T he Definitive Guide to
CANDIDA
Do I Have CANDIDA? Everybody has candida, we are all supposed to have some candida, however the problem arises is if you have an imbalance in your gut flora that has allowed the candida population overgrow. Deducing whether or not you actually have candida overgrowth is not a straight forward exercise.
There is a science behind evaluating questionnaires and unfortunately the Candida questionnaires do not pass any of the tests for accuracy or objectivity.
If the practitioner is a Candida specialist they will most likely use William Crooks questionnaire and if you are female you will almost certainly find yourself diagnosed as having systemic candidiasis. Many of the symptoms are vague and prolific of many conditions, (who isn’t tired when they aren’t well? Aches and pains? Poor diet nearly always leaves people achy, so does low stomach acid and food sensitivities). Nearly everyone has had at least one course of antibiotics in their lifetime and many women have been on the pill.
Why Do We Have CANDIDA?
Candida is the natural undertaker of the body, when we die the job of candida is to decompose the body.
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Candida spores have been found in Egyptian tombs that have been opened after 5,00 years, this gives you some indication of the resilience of candida.
Some CANDIDA Signs The following issues are more targeted than a lot of the general disinformation and these might help you narrow down whether a full Candida diet is needed or not. • Do you have any chronic fungal infection? Athletes foot, fungal rashes in the folds of your skin which are mostly caused by Candida Albicans, fungal nail problems – these are particularly hard to get rid of, ringworm or other yeast infection? • Do you suffer chronic recurrent thrush? • Have you taken steroids over an extended time? • Do you suffer oral thrush? • Are you on the pill and not feeling well on it? • Have you taken repeated courses of antibiotics?
This is a slightly more specific set or risk factors for Candida overgrowth in the gut. And chronic stubborn skin infections often respond well to a systemic approach to yeast elimination.
Before embarking on a strict diet, which can be difficult to keep to and disruptive, you can see a practitioner who can use some simple clinical evaluations to see if you have developed antibodies to Candida or if there is too much yeast in your stool.
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Laboratory Testing Candida overgrowth in individuals who do not have major immune suppression is unacknowledged, so whilst these tests are useful they are not part of orthodox medicine and do not have the big epidemiological numbers behind them. However, they come from a reputable lab and use standard laboratory process, and are far superior to questionnaires or guessing. The first laboratory is a stool sample. It may be useful to get a full stool sample test with parasitology. Candida is a popular home diagnosis, but sometimes candida is not the problem and it’s important for you to know for peace of mind and to ensure that you are getting the correct procedures and processes. The second laboratory test is a blood test to see if different parts of your immune system react to candida by products. This lets you know if you are sensitive to candida.
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Both these tests are available from Genova Diagnostics, which is the laboratory we recommend, but you will need a practitioner to both order and interpret the test for you. If you wish to explore ordering one of these tests then you can email us at rhay@rhayajordan.com or you can message us at www.facebook.com/naturalhealthuk
What Does the CANDIDA DIET Do? This is where so much misinformation about Candida spreads. Most of the diets are quite strict and in following them you may change your eating patterns dramatically and resolve your symptoms in ways that have nothing to do with Candida, and everything to do with increasing the amount and variety of plant foods in your diet.
WHITE FOODS
It’s the first thing to go on a Candida diet – no sugars, no refined carbohydrate, fizzy drinks, and because most people are avoiding yeast in any form then alcohol and bread is also to be abstained from.
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These changes will do most people a huge amount of good in its self, this will improve your blood sugar balances, and if you have a sensitivity to gluten, then this diet will reduce gluten substantially. The amount of fibre in the diet shoots up because you no longer fill up on refined empty calories, this benefits your colon, it reduces your chances of cancer, but importantly it helps your liver excrete more bile. Bile works as an internal laxative and a mild antiseptic, helping restore
the pH of the small intestine, eliminate toxins, old hormones and other waste, and generally clearing your system. Plant nutrients increase, antioxidants, minerals, plant pigments all increase as your intake of vegetables increases.
You may well have eliminated the cause of all your symptoms be it a food sensitivity of a chronic problem with preservatives and other industrial food additives. These can cause huge problems for people in a way that is yet to be acknowledged by orthodox medicine. On a Candida diet you will be preparing virtually all your food yourself, and that in essence is one of the best ways to dramatically improve your sense of well being Candida infection or not.
So How Do I Know What Is Working? In short you don’t. It could be your initial problem was food sensitivities or just bad diet leaving you inflamed, bloated and sluggish. What is important is to keep you diet as clean as you can and then once you are feeling well, gently reintroduce fresh fruit. It’s the most important food source that is limited on a Candida diet and the most important to get back if you can. Should you feel bloated and tired and unwell on fruit, just take it back out of your diet again. Start with berries of all kinds, then apples, pears, bananas and leave melons and grapes till last.
