Foods That Feed Candida

Candida is a more common problem than most people realize. The right supplements can certainly help, but unfortunately, Candida albicans and other species of Candida (there are over 20 of them) will bounce back if you do not follow the most effective and necessary change – radically changing your diet.

Usually, the most effective protocol begins with a strict adherence to a sugar-free, grain-free, GMO-free, and processed food free diet. Over time, as the body restores balance, your immune system will be able to hold Candida in check, and more flexibility in your diet can follow. But during the first few weeks of a Candida detox diet, many foods that are normally very good for you should be avoided. The protocol for moderate-to-severe Candida overgrowth is far more restrictive than mild Candida overgrowth. Perhaps you didn’t know all of the following foods feed Candida.

Fruit

Fruits are high in natural sugars. This is by design after all fruit is nature’s candy. However, it’s important to note that sugar, any kind of sugar, feeds yeast, and Candida is a type of yeast.

For the first few weeks of a Candida detox diet, avoid all fruit. After the symptoms of Candida overgrowth die down, fruit can be reintroduced, but this should be done slowly, a few fruits at a time. Also, the reintroduction of fruit should begin with the fruits that are the lowest in sugar; the high sugar fruits should be reintroduced later. Here are some of the best fruits to initially reintroduce in the diet.

  • Lemons
  • Grapefruits
  • Limes
  • Watermelon
  • Apples
  • Raspberries
  • Kiwi
  • Strawberries
  • Blackberries
  • Blueberries

Vegetables

The majority of vegetables are great for a Candida detox diet. Raw vegetables should make up the majority of the foods we eat, all the time, whether we are on a detox diet or not. After the body heals from Candida, a diet high in raw produce, with more vegetables than fruit, is the primary diet change that will keep Candida from coming back and making us sick again – and provide the foundation for health.

Unfortunately, there are a few vegetables that should be avoided for the first few weeks, and not eaten cooked while on a Candida detox diet.

Beets are so high in sugars that cultivars have been developed that are grown just to make processed sugar (sugar beets). Especially when they are cooked, beets (any cultivar) feed yeast in a big way. Healthy people without a Candida overgrowth, should consume raw beets regularly, because they are very high in nutrients.

Alcohol

It is common knowledge that alcoholic drinks are drinks that have been fermented by yeast. Candida is also a type of yeast. Even though there are many differences between the kinds of yeasts used to brew alcohol and the kinds of yeast that infect humans, they share many important characteristics. These fungi feed on sugars and release alcohol and other toxins as waste products. Not only are these toxins harmful to us, they are devastating to the beneficial bacteria in our gut.

Just as alcohol can be applied externally to disinfect wounds (killing bacteria), when taken internally, alcohol also kills bacteria, even the beneficial bacteria that help to keep Candida in check. Without competition from bacteria, Candida can very quickly multiply and cause us a myriad of health problems.

Seafood and Other Food With Heavy Metals

Today’s seafood is not the same as the seafood that we used to catch many years ago. Unfortunately, most of our seafood is contaminated with heavy metals, radioactive material, and other toxins. Sadly, farm raised seafood is usually worse. Farm raised shrimp and fish are usually given GMO feed and they are also contaminated with high levels of PCBS, mercury, and other toxins. Also the mercury in seafood kills our beneficial bacteria, clearing the way for yeast to take over our digestive tract.

Vinegars

Vinegar is made by fermentation in a two-part process. First, yeasts metabolize the sugars into alcohol and then Acetobacter bacteria are added. These bacteria turn the alcohol into acetic acid. Most vinegars can cause inflammation of the gut, and this can make us more vulnerable to yeast infections. Apple cider vinegar is an exception, and most people with Candida overgrowth benefit from consuming it, especially the raw, organic kind. Sensitivity to vinegar does vary somewhat from person to person. Some don’t experience inflammation from any type of vinegar, while others can’t tolerate any type at all, even apple cider vinegar.

Nuts

Nuts are often contaminated with mold. Small amounts don’t pose that much of a problem for us. But since mold is a type of fungus, our bodies are less able to handle the toxins present in mold if we are besieged by Candida, and many molds contain antibiotic properties as well. As you probably guessed, mold can kill off our beneficial bacteria, and we need as much beneficial bacteria as possible to battle Candida.

Beans

Beans are notoriously difficult to digest; that’s where the gas comes from. Any foods or food combinations that are difficult to digest should be avoided when you’re on a Candida detox diet. If you can’t fully digest food that you consume, you are feeding Candida. Beans are one of those foods that are good for us when we are healthy, but not good at all when we are dealing with Candida overgrowth.

Grains

Most people consume far too many grains. Eaten in moderation, some grains are okay, but when on a Candida detox diet, or any kind of detox diet for that matter, grains should be avoided.

Many of us have been taught how to choose the foods we eat from an outdated food pyramid, or the more recent myplate.gov, which is barely an improvement. Following the government recommendations for eating grains leads to chronic disease, with Candida overgrowth being the first and most common symptom that leads to other diseases.

Agave

Most agave nectar that is sold in stores is actually a mixture of corn syrup and agave nectar. After all, corn syrup is cheaper to produce. Agave nectar has been marketed in the U.S. and abroad as a healthy sweetener, and at first glance, this appears to be true. Agave nectar is very low on the glycemic index so it appears to be good for those with blood sugar problems or those who are merely trying to watch what they eat. In truth, agave nectar is worse than high fructose corn syrup.

The reason that agave nectar is sweet is that it is very high in fructose. While fructose is very difficult for the body to digest, Candida goes to town, easily feeding off of it. Consuming high amounts of fructose impedes liver function and promotes obesity. Agave nectar is higher in fructose than high fructose corn syrup. Unfortunately, there is nothing healthy about agave nectar, especially when trying to rid the body of Candida.

Artificial Chemical Ingredients

It’s tempting to think that something with zero calories, like diet soda, is good for us. It’s a comforting thought, but it has no basis in reality.

Aspartame, MSG, Splenda, Sweet N’ Low, Equal, nearly all preservatives such as nitrites and nitrates, and any other difficult to pronounce or mysterious ingredients such as “artificial flavorings” should be avoided.

These are all recent additions to modern diets, and there is no evolutionary justification for eating them. Despite what the FDA would have us believe, we are not meant to eat synthetic chemicals that come from laboratories. There are far too many artificial ingredients for us to list here, but none of them belong in a Candida detox diet.

Other Foods

Sugar feeds Candida, so sugar needs to be completely avoided. A sweet tooth leads to a leaky gut. When sugar is consumed, it feeds Candida and too much sugar transforms Candida into an invasive fungus, robbing us of our health. Candida overgrowth can even penetrate our intestines. It sounds like something out a horror movie, and many people find this hard to believe, but it’s true.

