Candida Management Part One

Management is the Key

After battling candida for 18 months and reclaiming control over my gut and my energy, I have decided I should share my story to assist others. Recently, a few friends and acquaintances have approached me about how they can advise people close to them who are suffering and this has been the impetus for this piece. I want to stress that I am only sharing what has worked for me and my opinions and theories based on my experiences. I don’t believe I have found a cure for candida and I don’t believe there is one. I believe that it is about managing the candida that has always existed in our bodies and that has a necessary place in our bodies but not in numbers that make us feel bad. Thus, this blog is all about how I have learned to manage it and how you can too. When candida overgrows it completely absorbs all your energy. Not only do you suffer from chronic fatigue and a whole range of other symptoms, mental, emotional and physical but the only thing you can think about is how to get better. Life as you knew it has gone you will try things that you never would have tried before in order to get your life back. I’m going to inform you right now that you will never get your old life back but you are going to gain a newer better life.

A Gift or a Curse?

You many not believe it now but if you choose to open your mind wider, you will eventually come to see the candida curse as a gift. Of course at this stage you are probably finding that difficult to believe but I assure you, you are sick because your body is telling you that you need to take better care of yourself and as I type these very words tears are welling in my eyes as I recall my own self neglect. We all have different stories but maybe we share more similarities than we realise. Perhaps we are all people who have repressed our emotions; who haven’t allowed ourselves to express anger, grief or negative emotions for fear of not being the perfect person. Perhaps we have all taken on guilt that we don’t need to have for things that we shouldn’t even feel guilty about or even if we did do the wrong thing we need to forgive ourselves and let it go. Perhaps we tolerate the negativity and unkindness of others because we see the best in them and believe they can change. My advice is get away from these people; you cannot help them an as long as you are around tolerating their unpleasant behaviour they are never going to help themselves. Don’t ever tolerate unkindness from others if you have a choice. The world is full of kind people; get together with them and generate more love make the world a better place. Perhaps you, like I did, avoid facing reality by overworking and seeking pleasure from drinking and eating. This is only contributing further to your illness. You need to change your life and you need to change today! Is it easy? NO, but I promise you, (as more rushes of emotion overwhelm me), it is worth it. I am the healthiest and the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.

Self-Diagnosis, Self-Healing

When I first got sick, I didn’t know what was going on; I felt like I’d been hit by a bus and I was all alone in a country where few people spoke English. I could barely get out of bed and I was overcome by dizziness when I did. I felt emotional, lacked clarity in my thinking and at times my thoughts were so irrational that I wondered if I might be going mad. I did not know where to go for help so I started googling all my symptoms and diagnosed myself with candida overgrowth. Now of course, like you, I went in search of a quick fix. I wanted to know how to rid myself of this beast so I could return to my normal life. Let me be clear, there is no quick fix and you will never return to your old lifestyle. Instead you are going to change your lifestyle and begin a new and better life. I’ve read and tried just about everything . I was on my world trip and had plenty of time to read, especially when I was confined to my bed. In the past 18months I’ve had 12 months holiday and I have read and cross referenced a wealth of information from blogs, forums, medical sites and product pitches. I have noticed that the amount of online information is growing so I can only assume that so is the candida epidemic. Some of the people asking me for advice are down to less than ten food items they can eat without a reaction and have been told by their doctors that there is nothing that can be done for them and they will have to remain on a restrictive diet for the rest of their lives. WHAT?!  I am not so surprised by this attitude because the doctor I visited turned her nose up in disbelief that it is even possible for Candida to grow in the stomach. She was not long out of university and I guess she has only heard of Candida in the form of vaginal thrush. Modern medicine is not going to help you; you are going to have to help yourself. Forget pharmaceuticals; forget the miracle cures and magic pills that are plugged on the internet; I’ve tried some of these and they didn’t work.  You have got to go back to nature, natural foods and the true nature of yourself.

Where to Begin?

I’m going to start with the steps I took when I was at my worst phase. This was when, after having been on a strict diet for six weeks, I actually felt the worst I’d ever felt. I’d been on a diet free from all kinds of sugar (including fruit), grains, all dairy (except natural yoghurt) and only vegetables free from starch and low in sugar. I was drinking only purified water and herbal teas and taking probiotics and antifungals such as oil of oregano and olive extract. I had been this restrictive and I was now unable to eat anything without getting a reaction. As soon as I ate I felt bloated, fatigued and had a strange sensation throughout my body. I have my own theory on this and it’s only a theory based on all the information I’ve read combined with my own personal experience. I believe I had developed leaky gut syndrome and I attribute this to my complete elimination of sugar. I believe that when you eliminate sugar completely the candida goes searching for it. It burrows holes in your stomach lining in order to access your bloodstream where it can find glucose and insulin. So now you have holes in your stomach lining which means that every time you eat, particles of food are able to escape your stomach and enter into your bloodstream and compromise your entire immune system and forcing all your organs to work overtime. After I healed my leaky gut, I allowed myself to eat fruits low in sugar and I began to feel better and the leaky gut did not return. Healing leaky gut is easy and incredibly cheap.  I did it, by first completely cleansing my colon with a salt water flush and then embarking on a three day bone broth fast supported by probiotic supplements and anti-fungals.

