Candida is a yeast (scientifically, a single-celled fungi known as Candida albicans) that grows on the surface and mucous membranes of most living organisms, including people, animals, grasses, drinks, and food. Pregnancy can increase yeast overgrowth as the vagina becomes less acidic and as more sugar gets stored in the vaginal walls. Some women experience candidiasis during PMS.
Use of antibiotics can also cause yeast to overgrow. That’s because antibiotics kill both good and bad bacteria. When good bacteria aren’t present in the gut in sufficient amounts, yeast will proliferate. Symptoms of a yeast over-growth include acne, allergies, asthma, bad breath, bloating, chronic fatigue, craving sweets, depression, diaper rash, diarrhea, and emotional swings. Frequent sinus and bladder infections also indicate a yeast overgrowth. Here’s what you can do to keep yeast in check.
NATURAL CURES FOR CANDIDA
Interestingly, probiotics and candida have similar binding sites in the intestines. The more acidophilus is present in the intestines, the fewer sites for candida to flourish. As a first step, take a probiotic capsule four times daily for at least three months.
Soaking in the bathtub with 1/2 cup (60 ml) apple cider vinegar or sea salt (or use both) will help give relief from candida itchiness and clear up the condition. While you want to avoid using douches too much as this can wash away friendly vaginal flora, a good douche can be done by combining 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of apple cider vinegar to a pint (475 ml) of water twice daily. Other possible douches include 1 teaspoon (5 g) of acidophilus in 1 quart (945 ml) of water or 1 teaspoon (6 g) salt and 1 teaspoon (5 ml) 3 percent hydrogen peroxide to 1 quart (950 ml) of water. This should be done just for a few days during an acute condition.
Skip This!
Sugar feeds yeast and needs to be avoided. Minimize high-carbohydrate foods, such as peas, potatoes, winter squashes, and lima beans. Use stevia, a natural sweetener, instead of sugar. Other key foods to leave out of the diet until the yeast is under control include breads (which contain yeast), fruit juices, coffee, alcohol, peanuts, and mushrooms, all of which contain yeasts.
Afterwards, insert some plain cultured yogurt (chock full of acidophilus) vaginally using a diaphragm jelly applicator or soaking a natural fiber tampon before inserting. Wear a cotton sanitary pad to avoid having yogurt dripping down your clothes.
You can also insert a “00” size capsule filled with boric acid (don’t ingest) or two capsules of probiotic. Look for probiotics containing the bifidus and bulgaricus strains. Just make sure you are using capsules that dissolve and not some enteric coated capsules that won’t break down as easily. Insert the capsules high into the vagina for five to seven nights in a row.
Note that if you are pregnant, avoid putting anything into the vagina, including a douche, without consulting your health professional.
It’s also very effective to use a garlic clove vaginal suppository. Simply peel the paper off a single clove of garlic, and without breaking the skin of the garlic, gently insert it vaginally before bed. In the morning, remove it. Some women are frightened that they may never find the clove again. Although this is highly unlikely, you can put the clove into a piece of cheesecloth and tie it securely with some dental floss, leaving a string of floss hanging out far enough to aid retrieval of the garlic-filled cloth the next day. Squatting while bearing down will also expel the clove. Be sure not to cut the clove or it can be irritating to delicate tissues.
After having a bowel movement or urinating, it can be helpful to wipe the perineal area well and squirt onto the area some antifungal herbal teas such as calendula, echinacea, garlic, myrrh, rosemary, thyme, or yarrow. (For directions on how to make tea, see page 13.) Keep a week’s supply in the refrigerator and take out one day’s supply and leave it in the bathroom so it will be at room temperature. What isn’t used in a day’s time should be discarded.
TREATING THRUSH
Thrush is a fungal condition caused by the yeast organisms Candida and Monila. Monila normally exists in the vagina but is a problem when it overgrows. A white cottage cheese like discharge may occur in the vagina along with itchiness, soreness, and burning. It can also affect the perineum area. Follow the same suggestions as treating candida.
MORE NATURAL CURES TO FIGHT YEAST
You can use a therapeutic bath to inhibit yeast. Just add 1 cup (235 ml) of apple cider vinegar or a pound of salt (455 g) or seven drops of tea tree oil to a clean bathtub. Tea tree oil is antiseptic, germicidal, and antifungal. It can even be used topically on yeasty areas of the skin such as athlete’s feet or jock itch. It is one of the few essential oils that can be applied “neat,” meaning straight and undiluted.
