The gut microbiota is a huge topic and has some very significant implications for health and nutrition.

Especially considering the Gut Microbiome is the big topic in health and science recently, you may know that not all microbes are bad. While there are pathogenic microbes like these just mentioned, at all times there are 500 to 1000 different species of bacteria in the human body. And the importance of their function is becoming more apparent as we learn new things about them.

However, it’s hard to picture how tiny microbes in our gut contribute to our day to day cognition and brain function. In the case of rocky mountain spotted fever it may not be surprising that the introduction of a deadly pathogen could induce drastic changes in a person’s mental state. However, the relationship between the microbes normally residing in the gut and how our brain operates becomes apparent when we take them out.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut

A 2012 paper by Dr. Derrick MacFabe describes what happens when rats are injected with something called Propionic Acid or PPA. The PPA injection provoked peculiar changes in the rats’ brains like neuroinflammation, increased oxidative stress, and glutathione depletion. The rats also displayed abnormal movements, repetitive interests, cognitive deficits, and impaired social interactions. Basically, the results of this injection were very similar to autism spectrum disorders. And, PPA is a fermentation product of bacteria, namely Desulfovibrio, Bacteroidetes and Clostridia. It was found that patients with autism have many more species of the clostridium bacteria and have high levels of PPA in their feces.

Several reports from parents say that their children were developing normally until they received antibiotics for upper respiratory or ear infections. It’s estimated that in one third of patients, autism doesn’t show up until around 18 to 24 months. According to Dr.

Sydney Finegold , antibiotics wipe out or suppress several organisms in the gut, but Clostridia is one of the ones that persists.

Click here to download the full transcription.

The urinary tract includes the bladder, kidneys, ureters, and urethra. It’s said that UTIs occur much more often in women and usually affect the bladder and urethra, though minor kidney infections are much more prevalent than people realize. Kidney infections often come and go with minor to major lower back pain and very slow, darker colored urination. Diarrhea is a sign of a more serious kidneys infection (fluids are forced out door #2). Gas, bloating, and a stiff lower back is a sign of slow kidney function which may be an indicator of more serious problems to come.

Women may be especially prone to bladder UTIs because they have shorter urethras, which allow bacteria easier access to the bladder, and the female anatomy makes UTI’s and yeast infections easier to contract through sex.

Bladder infections are usually caused by a type of E. coli, a bacteria commonly found in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. However, sometimes other microbes are responsible.

An unhealthy gut microbiome leads to most UTIs and yeast infections. If there isn’t enough of a variety of beneficial bacteria, including lactobacillus, to balance the E. coli, the risk of UTIs increases. Minor kidney infections are also often caused or amplified slow kidney function due to swollen reproductive systems putting pressure on the kidneys (swollen prostates and PMS can cause this). Other common UTI and yeast infection risk factors and causes include:

• Dehydration
• Feminine products
• Antibiotics
• Sex
• Holding in urine for too long
• Hormone shifts
• High blood sugar or uncontrolled diabetes
• Kidney stones
• Contact with stool
• Contraception
• Soda
• Smoking
• Gluten
• Poor diet

UTIs vs. Yeast Infections

We are avoiding using the V word so as not to trigger social media blocks, but when we are talking about yeast infections here we are speaking of v____ infections. But, you can have a fungal infection anywhere in the urinary tract as well, and bacterial infections of the urinary tract are an indication of a gut with unhealthy microbiome and an abundance of Candida.

Relayed: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

UTIs and yeast infections are different infections. Their symptoms may be in the same general area, but they’re distinct. Bladder infections can often lead to yeast infections, but so can conventional UTI treatments. UTI symptoms typically affect urination. They may cause darker, cloudy urine, slower urination, more frequent urination, and a burning sensation during urination. Yeast infections cause pain and itchiness in the affected area, and yeast infections typically produce a thick, milky discharge. Sometimes white patches or red hives can also coat the surrounding area.

How To Eliminate A UTI

In a healthy gut, there are many kinds of bacteria that could become pathogenic if left to their own devices, but a healthy gut maintains homeostasis through diversity. The E. coli that reside in a healthy gut, the same ones that can cause a urinary tract infection, aren’t the same E. coli that cause food poisoning. One key difference is that E. coli from factory farms are resistant to acidity, but our normal gut E. coli bacteria, as well as Candida and most other fungal infections, don’t do well with acidity. This is one reason why cranberry juice is so high up on the following list. Cranberry juice also has tannins that kill urinary infections, and cranberry has anti-inflammatory properties. An infected urinary tract is inflamed, swollen, and constricted, and cranberry juice can help open up the system.

