This week Gareth Edwards, our Alkaline Diet Expert and highly qualified nutritionist, writes about candida, its causes and how we can get rid of it by following Gareth’s candida cleansing guide!

Gareth’s Alkaline Guide to the Candida Cleanse

How do you know if you’ve got candida? In some people’s case the symptoms are fairly apparent. Uncomfortable itching, white discharge or coated tongue, can all indicate the overgrowth of the yeast form candida albicans. The truth is that we all have candida. When, however, something about us changes, so that we become more acidic candida albicans can replicate and change into a multi-cellular forms with filaments that can penetrate other tissue.

One of the most common causes of this change is the consumption of anti-biotics or other medications. Diets high in acidic foods, such as fruit juice, vinegar and animal protein, low levels of exercise, high alcohol consumption, emotional distress and fatigue can also be associated with candida overgrowth and “mutation”. This may manifest as an itchy scalp / dandruff, fatigue or a plethora of other unwanted symptoms. It is sometimes possible to see yeast forms in live blood samples too.

If a disruption (or over acidification) of your body occurs the objective needs to be to re-establish a more alkaline balance of your body fluids and tissues. Even if the cause is emotional in nature, this will help put you in the right place to resolve internal or external conflicts. A week’s cleanse can help to accelerate the process and with the vaguest sniff of spring in the air this is a great time to start planning it.

It’s best to see it in three stages: the build up, the cleanse and the after “party”. Get a sense of whether you want to cleanse for three or five days.

The Build Up:

For about a week (or two!) before you plan to start, start cutting out alcohol, black, green and white tea, coffee and refined (white) carbohydrates. Lower your intake of sugar (including fruit juice) and animal protein. At the same time increase your intake of powdered green vegetable and grass drink (such as Dr Young’s Doc Broc Power Plants) with alkaline water and pH drops (such as Young pHorever Puriphy drops) and eat more fresh raw vegetables and low sugar fruits (cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados, lemons, limes and grapefruits). For two to three days before you start your cleanse eat fresh raw (or very lightly steamed) vegetables.

The Cleanse:

During the cleanse everything that you “eat” and drink needs to be liquid. Start each day with a scoop of pHour salts in a glass of alkaline water. Then throughout the day consume only the following:

• Green vegetable juice. You can dilute this with alkaline water and add pH drops if desired.
• Green smoothy
• Powdered grass and green vegetable drink in alkaline water with pH drops. Aim for two to three litres a day.
• Water (with lemon or lime juice added – if desired)

There are links here to suggested recipes for green juice and smoothys. Which vegetables you actually put in them is up to you, but you should avoid carrots, apples and fruits (other than those mentioned above) because of their sugar content. Adding garlic to the smoothy should help with re-balancing, but limit your social inter-action if your partner isn’t following the same regime!

Decide before you start whether you want to do 3, 4 or 5 days. You can stop early if you feel very uncomfortable. It’s not a competition!

Handy helpers:

If at any point you feel light-headed or low in energy have some unrefined salt or use a pHlavor spray. You can further increase your body’s alkalising mineral resources with Dr. Young’s depHense, pHion’s silvagen or Jarrow’s mineral balance.

Elimination:

It’s important to help acid and other toxicity get out of your body as well as putting “good” stuff in. There are several ways that you can help this during the cleanse:

• Exercise: 20 mins walking a day minimum. Ideally build up a sweat, but don’t exhaust yourself so that you crave sugar. Re-hydrate with water, greens and pH drops.
• Hot baths with Epsom salts (such as Orgon Alkabath bath salts). This should make you sweat and help to draw out acids.
• You can also add clay (such as Young pHorever Terra pHirma Clay) to your green drinks to help mineralise and draw out acids.
• Using psyllium (such as Ispaghula Husk) or other fibre supplements can help elimination, but these fibres can be “abrasive” if your digestive tract is sensitive.
• Colonic hydro-therapy or self administered enemas can be helpful but should be administered by a trained therapist or clearly understood if self administering.

Sometimes the release of acid from body tissue can actually lead to reduced bowel movement (constipation). If that happens you can try using more pHour salts or Dr. Young’s magnesium oxide based product pHlush.

Sometimes the reverse effect occurs…. Diarrhoea is actually a natural cleansing reaction by the body and shouldn’t be stopped. If it is persistent (rather than passing) you should ease off the cleanse. Drink water with salt in it and use minimal amounts of green powder.