This invasive form, called “mycelial form,” actually produces rootlike tentacles called “rhizoids.” These roots can then penetrate through the lining of the GI tract, causing a pain­ful condition known as “leaky gut,” which is increased intestinal permeability. When you have a leaky gut, partially digested food particles are able to pass through the intestinal lining and directly enter the bloodstream. Not only that, but toxic waste produced by the candida passes right into the bloodstream, too. When this happens, food allergies can result, as well as symptoms of excessive bloating, gas, belching, heartburn, diarrhea and constipation. Don Colbert M.D.

Most dairy products should also be avoided with the exception of unsweetened yogurt and kefir. Dairy contains lactose, a sugar that is difficult to digest, but Candida thrives on it.

How to Eat to Eliminate Candida

It is no small wonder why Candida overgrowth is so prevalent among people these days. Take for instance the most well known all American meal, a cheeseburger and French fries. Eating foods like these promote Candida overgrowth in multiple ways.

The cheese is usually cultured from mold, which is problematic. Usually the cheese is also full of artificial ingredients, and the cow that produced the milk that made the cheese was usually fed GMOs, given hormones and antibiotics, and kept in overcrowded disease ridden conditions. That’s also where the beef came from.

The bread likely contains GMO wheat, as we have been unable to control GMO cross contamination of our food even though all GMO wheat was ordered to be destroyed years ago. Even if the wheat isn’t genetically modified, it most likely was grown with chemical fertilizers, treated with pesticides, and then doused in Roundup just prior to harvest. Also the bread is likely to contain azodicarbonamide, a chemical used in yoga mats, and of course it isn’t good for us.

The French fries are from potatoes grown in chemical fertilizers and treated with potent pesticides, then fried in genetically modified, hydrogenated oils that are high in trans saturated fats.

The healthiest foods in the meal are the lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion but even those foods do not escape the chemical onslaught typically used in conventional agriculture to produce them. The pickle probably contains GMO sugar, artificial flavors, and artificial colors. What’s worse is that out bodies cannot easily digest a meal that is high in both carbohydrates and protein, even when we are healthy. A different approach to food is needed, and there is a better way.

A truly healthy diet consists of 80% fresh, raw, organic, produce, with more vegetables than fruit. On a Candida detox diet, fruit should always be eaten on an empty stomach; it is easier to digest that way. Starches should never be mixed with protein, and the majority of meals should be made up of vegetables. This is easy to do and very satisfying when salads are regularly consumed.

A healthy salad is made up of lots of raw organic vegetables like collard greens, kale, chard, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, onions, beets, beet tops, carrots, zucchini, radishes, cucumbers, raw garlic, (can be pressed into the salad dressing), tomatoes, avocadoes, sprouts, and, a sprinkle of a few nuts or seeds. If you eat animal products, you can add eggs, meat, and sheep or goat cheese. This is an example of a meal that heals rather than harms us.

It is far better to feed our beneficial bacteria and nourish our bodies than it is to feed parasites. Whenever we make a decision about what we eat, we are making life or death decisions. This may sound melodramatic, but it is the way our bodies work. The old adage is true: we are what we eat.

No matter how strict a Candida detox diet is, if the Standard American Diet is resumed afterwards, Candida overgrowth will quickly return. If you want to be healthy, adopt an organic lifestyle. If the bulk of the diet is made up of raw vegetables, than Candida overgrowth will never be a problem again.

From The Editor:

Below, our list of recommended supplements is a protocol that I put together based on what people have found the greatest success with to balance gut flora and heal the intestinal tract. You can take them all together except the FloraMend should be taken without other supplements. If you’re looking for a topical solution, nothing works better than SF722 (both internal and externally), but it causes a burning sensation that is very intense. It does not damage the skin but it hurts until the Candida is dead.

Recommended Supplements:
  • Shillington’s Intestinal Cleanse (kills parasites, heals the intestinal walls, sets up hospital home for health flora)
  • Formula SF722 (undecenoic acid, kills candida and other fungal infections better than other antimicrobials)
  • FloraMend-Prime by Thorne (a strong probiotic designed to pass through the stomach acid and into the intestinal tract, all other supplements can be taken together, but take this one separately like early morning and late night)
  • MicroDefense – Pure Encapsulations (a parasite killer, works pretty well on Candida, but works even better on many other parasites)
  • Shillington’s Intestinal Detox (This is necessary only for those with seriously damaged intestines, anyone who has recently been vaccinated, or those looking to do a thorough detox)
Further Reading:
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Medication Pollution – We All Live Downstream

Think about it. We all live downstream. Everything we dump down the sink, or flush down the toilet enters our water supply. When you fill that cup from the tap, how many pharmaceuticals do you think are in the water?

Medications are manufactured and sold as over the counter drugs, prescription drugs, and drugs developed for use only within a medical setting (such as vaccines, anesthesia, and drugs used for medical tests). Last year, 4,002,661,750 prescriptions were filled in the United States. Yes, that’s more than 4 billion, 2 million prescriptions. And these were just the prescriptions. Approximately 2.9 billion trips were made to the pharmacy or other retail store to buy over the counter drugs. So all in all, Americans purchased close to 7 billion drugs last year, not counting the medications used in hospitals and clinics.

In households, medications accumulate. In the typical medicine cabinet you will find a combination of drugs:

  • Medications currently prescribed and taken on a daily or on an as needed basis.
  • Medications purchased over-the-counter to be used if/when needed.
  • Prescriptions partially used due to patient non-compliance or a change in prescription.
  • And all too often – a full collection of outdated medications!

Prescription and over-the-counter medications are dangerous. If they are not kept under lock and key, the risk of medications being taken by others is great. Small children mimic their parents. Pre-teens and teens experiment. And children of the household are not the only possible culprits. Their friends will surely check out your medicine cabinet, if given the chance. In fact, it isn’t that uncommon for adult visitors to steal a few pills here and there.

Obviously, it is best to dispose of unused and expired drugs, but all too often they are flushed down the toilet. Even if we didn’t dispose of them improperly, drugs would end up in our water. Whatever drugs we take are excreted in urine and feces. This is true for both humans and animals. Now that conventional factory farming has become the standard, these over-crowded, inhumane meat and dairy factories are filled with animals that are injected and fed hormones to speed up growth and fed antibiotics to survive their abysmal, unhealthy conditions. The waste runoff goes into groundwater and contaminates nearby creeks and rivers.

In addition, many medications come in the form of creams and salves. These are also washed down the drain along with all of the chemicals contained in our personal care products, our cleaning supplies, soaps, and laundry detergents.

All chemicals in the water are beginning to be a problem. Though all sorts of pharmaceuticals are found in our water (antibiotics, hormones, psychiatric drugs, heart medications, and more), the experts say the levels are not yet high enough to affect us, but they are high enough to affect aquatic life. This is a problem in itself and also a sure sign that the levels are rising and will soon become a health concern.

Some pharmaceutical companies allow nursing homes and hospitals to return meds. But what are we supposed to do?

You can check with your county government or city government to ask if they have a medication disposal program in place. They may have an ongoing program or like our county, have a bi-annual medication disposal day. While a twice a year program does help keep meds out of the water, it does little to keep excess medications out of the home.