Other essential oils that can be used in bathing, massage, or inhalations that inhibit candida are allspice, chamomile, cinnamon, cloves, eucalyptus, geranium, lavender, patchouli, and rosemary. Add seven drops of your choice after filling the bath. The body’s cleansing process can also be aided with colon cleansers and saunas.
When bathing, use coconut-based soaps. Lubricants that contain glycerin are sweet and can feed yeast overgrowth. Diaphragms and tampons can keep yeasts inside the vagina, encouraging an environment for their proliferation.
BEST FOODS TO STAY YEAST-FREE
Start each day with a pint (475 ml) of warm water to which the juice of a fresh lemon has been added to help the body’s natural process of detoxification. The sour flavor stimulates liver and bowel cleansing.
Yeast flourishes on gluten-rich grains such as wheat, rye, and barley, so eat these foods in moderation, if at all. Millet, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa, and wild rice are better grains to use. Lots of fiber is important as a slow-moving bowel becomes more alkaline, an environment that candida thrives on.
The best vegetables are low in carbohydrates, such as asparagus, beet greens, collards, kale, celery, cucumber, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, radish, and spinach. Eating dandelion greens, nettles juiced, and chickweed as wild foods can be helpful in curbing yeast overgrowth.
Green foods are rich in chlorophyll, which promotes healthy intestinal flora and cools this damp heat condition. You can also top a salad with an olive oil dressing to stop the proliferation of yeast. It contains oleic acid, which inhibits candida growth. Coconut oil contains caprylic acid, another antifungal agent.
When cooking, use warming culinary herbs such as black pepper, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, curry powder, garlic, ginger, oregano, and turmeric, all of which help dry damp conditions and inhibit yeasts. Seaweeds contain beneficial yeasts that outnumber the undesirable yeasts. Before modern drugs were available to treat yeast, iodine, found in seaweeds, was the drug of choice in treating yeast!
Contrary to what you may have heard, using some fermented foods helps to defeat candida. Rather than killing the candida, outnumber it! So do use some fermented food products such as yogurt, unpasteurized sauerkraut, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar, and miso.
KEEP IN MIND
Damp, muggy weather can often worsen candidiasis symptoms. While you can’t do anything about that, it is important to eliminate dampness in the home. Mold can grow in damp basements and in carpeting. Sprinkle Borax as an antimold agent in damp areas. Get rid of piles of damp clothing and old newspapers that can harbor mold. Severe mold may necessitate replacing old carpets with wood flooring.
Leaky gas stoves can also pollute our internal environment. Have your stove checked and fixed or replace with electric if needed. Do your best to eliminate airborne chemicals in the home.
Use only white unscented toilet paper as it exposes you and the environment to less irritating chemicals. Avoid pantyhose, synthetic fabrics, tight-fitting clothes, and sleeping in underwear. Change out of wet clothes as soon as possible. When privacy is available, a five-minute air and sunlight bath of affected areas can clear up yeasts quickly. And of course wipe from front to back.
Stick with the program. Candida is resilient and many give up too soon or don’t realize how easy it is to sabotage progress by cheating. There are some health practitioners that blame everything on candida and some that barely recognize its existence. It’s important to find a holistic doctor who will work with you to get well. Get a culture of unusual discharge to determine what is the cause.
GOOD TO KNOW!
When beginning a yeast control program, it is not unusual to feel temporarily worse. Proteins from dead yeast can cause a histamine reaction, resulting in irritating symptoms like anxiety and fatigue. But taking a high dose of powdered vitamin C (1,000 milligrams) once a day will help clear the symptoms. Taking 300 mcg of biotin, a part of the vitamin B complex, daily helps prevent candida from transforming from a yeast vacuole into a fungal mycelia, which contributes to more yeast formation.
Caprylic acid, made from coconut and palm kernel, has been used as a natural antifungal agent since the 1940s. It can be taken orally to inhibit yeast. Pau d’arco tea can also help yeast die off. Take one to two capsules or three cups of tea daily.
Skip This!
Avoid vitamin formulas that use yeast as a base.
This Yeast Infection Remedies article is taken from :
The Country Almanac of Home Remedies - Brigitte Mars
