This article is based on what I’ve learned from helping people conquer candida. I’ve made it quite extensive because:
1. Candida can literally wipe out your life.
2. You may have many health problems that you didn't know were caused by candida.
3. There are many different issues that must be dealt with to resolve tough cases of candida.
People have told me they’ve suffered from candida yeast infection symptoms for years and didn't know they had it. They’d gone to doctors who looked at them like they were crazy. Who told them that there was nothing wrong and gave them some antibiotics - which only makes the candida worse.
Claims that you can get over your yeast infection in two weeks or a month just aren't true. You can certainly improve the symptoms, but the candida is still present in parts of your body and will come back. If you have been fighting it for years and still have it, you know there is no easy and quick victory and that it will take many months to eliminate the overgrowth throughout the body. This is not a “take one pill for a week or two and it’s gone” issue. Candida is tough.
First, you need to truly find out if you're suffering from a candida yeast overgrowth and not another problem. Then, we will talk about how candida gets a foothold in your body and what affects it has.
“How Do I Tell If I Have Candida?”
Take The Spit Test!
I’ve heard too often people telling me that the tests for candida their doctor had them take came back negative. Even though it was clear from their symptoms that they had candida overgrowth. A test that seems to be at least as accurate, plus its easy and free, is the following spit test.
First thing in the morning, rinse out your mouth. Get a clear glass of water, work up some saliva, and spit into the water. Keep an eye on the water for up to one hour - especially the first few minutes. If you have a candida yeast infection, you will see one or all three of the following:
1. Strings (legs) traveling down into the water from the saliva floating on top
2. Thick saliva at the bottom of the glass
3. Cloudy specks suspended in the water
The more you see going on and the faster you see it, the worse the overgrowth. If you spit and almost immediately you see stuff falling out of the saliva, you know you’ve got it bad. If 20 minutes after spitting you see just a little bit falling out of the saliva, you’ve got it, but not as extensive. If the saliva just floats on top and the water stays perfectly clear, you probably don’t have candida overgrowth.
Confirm this test by checking to see if you have several of the many candida symptoms listed below. If you have no symptoms and the test shows clear, you can assume that there is no candida overgrowth in your body.
If you are just starting to fight it, or have had it a long time, the test will be confirmation alongside the symptoms listed here.
Do you...
1. Bloat or form excess gas when you eat?
2. Have acid reflux?
3. Have brain fog?
4. Have a dry mouth, sinus or ear infections?
5. Suffer from fatigue for no reason?
6. Vision that gets blurry, then clear, then blurry?
7. Have hypoglycemia? (shaky if meal is missed, sleepy after a meal, sweat during sleep)
8. Have unexplained rashes?
9. Have nail fungus, vaginal yeast infections or jock itch?
It is estimated that 85% of Americans have or have had a candida yeast infection. While this number is high, most people haven’t a clue that yeast has grown out of control in their body triggering a plethora of health problems such as:
• Sexual dysfunction • Arthritis • Autism • Hives • Fatigue • Irritability • Digestive disorders • Muscle pain • Short attention span • Headaches • Memory loss • Vaginitis • Skin problems • Hyperactivity • Depression • Hypoglycemia • Menstrual problems • Urinary disorders • Respiratory problems • Allergies • Learning difficulties
Why Does Candida Overgrow?
About 85% of all organisms in the intestines should be friendly bacteria. The remaining 15% should be comprised primarily of not so friendly, but still useful in small amounts, bad bacteria and candida. Your body needs 85% friendly bacteria to keep the bad stuff in check.
Candida is much more powerful than friendly bacteria and as it cannot protect itself from bacteria with antibodies, candida produces deadly mycotoxins that kill friendly bacteria.
Cortisone, birth-control pills, antibiotics (which are also in non-organic meat and milk products), medications, and even drinking chlorinated water, all contribute to the partial or total destruction of your 4 to 8 pounds of friendly bacteria living in the lower gut. However, these bacteria killers do not harm the candida. More and more of the good bacteria so necessary for a healthy digestive system and therefore, a healthy body, are killed off and the candida is able to flourish.
