The Yeast Of Your Problems

Candida is a devastating illness. It can consume your life, causing other health problems such as brain fog, joint pain, digestive issues and cravings. But, I hope to bring you a glimpse of hope and new-found peace to effectively heal this overwhelming yeast fungus condition.

Have you ever walked into a kitchen right about the time a fresh-baked loaf of bread comes out of the oven? The aroma of fresh-baked bread is intoxicating and it fills the entire house with….temptation! Then there is the aesthetic value of the golden brown crust virtually spilling over the pan, crunchy on the outside yet hot and moist on the inside.

Ok, I confess I just toasted two slices of bread and covered them with real butter. Yum! It is amazing to me that a tiny little organism called yeast makes the bread dough raise and expand. It doesn’t take much because a little goes a long way!

This month’s topic is Candida albicans, fungal yeast that can cause numerous health problems, if allowed to proliferate in the human body. If you have read any of my previous articles, then you are well aware of my angle. I find a spiritual application for each month’s health topic and leave the clinical healing to the guys (or girls!) in the lab coats! With all of that said, Candida albicans can make your life miserable! I know. I suffered with Candida for years.

The Candida Curse

As a teenager, I was blessed with great skin. In high school, I would see kids walking the halls with acne covered faces and thank God for my clear skin.

When I entered my mid twenties, however, things began to change! I developed a form of cystic acne that, left untreated, usually resulted in permanent scarring. I made an appointment with a dermatologist and he gave me a prescription for tetracycline saying I would need to stay on it indefinitely. Before long, the acne disappeared.

Yet, a few months later other symptoms started to surface: a toenail fungus, bloated abdomen and brain fog (spacey feeling). I went to the doctor, but he couldn’t find anything wrong. My health continued to decline. I became weak, tired and started to develop pain in my joints and trigger points, for which the doctor prescribed prednisone.

Remember, at this point, I am now a twenty-five year old musician with a poor diet and absolutely no idea what I was doing to myself! After taking prednisone, the joint pain subsided. However, the bloating got worse and I started bleeding when I used the bathroom. I didn’t notice it for some time, but I even started withdrawing socially. My bubbly outgoing personality was morphing into a depressed, isolated survivor.

After a year of antibiotics and months of prednisone, my immune system started shutting down. I had to avoid sick people like the plague since I had no defenses left.

Right Place. Right Time.

One day, I was walking in downtown Atlanta and came across a heath food store. I had no way of knowing going in that I was about to meet a man that would change my life forever. I looked past the counter at a man with a kind face and a name tag that said “Bill.”

He looked over his glasses at me with a face that said, “You have never been in a health food store in your life.” He then asked, “Can I help you, son?”

Maybe it was his kind face… maybe it was my desperation… but I broke down and told him everything.  Without emotion he replied, “It won’t be easy, but we will beat this thing.”

“What thing?” I asked.

The next sixty minutes was like Neo meeting Morpheus (from the Matrix film)! Bill took saliva samples, checked my pulse, looked at my eyes and had me fill out an exhaustive questionnaire. Finally, the verdict… You guessed it: Candida albicans!

Little did I know this “chance” meeting with Bill would catapult me into a lifelong study of health and wellness, which would eventually bring me to you today, dear reader! Like I previously mentioned, I will leave the research data and clinical research to the professionals. My job this month is to bring hope and peace and a little spiritual correction to those who suffer or have loved ones who are suffering with this potentially devastating condition.

Candida Complications

I know what you are thinking, “Did you recover?” And if so, “How did you do it?” Yes, I recovered. How I did it is another matter all together.

You see, there is no “one way’’ of attacking Candida albicans. It is a living organism that plays a vital role in the body, provided that there is symbiosis in your body. God created your body to operate flawlessly, as long as there is balance (homeostasis). But when we abuse antibiotics, take (steroidal) prednisone, and live on a high carbohydrate low protein diet, we create an imbalance in our body, which in turn creates the ultimate environment for Candida albicans to proliferate.

Candida albicans favorite food is sugar; the more you feed it, the more it grows. So even though Candida albicans is more prevalent in females, it is extremely opportunistic. You – male or female – are a prime target if:

• You have a diet of predominantly carbohydrates (sugars and starches)
• You use antibiotics
• You suffer from a deficient immune system

Another problem with Candida is that it doesn’t want to leave when you have created an environment for it to thrive in. It will morph into resistant strains that will require you to occasionally change your protocol to successfully beat this stubborn foe. In advanced cases, Candida albicans can permeate the blood/brain barrier, which causes a myriad of problems including psychological issues like:

• Forgetfulness
• Depression
• Confusion
• Brain fog
• Mood swings
• Even mania

Likewise Candida often permeates the intestines causing digestion problems known as leaky gut syndrome. I suffered from all of the above and I recovered. So can you, IF YOU DON’T GIVE UP!

