Candida is a topic I seem to come across all the time in my consultations and to be honest, candid quite conversations with friends or people I have just met but are struggling with it (yes I have been to hen parties and people have divulged their issue with thrush or chronic constipation!)

 

Often clients are permanently plagued by it and it can be really debilitating (not to mention super annoying)   so today we are going to look at WHAT is actually is and the myths I so often see and hear about when it comes to why you have it and how to get rid fo it.

 

WHAT?

Candida albicans is a form of yeast that we all have inside our bodies. When kept in check and in balance it can be helpful with nutrient absorption and digestion (source)  but when out of whack with the rest of our bodies then disaster strikes.

 

Why – well your gut (meaning from mouth to butt hole) is a delicate ecosystem brimming with tons of different species of bacteria, fungus, yeast and other good stuff. And the more and more research they do the more they are discovering how beneficial this bacterial eco-system is. There is variety, but there balance.

 

For example did you know we naturally have e-Coli within our gut but at a safe amount? Its is only when the balance gets tipped in the wrong direction do we encounter health issues.

 

Same goes for Candida. If we get out of balance, if that value ecosystem gets disrupted or damaged then candida has the opportunity to grow and become like an evil dictator of our guts (it often gets called opportunistic bacteria/yeast for this reason).

 

So what causes the imbalance?

There are many things that can trigger a candida overgrowth but here are the most common:

• Medication – the contraceptive pill (the pill is in no way harmless so make your wisely and be informed – read more about that here), antibiotics, oral corticoids, other long-term medication.
• Stress – long term stress has a physical impact on your body and can lead to an imbalance of your gut microbiome over time.(Read more about that here)
• Diet – a diet of sugar and carbs is the perfect breeding ground of candida overgrowth. (That is why everything on this site is gluten and sugar-free)
• Weaken immune system – whether through stress, medication or other health issues a low immune system means low defenses and HELLO candida.

 

What does it look like?

Most commonly in women it looks like vaginal thrush that either comes and goes each month or is constant. Trust me, getting thrush regularly is NOT normal and is your body telling you that something is NOT right.

 

It can also be seen in oral thrush or  athlete’s foot or other more rare skin conditions too.

 

How pleasant.

 

So what are the myths? So often when I am chatting to my clients or to friends I come across these myths so before we look at treatment it is time to do a good of DEBUNKING… (ohhh rudey tudey)

 

 

4 Myths Around Candida & Thrush

 

1.You want to remove candida from your body.

No as you can see from above we don’t want to remove all candida yeast from our bodies we will ALWAYS have some in the gut and that is healthy. We want to remove the candida overgrowth and regain our natural diverse balance internally so we can thrive externally.

 

2. It’s normal and every woman deals with it.

Regular candida is not normal and not something you were made to live with. It’s your beautiful and clever body telling you it need support and help. Sure we may all have the odd bout of it in our lives but suffering with it constantly or every month is not what you were made for.

So if you think you have to grin and bear it then think again. You were made for 100% health and being itchy down under and feeling like your lady parts are on fire is NOT part of that.

 

 

3. It is just because I eat too much sugar…

Now sugar does play a massive role in the treatment of candida overgrowth as candida feeds off of all sugar in our diets BUT it’s not the only factor. ( Click Here to grab my Natural Sweetener Recipe eGuide if you don’t have it already to help you live one naturally sweet sugar-free LIFE!)

 

I have had clients come to be after literally trying everything to ditch the constant thrush but despite a super clean and sugar-free diet are still struggling.

 

That is why it so important to get to the ROOT issue of why you have it and so often tricky chronic cases are often (not always) down to one of these:

 

• hormones imbalance – at certain times of the month your body flood your vagina with more glycogen which will feed candida
• poor digestion/low stomach acid – your stomach acid is your first line of defense and needed for getting all the nutrients from our food so if this is down then there is an issue
• parasite infection – had candida constantly since you trip to Timbuckto? Chance are there is parasites still lurking around.
• poor detoxification pathways (mainly how well you poop) – you can get doing you best so dislodge the candida (so to speak) but if your body is unable to get rid of it then it will just get reabsorbed back into the body

 

4. Creams will sort it…

In my opinion, this is not true at all. Any over the counter cream  will just deal with the symptoms and not deal with the ROOT cause. Often nothing actually changes and it comes straight back some time later.

 

While it is helpful to get topical treatment (I recommend coconut oil for this personally) for it to make the itching more bearable and to help in the moment, it is not a long term plan or solution. You have to look and question ‘why do I have this in the first place’. it might just be because you were super stressed, maybe you had a week where you only ate ice cream or maybe there is a deeper gut imbalance going on.

 

So there are the 4 myths I hear most often around candida – especially the vaginal thrush expression of it. But remember this is all my own opinion and I am not a medical profession and you health, your body and your history is totally unique so always make sure you work with someone to help you get to the root cause

 

>>>Click here to find out how you can work with me 😉

 

But let me know in the comments below any questions you have and any myths you know around the whole Candida issue;)

 

Sources

Dr Axe – http://draxe.com/candida-symptoms/