Greetings all! I'm fairly new to this forum, but have had quite a bit of experience with Candida albicans, both personally and professionally (I'm a retired alternative health consultant). Having dealt with a MASSIVE overgrowth myself, I can speak first hand about what it takes to get this organism back into balance with the rest of the body, and what it feels like to go through such a "health project."
One of the most informative books on the subject is now out of print, but if you can find a copy somewhere, most of the information is still some of the best. It's called: Candidiasis...Rampant and Dangerous" by Dr. John H. Jeffries. He was an Oregon physician who would take and treat the clients that other doctors didn't want to deal with. Since the paperback was published in 1988--obviously--a bit more knowledge has been unearthed, so there are a couple of points that I would say are outmoded. However, the profile of Candida in the book is pretty darned accurate, and most of the recommendations to bring it back into balance with the body are still right-on as well.
Candida albicans is something we're born with. It's in our gut, and does actually serve a useful purpose, at least, when it is not out of control like a four alarm fire! It has been said to be good at dealing with viruses we ingest which are on our food. However just because someone has identified one useful thing that it does for us, does not mean there are several more which mankind has not yet discovered.
The human intestines is supposed have a balance of Candida albicans and probiotic organisms. So how do we get too many Candida albicans organisms and too few of the others, so that the "see-saw" becomes tipped?
To take one answer right out of Dr. Jeffries' book, "Our plethora of fast foods, highly processed, foods, homogenized foods have made an appreciable difference in our awareness of allergic problems which have reached epidemic proportions. one of our large chemical manufacturing companies once used the slogan: "BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY." That slogan is taken as the major joke of the century, and the joke is on us."
The Candida organism is like a crowd of happy picnic-ers. When their picnic area becomes too small for their numbers, they migrate to other nice, clean, pristine picnic locations. At first they don't go very away...the other organs in the midsection (and the female reproductive system) are rich in the sort of lifestyle they enjoy and it is very close to the intestines. So off the younger organisms go through the blood stream to their fresh picnic ground. If they are given sufficient food and the body's immune system has been depressed, then they will eventually start colonizing other parts of the body as well, and will eventually make their way up to the brain.
Little parasitic-buggers are adept at mimicking the human tissue. Physicians don't know when they are looking at tissue that was made by parasites, rather than the human's own body! I cannot prove it, but feel that Candida overgrowth is a part of making autoimmune troubles. At that point, the body may be attacking all tissue relating to an organ, because parasites have taken up residence there and have produced tissue which confuses the immune system into attacking all of that sort.
These little picnic-ers spew quite a bit of mess around. In 1988, scientists had identified over 70 toxic substances which are released into the body by these things, and a while back I read the number had gone up to 110. Some even claim 200--or more. Two of the toxins are alcohol and acetaldehyde ( a cousin of formaldehyde). And a boatload of free radicals which will "rust" your body--but good The thing is...whether they are proliferating or dying off/going dormant, you will feel lousy until things get better.
Although the age-old remedy was a prescription of nystatin, sooner or later some of the Candida will develop an immunity to it, as well as to garlic and other substances which kill off some of its numbers. I do not believe that a mature Candida organism develops an immunity to something, so much as that whatever is killing it causes it to spawn new Candida with the immunity built in to what killed the parent organism.
There are a few things which Candida CANNOT build an immunity to--a higher alkaline content being taken into the body regularly (which can serve to re-balance the pH of your body as the Candida overgrowth continues to spew forth acids), and seriously limiting the carbohydrates eaten. Also eating in such a way as to give the body the nutrients it needs and boosting the immune system.
The immune system is on overwhelm by the time an individual becomes aware that they have a Candida overgrowth situation going on. This is tends to be a slow-growing, in-the-background, type of thing. It takes a major overhaul of what the sufferer is eating to genuinely return to good health.
I probably need to stop and explain something here--Candida seems to "hatch" one way, then it develops into a slightly different shape with different capabilites. This is where I'm relying on my "spidey-senses" going on what I've observed (cause-and-effect), so I cannot give you scientific documentation for what I'm going to say next. (Working with and manipulating
energy down to the quantum level gives one impressions.) Think of Candida as hatching out like a live-bearing fish hatches baby fishes. They fall out of the mother fish in a round ball, then "pop!" and they have expanded to a small fish! It's quite remarkable to watch. Well, imagine Candida being produced like little balls and able to ride the current of the circulatory system, being swept into fresh territory.
