Candida Albicans is a common fungus or yeast that lives within virtually everyone. It’s part of the normal intestinal flora of the human gut and has a symbiotic relationship with various bacteria and microorganisms that make their home in the human body; a normal healthy adult has about 4 pounds. The key to this peaceful coexistence is balance, if you get imbalanced problems start and a fungus like Candida can take hold and begin to proliferate outmaneuvering the beneficial bacteria.
What could cause this imbalance? Why, many things but the main one is overuse of broad spectrum antibiotics (they kill the bad and good bacteria) also, long term use of artificial hormones (read birth control pills), immune disorders (endo anyone?) and actually endometriosis itself is very closely linked to Candida. Ok, so these were the things that probably caused my imbalance. There are many other triggers.
Basically, once the Candida gets a hold it starts to grow and colonize causing all kinds of disparate symptoms, it is closely linked to fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and irritable bowel syndrome because they all display similar, overlapping symptoms. In fact, many people who are diagnosed with fibromyalgia, CFS or IBS feel much better once they start the Candida diet (much more on this soon). This is pretty interesting since western medicine doesn’t really have a treatment for these three syndromes either. Candida can trigger or cause the following: allergies; fatigue; headaches; muscle pain,soreness, and twitching; recurrent opportunistic infections; skin disorders; depression; brain fog; a whole spectrum of GI issues including leaky gut syndrome (yes, it’s gross and it is exactly what it sounds like) and full blown celiac disease. Oh wait, those are my symptoms again, but a lot of people experience many more symptoms than just those. This is why it is often referred to as Candida Related Complex which of course, is considered controversial and not accepted by western medicine unless you are already immune compromised. You better hope you’re not immune compromised because then this fungus will probably kill you. I am not being dramatic here.
After it proliferates, Candida turns from the yeast form to the invasive mold form, which sends out rhizomes to nearby tissues and organs effectively infiltrating your body (yes, like a bad sci-fi movie). The Candida fungus releases 79 different toxins that wreck havoc within your body causing you to be very sick with a wide range of incongruent symptoms.
So, how do you get rid of Candida once it has colonized your body? Candida is a single celled microorganism that is highly adaptable and becomes easily resistant to anti-fungal therapies which is why a multi-pronged approach is necessary. First, you have to kill the Candida and the only way to do that is to cut off its food source, sugar, and starve it. Second, you need to attack it with anti-fungal therapies either natural, pharmaceutical or both. This is not easy. It involves a lot of trial and error and virtually no mistakes in your diet. This will be the topic of my next post.
Recommended Reading: W. G. Crook, M.D., The Yeast Connection Handbook, he was essentially the first to recognize this disorder. He also has a questionnaire to discern if your symptoms may be related to yeast. When I first took the test I scored a whopping 360, anything over 180 is definitely yeast associated. An online version can be accessed here: http://www.flora-balance.com/candida_questionnaire_long.php
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Candida - Experiment Time
The most frustrating thing about both endo and candidiasis is that no one believes you; either that you could be in that much pain or that it’s really your problem. Consequently, you are generally dismissed by western medicine as a hopeless case or worse, non-existent. With endo, I was overmedicated yet undertreated for my pain. Doctors refused to believe that endo was causing that much pain - guess what assholes, it did. With Candida, western medicine claims that only people who are immune compromised, like cancer and AIDS patients, suffer from systemic Candida - wrong again, those are the people that die from it. I’m lucky that I am healthy enough that my immune system can fight off the candida, but boy is it a battle. They say that Candida is one step away from cancer because the body is imbalanced, and your immune system is already taxed full time fighting the Candida setting up the perfect environment for malignant cells to root and proliferate; for this reason it is important to treat Candida even though you will not be able to get a diagnosis from Western medicine. Alternative practitioners will diagnose Candida but if you want pharmaceuticals you need to see someone in integrative medicine who can prescribe FDA regulated anti-fungals like Nystatin or Diflucan.
Which brings me to my latest adventure with Candida. At Thanksgiving, my brother’s father in (common) law strongly recommended I try Diflucan. So I did some more research and eventually found an alternative medicine doctor in Northern Virginia who believes in prescribing Diflucan for systemic candida. It’s actually on his website. But he doesn’t take insurance and I can’t afford the retarded amounts he charges. So scratch that. Thankfully, I’d been having recurring yeast infections. (Honestly, who would have thought I’d be thankful for having yeast infections to treat systemic Candida?) So my gynecologist was nice enough to prescribe seven days of tasty Diflucan. Now, I’m not sure if seven days are enough, most protocls I've read suggest 1 month, so I was able to obtain an additional 2 weeks. This is kind of an experiment for me.
