#candidia

What is Candida? Have you heard this word out in the nutritional world? If you are like me you hear it constantly and I have to be honest, I had not idea what it was until I ran across it when I was doing my aklyosing spondilitis research. In fact, it has been the word that is repeated over and over again in everything I have read and heard about eating better for a body that has constant inflammation in the body. So this is taken from the internet to help you better understand what this candida really is and what it is doing to our bodies.

So what is Candida?

Candida is a fungal overgrowth of the gut, where the natural fungus of the gut gets out of control and overloads the immune system. In Candida, the normal yeast has changed into a parasitic fungus which penetrates the bowel, causing little holes which in turn causes leaky gut syndrome.

So in short, it is one of the main reasons for leaky gut syndrome, it is THE reason we start getting this syndrome which causes problems with people, such as my self, that have an auto-immune disease.

Typical symptoms of Candida include:

General malaise

Low energy

Bloated and heavy gut

Recurring infections

So, then, what causes Candida?

Candida can be caused by the over-use of antibiotics, the contraceptive pill, long term use of steroids and some other drugs which can destroy the healthy gut bacteria. Yeasts, parasites and bacteria may also be a trigger.

There is also research that shows that the use of the drugs that most auto-immune patients get prescribed also causes Candida to grow in the gut. Drugs like NSAID's that are commonly superscribe. (What are NSAID's ? click HERE)

Now the big question, how is Candida treated?

To treat Candida, the fungal overgrowth needs to be controlled and the balance of healthy bacteria in the gut restored. As Candida feeds on things which are sweet, fungal and fermented, a change in diet can help and seeking advice from a qualified Nutritionist is advisable.

Most people will tell you that a normal "American diet" is feeding the Candida and as a result is the cause for leaky gut syndrome. The more I read about this the more I found that sugars (which are found in everything like bread) and other chemically altered foods are a major factor. There have been studies that show that a meat and vegetable/ fruit diet is the key to keeping the Candida in your gut in check which in turn will not cause leaky gut syndrome. Something that you need to consider is that there are good Candida and bad Candida in everyone's gut the key is to have a ratio that is higher "good" than "bad" so the more processed foods you ingest and the more refined sugars you eat the more you are feeding the "bad" Candida and not allowing the good to fight in your defense.

Needs some dietary food ideas? Check Paleo Diets - my favorite is Dr. Terry Wahls book that you can choose from 3 levels of Paleo (HERE) , Caveman Diet, any diets that has lots of fruits and vegetables and meat in it and no complex / processed foods should be your goal.