An overly-acid (hence, out of balance pH) and an excess of glucose available for their dining pleasure causes them to grow rapdily and at some point they develop a corkscrew like tail which they screw into your soft tissue and that is their home for the rest of their life span. Their head sticks out of your tissue and anchored there it feeds. When it dies off, it leaves a hole behind. If the body is feeling compromised, it might not be able to heal that hole very well, especially if it has way too many holes appearing in rapid succession! This leads to "leaky gut syndrome" where food particles which are too large go through those holes and into the blood stream. This causes the immune system to try to deal with them, as they are perceived as invaders, which they pretty much are, as they are way too large to be in there in the first place. Once a person's gut is "leaky" with holes, they will develop food sensitivities and after a while, smell sensitivities as well. By then, their immune system is DEFINITELY on overload. Bear in mind that it is also trying to do mop-up on all those Candida organisms spewing massive toxins all over the place, as a certain number die off every day, since the total number of them has become way out of whack.
Again, I do not have any "scientific proof" for this next statement, but I believe that the Candida organisms are capable of chemically stimulating intense cravings in our minds and bodies when we deprive them of the foods they thrive on. One can become absolutely overwhelmed by the cravings, to the point of not even thinking clearly about food choices--it's like pounding drums in your head, and every second you are utterly craving a food that will restore the Candida colonies to "mid season form!" The good news is that in time, this will subside. The kicker here is not to go completely off everything except plain meat and green veggies--your body does need some complex carbs. But only a few! And preferably in vegetable form.
Most lending libraries have a few books on a "Candida diet." That information hasn't changed much in the last 20-30 years or so. The consensus is that one needs to avoid all prepared foods, and eat only fresh foods. However, many folks find that their lifestyle demands that they must at least depend upon frozen foods. I say "fair enough." Good quality frozen foods, and elimination of the "Do NOT eat" foods will take you further than attempting all fresh foods and falling off the wagon repeatedly when the demands of your life overwhelm your time to cook as you'd like to, or when your budget and lack of stuff out in the garden fails you.
Here's the thing about dealing with this organism---I have found that my clients would swear (and they believed what they were telling me) that they were ALREADY eating healthily. Then we'd get into specifics about what they eat...and the proof was right there. Unfortunately, we tend to become very fond of things which support Candida overgrowth. Those things are sort of 'sacred cows' with us and we tend to think we cannot give them up. A little flexibility though, and one can often find substitutes. While the substitutes may not be as comforting or quite as enjoyable as the original food item, the healing and then good health, with elimination of symptoms and getting your life back are what makes eating differently worth it.
Now, ABOUT DIE OFF:
The larger the total colony of Candida that your body is unhappily supporting, the harder the die-off will hit you. Personally, I have not met anyone yet who could go the whole route by "tapering off" from start to finish with the foods that nurture Candida because the little buggers are controlling your body with "chemical warfare." However, if you have a very large overgrowth, and your body is accustomed to condiments (vinegar, yellow liquid mustard, catsup, soy sauce, pickles that have been canned), cheeses, store bought milk,
honey, sugars, soda pop (regular or sugar free), sugar free commercial products or gluten-free made with grais, grains themselves (wheat, barley, spelt, einkorn, rice etc.), mushrooms of the store bought-standard variety, corn, peanut butter and all peanut products...just for starters, well, you might consider tapering off the soda pop and condiments first. Oh! By the way, All alcoholic products feed Candida also.
What your body cannot break down becomes food for "the bugs" inside you as well. Meaning the critters you do NOT want to feed. If you'll grab a copy of "Eat Right 4 Your Blood Type," (many public libraries have a copy), and if you know your blood type, check out what you've been eating that actually disagrees with you (on the inside). The "lectins" in the food (when your body cannot break something down adequately) can feed the bugs and can cause inflammation and auto-immune problems.
Once the body has become somewhat compromised, it is very helpful if you will give it a
boost by taking a multi-purpose sort of food enzyme when you eat. Often the body is not manufacturing much of those enzymes because it's been under attack for quite some time (even before you were aware of the problem). And many of us over age 50 don't manufacture sufficient food enzymes anyway. This leads into a discussion of food combining for health, but that's off topic, so will not be discussed in this post.
At some point, you will want to go "cold turkey," if you can, and consume good quality meats (not corn fed), and go in for the low carb veggies (greens primarily). The goal is to starve the Candida overgrowth population. As they die off, the larger ones eat the smaller dead ones...not a charming picture. You'd think that would substantially lessen the die-off symptoms, but initially they can get rather severe and hard to ignore. It is common to get the flu, feel somewhat dizzy, sick to your stomach, too hot, then chills, a bad headache, etc. However, the more fragile the body has become, and the larger the overgrowth, the bigger the die-off problems become.
During that time, the liver and spleen really take it in the shorts as they attempt to filter all those toxins and waste products. That is when I've found dandelion and milk thistle tinctures to be very helpful. Especially the dandelion! It supports the liver. The body gets even MORE acidic with die-off. So making a "shake" in the blender with
water, lettuce and perhaps a bit of bell pepper, and if the taste is not what you think you can do, add just a bit of pared green apple. Obviously, one would like all organic foods here, but sometimes that is just not possible, and for alkalizing purposes, even conventionally grown will help the body to right its pH, help detoxify you, and you'll feel better.
