food! Denise cut out all sugar... period! She stopped eating her daily muffin and all other baked goods. She did extraordinarily well. At my clinic I see many people with candida who get obsessed with what they can and can't eat. The obsessions cause stress, and stress breaks down the immune system. Stress has no place in a program to combat candida. Just keep it simple. Here's a clue: If it tastes sweet, don't eat it. Brown rice? You may not think of it as sweet, but it is, in comparison to other grains. Carrots? Way too sweet. So are beets, sweet potatoes, and yams. Fruit is also too sweet. The candida diet is basically a sour diet without fermented foods. I also had Denise eliminate dairy products and red meat and switch to a diet that consisted of: ~ Fresh vegetables--50% Four to six fresh vegetables each day. Two dark green, leafy vegetables each day. ~ Grains and Starches--20% Millet, buckwheat, quinoa, wild rice. ~ Protein--20% High quality protein such as bean and grain combinations, seeds, almonds, cashews, soy protein, fertile eggs, free-range, antibiotic-free turkey and chicken, cold-water fish, unsweetened, plain yogurt (eliminating all other dairy products - and tofu, which is fermented). ~ Fat--10% Cold-pressed organic olive oil, avocados, and organic, antibiotic-free butter. Denise obtained fat naturally through foods like raw seeds and nuts. At the same time Denise was changing her diet, I had her take a number of supplements to aggressively attack the candida. First of all, it's very important to clean out the intestinal tract with a high-quality internal cleanser and fiber product. I add Bentonite clay, which absorbs bacteria, to echinacea and pau d'arco. Pau d'arco bark, obtained from a tropical tree native to Brazil is a fungicide, antiviral, and diuretic, and is also beneficial in fighting Candidiasis. When purchasing products with pau d'arco, be sure that they contain lapachol, an organic compound known for its antibiotic action, because many products that claim to contain the bark have only trace amounts or even none of the herb. Caprylic acid (found in goat's milk and cheese) acidifies and destroys the candida, black currant and flax seed oils kill the candida, and certain other less popular herbs and certain tannins will also kill candida. I also recommend taking a pro-biotic supplement such as FOS (Fructooligosaccharides) to encourage growth of your own normal colonic micro-flora, which aids your body's response to toxins and other internal stresses that threaten your health. It's important to realize that yeast is a living organism, a part of the body. Killing them off is traumatic. Most people with candida live with very uncomfortable symptoms, and when the candida are killed off it's common to feel worse before beginning to feel better. It's the knowledge and understanding of what candida is and the understanding of the " die-off " process that pulls them through the initial hard times. My advice is to be as gentle with your body as you can and give yourself all the time that you need--at least three to six months. Of course, if you have candida you want to get better quickly, but multiple therapies all at once can be self defeating, physiologically upsetting, and too traumatic to the system. Just go at it at your own pace. When you go into battle against something that has overcome your body, it's your responsibility to learn what you are battling, why you are battling it, what weapons you will use, how you will win, and what winning the battle feels and looks like. Knowledge is the key, and once you use it, you'll open the door to good health. Lindsey Duncan is the founder of the well-respected Home Nutrition Clinic, in Santa Monica, California, and distributor of Nature's Secret products. Self-Diagnosis for Candidiasis Ask yourself the following questions. One or more " yes " answers is a strong indication you have Candidiasis. 1. Have you ever taken cortico-steroid drugs or antibiotics, or been on antibiotics for an extended length of time? 2. Are you currently on birth control pills or ever taken them for a period of two years or more? 3. Have you ever been plagued with vaginal yeast infections, vaginitis, PMS, menstrual pain, endometriosis, prostatitis, or loss of sexual interest? 4. Do you crave sweets, bread or alcoholic beverages? 5. Do you suffer from unexplained aches and pains or headaches? 6. Have you been pregnant more than twice? (Hormonal changes contribute to candidiasis susceptibility.) 7. Are you overly sensitive to chemicals including perfumes, tobacco smoke, paint, insecticides, etc.? 8. Are you bothered by chronic digestive complaints such as bloating, gas? Do you have constipation or diarrhea? 9. Do you find yourself having to deal with problems like athlete's foot, jock itch, nail fungus, ring worm? Do you have bouts with psoriasis, eczema, hives or chronic dermatitis? 10. Are you chronically fatigued? Do you suffer from memory loss ( " brain fog " ), erratic vision, spots or " floaters " in front of your eyes, nervous tension? 11. Do you feel depressed or ill for no known reason? Do you feel worse on damp days? 12. Do you often have cold hands and feet? 13. Is your tongue coated? _________________ JoAnn Guest mrsjo- www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Genes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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