Of course, my family (except my loving brother and step-mom) doesn’t approve of my bastardized self-medication. But fuck that. I’d refer them back to the first paragraph where no one believes you’re (a) in that much pain or (b) can’t suffer from candida overgrowth without being immune system compromised. I’m tired of that shit. So I’m trying something new. I’ll write on future developments.
Which brings me to my latest adventure with Candida. At Thanksgiving, my brother’s father in (common) law strongly recommended I try Diflucan. So I did some more research and eventually found an alternative medicine doctor in Northern Virginia who believes in prescribing Diflucan for systemic candida. It’s actually on his website. But he doesn’t take insurance and I can’t afford the retarded amounts he charges. So scratch that. Thankfully, I’d been having recurring yeast infections. (Honestly, who would have thought I’d be thankful for having yeast infections to treat systemic Candida?) So my gynecologist was nice enough to prescribe seven days of tasty Diflucan. Now, I’m not sure if seven days are enough, most protocls I've read suggest 1 month, so I was able to obtain an additional 2 weeks. This is kind of an experiment for me.
Of course, my family (except my loving brother and step-mom) doesn’t approve of my bastardized self-medication. But fuck that. I’d refer them back to the first paragraph where no one believes you’re (a) in that much pain or (b) can’t suffer from candida overgrowth without being immune system compromised. I’m tired of that shit. So I’m trying something new. I’ll write on future developments.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Endo & Nutrition Part 2: Healing Foods
Artificial hormones (like the long term birth control pills they prescribe for us endo girls) disrupt the balance of friendly intestinal bacteria (Fun fact! The human body should have about 4 pounds.) So you should take a probiotic to ensure that your intestines are operating at an optimal level. You can find these in the refrigerator section of your health food store. You should make sure it contains at least 4 million live bacteria including: Lactobacillus acidophilus, & Bifidobacterium bifidum and make sure it is dairy free. Yogurt is also a good source of this, but you would want goat yogurt, either unpasteurized or with the active cultures added after pasteurization (Trader Joe's has a great one). This will also help boost your immune system. Much more on this topic in the Candida section
Speaking of digestion, you want to make sure your digestive track is working properly. First, make sure you're digesting in the correct time frame: 12-24 hours after eating. The easiest way to assess this is to eat corn and see how long it takes to eliminate it in stool (editor's note: this is fucking gross). If it is under 12 hours you are not getting all the nutrients you need, over 12 hours and the waste builds in your body. Second, take your probiotics. Third, you want to make sure your liver is functioning properly since the liver breaks down all the dangerous substances in your body. It needs lots of vitamins and amino acids to do this. Foods that are beneficial for the liver: lemons, carrots, beets, dark leafy greens, cucumber, tomato, artichoke, celery, parsley, radish, leeks, onions, cold pressed olive oil, apricots, and grapefruits. Finally, you need to eat fiber to excrete toxins.
I mentioned in an earlier posts about type 2 prostaglandins, the ones that cause inflammation and can be found in cow products. Well, there are also type 1 & 3 prostaglandins which decrease inflammation and are good for you. The body cannot make these so it is necessary to get them from outside sources. NOTE: taking an anti-inflammatory drug like advil/ibuprofen stops them ALL from working. Prostaglandins are lipid, or oil based hormones and can be obtained from essential fatty acids which your body converts into more acids and eventually into prostaglandins.
Type 1 prostaglandins are derived from vegetable oils including: safflower, sunflower, hemp, soy bean, walnut, pumpkin seed, sesame seed, and flax oil. These cis-linoleic acids turn into gamma-linoleic acid (GLA) in the body, to skip this process, take evening primrose oil which is a GLA.
Type 3 prostaglandins come from alpha-linolenic acids (ALA) which can be found in: flax seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, dark green leafy vegetables, soy bean, walnuts and fish oil. An increase in both 1 & 3 will help immune and nerve function as well being anti-inflammatory.