But even more important than cranberry juice is staying hydrated. Cut out the juices and sodas and drink lots of water. Most people who get regular urinary tract infections do not drink enough water.

Diet To Prevent and Help Treat UTIs and Yeast Infections

Diet alone can eventually eliminate a UTI or yeast infection, but without cranberry juice or supplements it is likely to take considerable time. For most people, I recommend this recipe.

Cranberry Lemonade

• 1 cup of organic cranberry juice, not from concentrate
• 3 organic fresh lemons, juiced
• Liquid Stevia (to taste)
• Cayenne (optional, to taste)

Mix the ingredients with a half gallon of water. For daily drinking, I would double the water, but to eliminate UTIs I recommend more concentrated.

I also recommend Lakewood cranberry juice, which can be found at most health food stores and lots of grocery stores. Lemons should be organic if possible and freshly squeezed.

I do not recommend Trader Joes cranberry juice. There is something wrong with that juice. Also, don’t be fooled by cranberry blends or sweetened cranberry juice – these will exacerbate the problem.

Related: Inexpensive, Easy Detox – The One Gallon Challenge

Salads

Not just any salad, this salad needs to be very diverse and big! Vegetables of at least 10 different kinds should be included, and be sure to throw in lots of garlic too. Eating these types of salads regularly will increase the beneficial bacterial diversification in the gut which will radically enhance immune system functionality. Here’s a recipe.

Supplements For UTIs

SF722 – This supplement is an acid that helps eliminate Candida in the gut, kills fungal infections fast, and can also help kill other pathogens that are susceptible to acidity, like the E. coli that commonly caused UTIs.

D-Mannose – D-Mannose is related to glucose and derived from cranberries, peaches, and other berries. It can enhance the effectiveness of cranberry juice.

Probiotic – For yeast infections, see the probiotic below that is specifically formulated for the v___ area.

Berberine – This is a potent antimicrobial. Once you quit taking this, it’s probably a good idea to keep taking probiotics for at least another week.

Vitamin C -Vitamin C enhances the immune system, improves liver function, and inhibits the growth of E. coli. Vitamin C also acidifies the urine, limiting bacteria growth. Vitamin C does come in supplement form, but, for most people, a better way to increase your vitamin C intake is with the aforementioned salads and cranberry lemonade.

Supplements For Yeast Infections

SF722

Vitamin C

Undecyn – This has berberine, betaine hydrochloride, and calcium undecylenate, which help balance the body’s flora.

Woman’s Probiotic – Specifically formulated to help colonize the v____ tract.

Conclusion

If UTI’s or yeast infections are common, or if antibiotics have been used recently, check out How To Heal The Gut. If urination is slow or difficult, or if lower back pain is present, or if diarrhea is present, I also recommend something that I once heard called a “kidney flush.” If you have a partner for this, have them use a hand (the middle knuckles work well for this) to push on you about an inch below the belly button with approximately 15-35 pounds of pressure. You don’t want to bruise the area, but you do want to force some of the stagnant fluid to move through the urinary tract. Do this for about a two to five minutes, several times a day. You can also, if tall enough, pull yourself against the corner of a kitchen counter, or use weights. This is my favorite technique. Lay down and put something heavy on your abdomen, an inch below the belly button, and use your arms to modulate the weight. My wife, who weighs 160 lbs, used a 25-pound barbell plate and I have used a 45-pound plate – I weigh 220 lbs. An inch below the belly button is approximate. Find the spot below the belly button where it is most sensitive, where you feel most bloated, and then apply pressure, gently at first, increasing gradually until you reach your ideal pressure, and then keep it there for about two to five minutes. You should feel the need to urinate soon after, followed with back-pain relief.

Remember when it was one in sixty? The CDC reported one in fifty-nine children were diagnosed with autism last year using data from 2014. But now a new study based on the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health estimates that the number of children with autism spectrum disorder has grown to one in forty children (2.5%). The new study indicates this disorder now effects an estimated 1.5 million U.S. kids between the ages of 3 to 17. Parents that were included reported their child had received a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and stated that the child currently had the condition.

