Healing Candida Albicans Fungal Infections Using Coconut Oil

First, just a short rant about my own experience with candida albicans and what I feel is the major reason why so many of us suffer from candida overgrowth.

It is my belief that one of the major causes of candida infections is the use, or overuse, of antibiotics. As a child I had to take antibiotics for several months to get well enough to have my tonsils removed. Because my mother was not told that the antibiotics would destroy the beneficial flora in my gut, I have spent most of my life since then with digestive disorders, yeast infections as well as a plethora of other health problems related to candida overgrowth. It was right after another prescription of antibiotics when I was 34 years old that my health completely crashed. I suffered with chronic and debilitating symptoms that I didn't understand until after hundreds of hours of research online. I started seeing a naturopathic doctor and it was discovered that I had systemic candida overgrowth.

So this is a very personal topic to me. Candida overgrowth took away a large portion of my life and the lives of many others. What is so frustrating is that this can be avoided if doctors would tell their patients that they need to replace the intestinal flora that is destroyed by the antibiotics they prescribe.

There are, of course, other causes of candida overgrowth and some of them are: poor diet (eating too much sugar), poor immune system, birth control pills, steroids or any other immunosuppressive drugs. Different forms of candida can manifest as: athlete's foot, jock itch, vaginal yeast infection, oral thrush, ringworm, digestive disorders, chronic fatigue, anxiety disorders, weight gain, etc. A large number of the health problems in America today are caused by the fungus Candida albicans.

Now to the topic of healing candida with coconut oil. Coconut oil is one of the best remedies I have found. It has a medium-chain fatty acid known as caprylic acid. Caprylic acid has been used for some time as a natural remedy for curing candida. In fact it was one of the remedies I used. I didn't, however, know that it came from coconut oil until the last couple of years. Since then I have kept coconut oil in my diet.

Caprylic acid is not the only active ingredient in coconut oil, there are three active ingredients. They are, caprylic acid, capric acid and lauric acid. These are medium-chain saturated fatty acids. You can find studies about these fatty acids and how each one of them is able to kill Candida albicans by researching them online. There are some studies that also show how coconut oil is more effective than perscription drugs.

What I love about coconut oil is you can use it both internally and externally. It is used topically for healing fungal skin infections and internally to kill candida in the gut as well as systemically. It can also be swished around in the mouth to cure oral thrush.

In areas of the world where people eat a traditional coconut-based diet there is almost never any yeast infections of any kind. Having coconut oil in your diet will help you keep candida and other fungal infections away.

In using coconut oil topically simply apply it directly on your skin. It absorbs real well and fast. You can add vitamin E to make it more effective. Internally you can take a tablespoon full of coconut oil and just eat it plain. I do this everyday. It really tastes pretty good. You can also use coconut oil to cook and to put in your smoothies. Just Google coconut oil and find out all the different ways you can use it and to find out more about how it can improve your health. Be sure and buy extra virgin coconut oil to get the best quality available.