Enzymes are required for these conversion processes so you will need to make sure you get adequate amounts of zinc, B6, magnesium, vitamin D, C, calcium and digestive enzymes if necessary.
All of this information in much more detail can be found in the book the by Dian Shepperson Mills, Endometriosis: A key to Healing through Nutrition
She also recommends the following supplements to take for at least 2-3 months to get your nutrition back on track. I took them my entire ‘lost year’ (summers ’06- ’07). All should be yeast, sugar, wheat, and dairy free
- multivitamin/mineral
- Vitamin C with bioflavanoids
- Evening Primrose and fish oils (combined)
- probiotics
- Magnesium taurate or malate
- chelated zinc
- digestive enzymes with each meal
- B-complex
- Selenium and vitamins A, C, D3 & E
This is probably information overload and will change your lifestyle but it WILL help you feel better. Even though I no longer suffer from the pain caused by endometriosis, I still follow nutritional protocol for a healthy pain free existence. This is especially important for anyone still feeling pain after excision surgery.
Speaking of digestion, you want to make sure your digestive track is working properly. First, make sure you're digesting in the correct time frame: 12-24 hours after eating. The easiest way to assess this is to eat corn and see how long it takes to eliminate it in stool (editor's note: this is fucking gross). If it is under 12 hours you are not getting all the nutrients you need, over 12 hours and the waste builds in your body. Second, take your probiotics. Third, you want to make sure your liver is functioning properly since the liver breaks down all the dangerous substances in your body. It needs lots of vitamins and amino acids to do this. Foods that are beneficial for the liver: lemons, carrots, beets, dark leafy greens, cucumber, tomato, artichoke, celery, parsley, radish, leeks, onions, cold pressed olive oil, apricots, and grapefruits. Finally, you need to eat fiber to excrete toxins.
I mentioned in an earlier posts about type 2 prostaglandins, the ones that cause inflammation and can be found in cow products. Well, there are also type 1 & 3 prostaglandins which decrease inflammation and are good for you. The body cannot make these so it is necessary to get them from outside sources. NOTE: taking an anti-inflammatory drug like advil/ibuprofen stops them ALL from working. Prostaglandins are lipid, or oil based hormones and can be obtained from essential fatty acids which your body converts into more acids and eventually into prostaglandins.
Type 1 prostaglandins are derived from vegetable oils including: safflower, sunflower, hemp, soy bean, walnut, pumpkin seed, sesame seed, and flax oil. These cis-linoleic acids turn into gamma-linoleic acid (GLA) in the body, to skip this process, take evening primrose oil which is a GLA.
Type 3 prostaglandins come from alpha-linolenic acids (ALA) which can be found in: flax seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, dark green leafy vegetables, soy bean, walnuts and fish oil. An increase in both 1 & 3 will help immune and nerve function as well being anti-inflammatory.
Enzymes are required for these conversion processes so you will need to make sure you get adequate amounts of zinc, B6, magnesium, vitamin D, C, calcium and digestive enzymes if necessary.
All of this information in much more detail can be found in the book the by Dian Shepperson Mills, Endometriosis: A key to Healing through Nutrition
She also recommends the following supplements to take for at least 2-3 months to get your nutrition back on track. I took them my entire ‘lost year’ (summers ’06- ’07). All should be yeast, sugar, wheat, and dairy free
- multivitamin/mineral
- Vitamin C with bioflavanoids
- Evening Primrose and fish oils (combined)
- probiotics
- Magnesium taurate or malate
- chelated zinc
- digestive enzymes with each meal
- B-complex
- Selenium and vitamins A, C, D3 & E
This is probably information overload and will change your lifestyle but it WILL help you feel better. Even though I no longer suffer from the pain caused by endometriosis, I still follow nutritional protocol for a healthy pain free existence. This is especially important for anyone still feeling pain after excision surgery.
Endo & Nutrition: Part 1- Foods to Eliminate
Nutrition is not alternative medicine! It is vital to your everyday well being and affects how you feel. Without nutritional changes I never would have survived the time period between by my 3rd and 4th surgeries, when the doctor I like to refer to as the 'butcher' completely annihilated my body after surgery number three. That surgery took over 6 weeks to recover from and left me with all kinds of increased pains. (I'll be happy to do an in-depth post later about this clown). The summer of 2006 to the summer of 2007 was a huge struggle coping with the effects and pain of endo. One of my few saving graces was enhanced nutrition; consuming healing foods and elimiating wheat and cow until I could get myself to an excision surgeon in the summer of 2007.