It’s important to note that the ways these two studies gathered information is different. The new study relies on parents to report their information. The information is not validated by medical records. The CDC report did validate such claims. CNN got an emailed quote from Thomas Frazier, chief science officer of Autism Speaks. He was not involved in the new report.

Prevalence is not growing that rapidly, although the CDC’s data suggests it is still growing. What is happening is that these studies use methods that are a bit more liberal and inclusive than the CDC’s methods,” Frazier said, adding that he prefers the CDC’s numbers but understands “that they are likely a bit conservative.” – Thomas Frazier

Last week the news told us to throw out your romaine lettuce. Food-safety investigators traced the recent romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak to growing fields in California, but regulators still say it’s unsafe to eat the leafy green in 10 states including New York. As a result of this, the FDA is interested in creating a new labeling standard that would require companies to show where their lettuce comes from. Let’s take a look at Food Poisoning and its link to factory farming, and then we’ll go over supplements that can kill food born pathogens.

• E. Coli

• Salmonella

• Campylobacter

• How Factory Farming Is Poisoning Our Vegetables

• How To Avoid Food Poisoning

• Supplements For Food Poisoning

E. Coli, Salmonella, and Other Foodborne Illnesses

The foodborne agents causing death the majority of deaths are Salmonella (31%), Listeria (28%), Toxoplasma (21%), Norwalklike Virus (7%), Campylobacter (6%), and STEC E. coli (4%) (Meade 1999).”

For most of these agents, the clinical case fatality rate from foodborne infection is less than 1% but note that for Listeria and Toxoplasma the clinical case fatality rate is 20%. Note also that these averages obscure strong relationships between important factors, such as age and co-morbidity, and disease risk. – John M. Gay

Not all E. coli is bad. You probably have more than one kind of E. coli in your gut right now. It’s a normal part of our healthy bacteria, and they help us digest food, amongst other things. E. coli O157:H7, on the other hand, is pathogenic and can cause bloody diarrhea, sometimes cause kidney failure, and even death.

Recommended: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

E. coli cause disease when the bacteria produces a toxin called Shiga toxin. These bacteria are called “Shiga toxin-producing E. coli,” or STEC for short. O157 is the most common STEC identified in the U.S.

When you hear news reports about outbreaks of E. coli infections, they are usually talking about E. coli O157.” – CDC

The CDC estimates that STEC causes 265,000 illness, 3,600 hospitalizations, and 30 deaths yearly in the U.S.

E. coli O157:H7 is believed to have evolved from E. coli O55:H7. That strain is also resistant to antibiotics and acidity and can be pathogenic, but O157 is more antibiotic resistant, more able to resist acidity, and more likely to make us sick. Antibiotic resistance allows the bacteria to not just survive, but to thrive in an environment where antibiotics are being administered. The reason for this is when you wipe out competing microbes, the few survivors can proliferate. Factory farming is likely to blame for much the E. coli in our lettuce, and it’s possible that the O157 variant wouldn’t even exist without factory farming.

E. Coli O157:H7 doesn’t always make us sick, but people with weaker immune systems are much more susceptible.

And there’s also the well-known bacteria, salmonella, which is said to be the most common cause of foodborne illness in the U.S. There are actually more than 2,000 different types of salmonella bacteria and these bacteria can cause several types of infection. Most often, these bacteria cause gastroenteritis, but they can also cause typhoid fever, a more serious infection.

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium subtype DT104 appears to be the most likely Salmonella to give us serious trouble, It’s drug-resistant and becoming more and more widespread both in the U.S. and internationally. Again, we have factory farming to blame.

The CDC says that Salmonella is responsible for approximately 1.2 million illnesses a year in the United States, with 23,000 hospitalizations and 450 deaths. Most people infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps. The illness typically runs for 4 to 7 days, and most recover without treatment. Stomach acid tends to destroy Salmonella. One must consume a large amount of the bacteria for an infection to develop unless people have a deficiency of stomach acid. This makes those on acid-indigestion medications more susceptible.

We also have factory farming to thank for many of the Campylobacter outbreaks. Though it’s not commonly reported, Campylobacter bacteria infects an estimated 2.4 million people yearly, making it one of the most common foodborne illnesses, according to the CDC. It’s generally mild and often unnoticed but it can occasionally kill those with weak immune systems. Campylobacter lives in the intestinal tract of birds and can be transmitted from bird to bird through common drinking water and feces contact.