Check with you pharmacy to see what programs they may have in place. Walgreens and CVS both sell envelopes for $3.99 to ship non-controlled substances to a disposal facility where the unopened envelope is incinerated. And although they say they do not open the envelopes, you are not supposed to send in controlled substances.

Some argue that the cost, the lack of availability, and the emissions from incinerating medications make throwing meds away a better option. They suggest emptying pills and mixing them with nasty garbage to discourage anyone from picking through garbage to retrieve pills.

It’s too bad the obscenely rich pharmaceutical companies are not required by law to take back unused and expired medications for disposal for free. But with their track record of deceit and corruption, they would probably just repackage them for resell.

If you’ve decided to clean up your act and dispose of all your unneeded medications please do not flush them. Either find a program of throw them away.

If you want to get off of pharmaceuticals and leave the conventional medical model behind, true health starts with a nutrient dense, whole food, plant-based diet consisting of 80% fresh, raw, organic produce, more vegetables than fruits. Include healthy fats; they are essential. If you choose to eat meat, choose only organic meats to avoid antibiotics, hormones, and meat from animals that were fed GMO feed and raised in inhumane conditions. Avoid all artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives. Avoid processed sugar, MSG, artificial sweeteners, and all genetically modified foods. Eliminate cow dairy and gluten as well if you suffer from any kind of auto-immune disease or chronic condition.

Further Reading:
Sources:


Five Things You Can Do to Help Your Child Manage ADHD Naturally

If your child is challenged with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, chances are you have both doctors and educators demanding you put your child on medication. Take heart. There are natural ways to help your child.

First and foremost, diet plays a crucial and primary role in managing your child’s health and symptoms. Diet management is simple, but overarching. Your child needs the healthiest possible diet, but then again, don’t all of us?

Diet

The healthiest possible diet consists of 80% raw, fresh, organic produce – more vegetables than fruit. This means salads, chopped up veggies to snack on, carrot slaw, coleslaw, kale salad, spinach salad, apple salad, fruit salads, smoothies and more. Whole foods are both nourishing and healing. If you eat meat, be sure it is organic. If you eat dairy, choose goat or sheep milk and cheese. Be sure to include healthy fats in the diet like coconut oil, avocados, and flax seed oil or a high quality, beneficial fatty acid supplement. Make sure your child’s diet is high in B vitamins or supplement B complex. Of course choose a whole food vitamin if you are supplementing – never synthetic.

If your current diet resembles the American Standard Diet, you’ll be focusing more on what not to eat that what to eat. To begin with, eliminate all artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives. No BHA, BHT, MSG, trans fats, GMOs, high fructose corn syrup (or any corn syrup), and seriously limit or eliminate all sugars except raw honey. Never, under any circumstances, feed your child artificial sweeteners. It wouldn’t be a bad idea (at least in the beginning) to eliminate gluten as well. After several weeks on a really clean diet, you could add it back in and monitor results.

If your child has any known food allergies, completely eliminate offending foods.

Detox

Children with ADHD often have issues with heavy metals and other substances they need to detox. For children, it is best to work with a knowledgeable health care provider who practices chelation therapy and detoxification protocols.

The proper diet (as mentioned above) provides on-going detoxification the natural way. Make sure your child’s diet includes fresh garlic, onions, and cilantro – all of which aid in detoxification and chelation.

Sleep

Adequate, quality sleep is essential for ADHD challenged children to maintain impulse control and focus. Do you know how many hours your child requires? Do bedtimes in your home allow for this much sleep, including wind down time to fall asleep?

  • Age 3-5 years: 11-13 hours
  • Age 6-13 years: 9-11 hours
  • Teenagers 14 and up: 8-10 hours

If your child has difficulty sleeping, again, this is another area where B vitamin supplementation may help.

Exercise and Earthing

Hyperactive children need to run and play. The more they exercise, the better they sleep and the more control they have over their bodies and their attention.

While skateboards, roller skates, bikes, trampolines, and the like will all be great aids for these kids, don’t forget that lack of impulse control leads to risky behaviors. Increased supervision may be required.

Encourage contact with the ground. Barefoot in the grass, laying in the grass, connecting with the earth – however it is done can help. (see below).

Unconditional Love and Positive Regard

Identify and celebrate your child’s strengths and unique abilities. Your child needs to develop a healthy self-esteem and there is little to no chance this will happen through the school system.

Throughout this child’s formative years, the message from most of the adults in his or her life will be one of disappointment, disapproval, and possibly disbelief ADHD is real.

Your unconditional love, respect, and appreciation will provide the emotional foundation your child needs to develop a healthy sense of self.

Conclusion

ADHD is caused by poor functioning of the frontal lobes of the brain. Everything that can be done to improve gut health, hormonal balance, and overall health, will help control symptoms. Grounding or Earthing may help as well.

Recommended Supplements:
Further Reading:
Sources:


GMO Facts and Arguments

There has been a debate raging about GMOs for a long time now. On one side of the debate is the idea that genetic engineering is progress for humanity, a natural extension of more traditional breeding techniques. The other side believes genetically modified foods are unsafe for human consumption and harmful to the environment.

Biotech companies claim that genetic modification yields more precise control over artificial selection. Studies funded by the industry consistently demonstrate safety, but only over the short term. For years, Monsanto, Dow, Syngenta, and other biotech based agricultural companies have told the public that there is nothing to worry about. Genetic modification will be the technology that will improve food in every conceivable way. Food will be more nutritious. Crops will be more vigorous, more disease resistant, etc. There are literally thousands of studies demonstrating GMO safety. Scrutiny reveals these short-term studies are funded by or performed by the industry itself.

As more independent scientists complete long-term studies, a very different picture has emerged about the safety of GMOs and their many other drawbacks. When these studies are not funded by industry, the results show us an uncontrollable, uncontainable, and dangerous technology with serious health hazards.

Seralini’s Research Broke New Ground

One of the first studies to ring the alarm was a 2-year, long-term chronic toxicity study. Don’t believe the hype churned out by biotech that criticizes the Seralini study until you take the time to look into the defense of their methods. The Seralini study was actually a well-designed and well-conducted study. If we are to accept the argument that Séralini’s study does not provide substantial evidence that genetically modified food is dangerous, then we must also conclude that the short-term toxicity studies funded by the agriculture industry (primarily Monsanto) on GM foods cannot prove that they are safe. They are in fact the same type of study, conducted the same way,  even using the same type of rats. The only significant difference was the duration of the study. Seralini’s study showed how the previous 90-day studies are misleading as 90 days is not long enough to test for long-term effects like organ damage, cancer, and premature death. The first tumors appeared in the rats after four months. This study was able to distinguish the effects of GM food from GM food grown with allotted pesticides. The results provide strong evidence supporting the claim that genetically modified food, especially genetically modified food grown with Roundup, is highly toxic and unfit for animal or human consumption.

