What is it?
Simply put, Candida is a form of yeast, a simple fungus that is naturally present in your digestive tract. It helps you to digest what you eat and assists in drawing nutrients from food. However, we only need very small amounts of these yeasts to perform this work, and usually the good bacteria that we also have in our digestive system, keep these yeast levels under control. However, there are several common circumstances that can easily allow for Candida yeasts to get out of control, overwhelming and over populating the balance of the healthy bacteria, and causing an extensive list of symptoms.
How did I get it?
Candida likes to feed on refined carbohydrates like breads and sugary foods, and over consumption of these foods can lead to an over population of Candida.
Excessive alcohol consumption can weaken the immune system and can allow Candida to over-populate. Wine and Beer in particular, will also feed the Candida, as well as draw resources from the liver and immune system to process the toxic ethanol within the alcoholic drink.
Antibiotics will destroy all bacteria, including the healthy ones, allowing Candida the opportunity to proliferate, as they are a yeast and therefore resistant to antibiotics that target bacteria. With the healthy bacteria gone, the very mechanism for controlling Candida, is significantly reduced.
Chronic stress is a classic and common one, and a situation that most people do not think about when it comes to gut health. The stress response draws resources away from digestion, reducing the amount of stomach acid being produced, allowing opportunistic pathogens to enter. This includes not only Candida, but also other pathogenic bacteria such as H.Pylori (Helicobacter pylori), commonly associated with stomach ulcers. Low stomach acid can also result in the occurrence of reflux, which is a total opposite way of thinking about reflux type symptoms, where treatments involve reducing stomach acid even further.
Continual use of medications that reduce stomach acid, often prescribed for reflux type symptoms, or even for stomach ulcers, will also allow pathogens to move in, reducing the absorption of nutrients. Antacids neutralize the stomach acid, making it less acidic, but this also returns the same result, with opportunistic pathogens not controlled by the naturally acidic environment. Nutrient absorption is also reduced, as molecules are not broken apart enough by the stomach acid, leading to multiple nutrient deficiencies, especially protein.
Immunosuppressant medications used to treat autoimmune diseases will also reduce the body’s ability to fight infections and control pathogens.
Life in the Western World will often create situations that lend themselves to Candida becoming prolific. Take for example a very busy lifestyle, family, job, lots of stress, eating on the run, poor food choices, drinking wine or beer to calm the nerves or to just “cope” with life, creating a perfect environment for Candida to flourish.
How about this situation…Lots of stress, poor food choices, sickness comes along, antibiotics given, still pushing to get through the day, because if not working, then no pay… Bingo, hello Candida.
These types of scenarios are all too common, and refined carbohydrates and alcohol consumption is ingrained in the Australian culture. Bakeries are everywhere, even in petrol stations, and weekend BBQs and visiting the local pub, promoting alcohol consumption, are a frequent occurrence.
For women heading towards peri-menopause or menopause, their hormones can become quite erratic and imbalanced. This is often a time in their lives when stress levels can be high, and wine and champagne consumption is higher than in previous years. This combination of hormones, stress and drinking fermented wines, often opens the door for Candida to enter. The Candida also contributes to the hormonal imbalance, often causing menopause symptoms to worsen, including poor sleep, hot flushes, poor mental health and weight gain around the belly area.
What feeds it?
As a yeast, Candida loves all things sugary and all kinds of refined carbohydrates. I’m not talking about potatoes and bananas, but breads, cakes, biscuits, packaged breakfast cereals, and anything made from white sugar or white flour. Often, when Candida numbers are high, sugar cravings will be intense and difficult to ignore. This is the hungry Candida wanting a feed! Even cravings for wine can be the Candida talking!
Candida also loves all kinds of fermented foods, even the healthy ones. This includes drinks like Kombucha, Beer and Wine, and foods such as Kimchi, Sauerkraut and yoghurt, which are foods that are often promoted as gut healthy foods, which they are, but not when you have Candida overgrowth, as it becomes a food source for them. Once the Candida levels are under control, these can be reintroduced again, as part of a healthful whole food lifestyle.
How do you know if you have Candida?
It can be difficult to diagnose Candida, as the signs and symptoms are not always obvious or specific to Candida. Some are easier to identify however, especially those relating to the gut. These include bloating, digestive cramping (even when all you ate was an apple), intensive sugar cravings, especially when these are not related to a Chromium deficiency, constipation or diarrhoea, or IBS type symptoms. Of course, if you have these symptoms, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have Candida, as there may be other factors at play, hence the difficulty in diagnosis. There could also be nutrient deficiencies present, perpetuating the problem, and these need to be addressed also.
A white coating on the tongue is another way to identify if Candida is present, as the digestive system starts at the mouth and ends at the anus.