Norovirus, Toxoplasmosis, and Listeria round out the five most common culprits of food poisoning in America. Noroviruses and Toxoplasmosis aren’t infections that can be tied to factory farming. Listeria doesn’t have a mutated cousin that we can blame factory farming for, but just like with other foodborne infections, poor food handling, and poor animal welfare standards do play a large part, and factory farming is often responsible for contaminating produce with Listeria.

When medical researchers at the University of Minnesota took more than 1,000 food samples from multiple retail markets, they found evidence of fecal contamination in 69% of the pork and beef and 92% of the poultry samples. Nine out of ten chicken carcasses in the store may be contaminated with fecal matter. And half of the poultry samples were contaminated with the UTI-causing E. coli bacteria.” – Dr. Michael Greger

How Factory Farming Is Poisoning Our Vegetables

We believe that raw fruits, vegetables, and herbs are absolutely critical to achieving great health, especially when one is attempting to heal from disease. But the CDC reports that around half of all foodborne illnesses are actually caused by raw produce. How does this happen?

Cattle, pig, and poultry factories dump millions of gallons of putrefying waste into massive open-air cesspools, which leak and contaminate nearby water sources used for irrigating crops. That’s one of the most common ways that a deadly fecal pathogen like Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 can end up contaminating our spinach.

Produce farmers weren’t required to test their irrigation water for pathogens like E. coli or Salmonella. But in 2011, after several high-profile disease outbreaks, Congress ordered a program requiring produce growers to begin testing their water under rules crafted by the Obama administration’s Food and Drug Administration. The program was just about to go into effect when Trump’s FDA, responding to pressure from the farm industry, delayed the water-testing rules for at least four more years. This decision was made six months ago.

On November 26th, the FDA announced that it had traced an E. coli outbreak in romaine lettuce back to growing regions in parts of central and northern California. A previous outbreak was traced back to Yuma farms in California, which were voluntarily testing their water for pathogens. Most of California’s farmers are now testing for pathogens in their water sources. It’s likely that the most recent contamination comes from a farm or farms that have been testing their water.

Villaneva and Gary Waugaman said the monthly testing is not foolproof; it minimizes, but doesn’t eliminate, the risks. Also, pathogens from livestock and other animals can get into crops from wind, dust and other means.” – Dirty Farm Water Is making Us Sick

It appears that even when the water is clean, local animals may be picking up pathogens from animal farms and depositing them into the produce farms.

How To Avoid Food Poisoning

Smaller farms are usually a safer bet but by no means is this a guarantee against foodborne pathogens. We recommend getting to know your local farmers at your local farmer’s markets. Ask questions.

Take steps to avoid cross-contamination. This is likely to be one of the biggest reasons people get sick from food pathogens. For example, researchers at the University of Arizona found more fecal bacteria in household kitchens than they found swabbing the toilets. The bacteria was found in dish towels, rags, sponges, and on the sink drains and cutting boards.

Many of the experts are recommending that everyone be sure to cook all of their vegetables and herbs. This may increase safety but it ignores long-term health. We don’t have an easy answer for this issue. We advise, first and foremost, to stay healthy! A healthy gut has a wide array of bacteria that can make it very difficult for pathogens to take over. A healthy gut provides the entire body with beneficial bacteria that work as part of our immune system, which limits pathogenic activity throughout the entire body. Strong stomach acid makes it very hard for salmonella and many other pathogens to even get to the gut. You need a healthy digestive system to fend off pathogens. And the way one develops a robust, healthy digestive system is, in large part, by eating a lot of raw fresh vegetables and herbs. Therein lies the catch. It’s almost as is Big Pharma designed factory farms. That’s not the case, but it is too convenient that the government entities telling us how to eat are basically bought off by the drug companies while they make recommendations that don’t take our long-term health into consideration.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut

Supplements For Food Poisoning

I recommend 100% pure cranberry juice to have on hand at all times. For anything kidney related, real unadulterated cranberry juice is a godsend. Cranberry juice can help alleviate UTIs, cramping, and diarrhea.

My favorite antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, and antiviral supplement is Berberine. Many studies show how potent this herb is, and there have even been a few studies regarding its efficacy on foodborne pathogens, and it looks promising. I have taken it, personally, when I had minor food poisoning and it seemed to get rid of it quickly. I took ten of the 500mg capsules. My friend, who also ate at the same restaurant and suffered the same gastroenteritis did not opt for the naturopathic approach and did not fare so well. But, I also had a healthier gut to begin with.