Allergies affect everyone differently. When I quit wheat (3 years before my Celiac diagnoses) my fatigue & pain levels eased. It was the first time in my life that I didn't to have to nap. And you do have to quit all wheat. Unfortunately, the entire supply is corrupted from (presumably) the genetic modifications made back in the 70's in which two hormones were added to wheat (our first genetically modified food): one was to make the heads more prolific and the second to make the stalks stronger to support those heads. It is thought that these hormones have an estrogenic effect in women. Which is problematic as endo is a disease of excess estrogen - there are other theories for this intolerance but this is my favorite (studies are currently underway).
Wheat Free Options
There are a lot of wheat-free options and you can eat different types of wheat as long as you’re not sensitive to gluten or have Celiac (which is me too). My favorite is spelt, an ancient cousin of modern wheat that is making a comeback lately. It is much more nutritious than regular wheat (including whole wheat) and has a wholesome nutty flavor. Spelt has such a strong covering that no pesticides or spays are needed to grow it, so it’s automatically organic and it loses none of its nutritional value when processed (to boot). You can also eat rye, barley(neither for gluten-free diets), millet, quinoa, oats...there are tons of other grain options, they are just a bit off the beaten path. You do have to be careful because there is hidden wheat in a lot of foods. The following could a indicate wheat presence: modified starch, dextrins, maltodextrins, bran, wheatgerm, farina, couscous, semolina, rusk, soy sauce (you can get wheat free soy sauce sometimes referred to as tamari but make sure the label also says 'wheat free'...I bring my own to eat sushi), lagers and some beers. It seems like everything has wheat, but a little extra research can go a long way.
Quitting or Reducing Cow Products
If you are in crises, even the organic ones should be avoided. This is because of the type 2 prostaglandins found in cow products cause a lot of inflammation in the body. On the dairy front you want to avoid the cow but you can eat sheep or goat milk, yogurt or cheeses including feta, manchego, roquefort, pecorino romano (parmesan), halloumi, or buffalo mozzarella (I love me some cheese). Also, you could try nut butters: hemp (my personal favorite), almond, or rice milk.
Yeah, I'm a nag on the wheat and cow front, but it can make such a drastic difference in your pain levels that you owe it to yourself to try it. Some girls are so turned off by this they have actually stop communicating with me after this recommendation. Seriously, just try it for one month and note your pain levels; you have nothing to lose except some extra calories. And everything to gain. Hell, try it for a week...think of it as preventative medicine.
If you're in the clutches of cyclical endo pain you will probably try anything.
Allergies affect everyone differently. When I quit wheat (3 years before my Celiac diagnoses) my fatigue & pain levels eased. It was the first time in my life that I didn't to have to nap. And you do have to quit all wheat. Unfortunately, the entire supply is corrupted from (presumably) the genetic modifications made back in the 70's in which two hormones were added to wheat (our first genetically modified food): one was to make the heads more prolific and the second to make the stalks stronger to support those heads. It is thought that these hormones have an estrogenic effect in women. Which is problematic as endo is a disease of excess estrogen - there are other theories for this intolerance but this is my favorite (studies are currently underway).
Wheat Free Options
There are a lot of wheat-free options and you can eat different types of wheat as long as you’re not sensitive to gluten or have Celiac (which is me too
Quitting or Reducing Cow Products
If you are in crises, even the organic ones should be avoided. This is because of the type 2 prostaglandins found in cow products cause a lot of inflammation in the body. On the dairy front you want to avoid the cow but you can eat sheep or goat milk, yogurt or cheeses including feta, manchego, roquefort, pecorino romano (parmesan), halloumi, or buffalo mozzarella (I love me some cheese). Also, you could try nut butters: hemp (my personal favorite), almond, or rice milk.
Yeah, I'm a nag on the wheat and cow front, but it can make such a drastic difference in your pain levels that you owe it to yourself to try it. Some girls are so turned off by this they have actually stop communicating with me after this recommendation. Seriously, just try it for one month and note your pain levels; you have nothing to lose except some extra calories. And everything to gain. Hell, try it for a week...think of it as preventative medicine.
If you're in the clutches of cyclical endo pain you will probably try anything.
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