Candida albicans is a yeast or fungus that is normally present on the skin and in the mouth, throat, intestines, and vagina. When the healthy bacteria in your intestines are thrown out of balance, such as when you take an antibiotic, this yeast can flourish and grow out of control. This creates a condition of yeast overgrowth, called candidiasis, and it can affect virtually any organ in the body, causing a myriad of negative health symptoms.
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The effects of yeast overgrowth are wide-ranging. Five abdominal symptoms commonly associated with yeast sensitivity are abdominal bloating, belching, excessive gas, abdominal cramps and indigestion. Yeast overgrowth can also cause abdominal pain, headaches, fatigue, skin rashes, immune suppression, chemical sensitivity, vaginal yeast infections, depression and joint pain.
In the digestive tract, yeast can cause such symptoms as cramping, constipation, heartburn and diarrhea. Inability to concentrate, muscle aches, hives, fungal infections under fingernails and toenails, and athlete’s foot can also be caused by yeast overgrowth – the list of yeast–related symptoms goes on and on. Yeast overgrowth can also cause thrush, a white coating on the tongue.
Even worse, yeast produces toxins that depress your immune system, making you more reactive to allergies and more susceptible to infections. This often leads to more frequent use of antibiotics, the killing of additional good bacteria, and more yeast overgrowth. This vicious cycle is hard to break.
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Yeast sensitivity is caused by yeast overgrowth, primarily in the colon, which is the large intestine. Although antibiotics are the worst culprit for causing yeast overgrowth, the use of birth control pills and steroids are also known to stimulate yeast overpopulation. Women who take repeated courses of antibiotics often develop vaginal yeast infections as healthy bacteria are destroyed and candida proliferates. As yeast toxins are absorbed in the colon and enter the bloodstream, they cause symptoms beyond these sites.
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Yeast is in the same family as mold and fungus. Once yeast overgrows in the colon, it is like weeds in a garden. It cannot be eradicated unless it is killed. Yeast in the system causes two problems: 1) it produces toxins which depress the immune system and make it more reactive to allergy, which leads to more infections and more antibiotics, the killing of more good bacteria, and a further increase in yeast levels; 2) an individual with increased levels of yeast in his system often becomes allergic to yeast, and therefore, allergic to food products which contain yeast, such as wine, beer, breads, etc. Once yeast is overgrown in the large intestine, there is an imbalance in the normal microbacterial flora of the colon so that we get less normal healthy bacteria and more yeast overgrowth.
As newborns, our large intestines are colonized by beneficial bacteria with tongue-twisting names like Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacteria bifidum. These bacteria, acquired from our mothers as we pass through the birth canal, perform a number of functions in our bodies. They manufacture B vitamins, aid in the digestion and absorption of food, and provide a barrier on the mucosal lining of these various tissues, preventing abnormal bacteria and yeast from entering the system. Besides coexisting peacefully in the colon, beneficial bacteria also reside in the mucous membranes of the throat and in the vagina. These “good bacteria” live within us in a symbiotic, friendly relationship.
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Whenever an individual takes antibiotics, those antibiotics are meant to kill abnormal bacteria in whatever location the infection exists, whether the infection is sinusitis, pharyngitis, bronchitis or any other infection. Unfortunately, the antibiotics kill not only bad bacteria, but they also kill normal, or good bacteria in other areas of the body. Women often will develop yeast vaginitis. Although yeast vaginitis may be treated, the primary reservoir for yeast is within the colon.
When you take a course of antibiotics, populations of all bacteria plummet – not just the harmful ones that are the target of the drug, but also the beneficial ones that keep you healthy. At the same time, yeast populations increase because they are not harmed by antibiotics that kill their normal bacterial competitors.
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A blood test can measure the levels of candida antibodies. While high levels of antibodies are indicative of yeast overgrowth, some patients with a severely depressed immune system do not respond appropriately to candida and instead show normal or even low levels of antibodies. For this reason, and because laboratory tests provide only a snapshot of a patient’s health status, at the Hotze Health & Wellness Center we rely on the patient’s history and symptoms to determine the likelihood and extent of a yeast problem.
Each patient is asked questions relating to their history of infections and other illnesses, their diet, the symptoms they are experiencing, and their past and current use of antibiotics and other prescription drugs. Although antibiotics are the worst culprit behind yeast overgrowth, we also ask patients about their use of steroids and in females, their use of birth control pills and estrogen. These drugs are known to stimulate yeast growth.