The after party!

Well …. in spite of dreaming of chocolate cake or bacon sandwiches when you start your green feast, you may find that that isn’t actually what you feel like when you are finished. It’s important to listen to your body’s needs. Maybe start with a cooked vegetable soup or a big bowl of fresh vegetables, nuts and sprouted seeds.

Ease yourself gradually back into normal eating and drinking patterns. Aim to keep sweet fruits, sugar, tea, coffee, vinegar, mushrooms and animal protein low, while eating and drinking plenty of fresh (ideally raw) vegetables, sprouts and low sugar fruits including avocados. Try to get more of your protein from vegetarian sources, such as nuts, seeds and tofu. Marmite and peanut butter are best replaced with tahini and almond butter.

N.B. It’s best to do these cleanses with other people around. If you experience any uncomfortable or unwanted symptoms for more than 24 hours you should revert to normal eating and hydration and contact a nutritionally aware physician. If you are taking medication regularly please consult with your physician before carrying out a cleanse.

About Ross Bridgeford

Ross is known as THE Alkaline Diet Expert...especially when it comes to implementation and making the alkaline diet REAL in your life. He has been living, learning, teaching, coaching and loving the alkaline lifestyle since 2004 and has written over 600 articles, alkaline recipes, videos and guides on how to live alkaline and stay alkaline for life. Ross loves life in Brisbane, Australia (although is a proud Englishman) and is healthily-obsessed with nutrition, fitness and Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

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From Energise Alkaline Diet & Natural Health Blog - health news, alkaline diet resources & tips to make you happy! do something nice today...

Itchy, irritating, uncomfortable, embarrassing and yet so easily prevented and so easily cured. Yeast infections can happen to anyone and everyone and it happens to 75% of us!

Your first thought might be to run to the chemist and take the liver-battering, blood-cell-killing, healthy-flora-stripping drugs to get rid of the yeast, but these drugs only mask the problem, they don’t make it go away for good, it will always come back.

But what if I told you there was a surefire, guaranteed way to not only get rid of the yeast infection now, but also to ensure that it never comes back? Sound interesting?

I know it is true and I know that this works because not only have I seen it work with people I have lived with, but there are also many people on the Alkaline Diet Course who did have yeast infections and have now reported that it has totally cleared up. There also seems to be an unquestionable correlation between a high yeast/sugar diet and symptoms of yeast infections. So yes, I am convinced that there is a natural, easy and extremely effective way to get rid of yeast infections now and forever.

And while yeast infections can stop at irritating, it is important to remember that yeast infection symptoms can also include depression, fatigue, headaches, irritability, muscle pain, skin rash, respiratory, urinary problems, digestive disorders, hypoglycemia, hyperactivity, impotence, memory loss, learning difficulties, menstrual problems, premenstrual syndrome and more.

But before we get onto the solution, lets first take a look at the causes:

Where Do Yeast Infections Come From?

From my research and experience, there are three principle causes of yeast infection that can account for about 80% of cases:

1. DIET & LIFESTYLE: a diet high in sugar and yeast, itself, will lead to an overgrowth of yeast in our blood and other cells. When we consume sugar it wreaks havoc on our body. It rapidly acidifies our system and ferments in the blood to turn into yeast/bacteria. Just think now about how much sugar is in the modern Western diet: chocolate, cola, in our tea & coffee, sweets, ice cream, cordial, fruit juice, biscuits, snacks etc. Plus, that is not to mention how much is hidden in refined foods such as breakfast cereals, microwave meals, sandwiches etc.

   And this is just the sugar, what about the yeast itself?! We consume so much of it in bread, pasta, alcohol, cakes, sweets, biscuits etc.

   But this raw consumption of sugar and yeast is only half of the problem. When we consume other unhealthy (acidic) foods such as saturated fats, animal products, dairy, coffee, tea, crisps, chips, refined salts, condiments, pizza etc. we create an environment in which yeast infections will thrive.

   The image below demonstrates this more effectively than I can with words – basically, the problem is that when we consume acids (the bad foods listed above) our blood is seriously compromised, the sugars ferment and bacteria (yeast and mold) get a foothold, multiply and feed off their own waste (which further compounds the problem).

   

   By cutting back on (or cutting out) these sugars, yeasts and other nasties we effectively cut off the supply.

