Did you know that 3.1 million Americans suffer from constipation? Are you one of the 20% of the U.S. population who have been diagnosed with acid reflux or one of the 2.1 million people diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome? Have you ever taken an antibiotic? Do you tend to have cravings for carbohydrates, sugars, or anything starchy? Do you feel fatigued or sluggish? Do you suffer from abdominal bloating, indigestion, or constipation? Have you been diagnoses with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS? If you are a woman, do you suffer from frequent yeast infections? Do you get frequent headaches, skin rashes, and fungal infections such as athlete's foot, or experience joint pain, anxiety or depression?
If this sounds familiar, you may have candidiasis, better known as yeast or candida overgrowth. If you have ever taken an antibiotic, eaten antibiotic-injected meat or dairy products, taken birth control pills, or steroids then you are susceptible to candida overgrowth and its varied symptoms. Based on antibiotic intake alone, most Americans are candidates for candida overgrowth. Antibiotics are among the most frequently used medications in the United States. Annually, antibiotics are prescribed to an estimated 16 percent of patients during ambulatory care visits, and pharmaceutical manufacturers spend $1 billion promoting antibiotics.
Believe it or not, there is a war raging in your digestive tract. In your gut, there are both good bacteria that fight off disease and bad bacteria that make you more susceptible to disease. Antibiotics destroy good bacteria along with the bad, leaving us defenseless and open to more infection in the future. Unfortunately, antibiotics do not kill yeast, so the playing field is never leveled, but rather the yeast is allowed to proliferate in the digestive tract and vagina. Toxins released by yeast enter the bloodstream and impair immunity. Weakened immunity contributes to recurrent infections, leading to frequent antibiotic use, thus perpetuating the cycle. So what can you do to put an end to this process?
At Hotze Health & Wellness Center, we approach yeast like weeds in a garden. The first step is to kill the yeast with an antifungal drug called Nystatin. Nystatin has been in use for over fifty years and is a safe, effective agent for eradicating yeast in the colon. It is not absorbed systemically, and it does not affect the beneficial bacteria that normally inhabit the colon.
The second step is to prevent candida overgrowth from regaining a foothold in your body. Otherwise, while you may win the battle, you will ultimately lose the war. We recommend a yeast-free, grain-free diet that eliminates dietary sources of yeast and other fungi, vinegar and fermented products, and sugar and carbohydrate-rich foods that provide nourishment to yeast. The Yeast-Free Eating Program should be done for at least one to three months to ensure success. Our cookbook, The Hotze Optimal Eating Program, outlines for our patients the guidelines of the diet as well as delicious recipes following the program.
The third step in ridding your body of candida overgrowth is to replenish the good bacteria in your body. We must repopulate what years of antibiotic use have destroyed. We will recommend taking probiotics such as Lactobacillus acidophilus to build up your good bacteria defenses.
The staff at Hotze Health & Wellness Center along with our nutritionist will be able to guide you through this process to gastrointestinal health. The Yeast-Free Diet does take dedication and discipline, but we will be there to coach you along every step of the way.
Speak with a New Guest Consultant today to find out if Hotze Health & Wellness Center is a good fit for you! Call 281-698-8698 to learn how you can get your life back starting today!