New Studies on GMOs

There are other studies showing that GMOs are even worse than what was originally feared. Dr. Kruger’s research shows how chronically ill people have higher glyphosate levels than healthy people. Dr. Swanson has linked glyphosate use with America’s deteriorating health. Dr. Young’s work showed how Roundup, at surprisingly low amounts, is an endocrine disruptor in human cells. It doesn’t take much Roundup to disrupt hormones; the levels of Roundup allowed in municipal drinking water is enough to cause harm. There are many other studies that are showing other problems with GMOs. Independent science is coming to a different conclusion than industry-funded science. That doesn’t seem all that surprising though, does it?

Even Short-Term Studies (When Independently Done) are Demonstrating Real Safety Issues with GMOs

Dr. Oraby fed rats a diet of GM soy and GM corn for 1-3 months. Despite the short duration of the study, the study ended with a surprising number of dead and unhealthy rats, except of course the control group of rats who weren’t fed GMO food. The damage done to these rats from short-term GMO consumption was staggering. This study showed a wide range of toxic effects, including DNA damage, abnormal sperm, blood changes, and damage to the liver, the kidneys and testes – irrefutable evidence that GM foods are hazardous to health.

Most Americans have been eating GMOs for a lot longer than three months. The only reason we’re not all dead is because GM foods are not the only food  we eat. If 100% of all of our foods were genetically modified, our overall health as a nation would be even worse. As a nation, the U.S. is in very poor health, and we have every reason to believe that genetically modified foods are a big part of the problem.

A Controlled Dialog

For years, biotech has tried to frame the argument for genetic modification as one between the knowledgeable and the unknowledgeable. In their efforts to change their image, they have even managed to recruit to aid of Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson to advocate for the science of genetic engineering. Bill and Neil portray the critics of GMO technology as superstitious and ignorant. They respond to the criticisms of GMO technology as if they were addressing irrational fears. When Bill Nye or Neil deGrasse Tyson talk GMOs, they make all manner of bold pronouncements declaring GMOs safe and wonderful.

It would be nice to believe that Bill Nye The Science Guy and Neil deGrasse Tyson would never accept money from biotech to promote GM technology, but Monsanto is a master of lobbying and payoffs. It would have been good for business to buy off Bill and Neil. Thankfully, not every scientist is for sale.

By never addressing the evidence provided by long-term studies, independent studies, or the concerns of numerous prominent scientists, biotech furthers the misconception that they are those in the know and everyone else is misinformed. In truth, the science isn’t all that complicated. Anyone can come to understand GMOs well enough to become informed.

The public sees both Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson as spokesmen for science. Unfortunately, neither of them are as broadly trained in science as most people think. They speak on a wide variety of scientific topics, so they give the impression that they just about know it all. In truth, there has not been anyone knowledgeable enough to fill Carl Sagan’s shoes since his death, though Bill and Neil have certainly tried. They give the impression of being knowledgeable in all fields of science, as their mentor Carl Sagan actually was. (Carl Sagan was adamantly opposed to genetic engineering and he had advanced training in biology). Science needs a spokesperson who’s not for sale.

95% of the American Public and Many Scientists Want GMO Foods Labeled

This is not a debate of irrational fears versus a pragmatic technology. This is an argument among scientists and governments. There are those scientists who are employed by the U.S. government and biotech, and then there’s just about everyone else. On the issue of GMO labeling, most of us are in agreement. Many countries all over the world ban the cultivation of GMOs, and many countries mandate that GMOs be labeled. The debate went global a long time ago. While the rest of the world bans GMOs, Americans have been unsuccessful in just getting GM foods labeled.

Scientists have been speaking out against GMOs for some time now. For years they have been pointing out GMO failures in yield, toxicity, safety, and containment. Recently the World Health Organization named Roundup a carcinogen. One of the most common genetic modifications is the modification making crops Roundup ready and immune to the Roundup herbicide. In light of the health concerns raised by skeptical scientists, you would think that the U.S. would be scaling back on its use of Roundup and other suspected or known toxic chemicals in agriculture. Instead of scaling back on the use of pesticides, these kinds of chemicals are being used more widely.

Before the harvest of conventional oats, wheat, and other crops, Roundup is often applied in large amounts, dramatically increasing the American consumers’ exposure to this  carcinogen. The U.S. government has now approved the use of Agent Orange ready (24-D) soy and corn. No one should consume these chemicals in their food, yet the government says it’s okay. Common sense says otherwise. If common sense fails some of us, there is plenty of evidence and hundreds of experts to fall back on.

Scientists All Over the World Have Called For a Moratorium on All Genetic Engineering

Scientists such as Prof. Ruth Hubbard, Geneticist, Harvard University, USA and 814 other scientists have written an open letter to governments and international forums. These prominent scientists are extremely concerned about the hazards that GMOs pose to biodiversity and food safety. They are “extremely concerned” about the risks GMOs pose to human health and animal health. Experts all over the world are saying it’s time to change our agricultural practices.

Patents are meant to protect property rights, but the patents on genetically modified foods have been used to take farmers’ lands away from their rightful owners. Instead of protecting the freedom to own property, these patents are eroding the rights of property owners.

GM pollen from GM crops can travel miles. It is commonplace for birds, insects, and weather to carry GM pollen and seeds. Animals and natural processes can spread patented genes onto other farms. When this happens, hapless farmers are sued, and contrary to all common sense, they are the ones who usually lose in court.

GM crops cross-pollinate with other crops so voraciously that we can’t seem to get rid of some unapproved GM varieties. Genetically modified wheat keeps popping up in farmers’ fields across the country though it was ordered to be completely destroyed 14 years ago, way back in 2001.

The current techniques used to genetically modify foods are unreliable, uncontrollable, and unpredictable. Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of unwanted mutations result from genetic engineering. These can result in new allergens or toxins, and even new viruses. This makes sense when you consider that GMO foods are made to either be immune to poison or to create their own poisons or both. Traditional breeding techniques are simply more controllable and predictable.

This is an argument made by thousands of farmers and scientists.

These Are Just Some of the Reasons GM Foods Should Not Qualify as Inventions

GM crops are neither necessary nor beneficial to agriculture. There have been many failures of genetically modified crops. Now that independent research is being done on GM crops, the picture of a failed technology emerges from the research.

  • Genetically modified crops have produced inferior yields when compared to their unmodified counterparts.
  • GM crops have been shown to have poor disease resistance.
  • GM crops engineered to contain BT toxins kill beneficial insects such as bees, lacewings, swallowtails, and monarch butterflies. (Monsanto claims they are concerned about this, but so far greenwashing has been their only response).
  • Glufosinate causes birth defects in mammals.
  • Fruit abortion (a failure of fruit production) is a problem.
  • Glyphosate has been linked to cancer.
  • Farmers are experiencing poor financial returns.
  • GMOs violate farmers rights.
  • GMOs violate human rights and basic human dignity. (The right to know and control what we put into our bodies is a basic and fundamental human right).