I would love to go into more detail on my personal protocol, but for to have a comprehensive attack plan I highly recommend reading every article in this month’s Home Cures That Work.

Effective Natural Remedies for Candida

The first thing you will need to do is radically change your diet!

For some of you, removing sugars, starches and most dairy products (especially cheese) from your diet will be a titanic challenge. However, it is nigh unto impossible to succeed against Candida if you don’t. Believe it or not, the Candida in your body is causing you to crave the foods it needs to survive! When I learned this, it made me mad enough to do something about it. There was no way I was going to let an opportunistic fungus tell me what I was going to have for dinner!

The next step might be realizing your doctor is denial of the condition all together. Instead, try one of the many wonderful and extremely effective natural alternatives. Outside of the multitude of Candida cleanses available online or at your local health food store, here are four things that you can try that initially helped me.

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  Pau d’Arco tea is a wonderful and unique tea made from the inner bark of a tall tree that grows throughout South America. It should be your new best friend. Drink it as often as you like.
• A quality probiotic. I used BioK but any good “multi species” probiotic will help. Your priority is to get as much “friendly” bacteria in your system as possible to offset the Candida overgrowth.
• Take deodorized (social) garlic capsules at least three times a day.
• Caprylic acid is a little dynamo derived from coconuts and will create a pH environment that creates havoc for Candida!

(Important side note) Remember, Candida albicans is a living organism. If your case is advanced, then any remedy that is effective is actually “killing off” the Candida. During this die-off stage, you might experience a Herxheimer reaction….or healing crisis. This healing crisis is completely normal, yet can be uncomfortable. Symptoms may include:

• Headaches
• Body odor
• Dizziness
• Flu like aches and pains

This is nothing to be alarmed about and the quickest way to get instant relief is an old school coffee enema.

Everyone responds differently to Candida protocols, so if you are uncomfortable going at it alone, then you may want to seek a naturopathic doctor or contact one of our qualified contributors.

The Secret to Overcoming Candida

‘“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”’~ Mark 8:15

Here is a secret to overcoming your condition. The medical community has an overarching description of Candida they interestingly call, “a yeast infection.”

When baking bread, the yeast or leaven is added to the dough to make it rise. In the Old Testament, especially the book of Exodus, we see the Israelites are instructed to rid their homes of yeast for seven days and to,

“Eat NOTHING made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.” ~ Exodus 12:20

A closer examination of the text will help us unlock the mystery. The yeast of the Pharisee and of Herod had a root… PRIDE, which fueled their hypocrisy. You see, leaven or yeast causes the host (like bread) to rise, become puffed up, self-absorbed and self-centered.

When we become prideful or self-centered, then we begin to believe the whole world revolves around us! God was not concerned with the yeast from a nutritional standpoint, but as a symbolic decree, which rightly interpreted said, “I want a humble people, not a prideful posse of self absorbed worshippers.”

You see, he asked them to eat unleavened bread…or as it is commonly referred to, humble bread. Friends, when I was suffering with Candida, I completely adhered to the proper diet, took all of the right supplements, read every book on the subject, consulted with experts and ultimately only found an element of success.

One day (with help from my wife, Lillian), I realized the truth. I had become so obsessed with my “cure” for well-being that everything became about me! As a minister, counselor, friend and husband, I had abandoned my call to give and was only concerned with receiving!

• When I began to help others with their burdens, mine became lighter.
• When I began to push past my discomfort to comfort others, I was comforted.
• When I resumed my place as a healer, I was healed!

Was the therapy helpful? Yes! Was the diet important? Yes! But the healing came quickly once I determined not to make Candida albicans the motivating factor of my life.

Pride is subtle. It stealthily cloaks itself beneath suffering so that you may believe that nobody cares how much you are hurting so that you can actually believe your condition is more important than anything else in the world. I read this once and it cut me to the heart:

“I once complained that I had no shoes till I met a happier man with no feet.”

Friend, if you have Candida, then you WILL recover. But, if you live a self-absorbed life of pride, then Candida will be the yeast of your health problems. When you help another hurting soul, you will soon discover the healing power of these words: “ It is more blessed to give, than it is to receive.”

Be Well!

Michael

How has Candida consumed your life? Did Candida become all you could think or talk about? What are some ways you can defer your suffering by helping someone else overcome theirs?