Vitamin C is a detoxifier (as is vitamin A, however A is oil soluable, and can build to toxic levels while C is water based and will be flushed if you take too much). Often, straight vitamin C will produce an ulcer in just a few days. So buffered is preferable. (I prefer to get my extra C from clover sprouts and grapefruit but that's just me.) By the way, there was a time when my body was so incredibly compromised that I was fighting to remain alive. At that time, the only thing which gave me relief--temporary at best, but still, blessed relief--was intraveneous vitamin C. C, when taken with A and E could be thought of as spelling "ACE" and they form an antioxidant. It is easily corrrupted by the free radicals though. Coconut water (no sugar or other ingredients added) or goji berries (can be dried) test out energetically for me as a better antioxidant source.
So once you embark on starving these little buggers out of your body, which is by far the best way to go, some of them will persist in going dormant. Of course, if you continue to eat, and you must to live, some will remain alive in your body, but it can get down to a very small bunch! Taking something "to make them go away" often backfires in unexpected problems, as the body is under attack and severely compromised already!
By the way, the GOOD NEWS about die off is that although the first "speed bump" of die off symptoms can be large, you will feel better after it passes. The body will gather itself together to fight the overgrowth, then it will take a breather, at which time you'll experience another "speed bump" of die off. But this one will be less severe than the first. And when you get past it (these come in spaced out waves) you will feel even a bit better! Then another but again, even less severe die off, and feeling even BETTER yet. This continues until the Candida is no longer any problem to your body, and you have a level of health that is something you have not experienced for a long time. It's wonderful to feel good nearly all of the time. I say nearly, because most of us are not living in isolated circumstances, and people DO spread bugs amongst themselves!
Why can't folks just take a substance or two and get rid of the Candida overgrowth entirely? Because by the time one has symptoms from it, it has colonized elsewhere. Some of the organisms have colonized other organs. They may have outposts floating around in the blood. Often an overgrowth of Candida produces liver stress (which you can actually view tell-tail evidence of when viewed with a dark field microscope). Candida doesn't proliferate on its own...there are quite a few other organisms which are just as opportunistic. People don't just develop a Candida overgrowth...by then they have a lot of other types of civilizations attacking their bodies also, whether they are aware of them or not.
By the way, some of us have been exposed to massive doses of antibiotics. These promote Candida overgrowth by limiting the body's own defense system, which permits opportunistic organisms to gain an upper hand over time. Sometimes an individual (such as myself) finds themselves stuck in a squeeze-play of life which they cannot find a way to get out of for quite a period of time. In my case, it was a type of job that I detested with every fibre of my being, yet I had a child and a
mortgage, and at that time there was not the type of support for working folks to go back to school that there is nowadays. In order to stay at the mind-numbing job, by afternoon I'd purchase and line up candy bars across my desk. One by one, they'd be consumed. All that corn syrup - oy vey!! You can actually get rather high off that stuff. It didn't take the agony out of the job, but it dulled it a bit and the candy was serving as "comfort food." Couple that with all the antibiotics
I'd received as a child, and an early childhood situation which gave the Candida free rein, and small wonder my health finally broke so badly! Gut destroyed, Candida overgrowth from "the basement" to "the attic" of my body, severe food allergies to nearly everything except hamburger and steamed broccoli, a body which could notr ebuild itself, a body so filled with toxins and waste that it was dying from the inside out. And that was the start of my education on healing myself and then others.
For menu ideas and recipes, check out "The Yeast Connection Cookbook," online Paleo recipes which do not use the foods which are a "no-no" for a yeast overgrowth, "Wheatbelly Cookbook" (not all the recipes are all right for yeast overgrowth...you will have to use your head and examine any recipe critically in that regard).
I believe that it is human nature to try to find a "fix" which will allow us to continue to put the sorts of things into our mouths that we are accustomed to eating or drinking. It is human nature to search for a product or a variety of products which will knock out the trouble, rather than making huge changes to our lifestyle. Sadly, it is not possible to re-balance the "dis-ease" or lack of balance and ease without major changes.
If anyone wants recipes, has questions, is having trouble with die-off, etc., feel free to Purple Mooseage me if you would like to keep your questions personal, or if you want to toss them out in the forum, that's good too, and I'd be happy to share additional information. What is written here is the tip of the iceberg :>) We are complicated, complex beings and everyone is a little bit unique in their situation.
---Cheri Ryan aka "Your Friendly Neighborhood Witch Doctor" (what friends and family jokingly refer to me as)
2