Other options, which should be in every natural-based medicine cabinet, include activated charcoal (I recommend this Intestinal Detox which has activated charcoal in it), oil of oregano, and a mushroom complex (the first one on that list is my favorite). It’s also a good idea to take a probiotic before and after eating at restaurants or anytime you could catch a foodborne pathogen. Activated charcoal is also used in hospitals for food poisoning. It will attach to toxins and allow your body to flush them out easily. oil of oregano and the mushroom complex are strong antimicrobials, though Berberine is even stronger. A probiotic can help digest food and make it much more difficult for pathogens to colonize.

Takeaways

The most important thing we can do is stay healthy (or get healthy), and vote with our wallets. Get to know your local farmer’s markets, get to know the farmers, and START GROWING YOUR OWN FOOD! If you don’t have any space for a garden, start growing sprouts.

Sources:

• Is it safe to eat romaine lettuce yet? Here are latest details about E. coli outbreak – lohud.
• CDC Acknowledges Role of Farms in Antibiotic Resistance – Food Safety news
• Epidemic Salmonella typhimurium DT 104—a truly international multiresistant clone – Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
• A beef-associated outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium DT104 in The Netherlands with implications for national and international policy – NCBI
• Campylobacter, E.Coli and Salmonella – Heal Ed
• You Won’t Believe How Much Poultry Farm Waste is Allowed in the Chesapeake – Without Penalty – One Green Planet
• Chickens – Farm Sanctuary
• Reduction of fecal coliform, coliform and heterotrophic plate count bacteria in the household kitchen and bathroom by disinfection with hypochlorite cleaners – NCBI
• Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs – Federal Registry
• Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption; Extension of Compliance Dates for Subpart E – Federal Registry
• 5 people died from eating lettuce, but Trump’s FDA still won’t make farms test water for bacteria – Real News

Turmeric has in recent years become very popular among those who care about good health, with recent research showing that there are many benefits from its use in the treatment of different health conditions like cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Turmeric comes from the root of the Curcuma longa plant and has a tough brown skin and a deep orange flesh. It was often called Indian saffron because of that same deep yellow-orange color and, throughout its long history, has been used as a spice, healing remedy, and textile dye.

You can use turmeric in cooking on a regular basis for its health benefits or you can take it as a supplement.

Things to Remember When Using a Turmeric Supplement

• It should be 95% pure curcumin extract at around 50mg a tablet.
• It should also have a natural enteric coating, so the benefit is not lost by the time it reaches the upper intestine in your stomach.
• Turmeric is not easily absorbed on its own but with the right combination, you really start to see the benefits. It can be mixed with piperine, green tea, or ginkgo biloba extract. A few grains of black pepper or one twentieth to one-quarter of a teaspoon can boost turmeric’s absorption by up to 2000%. One way to take the black pepper is with some good fat.
• You need some healthy fat with your turmeric anyway. This is because turmeric is fat-soluble. Coconut oil, ghee, or extra virgin olive oil enable the curcumin to be directly absorbed into the bloodstream, through the lymphatic system while bypassing the liver. The less curcumin that is exposed to the enzymes and remains in a free form, the longer it stays in the body doing its good work.
• Finally, heat is an important component for improving absorption by increasing turmeric’s bio-availability. It is harder to include heat if you take your dose as a supplement but easier to do so if you use turmeric in your cooking. Your health can benefit If you pop in a quarter to half a teaspoon of turmeric every time you cook something in your pan, added to a little warm healthy fat.

Related: How to Optimize Curcumin Absorption – With Golden Milk Tea Recipe

The Health Benefits of Turmeric

Turmeric can help treat a wide variety of conditions including flatulence, jaundice, menstrual problems, blood in the urine, toothache, bruises, chest pain, and colic.

It is an effective treatment for inflammatory bowel disease, provides relief for rheumatoid arthritis, help for cystic fibrosis sufferers, and is thought to inhibit cancer cell growth and metastases.