2. WEAK IMMUNE SYSTEM: when our immune system is weak, fungus can run riot. According to the famous Italian Oncologist, Dr Tullio Simoncini, fungus is the most powerful and most organised micro-organism known to man – and it literally seeks out our weaknesses. When we are tired, run down and stressed and we throw an unhealthy/acid diet on top of this we get ill, our immune systems get a battering and yeast thrives.
3. ANTIBIOTICS: antibiotics are the next leading cause of yeast infections. Antibiotics strip the body of good bacteria and this allows bacteria/yeast to proliferate. Antibiotics (and other drugs) also overstress the liver and the digestive system, contributing to the creation of an over-acid environment (as described above) which further compounds the problem.

   This is a great example of one of the problems with modern, lazy medicine. We quickly prescribe a drug to mask one problem, while simultaneously creating another. Antibiotics are prescribed at the drop of a hat, and in this example, let’s say it is for a throat infection. We take the antibiotics to kill the bacteria in your throat, but these antibiotics also then kill the good bacteria in your gut and digestive system. From here it is really easy for the yeast to take over and infection occurs.

   When you have got a strong, healthy internal environment I can almost promise you that not only are you very unlikely to develop an illness that requires antibiotics – BUT your body will not be any where near susceptible to the yeast taking over.

There is a connection between these three reasons. So let’s look at the solution:

How To Get Rid of Yeast Infections & Keep Them Away FOREVER

As the flip-side of the three most common causes, here are my three, simple & straightforward steps to getting rid of yeast now and stopping any future yeast infection:

1. ENJOY A DIET RICH IN ALKALINE FOODS: the single, biggest piece of advice I can give you is to put fresh, alkaline-forming foods at the centre of your diet. These foods include:
   • Spinach
   • Broccoli
   • Lettuce
   • Cucumber
   • Carrot
   • Kale
   • Asparagus
   • Cabbage
   • Onion
   • Peas
   • Courgette
   • Red Cabbage
   • Almonds
   • Pumpkin Seeds
   • Good Fats (omega 3, 6 & 9)
   • Oily, Fresh Fish
   • Lemon
   • Lime
   • Avocado
   • Tomato
   • Grapefruit
   • Watermelon
   • Green Beans
   • Beetroot
   • Garlic
   • Celery
   • Grasses (wheatgrass, barley grass, kamut etc.)

   Think of big salads, fresh steamed vegetables, fresh juices, stir frys, soups – lots of green, lots of fresh. A diet that is nutrient-dense, high water content and full of essential vitamins, minerals, fats, antioxidants and fibre is cleansing, yeast-free, sugar-free, blood building and blood cleansing. Your immune system is pumped, your digestive system is clean and clear and full of good bacteria and there is just no chance for fungus/bacteria/yeast/mold to get a foothold. Yeast simply cannot survive in a healthy, alkaline environment.

2. CUT OUT ACID FOODS: Eating alkaline is only half the story. To really get rid of yeast and yeast infections permanently you need to cut off the supply. First and foremost this means cutting out sugar – in all its forms: sucrose, corn fructose, maltose, lactose, glycogen, glucose, mannitol, sorbitol, galactose, monosaccharides and polysaccharides, maple syrup, molasses, fruit (for more info see here) and anything else sweet and sugary.

   As mentioned above, when we eat sugar it wreaks havoc on the body, rapidly ferments into yeast and starts to cause problems with our blood, cells, tissues, organs and digestive system.

   We also want to eliminate, unsurprisingly, YEASTS! This includes bread, pasta, cookies, cakes, alcohol, Marmite/Vegemite, anything fermented (soya sauce, miso etc), mushrooms and anything else baked and yeasty.

   And because an acidic environment promotes and supports the rapid growth of yeast (and other fungus/mold/bacteria etc) we should try to eliminate other highly acidic foods from our diet too – these include harmful, trans fats, meat, dairy, eggs, chips, pizza, crisps, biscuits, tobacco, drugs etc. All the things you know are not good for you!