Depression and Lethargy This is so important it deserves a section to itself. So many people have medication for depression as though it were a prime cause of other problems. It actually is a symptom and deserves a little investigation. If your diet is full of sugar chances are you well be getting sugar induced flat times, feeling dull and down and over time leading to quite bad feelings of depression and or irritability, tearfulness or inability to cope. Clean up your diet and get some more exercise before medicating yourself with psychotropic drugs. Page 6 of 11
Many people claim that Candida can cause depression, but even Candida overgrowth is a symptom usually of too much sugar or it is a by product of some medications, and eating better will help you clear out both issues.
Some people even find with dietary change and the help of their GP they can reduce or eliminate their medication. Once this is done, you may find that you had completely underestimated the role diet played in your depression.
Antibiotics Most people are now aware that broad spectrum antibiotics kill both the invasive and the useful bacteria in our gut. This leaves a big opening for the most invasive organisms in our gut to step up and fill the places left by the dead bacteria. Antibiotics do not kill yeast so they give Candida an unfair advantage in your gut.
During the 1980’s and 1990’s the medical profession was more inclined to prescribe long term antibiotics, especially for acne, and if you took these drugs in your youth it’s likely that you are susceptible to candida overgrowth, or have lived with it for many years.
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This way of using antibiotics has thankfully fallen out of favour now, and for women with skin complainants the contraceptive pill especially Dianette is preferred. For some women though, even the pill can result in bloating and constant thrush, hallmarks of candida overgrowth. The non hormonal coil is a positive alternative to taking the pill.
What Do I Do Now? TEST TO BE SURE As we mentioned earlier, do not rely on the primary and secondary indicators of candida but go and get tested first. You can either have a stool test which is known as a CDSA test or you can have a blood test to test your immune systems sensitivity to candida. The lab we recommend is Genova Diagnostics.
If you want support or guidance as to how to make this work you can contact us directly by email rhaya@rhayajordan.com or message us at www.facebook.com/naturalhealthuk
BE REALISTIC
We live in a world of instant gratification and desiring instant results. Candida is very stubborn, if you have Candida overgrowth you’ve probably been incubating it for many years and it’s sensible to prepare mentally that it might take a few weeks or even months to change it for good.
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FOOD AND DIET Most diets don’t work, not because the dietary advice is not good in its self but the reality of most diets is that they demand too much of the lifestyle of the individual trying to stick to them. A change in food has to be sustainable and be sympathetic to your lifestyle and personal day to day challenges. We go into more detail in our other PDF, ‘The definitive Candida Diet’.
Clearly there are some foods that are never to be recommended, white foods, refined sugars and yeast but the true challenge is how do we create a diet that not only reverses the candida overgrowth but also is something we can live with and learn to enjoy too.
CLEANSING RETREAT I work extensively at Anamchara Detox Retreats, in my opinion it is the leading UK detox retreat and can help you kick start the change you need to get rid of your candida overgrowth. Giving your body a total cleanse for a week or 2 is the ideal tonic on many levels.
Replenishment: In simple terms you juice fast for the period so your body intakes masses of nutrients, vitamins and minerals, your diet can also be supplemented with healthy, organic salads and if desired there is the option to have me create a completely bespoke and targeted nutritional program for you too.
Elimination: Twice daily colonics can help to flush out the candida albicans, you can also look at doing coffee enemas too which are highly detoxifying. Page 9 of 11
One of the challenges of trying to change your relationship with food is eliminating the cravings, our UK Detox Retreat can be he perfect environment for you to do this.
HOME DETOX For those of you with will power there is the ability to do this in your own home environment. We can provide you with enema kits, colonic boards, juicing recipes and a home detox pack with supplements and guides to give you the home detox experience. For further information about this please email or message us on Facebook.
So If I Don’t Have CANDIDA Then What Do I Have?
Well the good news is then at least you know. Many of our heath symptoms and ultimately our health outcomes are manifestations of lifestyle and diet so all of this advice is generically good but to help you get to the bottom of what is actually your problem you can come and see us at our clinic.
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Conclusion Most of our health outcomes are probably down to dietary or lifestyle choices, the good news is that we can do something about them. By following the general advice we have created here you can almost certainly improve your health outcomes regardless of what they are.
If you wish for more targeted advice on how we might be able to help you then you can contact us below, good luck and thank you for reading our PDF.
RHAYA JORDAN
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KAREN BOYLE