Related: Garlic – The Most Amazing Herb On The Planet

But that is not all…

Here is a long list of twenty other suggested health benefits

1. It is a natural antiseptic and antibacterial agent, useful in disinfecting cuts and burns.
2. When combined with cauliflower, it has shown to prevent prostate cancer and stop the growth of existing prostate cancer.
3. Turmeric prevented breast cancer from spreading to the lungs in mice while turmeric has also shown promise in slowing the progression of multiple sclerosis in mice.
4. It may prevent melanoma and even cause existing melanoma cells to self-destruct.
5. The spice reduces the risk of childhood leukemia.
6. Turmeric is a natural liver de-toxifier.
7. It may prevent and slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by removing amyloid plaque build-up in the brain.
8. Using turmeric may prevent metastases from occurring in many different forms of cancer.
9. It is a potent natural anti-inflammatory that works as well as many anti-inflammatory drugs but without the side effects.
10. The curcumin component in turmeric provides one of the best natural painkillers, helping to block pain while fighting inflammation. Turmeric is a useful arthritis fighter, canceling the neurotransmitters from being sent to the brain.
11. As well as reducing pain, inflammation and stiffness in rheumatoid and oosteoarthritis it also treats bursitis. Turmeric is rich in anti-inflammatory properties.
12. It may aid in fat metabolism and help in weight management.
13. Turmeric has long been used in Chinese medicine as a treatment for depression.
14. If pain and discomfort in the joints are a problem for you, consider taking turmeric internally and applying H-Arthritis therapy externally.
15. It boosts the effects of chemo drug paclitaxel while reducing the drug’s side effects.
16. Promising studies are underway on the effects of turmeric on pancreatic cancer.
17. Studies are ongoing in the positive effects of turmeric on multiple myeloma.
18. Turmeric has been shown to stop the growth of new blood vessels in tumors.
19. The root speeds up wound healing and assists in re-modelling of damaged skin.
20. Turmeric could even help in the treatment of psoriasis and other inflammatory skin conditions.

Whatever condition or set of symptoms you are experiencing, it is always wise to get a medical diagnosis.

A Word of Warning

This spice should not be used by people with gallstones or bile obstruction. Though turmeric is often used by pregnant women, it is important to consult with a doctor first as turmeric can be a uterine stimulant.

Antibiotics are designed to kill bacteria. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria. Doctors, concerned that probiotics can weaken the effectiveness of antibiotics, have sometimes warned patients not to take probiotics while on an antibiotic regimen or while on chemotherapy.

But now the mainstream medical opinion has shifted. With conventional researchers and doctors developing a deeper understanding of the importance of gut bacteria and the role it plays in our immune system, many doctors now recommend taking probiotics during antibiotic and chemo regimens. Apparently, the probiotics do not significantly affect the drugs if taken two or three hours after the drugs are administered (some say to wait two hours, some say three). In fact, studies have shown that probiotics can even increase the success rate of these treatments while potentially alleviating diarrhea and other side effects.

Probiotics are typically transient. Most do not colonize well, if at all, and the ones that are more likely to won’t colonize at all under antibiotic use or chemotherapy. But even if a probiotic can’t colonize effectively, with continued administration, it’s presence can keep pathogenic organisms from proliferating without disrupting existing beneficial gut bacteria.

So how do we protect or rebuild a healthy gut microbiome? The best way to get a healthy bacterial ecosystem to develop in the gut is to eat large salads like this one every day. Antifungal supplements (like SF722) and beneficial mushrooms can also help keep the gut flora healthy and ward off infections. But no supplement compares to eating right. Doing the right supplement with a healthy diet is great, but if money is too tight to do both, put that money towards the right diet.

For more information, be sure to check out the following:

• Chemotherapy Detox
• How To Heal Your Gut
• Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections
• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included

There are more microbial cells than human cells in our bodies. Collectively the microbes are called the microbiome. Many different kinds of bacterial and non-bacterial organisms make up this microbiome. We breathe in and swallow some of them, but most are produced in our gut based on the foods we eat. Most of these microbes are in our gut, but they also reside almost everywhere else in the body. Our gut supplies our body with these microbes. In other words, even a healthy gut leaks. Beneficial microbes crowd out pathogens and help keep infections from setting in all over the body. A gut teeming with pathogenic activity supplies the body with pathogens. It’s imperative that the gut houses a diverse, healthy microbiome for the body’s immune system to function properly.

