Do you “feel sick all over”- yet all your test results come back as normal.

You may be suffering from “yeast overgrowth”.

Candida albicans is a yeast normally found living harmoniously in everybody’s intestinal tract (and vaginal tract in women) in small numbers. Under certain conditions, this fungus may overgrow and establish itself as a parasitic fungal form. At this point, it becomes aggressive and invasive. It penetrates tissues, disrupts membrane integrity and releases toxic waste products. The combination of these events leads to wide range of seemingly unrelated health problems in virtually every system of the body (immune, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, endocrine, and nervous system).

Symptoms that the patient may experience are:

  • Fatigue
  • Allergies
  • Depression]
  • Digestive symptoms
  • PMS
  • Menstrual complaints
  • Migraines
  • Vaginal infections
  • Skin problems

Many people with severe chronic conditions also have fungal overgrowth. Whether this parasite causes these problems or just makes them worse is unknown, but 80% of cases improve when the
Candida problem has been eliminated.

These chronic conditions can include:

  • multiple sclerosis
  • systemic lupus erythematous
  • fibromyalgia
  • ADD/ADHD
  • chronic fatigue sydrome
  • Crohn’s disease, colitis
  • IBS
  • infertility
  • eczema/psoriasis, etc.

Avoidance of factors that encourage the overgrowth of Candida albicans is imperative: use of antibiotics, oral contraceptive hormones, immuno-suppressive drugs such as steroids and chemotherapeutic agents, other immuno-suppressive considerations such as prolonged illness, stress, alcohol abuse, smoking, lack of exercise and inadequate rest, the typical North American diet (a lot of processed foods, high sugar intake, low fiber, high refined carbohydrates, large amounts of red meat, dairy and wheat). All of these food items is what Candida albicans likes to feed on. This type of diet promotes poor digestion and sluggishness in the intestinal tract and over a period of years, coats the walls of the large intestine with a thick layer of mucus and impacted, decayed food.

Approaches to treating this yeast syndrome that do not address the cause cannot offer a permanent cure. A comprehensive approach is needed instead of simply trying to kill the yeast with an anti-fungal drug. It is a bit like trying to weed your garden by simply cutting the weed, instead of pulling it out by the roots.

If you think that your health problem may be related to an overgrowth of yeast and would like to find out more on how Naturopathic Medicine can help you, call us for a free consultation 905-239-3900

Written by: Dr. Sandra Miranda, BSc, ND