Fungal infections can occur in other locations such as on the skin, under the breast, or around the nail beds or in-between toes. Acne or eczema may also flare up, or you might find patches of itchy and dry skin that doesn’t heal up.
Thrush is a sign of a yeast infection that is out of control. Whether it be in the mouth or vaginal area, chances are, if thrush is present, so is Candida. Often this can occur after a course of antibiotics. Candida numbers were probably already high, and took the opportunity to proliferate once the bacteria were out of the way.
Mental health and mental clarity is also a symptom that you may not be thinking about when it comes to Candida, however, these little guys can breakdown the protective walls of your intestines and make their way into the bloodstream. This situation is often called “leaky gut” or intestinal permeability. Now they have free reign in the blood stream and can find their way into the brain causing many issues such as poor mental health (including anxiety and depression), brain fog, poor memory, confusion, behaviour issues, or lack of concentration.
These microscopic little molecules, can be so disruptive, they can be an underlying cause to many more symptoms, including rectal or vaginal itching, chronic joint pain, asthma or persistent cough, cold hands & feet, chronic fatigue, learning disabilities, hyperactivity, headaches and problems with sleep quality.
The inability to lose weight is another issue that is often not considered as relating to Candida, however, problems with digestion and nutrient deficiencies caused by the Candida, can indeed be an underlying cause, or significant contributor of metabolic syndrome, leading to weight gain, difficulties losing weight and even a diagnosis of diabetes.
So how do we treat it?
The theory around reducing numbers of Candida are simple… Starve them out, destroy them and repopulate the digestive system with healthy bacteria! But that is by no means simple when trying to put it into practice, as there can be so many symptoms and cravings, it can be impossible to ignore. However, step one is to stop consuming the foods that will feed them, including the fermented foods and drinks.
Having a specific meal plan that includes foods that will still promote satiety, while not eating the foods you have become used to, is a critical first step. This of course, also includes eliminating beer, wine and any other fermented drinks while working through this process.
Step two is to take a compound that will destroy and disperse the Candida. This is often done with herbs that have a known effect on destroying these yeasts and there are several different compounds available to achieve this.
Step three is taking a probiotic supplement that includes the right strains and the right quantity to drown out the yeast. They also help to repopulate the gut and make up part of the mucus in the colon, allowing stools to become formed and pass easily. Having the correct balance of healthy bacteria will support the body’s fat burning abilities, helping to maintain a healthy weight. They also support the digestion of food breakdown, feed from fibre, and produce vital B vitamins and vitamin K. The end result, you feel so much better in so many ways.
While these processes do work, they will take time and a way to fast-track this process, can be with closed system colonics. With this system, the colon is gently irrigated with warm clean water, and once relaxed, the liver can also release toxins and have a good cleanse. The process is not painful or invasive, and the Candida can be seen as it leaves the colon and travels through the waste tube. Excess biofilm (the home of the Candida), is also washed away, and symptoms such as sugar cravings and poor mood can be dramatically reduced after just one treatment. Having a 5-day treatment however, along with biofilm releasing drops, and a “parasite tea”, (a herbal mixture taken each night through the duration of the 5 day program), will also support the extraction of any potential parasites that may be drawing on body resources, such as iron from the bloodstream. A specific diet to allow the digestive system to relax and heal, would also be highly recommended, to allow the full benefit from the daily colonics.
Foods that can help eliminate Candida
Natural compounds that can help to breakdown biofilms in the colon include garlic, oregano, cinnamon, curcumin, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), cranberry and ginger. They can be taken as supplements to provide a dose high enough to achieve the desired effect, and consumption of these foods is also advisable.
Other foods that can promote the release of Candida include coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, cloves, olive oil, wild caught salmon, cinnamon, lemon, and cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, and radishes).
In Summary
Colonics, supplements, herbal teas and restricted diets may all seem overwhelming and daunting, especially if your symptoms are many, your cravings are strong and you have reached the point of poor mental health. But the relief of these symptoms can provide a liberation, that you may only have dreamed of. A 15-day Candida program that includes three colonic sessions, along with a special diet and supplements designed to give you fast results, may be all you need to turn your health around.
The science around the importance of gut health and its relation to a strong immune system and mental resilience is not a new concept, and natural health practitioners have focussed on this area for decades. The body systems all rely on good nutrition to perform at their best, and when gut health is not optimal, nutrients are not absorbed, and one by one, the wheels of the body machine can start to fall off. However, now we know, we can repair the damage and bring everything back into balance, so that you can enjoy mental clarity and a much improved quality of life. Ensuring the diet post treatment is balanced and healthful, will ensure the body stays in equilibrium. This doesn’t mean life is no longer enjoyable, as moderate amounts of alcohol can be reintroduced, as can some “treat” foods, so long as the balance is there. Nutritionists can support you with healthful and super delicious meals, to ensure you never feel deprived.