What is Candida?
Candida is a yeastlike, parasitic fungus and we all have a eensy weensy bit of inside our body.
A very small amount of it lives in our mouth and in our intestines. Its job is to aid with digestion and nutrient absorption. But, if it overgrows and becomes an infection that's when it causes issues. If left untreated, Candida breaks down the wall of the intestine and penetrate through to the bloodstream, releasing toxic byproducts into your body, this is what we call "die off symptoms". It make make you extremely sleepy and fatigued. It also causes leaky gut. Contrary to popular belief yeast infections do not occur only in women, it occurs in men too! And approximatley 80% of Americans will suffer from Candida at some point in their life.
Candida can lead to many different health issues. Ranging from digestive issues, re-occuring vaginal yeast infections, thrush in your mouth leaving a sticky white film on your tongue, depression, and can leave you feeling pretty icky. It can completely reek havoc on your body.
Worst thing about it is, most doctors fail to recognize the symptoms as a yeast infection! It can leave you feeling hopeless and alone. :( Candida is unique in the sense that you get must get "sicker" before you get better. The medical term for this reaction is the "Herxhiemer Reaction" . But this is what we call "die off symptoms". It totally sucks! But there's no way around it if you want to get better.
How Do You Get Candida? :
- Antibiotics can kill off friendly bacteria in your gut
- Eating a diet with a whole lotta sugar and carbs in it. Such as breads, pastas, wheat, cereals, soda, candy -All of these feed the yeast
- Never Douche! It kills friendly bacteria in the vagina and disrupts flora. If you must use something, use Norforms which contain Lactic Acid.
- Stress causes Candida to get worse over time. Be sure to Meditate and take time out for yourself during the day =)
- Drinking alcohol
- Oral contraceptives
- Oral thrush can be passed from person to person by kissing and sharing drinks, but you are more likely to get it with a weakened immune system
Common Candida Symptoms :
- Feeling extremely tired, weak and fatigued
- STRONG sugar and carb cravings, often feeling hungry even after you just ate
- Thrush in your mouth ( white stuff on your tongue )
- Vaginal Yeast Infections in women
- Athletes foot or toe fungus
- Itchy Rectum can occur in either men or women
- Ear wax ( a lot more then normal )
- Severe seasonal allergies, Itchy ears
- Digestive issues such as diarrhea, Constipation, Bloating
- Bloating after eating sugar or carbs , sudden weight gain
- Urinary tract infections, Rectal itching, Vaginal itching, Skin itching/ Skin rashes
- Difficulty concentrating, Brain Fog, depression or anxiety
- Ph levels in body extremely acidic
- Skin issues such as hives, rashes, eczema, psoriasis
- Auto-Immune diseases
- A lot of crust and "sleep" in your eyes
- White stuff on lips
- Become sick if you go a couple days without sugar or carbs
- Become sick, or experience "die off" if you take anti-fungals, including from natural remedies, such as eating garlic, drinking Apple Cider Vinegar, Ginger Root, Herbs and essential oils, ect.
- And if you have a REALLY bad case like mine you will start to have trouble breathing. This unfortunatley means the Candida has traveled to your lungs.
You may only have 1 or 2 of these symptoms, or all. Some people have Candida and don't even know they have it because they don't have any symptoms. Just remember that every body is different.
Candida (yeasts infections) are a fungus. If you have ever had athletes foot or a fungus growing in your tub, you know how hard it is to get rid of it. It takes a lot of determination and will to get rid of any type of fungus. You need to adopt an attitude that is every bit as strong as the Candida growing inside of you! It can adopt swiftly and become resistant to anti-fungals so it's best to attack it at many different angles. Probiotics and diet change is a must.
It is often reffered to as the "Disease the doctors can't diagnose". Now whether they can't, or they just won't is the million dollar quiestion. Lol Candida often causes a host of other issues so it's hard to pin point exactly what it is. I have seen so many different doctors including a trip to the E.R. and they down play my symptoms, like many doctors do and never treat the root of the problem. They just give you a pill and send you on your way. Or look at you like you're crazy and tell you you're fine.
With diet, probiotics and antifungals such as Nystatin or Diflucan it can be kept under control. However I reccomend natural remedies! Which I talk to you about .... =) Had some one shared this information with me 4 years ago, it would have saved me so much time and money. If you are having re-occuring problems with yeast then you are likely past the stage of a script of Diflucan and have become resistant. That is why it's important to change your diet and I will teach you natural remedies that you can buy at your local store or have it sent to your door.
So, how do we heal ourselves?
The first thing you need to do is alkaline your body. There are many different ways to do this. Our ideal pH is slightly alkaline - 7.30 to 7.45. Anything below a 7 is considered acidic. I use Hydrion PH strips to test myself, I bought mine from amazon. When I first got my strips I wasn't prepared to see how acidic I really was. I was shocked. And I do all or most of these techniques every single day. You have to attack it at many different angles if you want it to go away.
* The star means its a must have.
Ways to alkalize and heal your body :
-Drink 1/4rth teaspoon of Baking Soda in your water every single day and night. Can do it up to 3X a day prefferably before a meal.*
-Drink Apple Cider Vinegar in your water through out the day. I drink atleast 3 cups a day.*
-PROBIOTICS.* Buy a good probiotic. I use the Ultimate Flora brand - 25 billion. I take this by mouth and use vaginally as well. No need to buy a seperate "vaginal probiotic" they are all the same. I heard people using yogurt and sticking that inside of them. Do NOT do this. It will make things worse. Just buy yourself a probiotic and use that. Probiotic is the "good bacteria" that is found in our body it. *
-Coconut Oil . Eat teaspoon 3X a day. * Must have
-A blend of 5 Alkaline Minerals, and you just put this in your water and drink it. I use the brand PHion and it's called "Alkaline Minerals" I feel so much better after I take this. It helps my bones a lot. Contains Vit D . Calcium, Iron, Potassium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Manganese. And if you can afford it then I say absolutely get it. If you are tight on money you can eat brown rice for your dose of potassium. Eat lots of greens and veggies, ALOT, and take multivitamin.
