Candida Overgrowth

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