Traditional diagnoses include irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), to name a few. These diagnoses are usually decided upon for gas, bloating and indigestion, which really mean that mainstream medicine does not know what is causing your symptoms.
Unfortunately, yeast overgrowth is a problem of which many mainstream physicians are completely unaware. Instead of addressing the underlying cause of their patients’ poor health, they treat the individual symptoms, usually with the familiar “anti” drugs: antibiotics, antihistamines, antidepressants, anti-inflammatories, antispasmodics, and so forth.
Mainstream doctors typically prescribe heartburn or antacid medications such as Rolaids, and proton-pump inhibitors such as Nexium (“The Purple Pill”). These medications are commonly given with antibiotics, which wipe out the good bacteria in your gut and cause many more symptoms and diseases.
Heartburn can lead to cancer of the esophagus, and
heartburn medications accelerate this process because they block the production of your stomach acid, which is needed to halt the growth of harmful bacteria. Antacid medications wipe out your body’s natural defenses in the stomach (stomach acid) against the bacteria, which allows the bacteria to continue to flourish.
These medications can also destroy your stomach lining (called atrophic gastritis). It then can cause one of two major health problems:
stomach cancer or erosion of the stomach lining. As the bad bacteria (such as H. pylori) continues to grow, it can not only
erode your stomach lining or cause
stomach cancer, but can also spread to other areas of your body, including your heart. Yes, this is serious.
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In order to restore the normal microbacterial flora of the colon, or good bacteria, it is essential that you kill the yeast in your system. At the Hotze Health & Wellness Center we accomplish this using a strong antifungal such as Nystatin which effectively kills the yeast, but does not harm the good bacteria in our digestive tract. After you eradicate the yeast, it is necessary that you replace and build up the good bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus in your digestive system.
There are natural things you can do to alleviate your uncomfortable gastrointestinal symptoms. A healthy yeast-free eating program can help to stop feeding the yeast in your gut, and probiotics will help restore the good bacteria so that you have a healthy intestinal system again.
Digestive enzymes can help as well.
Digestive enzymes are essential to your body's absorption of nutrients and the complete metabolism of food. The capacity of the body to make enzymes diminishes with age, therefore the efficiency of digestion declines.
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At the Hotze Health & Wellness Center, we recommend a yeast-free, grain-free eating program that eliminates dietary sources of yeast and other fungi, vinegar and fermented products, sugar and carbohydrate-rich foods that provide nourishment to yeast.
Yeast grows on sugar, therefore when treating for yeast sensitivity the following foods are eliminated:
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Yeast and sugar for one month
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Milk and milk products for one month
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Alcoholic beverages and fermented products for one month
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Fruit for two weeks
Eliminating sugar can be the most difficult part of the yeast-free eating program, in part because so many foods contain added sugar. In addition to cane sugar and beet sugar, you will have to avoid honey, corn syrup, maple syrup, molasses, fruit sugar (fructose), milk sugar (lactose), and malt sugar (maltose), because yeast grows on sugar. Refined grains and starchy foods such as bread, pizza, pasta, cereal, potatoes, and rice are also off limits because they can be quickly broken down into simple sugars.
Once you have successfully killed off the yeast through the use of antifungal medication and the yeast-free, grain-free eating program, you can introduce some of the foods back into your diet on a rotational basis.
Yeast sensitive patients crave sugar and simple carbohydrates, such as breads, cakes, cookies, etc. The reason? Yeast grows on sugar and on any food that can quickly be broken down into sugar. Cravings for sugar are both the cause and consequence of yeast overgrowth and are a primary target of treatment.
Paradoxically, some patients begin to feel worse, not better, when they begin the anti-yeast program. Though this can be a disturbing experience, it is actually a sign that the treatment is working. These symptoms are the predictable result of yeast die-off, also called the Herxheimer reaction.
When large numbers of yeast cells die in a short period of time, the body has a difficult time detoxifying them quickly. As a result, yeast toxins enter circulation and can cause symptoms in the mucous membranes that cover the surfaces of most organs in the body, including the mouth, esophagus, stomach, intestine, sexual and urinary organs, sinuses, ears, and bronchi.
Each person’s die-off reaction is different. In some patients, preexisting symptoms are exacerbated; in others, new symptoms appear. Symptoms can last anywhere from several days to two weeks. In some cases, reducing the dosage of Nystatin is appropriate to slow down the die-off process and lessen the symptoms Following the yeast-free, grain-free diet is critical to helping you weather this period.