The 815 scientists who wrote their open letter to the world are calling for support for research and development of non-corporate sustainable agriculture. Much of this invaluable research has already been done. Bill Mollison and David Holmgren have developed sustainable, non-corporate organic agriculture. They can farm anywhere and their yields are amazing. Their techniques are called permaculture, which means permanent culture. If agriculture does not become sustainable, it will not last, and we will not survive.

Profitable and Sustainable Are Not Always the Same Thing

The biotech industry would have the public believe that they are improving upon life through genetic modification and doing it sustainably. We are told that the benefits outweigh any risks, or even less believable, that genetic engineering is a risk-free technology.

When put into practice, the benefits accrue to Big Agriculture while the costs are paid for by the consumer and society in the form of higher prices, toxic food, and environmental degradation.

The costs of genetically modifying food is also paid by farmers. They face the threat of GMO contamination, pesticide runoff, soil degradation, and higher seed prices. In a successful attempt to manipulate the market, biotech corporations have been buying seed companies for some time. This enables biotech companies to make non-genetically modified seeds more expensive, and harder to obtain after they genetically modify a particular crop such as corn. Non GMO corn seed became much more expensive in North America after Monsanto produced GM corn seed. Even though this is a violation of our antitrust laws, biotech companies are still getting away with it. The same thing is happening in Spain. After allowing GMO cultivation, the variety of maize available to Spanish farmers has declined dramatically. Rising corn prices are sure to follow.

In a successful attempt to manipulate the market, biotech corporations have been buying up seed companies for some time, as the government looks the other way, ignoring anti-trust concerns. As these giant companies monopolize the marketplace, they are able to raise seed prices for both GM and non-GM seeds. When they produce a new GM crop, the seeds for the same non-GM crop become more expensive and harder to obtain. For example,  non-GM corn seed became much more expensive in North America after Monsanto produced GM corn seed. The same thing is happening in Spain. After allowing GMO cultivation, the variety of maize available to Spanish farmers declined dramatically. Rising corn prices are sure to follow.

Genetic engineering is not what Big Agriculture claims it is, and it will never do what they claim it will.

What are Believable Coincidences and What are Unbelievable Coincidences?

Health problems are rising along with with increased GMO consumption. Many will argue that is a coincidence, but a firm belief in coincidence is what biotech has been counting on since the technology was released to the public.

There are no labels, which mean no liability and no traceability. That’s only a part of their protection. You can’t sue Monsanto for harm caused from their products. They enjoy special legal protection that they lobbied and paid big money for. (That’s right American politicians are for sale, or didn’t you know?) These legal protections could be taken away from them if more of us would question these coincidences and investigate these correlations.

It will take an overwhelming majority of us demanding change in order for change to happen. The Vietnam War ended under the intense sustained pressure of the American people. That wasn’t what the military industrial complex wanted – so it was an uphill battle. This will be an uphill battle as well.

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How Conventional Medical Germophobia Ruins Health

For thousands of years, people thought disease was divine punishment for their sins. Eventually, the Egyptians and Hebrews noticed that contact with lepers could transmit leprosy, but even after this realization, knowledge of how people get sick progressed very slowly. Greeks and Indians learned to treat wounds with moldy bread, unwittingly using them as a natural antibiotic.The collective work and sacrifice of many scientists such as Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch, Emile Roux, and Sir Alexander Fleming changed our understanding of disease and how it is transmitted. But while germ theory tells us how people get sick, it does not tell us why some people become ill when others do not.

Cleanliness

In 1847, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis made the connection between childbed fever and doctors who worked with cadavers before delivering babies without washing their hands. Using simple logic and the process of elimination, he found lack of cleanliness to be the only difference between one clinic with a high death rate and another (run by midwives who did not work with cadavers) with a low death rate.

Semmelweis’ revolutionary and controversial notion of hand washing only gained acceptance years after his death, but once adopted, hand washing reduced the childbirth mortality rate by 90%.

Pasteurization

Louis Pasteur taught us that microorganisms do not develop without contamination. Before his experiments proved otherwise, general thought still supported the idea of spontaneous generation – that bacteria just grew from nowhere. Experiments with pasteurization and sterilized closed flasks proved otherwise. Pasteurization led to the prevention of food poisoning and the practice of proper canning techniques.

Vaccines

Pasteur and Emile Roux invented the rabies vaccine, an incredible discovery that has saved countless lives. When human beings are infected with the virus, the disease is nearly always fatal if they did not receive a vaccination. (There has only been one documented case of a rabies survivor who wasn’t treated with the vaccine). Rabies kills more than 50,000 people a year.

Louis Pasteur and Emile Roux’s idea was genius. They treated the infected patient with the rabies vaccine, which contained a weakened virus. The rabies vaccine trained the immune system to fight off the virus before the wild rabies virus has a chance multiply in large enough numbers to wreak havoc on the body by attacking the nervous system and the brain. Note: this was medicine used to treat a sick person not medicine used to prevent disease in a healthy person.

Antibiotics

Sir Alexander Fleming, a Scottish biologist, officially discovered penicillin in 1928, though molds and moldy bread had been used to heal wounds since ancient times. Penicillin was the first antibiotic, a classification of drugs that began with substances derived from molds and other microbes that either killed bacteria (bactericidal antibiotics) or halted the growth of other bacteria (bacteriostatic antibiotics). Later these natural occurring substances were replaced with chemical compounds or synthetic varieties.

We Understand Germs, So What Are We Doing Wrong?

If we focus too much on germs and how to defeat them, it’s easy to miss the real goal – ensuring our health.

Cleanliness Taken Too Far

Learning that germs can be spread by the things or the people we touch doesn’t mean we should wash our hands all the time, all day long. If wash your hands too often, you will dry them out. If you push it far enough, you can even make your hands so dry that the skin will crack and bleed, making you even more prone to infection. Just because it is prudent to wash our hands before delivering a baby, before cooking, before eating, or after we go to the bathroom, doesn’t mean we should wash our hands them constantly.

Constant hand washing isn’t a problem for most of us; generally it is reserved for those with obsessive compulsive disorder. Instead we made the mistake of thinking antibacterial soap was a good idea. Might as well kill the germs when we wash, right? Wrong.

Germicides such as triclosan, and triclocarban, are found in over half of all soaps sold in the U.S. There is no scientific evidence that justifies its widespread use, and there is a lot of evidence that suggests antimicrobials are actually quite harmful and make us more prone to getting sick. Even worse, if we do get sick, we are more likely to get sick with an antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Furthermore triclosan acts as an endocrine disruptor in animal studies; it interferes with thyroid hormones. We have every reason to believe that it works the same way in humans. This could lead to serious health problems such as obesity, infertility, and even cancer.

Unfortunately, these are not all of the problems associated with triclosan. Another study found triclosan interferes with muscle contractions in animal and in human muscle cells. This is of particular concern because the chemical penetrates the skin and enters the bloodstream more easily than what was originally thought. A 2008 study done by the CDC detected triclosan in the urine of 75% of the people they tested. Antibacterial soaps are the kinds of soaps most commonly found in public restrooms, but triclosan is also found in toothpaste, mouthwash, and even yoga mats.