   The important thing to note here is this:

   1. Eating sugar contributes to yeast infection because: sugar ferments into yeast in the blood, gut, digestive system etc.
   2. Eating yeast contributes to yeast infections because: it is yeast!
   3. Eating other acidic foods contribute to yeast infections because: eating acids promotes the perfect environment for yeast infection to spread rapidly. When we eat acids we create an environment flooded with bacteria, fungus, mycotoxins, endotoxins and more. Acids (yeast) thrive in acids.
3. LIMIT OTC DRUGS AND MEDICATIONS: I completely understand that there are times when drugs and medications are totally necessary. Of course. I am not a crazy man! BUT there are many times when they are not totally necessary – and taking antibiotics, antihistamines, painkillers, cold, cough and flu tablets etc. are not only incredibly stressful to the liver, kidneys and entire digestive system but they also massively promote yeast overgrowth. Antibiotics in particular completely strip the digestive system of good bacteria which makes it perfect for yeast to get a foothold.

   I used to be the kind of guy who would happily take something for anything to make it go away (especially if the doctor told me!) but since I’ve been learning about health I have become extremely particular about how and when I use medications.

   *Of course, as ever – I advise you to do whatever your healthcare practitioner tells you to do.

There seems to be a theme here and it all comes back to diet and giving your body the tools it needs to cleanse and look after itself while not throwing fuel on the fire by consuming the bad stuff.

Natural Products To Help Get Rid of Yeast

If you want to speed this process and keep the yeast away in the long term then there are a few products that I really highly recommend. These products are great in that they are not just anti-yeast – they have a whole heap of benefits:

pH Ion’s D-Tox is, quite simply, my favourite product. An amazing combination of nutrients, herbs, amino acids and alkaline ingredients give D-Tox a 4-pronged action. Remarkably, the 4 different blends in D-Tox give it: a Myco-Detox blend, a Liver-Detox blend, a Lymph-Detox blend and a Kidney-Detox blend. It eliminates yeast, fungi, and bacteria, mycotoxins, endotoxins, and exotoxins and naturally boosts your alkalinity while detoxifying the liver, lymph and kidneys. Click here for more info.

Silvagen (and colloidal silver in general) is fantastic. It is an extremely safe and 100% natural anti-fungal agent. It has no side effects and does not affect the beneficial bowel bacteria like antibiotics do. Click here for more info.

Udo’s Choice Super 8 Probiotics is a powerful, therapeutic blend of 8 different types of friendly bacteria that promotes proper digestion, enhances the immune system and fights and prevents yeast and fungal infections. Click here for more info.

I absolutely believe that yeast infections can be controlled, removed and prevented in the future by following these simple guidelines. As I mentioned, I’ve seen it work with those around me and the feedback I get from those on the Alkaline Diet Course tells me it is working for many others from all walks of life too.

Of course, the general feedback of wearing loose, cotton clothing and keeping clean and moisture-free still stands, but with a few dietary changes I believe that you can cut off the supply, boost your immune system and provide your body with the tools it needs to stay clean, clear, healthy and full of energy.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions and experiences with this – let me know in the comments below and have a great day.

Ross

[UPDATE] – just came across this note from Dr Young in his blog Articles of Health:

On the lie that taking antibiotics will kill bacteria:

This is medical subgerfuge and distortion as even the medical community realizes that antibiotics don’t do what they are supposed to do. We say with alarm that disease is becoming resistant to antibiotics. They are not “resistant” because they have never been operative or effective. Antibiotics are the acidic waste products of fermentation. To make an antibiotic, you need a yeast or mold and some sugar for the yeast or mold to ferment. The bi-product of the yeast or mold fermenting the sugar is the acidic antibiotic. The acids from antibiotics DO NOT KILL BACTERIA. They only force the bacteria to change. Into what does bacteria change? Into yeast and mold. That is why when you take antibiotics you end up with a yeast infection! That’s the antibiotic causing the bacteria to change from one form to another. I call this process of change “biological transformation” and the reason why you should NEVER take antibiotics. Try the COWS Plan. It is safer and more effective.

Click here for the full article.

About Ross Bridgeford

Ross is known as THE Alkaline Diet Expert...especially when it comes to implementation and making the alkaline diet REAL in your life. He has been living, learning, teaching, coaching and loving the alkaline lifestyle since 2004 and has written over 600 articles, alkaline recipes, videos and guides on how to live alkaline and stay alkaline for life. Ross loves life in Brisbane, Australia (although is a proud Englishman) and is healthily-obsessed with nutrition, fitness and Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Mail | Web | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | YouTube

From Energise Alkaline Diet & Natural Health Blog - health news, alkaline diet resources & tips to make you happy! do something nice today...