Candida resides in a healthy human gut, in the yeast form. A healthy gut colony will keep this yeast in check. In an unhealthy gut, yeast is allowed to flourish. It converts into its fungal form, grows filamentous, burrows into the gut lining, and then deposits yeast spores into the bloodstream. This also causes the gut to become “leaky”, which is to say it’s much more porous than it is supposed to be, and consequently, undigested proteins and pathogens leak into the bloodstream. This causes an immune response. If we didn’t live in such an antibacterial world with such an incredible abundance of sugars, candida would not thrive like this, but it is a tremendously versatile and opportunistic pathogen when left unchecked.

If candida is allowed to take over the gut and form its own biofilm, it becomes incredibly difficult to kill. The spores produced are nearly impossible to kill. For more on this, check Why is Candida So Hard To Kill. It’s freaky what these microbes can do!

Inflammation

An abundance of candida in the body is known to cause chronic inflammation, but what’s less common knowledge is the feedback loop this creates.

Pathogens feed off of sugars, starches, and fats (lipids). Our cells are made up of sugars, starches, and fats. Some pathogens prefer one over the other. For instance, Lyme bacteria want starches, and candida loves sugars.

Pathogens flourish in a damaged body and the presence of these pathogens causes more inflammation. When cells die, they also trigger an inflammatory response. Chronic inflammation also causes more cellular damage, leading to more cellular die-off. A chronically inflamed body is a damaged body with a lot of damaged and decaying cells that are feeding pathogens creating a positive feedback loop.

Related: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

Alcohol

Alcohol kills beneficial bacteria in the gut. It can kill fungi too, but candida spores are virtually indestructible and its biofilm can protect the microbe from alcohol as well. In other words, you’re disrupting your beneficial bacteria which allows candida to flourish. Alcohol can also raise your blood sugar which can feed candida and other pathogens through the body.

Alcohol also damages cells.

Antibiotics

Antibiotics kill bacteria, leaving fungal infections to flourish. Some antibiotics also kill fungi including candida, but nothing adequately kills fungal spores. And even if something did, they’ll be back faster than a healthy bacterial ecosystem could develop to curtail the candida and other pathogens.

Vaccines

Research has shown us that some vaccines will disrupt the gut’s microbiota. In addition to that, one’s gut microbiota affects how the host interacts with vaccines. A less healthy bacterial colony in the gut is more likely to lead to an immune response with inflammation throughout the body, which in turn can also, eventually disrupt the gut microbiota. Intestinal injuries caused by the rotavirus vaccine have been added to the government compensation program for adverse events. With the recent findings of how vaccines are more likely to cause damage with an undeveloped gut microbiome, scientists are very interested in how gut bacteria and vaccinations interact. We should see a lot more scientific discoveries about this issue in the near future.

Amalgam Fillings

When dental amalgam fillings are in the mouth, tiny particles break free and mercury vapor is released, inhaled, and swallowed. Incidentally, the mercury release is 50 times higher for those who have mercury fillings capped with gold. For a multitude of reasons, the body can’t get rid of mercury easily.

Mercury suppresses the immune system and creates an environment that is not friendly for beneficial bacteria, but candida doesn’t mind it. In fact, candida and many other fungi love toxic heavy metals and actually thrive with mercury present.

“Mercury fed Candida become more and more virulent and eventually penetrates the intestinal walls and invades the cells. These fungal microorganisms become quite at home in the cell, and can easily be considered a principle characteristic of cancer.” – Dr. Mark Sircus

Antiacids

Many people are under the mistaken impression that all disease needs acidity to thrive. This is not true. It depends on the disease. Candida likes alkalinity. The presence of candida can help to make the body very acidic, but the areas where fungal candida thrives will be less acidic. Antacids raise the PH (less acidic) of the entire digestive tract. This can cause candida to infect the stomach, which is normally far too acidic for it.

All Pharmaceuticals

Virtually all pharmaceuticals, from vaccines to Aspirin, have toxic properties which cause cellular damage that pathogens including candida will feed off of.

Smoking

Sugar is added to tobacco products. We’re not sure if inhaling the smoke from burning sugar can feed Candida or other pathogens, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it does. Regardless, the toxicity of tobacco products causes other problems that promote Candida overgrowth (and other pathogenic activity).

Smoking adds a plethora of toxic heavy metals into the body, and yeast, as mentioned above, likes toxic heavy metals. Smoking and the use of other tobacco products also affect liver function.