Antimicrobials are indiscriminate – they kill every kind of germ, including the beneficial bacteria found on our skin that are intended to outcompete harmful organisms. When we wash with regular soap, we do not kill all of the germs, but we significantly reduce their numbers. Keeping your good microbes and limiting your exposure to toxins is better than trying to sterilize your hands. Besides, your hands will never be sterile. The best we can hope for is clean.

Pasteurization Taken Too Far

It turns out the majority of your food should be consumed fresh and raw, not pasteurized. Raw milk and raw juices are good for you. If we ate only pasteurized and thoroughly cooked foods, we would be depriving our bodies of vitamins, enzymes, and other nutrients. In our zeal to avoid harmful germs in our food, we could actually increase the likelihood that we will be unable to fend off an infection and become sick.

Fresh, raw, organic produce provides our bodies with the nutrients it needs for a healthy immune system. Even the parts of produce that we can’t digest, the fiber, encourage the growth and multiplication of beneficial bacteria in our gut, which in turn aids in digestion, nutrient assimilation, vitamin production and more. Raw produce also provides us with enzymes to aid in digesting our food.

We need the nutrients from food that pasteurization destroys. Of course, some food in a truly healthy diet can be pasteurized, but pasteurized foods should be eaten only in moderation.

Vaccines Taken Too Far

It is just as naïve to believe that we need a vaccine for every disease, as it is to think we need to wash our hands every five minutes.

Unfortunately, the practice of vaccination has been taken so far that simply being alive and healthy means to many that we are in dire need of treatment. Health and vitality do not need to medicated, inoculated, and treated. Here again, we have too much of a good thing, making it bad. The pharmaceutical industry wants everyone to be their customer, including those who are sick and healthy.

Current CDC guidelines recommend more than 70 vaccines from birth to age 19. With more than 300 vaccines in development, this number is expected to increase dramatically in the future. This will not ensure our health as a nation, quite the contrary. Vaccines contain all sorts of toxic ingredients, and the accumulated effect of these toxins lowers our resistance to disease. Vaccines do create antibodies to a select few strains of diseases, but these antibodies are temporary, disappearing after a few years. The toxins in vaccines on the other hand, are not so temporary. Once inside us, these toxins are very difficult to expel. Even if we could get rid of them immediately (which we can’t), they do considerable harm to us on the way out. Mercury, aluminum, MSG and formaldehyde are a few of the more common vaccine ingredients. These poisons, or adjuvants and preservatives, cause all kinds of harm – destroying healthy tissue, over stimulating part of our immune response while simultaneously lowering immunity on the cellular level. Routine vaccination makes us more susceptible to disease, not less so. Routine vaccination makes us much more susceptible to chronic illnesses as well such as Alzheimer’s, autism, ADHD, and asthma.

Antibiotics Taken Too Far

There is no doubt that antibiotics save lives and alleviate misery. The problem is, they also do a great deal of damage to the body and the immune system.

We have ten times the microbes living on us and in us than we do cells in our bodies. Antibiotics are indiscriminate killers. While attacking the bacteria that is making us ill, they also destroy beneficial bacteria in the gut, disrupting the natural balance of good bacteria and bad bacteria. This imbalance also leads to an overgrowth of Candida. Both the bad bacteria and the Candida give off toxins that in large numbers are harmful to the body.

Conventional medicine relies upon antibiotics as the first line of defense, not the last. Natural medicine uses supplements (usually made of concentrated foods and herbs) vitamins, tinctures, and other treatments to give the body the resources it needs to combat an infection or chronic disease. Antibiotic abuse causes a downward spiral of immune response as the gut microbiome becomes further imbalanced with each use of antibiotics.

Conclusion

Illnesses are not inevitable and unavoidable; they are the result of an impaired immune system. There’s only one cause of disease despite all of the disease causing bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi we have identified. All diseases are caused by cellular malfunction.

Cells malfunction whenever they face severe enough nutrient deficiencies or an excess of toxins. While it is true that germs played a pivotal role in every bacteria- based bout of illness, we need to remember that we are bombarded with germs every single day. Pathogenic microbes can be found on solid surfaces, on food and even in the air. We get constant exposure to thousands of disease causing organisms everywhere, all the time. If we get sick from this level of exposure we are doing something wrong. When germs make us ill, it is because our defenses failed due to toxic overload, nutrient deficiencies, or a combination of the two.

Building up your immunity is a great preventative measure, but this is better accomplished in a different manner than what conventional medicine recommends. It turns out though that immunity doesn’t come from routinely injecting toxic ingredients like ethyl mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde, MRC-5 Cells (aborted fetal tissue cultures), MSG or polysorbate 80. But rather from ingesting recipe ingredients such as raw collard greens, beets, kale, cilantro, parsley, unsweetened cranberry juice and other raw organic produce.

Diet is the most important defense against disease. The right kind of diet detoxifies our bodies and provides us with enough nutrients to maintain health. The right kind of foods create sufficient numbers of beneficial bacteria in and on our bodies and this is actually what comprises the majority of our immune system. It is our beneficial bacteria that are our best and first defense against an invasion of harmful microbes. With adequate sleep, stress management, detoxification and high quality nutrition we shouldn’t get sick from the kind of exposure to pathogens that is unpreventable.

If we are to believe that germs are the sole cause of disease than we simply surrender helpless to their invisible power, powerless to stop their onslaught. The conventional approach hopes shots can prevent disease, or that pills will make diseases go away once we get them. But it turns out germs don’t cause disease, being unhealthy does. We have more control over our micro-ecologies than most people realize. If we eat right and adopt other healthy habits we are able to build up our defenses to such a level that they can withstand nearly any onslaught from disease causing organisms.

We are not powerless to the germs around us but rather masters of our own microbiology. We can shore up on nutrients and rid our bodies of toxins to prevent disease. With a healthy diet and other healthy habits we can beat pathogens before they make us sick; we can beat disease naturally, or as many would say, organically.

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How To Kill Candida, Fungi, Yeast in the Body

There are over twenty different species of Candida known to cause yeast infections. The best known, and most common, is Candida albicans. Natural treatments for yeast infection do not vary based on the type of yeast that is attacking the body; both the protocol and supplementation are the same.

Candida is typically present in healthy individuals. It can live on the skin and in mucous membranes without causing an infection or any ill effects. As a fungus, it even plays an important role in breaking down organic wastes and recycling the nutrients. A little Candida is not a bad thing, but a lot of it, especially when it spreads throughout the body, is a very bad thing.

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

A Silent Epidemic

Candida is opportunistic and highly adaptive. When given the right conditions Candida albicans can overgrow very quickly causing yeast infections and fungemias (systemic fungal infections). Mild to severe Candida infections are incredibly common among the U.S. population due to the Standard American Diet, which is very conducive to Candida overgrowth.

