Many people go through life with symptoms like fatigue, recurrent yeast infections, irritable bowel syndrome, itching, inability to loose weight, infertility, bloating, skin rashes, and headaches. As wide ranged as those symptoms sound, they often all have the same cause – a fungus named Candida Albicans.
Sadly, Candida is often misdiagnosed. I find that I am usually the last resort for a lot of my clients. They have been to numerous doctors who have told them they have IBS, and will treat them with some type of drug that just Band-Aids the symptoms. Candida is a serious bacteria overgrowth in the gut that can cause some serious long-term damage. I have been testing clients for candida and putting them on a protocol that ultimately changes their lives.
So, you are not alone when you want to stick your face in a bag of sugar. It could just be the bacteria screaming!!!
I’m going to explain exactly what it is, how it develops, and how to treat it.
What is Candida?
Candida Albans is a pathogen that takes advantage of a disruption in the balance of microorganisms in your gut. This balance of ‘gut flora’ is a crucial part of your immune system and digestive health, but it can easily be lost during periods of stress, a poor diet that is high in carbs and sugar, after a course of antibiotics, or even from hormone imbalances. When this balance is broken, the colonies of Candida Albicans are able to expand rapidly until they control a large portion of your gut, eventually growing roots like a tree into your intestinal wall.
Candida Albicans releases up to 79 different byproducts, including uric acid and a powerful neurotoxin named acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde causes chronic headaches and brain fog, and it was recently classified as a potential carcinogen by the International Agency for research cancer. Uric acid can cause joint pain and lead to gout if an excess builds up. In turn, the changes in your gut flora can lead to digestive problems, intolerance to certain food, yeast infections, and oral thrush.
Studies show that 70% of us have candida in our gut. However, most of the time Candida is completely harmless. It exists in small colonies and is kept under control by the other microorganisms in your gut. Candida only becomes a problem when we do something to change that homeostasis.
Three Common Causes Of Candida Overgrowth
A COURSE OF ANTIBIOTICS
This is for sure most common cause of Candida overgrowth. Antibiotics are lifesavers, but they also come with serious side effects. Broad-spectrum antibiotics are often prescribed for illnesses that would quickly clear up with a little rest. However, with people not being able to miss a day of work or taking care of the kids, they go for the antibiotics not knowing it will have some major consequences for our digestive and immune systems.
Broad-spectrum antibiotics do exactly what they are designed to do – kill bacteria. The problem is that not all the bacteria in your body are harmful. Many of these bacteria play a significant role in digesting your food and maintaining good vitality and healthy immune system.
When antibiotics kill so many of these beneficial bacteria, candida is ready to take advantage. Because the colonies of Candida Albicans no longer face competition for the space and nutrients in your gut, they can quickly multiply and start to grow roots. As they grow, the amount of toxic byproducts they release grows too. This is how those Candida symptoms like chronic headaches and fatigue begin to develop.
QUICK TIP: when you think you may have to take antibiotics get a good quality saccharomyces boulardii supplement. It will help protect the gut from killing off all the good bacteria. You just need to take the supplement as soon as you know you may start antibiotics and 4 days after you can stop. I recommend for everyone to have a bottle on hand in the fridge.
Hello there, I have IBS and I’m pretty sure candida and sibo as well. What kind of diet should I eat to help me heal? I haven’t started any herbals yet my test results haven’t came back yet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would have to look at your lab tests and medical history before I can say exactly what you need. I would say get labs done and then to dietary changes and removal of the infections and then heal the gut.
LikeLike