Candidiasis (Candida)

My uncle died of brain cancer. His death was an ugly death, filled with pain killers and not knowing his loved ones. After his funeral, we all went into the basement of the community church to eat and to grieve. We ate white dinner rolls, big glasses of milk, ham, cherry Jell-O, and fudge-covered brownies. I talked with my aunt, who is struggling with many systemic yeast symptoms, while she put a spoonful of the bright red Jell-O to her mouth. I told her how she was one of the few grown-ups that I could tell really cared for me as a child. Tears filled her eyes. At that moment I was thinking how ironic it is that as we grieve the death of her husband, I stand by as she continues to walk down her road of ill health. I write this piece on Candida albicans in an attempt to unite all the people who are struggling or watching their loved ones struggle with avoidable health problems and addictions to food.

Many people struggle with systemic yeast overgrowth, also known as Candidiasis or Candida. In the 1986 publication of Trowbridge and Walker's "The Yeast Syndrome," it is stated that "one-third of the total populations of all Western industrialized countries are affected." Due to prolific use of antibiotics, steroids, and synthetic hormones, as well as increasingly nutrient-poor diets and increasing bodily pollution, the number of people who have yeast overgrowth health problems increases each year. Donna Gates, author of "The Body Ecology Diet," estimates that over 80 million people suffer from Candida. This number includes only those people who are showing symptoms of the overgrowth. It does not include the millions of people whose bodies are seemingly handling yeast overgrowths without symptoms.

This overgrowth of yeast in the human body is known by many names. The following are some the more commonly used names:

• Candida
  
• Candida albicans
  
• Candida Related Complex
  
• Systemic Candidiasis
  
• Candidiasis Hypersensitivity Syndrome
  
• Thrush (oral or vaginal)
  
• Moniliasis
  
• Polysystemic Candidiasis

Candida albicans is the specific name for a strain of normally peaceful, yeast-like fungus naturally existing in limited amounts in our digestive tract from our mouth to our rectum. In a biochemically balanced individual, millions of Candida albicans exist. The yeast is kept in check by a properly functioning immune system and plentiful gut bacteria. Candida albicans are actually a harmless parasite, the presence of which, in controlled balance within the body's ecosystem, does not cause any problems. However, if the number of harmonious bacteria is decreased, the immune system is weakened, or your biochemistry is imbalanced, yeast proliferation can easily occur. Consequently, Candida albicans can shift from a yeast form to a mycelia or fungal form and begin invading the entire body. This phenomenon is called candidiasis.

Candidiasis and its relationship to the human body can be hard to understand. Perhaps a parallel example will offer more insight into this complex illness. For example, take household molds. Mold is another type of fungus. Mold loves damp and dark places and causes disintegration of organic matter. If you have ever tried to remove mold from your bathroom walls or a pile of damp clothes that you left lying in the basement, you are aware of the fact that mold becomes part of the walls or material and is very difficult to remove. Unfortunately, a fungal overgrowth in the body is also tenacious. Whether it is Candida albicans or any of its related species, fungus causes a weakening of the cellular structure that is quite difficult to "remove" from those tissues.

Now that you have a visual, let us draw an important connection back to the human body. The above description explains why people with an overgrowth of yeast can become very ill and are often difficult to treat: many of the tissues and cells become weak and infested. In the fungal state of Candida albicans, the organism can produce rhizoids, very long root-like structures. Rhizoids can penetrate mucosa or intestinal walls, leaving microscopic holes and allowing toxins, undigested food particles, bacteria, and yeast to enter the bloodstream. Once this process has started, many psychological imbalances begin to develop. It is not uncommon for a person to experience depression, anxiety, fatique, restlessness, lack of memory, and irritability. It takes a dedicated person to stop the process and heal the body when the yeasts proliferate at this magnitude.

Another very important factor that must be emphasized is that you can have a Candida albicans overgrowth for over two years before your body is symptomatic. If you are a person who, like most, eats a diet consisting mainly of bread, pasta, bagels, oats, cereals, potatoes, popcorn, corn, squash, sugar, honey, coffee, diet soda, soda, maple syrup, fruit, carrots, sweet potatoes, dairy, fruit juice, vegetable juice, processed foods, or any of the many other foods that are high in carbohydrates, you are most likely supporting a yeast overgrowth, even if you are not symptomatic! As the Candida albicans grows out of balance in the human body, it can take over the intestinal tract, vagina, and sinuses. It can dig its way into every organ of the body as the immune system becomes weakened from its toxins. Eventually the overgrowth transforms molecules into metamorphosizing hormonal molecules, disrupting cellular communications. Interference of the intricate balance of the nervous system causes many sleepless nights.

Candida can cause cravings for carbohydrates and other foods that one's system is intolerant to in order to feed itself. You may think that all of this is hard to believe, but for the many people who live with yeast overgrowth day in and day out, the meddling of Candida is a painful reality. It is my opinion that many people have an overgrowth of Candida, but it isn't until the liver and other organs become so tired of dealing with the toxicity from the Candida albicans that overt symptoms prevail.

There are at least 77 different known Candida albicans toxins. Ethanol is one. It is produced when yeast has lots of food. Excess ethanol can cause symptoms of alcohol intoxication. Yes, even if you do not drink alcohol, you may be struggling with an alcohol addiction. Why do you think so many people are loathe to give up their carbohydrates?

Acetaldehyde, another yeast toxin, can damage organs, disrupt fatty acid oxidation and production of collagen, cause abnormal behavior, memory loss, distorted thinking, mood swings, depression, impaired intellectual functioning, and emotional disturbances. These toxins explain many of the symptoms that people get as well as the difficulties mainstream medicine has in treating Candida. When you are being poisoned by your own intestinal bacteria, drugs will not help, and even extreme measures such as surgery are not productive.