Candidiasis is more prone to occur in warm and moist areas of the body; areas like the digestive tract, the genitals, mouth, throat, skin folds, and anywhere in the body with dead or dying tissue. After Candida eats away at dead tissue, it will often attack healthy tissue in order to keep growing. And Candida creates waste products that are neurotoxins such as formaldehyde, alcohol, and acetlyaldehyde. Candida infections include the following:

  • Skin (yeast infection or diaper rash)
  • Genitals (genital/vulvovaginal candidiasis)
  • Throat (thrush or oropharyngeal candidiasis)
  • Mouth (thrush or oropharyngeal candidiasis)
  • Blood (invasive candidiasis)
  • Digestive Tract

As you can see, yeast infections can happen just about anywhere. Athlete’s foot and ear infections are directly caused by Candida while many other ailments such as the cold and flu are indirectly caused by Candida. When our immune system is stressed and taxed from battling Candida, we are more prone to other infections. Usually, when someone is sick they are dealing with multiple pathogens including Candida and other fungi, though not always at a level where conventional medical testing would show it.

Systemic candida infections, even mild infections, can place a heavy burden on our body’s defenses making it open season for other pathogens. This is how most of us get sick. The Standard American Diet and Candida impair our immune system enough to make us susceptible to viral and bacterial illnesses.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut

Candida Overgrowth Mimics Other Conditions

There are so many symptoms of Candida overgrowth that it can be difficult to diagnose. It is exceedingly rare that someone would have all of the symptoms and the combination of symptoms varies a great deal from person to person. Far too often, symptoms of candida overgrowth are mistaken for other conditions such as ADHD, Autism, Alzheimer’s, and Multiple Sclerosis. Worse still, Candida overgrowth makes these conditions far more difficult to manage.

The symptoms of Candida overgrowth are legion. Much of the following list of symptoms of Candida overgrowth is from Donna Gates book The Body Ecology Diet.

  • Chronic fatigue
  • Poor memory
  • Feeling spacy or unreal
  • Indecisiveness
  • Numbness
  • Burning sensations
  • Tingling sensations
  • Insomnia
  • Muscle aches, or muscle weakness or bouts of paralysis
  • Pain or swelling in joints (especially the knees)
  • Abdominal pain
  • Constipation or Diarrhea
  • Excessive gas causing bloating, belching, or flatulence
  • Burning sensation in genitals or around genitals
  • Prostatitis
  • Impotence
  • Low libido
  • Endometriosis or infertility
  • Cramps and/or other menstrual irregularities
  • Premenstrual tension
  • Anxiety
  • Sudden feelings of sadness
  • Cold hands, feet and cold flashes
  • Shaking when hungry
  • Irritability (especially when hungry)
  • Drowsiness
  • Poor coordination
  • Inability to concentrate
  • Frequent mood swings
  • Headaches
  • Dizziness, and loss of balance
  • Pressure above ears, and a feeling of the head swelling
  • Bruising easily
  • Chronic rashes
  • Frequent itching especially in the nasal passages, ears, arches of the feet, genitals, and scalp
  • Psoriasis or recurrent hives
  • Indigestion and/or frequent heartburn
  • Food sensitivity or food intolerances
  • Food allergies and other allergies
  • Dandruff
  • Mucus in stools
  • Rectal itching
  • Dry mouth, or throat
  • Rash or blisters in mouth
  • Bad breath
  • Foot, hair, or body odor not relieved by washing
  • Nasal congestion, or post nasal drip
  • Sore throat
  • Laryngitis or loss of voice
  • Cough or recurrent bronchitis
  • Pain or tightness in chest
  • Wheezing or shortness of breath
  • Frequent need to urinate
  • Incontinence
  • Burning sensation when urinating
  • Seeing spots or blurry vision
  • Burning or tearing of eyes
  • Recurrent ear infections
  • Pain in ears and/or difficulty hearing

The Role of Bacteria

Bacteria live in and on the human body in either a harmful or a health promoting, symbiotic relationship. We have ten times more bacteria in and on our bodies than our number of human cells. We label bacteria as bad when it feeds off of healthy tissue or releases toxins through its metabolic processes.

Beneficial bacteria in the gut digest our food, assimilate the nutrients present in our food, and they even make vitamins and the body’s majority of neurotransmitters. Bacteria play a dominant role in our immune system. Beneficial bacteria work hard to keep bad bacteria and Candia in check.

The remainder of the body’s defenses would be quickly overwhelmed by invading pathogens without the help of friendly microorganisms. If we take care of our good microbes, they’ll take care of the bad microbes for us.

Diet Is Key

The easiest and most effective way to increase beneficial bacteria and build up the immune system is to eat the right foods. Without changing the diet, all of the supplements and medications in the world won’t rid the body of Candida. The right food is the best medicine; it restricts the growth of Candida and aids in the growth of beneficial bacteria.

Gut microbiomes can even influence our food cravings. This can make it even more difficult to change our diet than we once thought, but new evidence is emerging that further reinforces the notion that the change is well worth the effort.

Bad bacteria and yeast prefer junk food, low fiber, sugar, and a lot of carbohydrates and processed foods. Sugar directly feeds yeast. Simple refined sugars feed it the best. A diet high in sugar also enables viral and bacterial infections, as sugar impairs immune system function. This is standard American fare but not what we have evolved to eat. This is much of the reason why Americans are, on average, in such poor health.

We evolved to eat foods in their entirety, not reconstituted, concentrated foods. Food is more than just vitamins, minerals, and calories. The parts of food that we don’t digest, the fiber, is crucial to our health. So is a diverse diet.

High fiber foods such as raw produce modulate our metabolism. If you drink a large glass of orange juice your blood sugar will jump up. Not so if you eat a large orange. Fiber regulates the speed at which food travels through our digestive system. It slows the release of the sugars and carbohydrates from food and it feeds beneficial bacteria. Raw produce, more vegetables than fruit, creates a microbiome that kills harmful microbes and encourages beneficial ones.

Good flora can turn into bad flora because your eco system is built on what you feed it. Good food equals good flora. Flora that is even remotely capable of digesting and moving out highly processed foods such as fast food are flora that are very powerful and dangerous to us. These are the kind of microbes that can survive preservatives and exposure to other toxins.

If we damage our intestinal lining with things like alcohol, preservatives and other toxins, then we are also killing our more delicate and more friendly intestinal flora. Candida does not die off so easily, and without fierce competition from friendly bacteria, yeast can and does overgrow in the digestive tract.

Anti-Candida Diet

A Candida diet must eliminate some of the foods that you will normally eat on a healthy diet, but the basis of a healthy diet remains the same. A Candida diet should consist of 80% fresh, raw, organic produce, more vegetables than fruit. Choose a wide variety of nutrient dense foods. If you eat meat, make sure you choose organic meat. You do not want to eat meat from diseased animals that were fed hormones and antibiotics. Avoid processed foods, and do not eat any foods with artificial flavorings, colorings, preservatives, MSG, or trans fats. Avoid all GMOs. This is easy to do if all of your food choices are organic.