The Salt Water Flush

A salt water flush is a safe and effective way of cleansing the entire gastro-intestinal tract. The salt water flush involves drinking a litre of filtered water with two heaped teaspoons of pure sea salt dissolved in it. I use a one litre bottle and after adding the salt, shake it vigorously. Other people warm the water or add lemon to make it more palatable.  The salt solution has the same specific density as your blood and because salt and water don’t separate the kidneys will not collect the water and the blood will not collect the salt. Therefore the solution sweeps through your system collecting toxins along the way until it comes out the other end. The solution needs to be drunk after a period of fasting so first thing in the morning is best. Afterwards lie down on your right side for one to two hours. Try not to go to the toilet at the first urge otherwise you will be up and down. I try to hold on for at least an hour and then I find I get most of it out in the first sitting. I’ve read suggestions to do it on a day when you don’t have to go to work but I have found there to be no problems after two hours. So if you wish to do it on a work day just set your alarm early, drink the solution then go back to bed for one or two hours. After the salt water cleanse is complete, I have my first cup of broth with a strong multi-strain probiotic supplement. Probiotics should be taken regularly when you are battling candida but are essential after the flush because some of the healthy bacteria will be swept out with the rest of the sh*t.

The Power of Bone Broth

There is a wealth of information about the benefits of bone broth with accompanying recipes.  In short, bone broth is rich in valuable minerals which your body can easily absorb. These include glucosamine which is what heals your stomach lining. The gelatin in bone broth supports your digestive system which will really appreciate the extra support while battling leaky gut and candida overgrowth.  The bone broth is very easy to make and needs to be simmering for about 24 hours before you begin consuming it. All you need are some bones, these can be chicken, beef or other but I generally used beef marrow bones. I ask for them at the butcher and they will cut them into large pieces that will fit in your pot. In Australia it cost me about $2 for two shin bones cut into pieces; in Italy they gave them to me for free.  Put the bones in a slow cooker or a large casserole pot and cover with water. Add a good dash of apple cider vinegar which will help to leach the minerals from the bones. I then add some chunks of carrot, celery, onion, garlic and ginger. You can add any vegetables you like and I actually began keeping all my vegetable scraps (e.g.. carrot and zucchini ends) and saving them in the freezer for future broths. You don’t actually consume these so it doesn’t matter; they just add to the flavour. Bring the whole pot to the boil then reduce to simmering and just leave it like that for several days and keep adding water as necessary. Thus I would put my broth on the day before my planned fast and then kept it active for the following three days until I’d completed the fast. To serve the broth you just need a ladle and a strainer. Hold the strainer over your cup and ladle the broth in, then return what’s left in the strainer to the pot. The first cups are quite oily and difficult to get down. I persisted because I imagine there is some real goodies in the fat but if you can’t do it; just chill it then spoon the fat off the top.  This broth is like magic; it healed my gut and if you want to know more google it.

Re-introducing Foods

After the fast you want to reintroduce foods slowly. I started with plain Greek yoghurt mixed with coconut oil and spirulina. Read the labels and make sure the yogurt has probiotics in it. The coconut oil is a powerful antifungal and as far as I know the candida cannot build up a resistance to it. I started my day with this every morning and have only just recently switched to porridge because I’m living in a colder climate. I just put the coconut oil in my porridge but I no longer feel I need the spirulina. Soups and any other whole foods can then be reintroduced but go slow and don’t overwhelm your system too soon. Its your body and you need to listen to it. The second day after the fast, I added berries, flaxseed meal and walnuts to my yoghurt. I had eggs for lunch and vegetable soup (made with left over broth) for dinner. As you reintroduce more and more foods you will experience more and more sensations but perhaps these aren’t all negative it’s just that you are noticing your bodies digestion of certain foods more than you did before. What you have to be aware of is that you are now more sensitive and I don’t think that we have become more sensitive to foods but that WE have become more sensitive. WE have become more aware of our bodies and how they react to foods. Thus when we eat processed foods we are not necessarily feeling any worse than we did before, we have just become more aware of the affect this crap has on our bodies. So basically, stick to healthy whole foods as much as possible and you will be a healthier, happier person than you were before the candida overpopulated.

Next Episode

I was going to attempt to write this as just one piece but I now realise I have too much information to share. Thus this part is about the first step you need to take and in the next part I will list the various herbs and natural foods that I have used along my journey and others that I continue to use as part of my ongoing management of candida. I also want to discuss the benefits of yoga and the need to release repressed emotions and stress. If you have any questions, Please post and I will do my best to respond as soon as I can. Lastly please don’t let the candida get you down and don’t give up. You CAN get this under control and find true happiness and an abundance of energy,  just as I have.