Every time you light a cigarette, nicotine triggers the liver to dump a large amount of glycogen into the blood stream. The blood sugar level is brought up too high, so the body calls on the pancreas to bring it back down.” – Cynthia Perkins, Holstic Help

Smoking affects the entire body, not just the liver and lungs. Smoking damages cells and causes inflammation and constriction everywhere. It also inflames and constricts the intestinal tract (if you smoke, you may notice the need to have a bowel movement after smoking). Some confuse this with “relaxing the bowels” but the truth is there is less room for digestion and so the stool is evacuated before digestion is complete. Smoking also causes rectal discharge. And smoking constricts and inflames the kidneys as well, which has the opposite effect compared to the intestinal tract. Kidneys process fluid at a slower rate and fluids can become rancid and infectious.

Juicing

Juicing has lots of benefits, but that carrot, beet, apple juice can do more harm than good for some people with an abundance of Candida in their gut. Juicing removes the fiber and other nutrients from the fruits and vegetables, and these nutrients are needed to feed a healthy gut microbiome. What’s left are sugars. If you’re just juicing kale, turmeric, lemons, collards, and garlic, or something like that, feel free to keep on juicing. But if you’re sweetening your juices with sweet fruits or carrots or beets, it doesn’t take much to make candida happy.

Fruit

We’re not saying that fruit is bad, but anyone who is suffering from an over-abundance of candida needs to lay off the fruit (not including lemons, limes, cranberries, granny smith apples, and other non-sweet fruits). Fruit is much sweeter than it used to be. Even on an all-natural, unrefined, raw food diet, we have way more access to sugar than our paleolithic ancestors did. Google wild bananas and check out what watermelon used to look like. Not only was fruit seasonal and harder to come by, but it was also much more fibrous and mealy, and much less “fruity.”

Condiments

Many condiments including salad dressings, mustards, ketchup, and hot sauces have sweeteners in them. Even without sweeteners, they are typically refined and processed with the addition of too many unnecessary ingredients. Read the ingredient labels. Better yet, make your own condiments, and use more herbs and better cooking methods to add flavor to your meals.

Organic Junk Food

Refind and processed foods fed pathogens including candida. Let’s take chips for instance. Chips often have sugar in them, including the organic varieties, but even those sugar-free brown rice and bean chips can still feed candida. Brown rice is ok for most people who aren’t very ill. When digesting brown rice, provided the gut has enough bacterial activity to do the job properly, fiber-loving gut microbes get to eat and proliferate first, before the sugar and starch molecules are exposed. But if you grind brown rice into a flour to make chips or pasta with it, you’re exposing the sugars and starches. The digestive process is altered. This is why it’s better to eat, cook with, and chew your own whole foods. Looking at those same chips as an example, the bean flour used is laden with enzyme inhibitors (unless the corporation making the food soaked and sprouted those beans properly, which is doubtful!) Enzyme inhibitors disrupt healthy gut microbiome, inhibit nutrient assimilation, and damage the digestive system. Similar examples exist for almost every single pre-packaged, processed food item in your organic health-food store.

Conclusion

When you’re chronically ill, forget the store-bought cereal, boxed nut milk, nut butters, chips, “healthy” chocolates, and food bars. To build up healthy bacterial colonies in the gut, you a variety of need whole foods. Nothing helps to grow a healthy microbiome like huge, diverse salads. Check out this article, Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting for a recipe for gut-healing salads and be sure to read How To Heal Your Gut.

Fungal Supplement Stack – Knock Out Yeast, Candida, Mold, Fungus

The first three should be plenty for most people, but for really prominent fungal issues or for impatient people with a bigger budget I’d recommend all of these:

• Formula SF722 – Thorne Research
• Abzorb Vitamin & Nutrient Optimizer (500mg) HCP Formulas
• Syntol AMD – Arthur Andrew Medical
• Berberine 500mg – Thorne Research
• MycoCeutics MycoPhyto Complex – EcoNugenics
• MicroDefense – Pure Encapsulations

Sources:

• The inflammatory response to cell death – NCBI
• Does alcohol affect blood sugar levels in diabetes? – Medical news Daily
• Influence of the microbiome on response to vaccination – NCBI
• Your Gut Microbiome Could Affect Vaccines’ Effectiveness – Discover
• What do the bacteria living in your gut have to do with your immune system? – The Conversation
• Seven-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine and Nasopharyngeal Microbiota in Healthy Children – CDC
• More Evidence Links Gut Microbiome to Autism – NEJM
• The Candida Mercury Link – Lotus Dental
• How Nicotine Affects Candida Overgrowth – Holistic Health