-Multi-Vitamin and supplements. You can just take a multivitamin but if you want to kick it up a knotch you can take other vitamins as well. I usually take Vit D, Vit C, Cranberry supplement, fish oil, and Vit E along with it.
-Herbs. This is a very important step. Herbs are very powerful. :
- Curcumin 95 brand Jarrow Formulas, it's basically Turmeric (you can also eat turmeric in your diet)
-Ginger Root, Brand Nature's Bounty it's an anti-inflammatory and antifungal ( Can also eat ginger root)
- *Garlic , Brand Garlinase * You absolutely need garlic and it has to be this brand, it contains allicin. ( Can also incorporate raw chopped up garlic in your diet, eat it with bread or whatever you want to mix it with) However you must still have the garlic capsules. You can buy it from amazon for like 6$
-"Balance Complex" for women is an extremely good brand. You can buy it off amazon. It contains amazing medicinal herbs that are just excellent at fighting bacteria and infections, also fungi, If you want to go out and buy these seperatly you can but these pills are amazing. It contains : Oregano Extract, Caprylic Acid (magnesium caprylate), L.Acidophilus aka PROBIOTICS! , Protease, Cellulase, Aloe Vera, Arabinoglacatan, Anise Seed, Black Walnut Hulls, Wormwood and Reishi Mushroom. It is 40$ a bottle.
-*An alternative for the "Balance Complex" is called "Candida Gone" by nutracraft! And it has the EXACT same ingredients as the Balance Complex I have both the bottles side by side. CandidaGone is 20$ cheaper... can also be bought on amazon. Comes with 2 booklets that are really informative. I know it says "CandidaGone" but it is also for Bacterial Vaginosis, and works really well for it. Either the CandidaGone or the Balance Complex is another must have.*
- *Essential Oils are very, very powerful.
Becareful when using essential oils they are very concentrated and only use 1-2 drops at a time. Please educate yourself on the oils before using if you ingest too much it can be very hazardous to your health. And especially with a weakened immune system the "die off" reactions can be too much.
I get my oils from mountainroseherbs.com, it is important you go through a trusted site because not oils are made equally. Mountainroseherbs are amazing and high quality.
You need :
Oregano Essential Oil
Tea Tree Essential Oil
Lemongrass Essential Oil
Clove Bud Essential Oil
and the King of all Oils "Frankincense"
If you have time look up the benefits of Frankincense, it is the only oil that can actually repair damaged cells in our body. I just actually bought some Frankincense from mountainroseherbs it was 20$ being by far the most expensive oil, the other scost round 6$. also has anti-aging properties, as well as amazing health benefits.
Frankincense was used only by Kings and Queens in the olden age and was brough to Baby Jesus as a gift by the 3 wise men.
It cost 20$ at mountainroseherbs but over close to 100$ on other sites so it sells out quickly. Be put on the list to be known when it's in stock. There are different species of Frankincense I suggest researching the carterri is good and frereana.
You always want to use these oils with a carrier oil. Never use them alone they will burn your skin. I use Coconut Oil as my carrier oil.
-Take an ice tray fill one spot up half way with coconut oil, then pour 1 drop of an essential oil. One drop to start with! Then fill the rest of the space up with coconut oil and stick it in the freezer. And voila! You have your very first suppository. Candida likes to live in nice dark warm and moist places. So if you are a Male you can use these suppositories in your rectum, Female either rectum or vagina.
You can stick this in you.
(The first time I did this I got sick too quickly so I had to push it out of me on the toilet, it was way too strong for me. Even a drop is extremely strong because it is so concentrated. So if you start to feel ill you can sit on the toilet and let it come out of you. )
Please remember to only use 1 drop to start with! More does not equal better. It can make you extremely sick if you are irresponsible and use too much. Allow time for your body to get used to it. The bacteria inside of you may die off too quickly. It releases toxins in your blood. But remember this is a good thing if the bacteria inside of you is dying. You will experience "die off" symptoms but this is normal, and there is really no other way around it.
-Drink lots and lots and lots of water. We have to eliminate waste so we don't put too much stress on our liver and kidneys. Water removes toxins in your body.
-Drink Lemon in your water every day to alkaline your body
-Cut out all sugars and carbs. No wheat, white flour, breads, pastas, soda, candy, and if you have a really bad case of yeast infection do not even eat fruit. This feeds the yeast that is growing inside of you. It is a fungus and is very difficult to get rid of.
-Get on the Anti- Candida Diet * Although the Paleo diet is technically not the Anti-candida diet they have many many recipes you can use to substitute flour or sugar. http://paleogrubs.com/paleo-recipesCheck it out. The only thing I would change is not use any sugar of any kind. It doesn't matter if it's a healthier type of sugrar. So the apple crips and waffles are a no no. They give healthy delicious recipes that give you alternatives for just about every meal. This is a MUST if you want to get rid of your Candida. No SUGARS what so ever. Not even fruit, which contains sugar. I suggest doing a Google search of the Candida diet so you can throw out all foods that would cause you to relapse. Fruits like bananas and oranges contain high ammounts of sugar. Berries contains the least ammount of sugar, so a few months into your candida diet, or when you feel ready you can start to incorporate fruits like blueberries, blackberries and strawberries into your diet. You can eat Fermented foods. Yogurt with no sugar. No breads or pastas, cut out white flour completely There is alternatives