What Happens Once Candida Overgrows In Your Intestinal Tract?
Once candida overgrows in the large intestine, where it should be in small numbers, it migrates into the small intestine where digestion and assimilation of nutrients takes place.
Since many of the beneficial bacteria in the small intestine that are needed for healthy digestion and for your immune system to function well are killed by the candida, your digestion is inhibited you become gaseous and experience the other indigestion symptoms mentioned earlier.
Next, candida upsets your bodies sugar system as it seeks it favorite food, sugar. Because your digestion is disrupted, you don’t get enough of the minerals you need to escort sugar and insulin into the cells and you become hypoglycemic. Your body is then signaled to eat more sweets and carbohydrates, candidas favorite foods.
Also, since you don’t have the minerals you need to get the sugar into your cells, you run low during the night. At this point, the brain signals your adrenal gland to produce more adrenal hormones to keep the body functioning during the night, which it does. One side effect of this is that you may have night sweats. And because the adrenal gland is now working 24 hours per day, it can eventually burn out leading to adrenal fatigue.
Another problem is that many women lack adequate amounts of progesterone because Candida devours it and changes it into the not so pleasant chemical prednisone. In fact, drug companies farm fungus colonies, feeding them progesterone to make the drug prednisone which they then sell to consumers as a remedy for a whole host of ill health conditions.
This is one reason why most women are estrogen dominant. They lack progesterone due to candida destroying it. This imbalance can cause the face to break out, breasts to lose firmness, hair problems, migraines and the most significant…. Depression. Aside from these problems a woman’s skin can become so sensitive she can’t stand to be touched. The skin can become so painful that intimacy becomes impossible. Estrogen dominance is believed to be connected with breast cancer and other hormonal cancers.
Candida Causes Leaky Gut Syndrome Which Causes Big Problems
Over time candida and parasites destroy the protective mucus coating on the intestinal wall. Once this happens, foods, chemicals, parasites, bacteria, yeast and viruses begin irritating the intestinal lining. When this happens, the immune system cells on the lining of the intestinal tract activate in order to fight back. This activation causes inflammation and further irritation of the intestinal wall which can result in intestinal pain, cramps and irritation.
Allergic reactions may start throughout the body. These allergic reactions begun in the intestinal tract trigger skin reactions such as itching, hives, rashes, etc. Over time, the intestinal lining becomes even more degraded and the candida can drill holes in the wall, causing a leaky gut. In addition, the intestinal villi, hair-like structures that help absorb vitamins, minerals, and different nutrients, become damaged so you become less able to absorb nutrients from your food.
Worse still, the leaky patches allow particles that should be in the intestinal tract to enter your bloodstream through the leaks.
As your immune system has to get rid of these particles, it develops sensitivity to the foods you commonly eat, and you end up with allergies to those foods.
If you suspect you have food allergies, get tested for them by a medical doctor or a naturopathic doctor. Once you know what you are allergic to, stay away from those foods for several months to reduce the allergic response to them and then, you can get to work fighting the candida.
My name is Robert Harrison. I am 60 years old and hold a Masters in Education from the University of New Mexico.
I began work on the Get Healthy Again.com website in 2000 and started selling products online a year later.
In the early 90’s, I started marketing whole food blue green algae products after learning about autoimmune diseases and products to use for them. Over the next 20 years, as I continued to research and learn about the causes of other health issues, such as cancer, diabetes, candida, autism, osteoporosis and more, I came across exceptional products that helped to correct them. I expanded my companies product line to include those products and began creating additional websites to address these issues.
My main area of expertise is an ability to compile information on ill health conditions and to tell you in simple terms, the underlying causes of those conditions and what you can do about them. Conditions like Candida. Unfortunately, many health professionals use medical language that is very hard to understand and offer treatment suggestions that are focused on pharmaceutical drugs that almost never work well. Others may focus on just one aspect of the condition in an attempt to promote a particular product or group of products and some simply deny the possibility of Candida causing any ill health issues.
I feel that my purpose has been to inform people about the healthy alternative treatments that are available to them.