Candida
Candida (Candida Albicans) is a fungus, which is normally present in the bowel, on the skin and in the mouth.
It feeds on sugars, simple carbohydrates and fermented products like alcohol and cheese.
Unfortunately the presence of candida in the body weakens the immune system, which has to try and cope with the toxins produced by the yeast. Some symptoms are easy to identify, such as thrush. However, intestinal candidiasis, which can cause headaches, bowel changes and fatigue, is more difficult to diagnose.
Yet many alternative practitioners believe that untreated intestinal candidiasis that has spread through the body may be a prime cause of chronic fatigue syndrome. Worryingly, many cases remain untreated as conventional medicine refuses to recognise candidiasis as a serious medical condition, other than in the form of thrush. Fortunately, a safe and effective natural remedy, Horopito Aniseed, has just become available in the UK. Research is revealing that when used in conjunction with a low-carbohydrate diet it can help stem the overgrowth of yeast and successfully beat candidiasis.
An overgrowth of candida can increase your risk of developing a 'leaky' gut. When the balance of natural 'gut flora' becomes upset, candida albicans changes from a single-celled organism to a thread-like 'mycelial' form, which is then able to penetrate your gut wall and enter your bloodstream. This makes your gut 'leaky', which means that incompletely digested food molecules can enter your bloodstream and trigger allergic reactions. The yeast takes over and turns into a nasty mycelial form, which sends out mycelia or roots, which invade the rest of the body. This is where the long-term problems start as unpleasant symptoms are produced in the part of the body that the yeast takes control of.
In the gut, candida ferments sugary foods to produce carbon dioxide, which can cause bloating and flatulence. It also produces alcohol and other chemicals that can soon irritate your gut lining - sending it into painful spasms and hampering its ability to digest food, which can lead to constipation or diarrhoea. As it spreads through your body candida also produces increasing quantities of toxic by-products, which can cause a host of symptoms including ringworm, arthritis, 'brain fog' (confusion and an inability to concentrate properly), frequent infections and sensitivities to foods or chemical odours.
As already mentioned, conventional medicine remains sceptical about intestinal candidiasis - with doctors frequently attributing patients' symptoms to hysteria or malingering. Even more broadminded doctors, who do recognise the condition, are unlikely to do any more than prescribe an anti-fungal drug, like Nystatin, and possibly an antispasmodic drug, such as Lomotil, to reduce intestinal cramps. However, both drugs fail to get to the root of the problem and can cause unpleasant side effects such as blurred vision, dry mouth and nausea.
Candida can only establish itself if the body's natural defence systems have been impaired, and biochemical levels have altered to create ideal Candida conditions. To tackle Candida permanently, rather than just camouflage the symptoms, we need to identify the underlying factors that have compromised the natural defensive and healing processes and have created the conditions necessary for Candida to take hold.
Causes
Everyone has candida in the gut but the problem with it only occurs when the numbers gets out of control. Causes for this can be:
• diets high in sugary foods and refined carbohydrates (like white bread, pasta and rice)
• Broad spectrum antibiotic treatment
• Pregnancy
• Stress
• Immune deficiencies (for example HIV infection)
• Humid climates
• Diabetes, or other endocrine conditions
• Poor diet
It is not hard to see why candida has increased during the twentieth century. The use of medicines, steroids, alcohol, sweet products has increased tremendously, even hormones are now fed to cattle and chicken. Candida has also been linked to: mercury (amalgum) poisoning, diabetes, ME., Post Viral Fatigue syndrome, AIDS and Cancer. Like candida all these are linked with an inability of the immune system to cope.
79 toxins have been found to be produced by Candida which the body has to deal with. Often this toxic overload results in health conditions starting to deteriorate and ill health sets in
Symptoms
Click here for a list of symptoms associated with Candida. The list of symptoms collated from the case histories in many books. No-one has all of them and obviously many of them can be attributed to other problems. If you do suspect you have candida however just looking through the list might help to confirm your suspicions.
