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Do you suffer from a chronic illness that does not respond to the usual treatments? It may be because you have a condition called candidiasis. Candida albicans is a type of fungus that grows in the gastrointestinal tract and spreads throughout the entire body. In healthy individuals, the fungus coexists with beneficial microbes and bacteria, and causes no problems. However, candidiasis–or candida for short–is the term applied when these organisms become overgrown, producing mycotoxins (poisons) that are harmful to various organs in the body. When allowed to persist over an extended period of time, they can cause chronic illness or make existing illnesses worse.

How Do I Know if I Have Candida?

Predisposing factors for candida overgrowth are

• a history of recurrent or prolonged use of antibiotics, cortisone drugs, birth control pills or chemotherapy
• a diet high in refined sugar, breads, carbohydrates and/or alcohol
• regular exposure to household mould or toxins such as herbicides, chemicals or mercury.

What is the Treatment?

Eliminate the following foods from your diet: refined sugar, breads and other yeast-containing foods, alcoholic beverages, aged cheeses and caffeine. You can eat vegetables, grains, beans, sprouts, brown and wild rice, raw nuts and seeds. In severe cases of candida, fruits are eliminated for at least three months. Drink eight to 12 glasses of non-chlorinated drinking water per day. Acupuncture treatments have also proven essential in helping reverse chronic symptoms.

Why are many foods restricted on an anti-candida diet? Yeast survives by eating sugar. Even natural sugars such as those found in fruits can feed yeast, making the infestation stronger. Yeast in breads and other foods can increase intestinal yeast, while alcohol and low-fibre carbohydrates, such as white flour, white rice and pasta, allow for an excellent yeast breeding ground. Coffee, aged cheeses and sweets make the intestinal pH more acidic, which also encourages yeast growth.

I recommend four different antifungal regimens that should be taken in sequence, each for a three-month duration. All components of these anti-yeast cleanses are available in health food stores. The dosage and length of time it takes to stabilize the situation depends on the severity of the illness and the compliance to the prescribed diet.

Phase one: caproil, bentonite, psyllium powder (husks and seeds) and acidophilus. In mild to moderate cases, one to two months on this program may be sufficient and the next phases will be unnecessary.

Phase two: grapefruit seed extract combined with bentonite, psyllium powder and acidophilus.

Phase three: a combination of two capsules, one of the New Zealand herb horopito (Pseudowintera colorata) and the other of anise seed. Also take a friendly bacteria probiotic that contains soil-based organisms.

Phase four: olive leaf extract and a probiotic supplement that includes soil-based organisms.

It is important to take the four phases in sequence. Doing phase one first causes the least "die off" reaction, which occurs when the yeast has died and toxins are released, often causing headaches and brain fog. Your choice of antifungal must be alternated every three months due to the pleomorphic nature of fungi (when an organism changes form to survive). Just like bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics, yeast can become resistant to antifungals.

Over the years, I have received amazing comments about the ability of the first phase to kill not only fungus but also flu-related bacteria and parasites. The program also results in weight loss as a result of an improved diet and the cleansing of yeast and fecal matter from the intestines. I also recommend this mix for those who may not have candidiasis but are interested in a periodic cleanse or want to help prevent colon cancer.

Colet Lahoz is the founder and director of the East West Clinics in Minnesota and is a registered nurse and practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine. She is the author of the book Conquering Yeast Infections the Non-Drug Solution. Colet welcomes your questions and comments at info@inno-vite.com.

Source: alive #245, March 2003