This is a prebiotic diet. Raw produce is high in fiber, which is essential for gut health. Fiber not only moves toxins through the bowels, it provides the perfect environment for healthy bacteria to thrive. Many conventional sites that write about a diet for Candida warn against eating fermented foods. We make the opposite recommendation, eat lots of fermented foods. Fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, and kefir provide the healthy bacteria needed in the gut–the bacteria that will ultimately crowd out Candida. Foods that kill fungi include onions, leeks, green apples, ginger, pomegranates, and citrus fruits. Along with diet, there is an arsenal of natural treatments for Candia. It isn’t necessary to take supplements to kill Candida, but it does speed up the process faster than diet alone.

There is an undeniable link between gluten reactions and candida. This is because there is a protein found in Candida, HWP-1, which is highly homologous (nearly identical) to two gluten proteins, alpha gliadin and gamma-gliadin. These proteins are known to stimulate immune cell responses in people who otherwise might not have any problems with gluten. In other words, Candida, the yeast responsible for oral thrush and vaginal infections (and so much more), contains a similar protein as gluten, and this can trigger gluten sensitivities.

What to Avoid

Juices, gluten, GMOs, sugars, ketchup, mushrooms, refined foods, toxins that disrupt gut balance from antibiotics, vaccines, and alcohol should all be avoided if possible. Conventional meats should also be avoided due to widespread prophylactic antibiotic use, which can damage our beneficial bacteria. Also it is important to limit intake of starches. Red potatoes and sweet potatoes are good choices when eating potatoes. These restrictions are temporary. After healthy gut bacteria are well established and symptoms of Candida overgrowth are gone, some flexibility in diet will return. Should symptoms reappear, just strictly adhere to the diet for a few weeks to a few months.

Anti-Fungal Foods

A diet high in produce with more vegetables than fruits is crucial for healing Candida. There are, however, some foods that have particular anti-fungal or probiotic qualities that will speed up Candida’s demise. If you take away the foods that Candida thrive on, yeast infections will be a thing of the past, even the low-lying kind that saps you of your energy and focus.

These foods contain potent anti-fungal properties, so they do a remarkable job of killing Candida. They should make up a substantial portion of any Candida detox diet, which should also include other low-sugar, high fiber vegetables. High fiber raw produce creates the right environment for beneficial bacteria to thrive.

  • Green Apples
  • Pomegranates
  • Garlic
  • Oregano
  • Onions
  • Leeks
  • Coconut
  • Rutabaga
  • Turnips
  • Olive Oil
  • Lemons & Limes
  • Pumpkin Seeds
  • Broccoli
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Arugula
  • Watercress
  • Cabbage

These spices also have potent anti-fungal properties. Try to work them into your meals every chance you get.

  • Thyme
  • Turmeric
  • Clove
  • Cayenne Pepper
  • Cinnamon

These probiotic foods are very beneficial if you can get them with live cultures. Consuming these foods will help increase the numbers and effectiveness of your beneficial bacteria. Take care to avoid MSG, artificial flavors, and other questionable ingredients that are sometimes found in these foods.

  • Sauerkraut
  • Kimchi
  • Raw apple cider vinegar
  • Acidophilus
  • BioK
  • Kombucha
  • Yogurt
  • Kefir
  • Other fermented vegetables

The problem with many of the aforementioned foods is that the stomach acid typically kills most or all of the beneficial bacteria. Some yogurts are designed with bacteria strong enough to survive stomach acid, and high quality probiotic capsules are typically designed get through acid and release in the gut.

If you want to heal from Candida faster, these supplements can help to speed up the process.

Conclusion

Candida overgrowth is incredibly common. A diet high in starches, sugars, preservatives, and processed foods feeds Candida while a diet high in raw produce feeds Candida’s competition. Once you kill off the Candida, you’ll be amazed by the clarity you gain and the difference in how you feel. In addition, the dietary changes you make will provide the foundation for a vital, healthy life.

From The Editor: 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:

I recommend taking the SF722, Berberine, MycoCeutics, and Microdefense with meals, and the Abzorb and Syntol separately, on an empty stomach (like in the morning and before bed). The Abzorb and the Syntol are a bit redundant, but I find good results using both if the budget can afford it. If money is really tight, just get the SF722 and put your money into your diet.

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Top 7 Benefits of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

A staple in the Mediterranean, extra virgin olive oil can be found in most dishes originating from the region. The oil is also a main ingredient in the Mediterranean diet that was developed as a way to safely lose weight while improving your overall health. High in essential fatty acids, plant sterols, and even vitamin K, there are several benefits associated with extra virgin olive oil that include its great taste.

Improve Your Immune System

Extra virgin olive oil is high in certain antioxidants that can help strengthen your immune system, along with vitamin E and natural carotenoids. These compounds are necessary for your body to successfully fight off certain cancers and diabetes and prevent inflammation and coronary artery disease. These naturally occurring antioxidants are also responsible for the distinctive flavor of the oil and are also beneficial in helping to prevent some types of degenerative nerve disease.

Relieves Aches and Pain

The nutritious oil is also high in oleocanthal, which acts like a natural pain reliever. This compound mimics the active ingredients found in ibuprofen and is a natural and safe way to ease various aches and pains due to inflammation. Extra virgin olive oil can also help treat the discomfort associated with sore and swollen joints that are usually caused by arthritis.

Weight Loss Aid

With the growing popularity of the Mediterranean diet, many people are discovering the great taste of the extra virgin olive oil, which can make it easier to eat healthily and lose the extra weight. While it is high in fat and calories, it can also help you shed the extra pounds. The calories contained in olive oil are used for energy while the fatty acids are essential for your general health. It can also improve digestive health, which is always beneficial even if you are not trying to lose weight.

Improve Your Sex Life

The compounds found in extra virgin olive oil can also improve your sexual performance, along with your general health. The plant sterols can reduce cholesterol and reduce your risk of developing heart disease while the essential fatty acids improve blood flow and circulation. Increased blood flow can treat several sexual dysfunctions, and prevent any from occurring. When your entire body is healthy, it is easier to have a satisfying sex life.

Prevent Loss of Brain Function

One of the biggest fears people face when they are growing older is the loss of brain function. The vitamin K in extra virgin olive oil has proven to be successful in preventing damage to the neurons, a key step in treating and preventing Alzheimer’s disease. Vitamin K can also increase bone density, and prevent osteoporosis.

Reduce Signs of Aging

Along with helping to prevent and treat arthritis, memory loss, and osteoporosis, this healthy and natural oil can also improve the appearance of your skin. The vitamins and plant sterols can help fight the signs of aging, along with minimizing fine lines and wrinkles. High in essential vitamin E, adding extra virgin olive oil to your daily diet can help improve cellular regeneration. This can not only “erase” tiny wrinkles, but the beneficial compounds can also even skin tone for a fresh and radiant appearance.

Improve Overall Health

Along with being an effective weight loss aid, extra virgin olive oil can improve your overall health. The naturally occurring antioxidants can reduce your risk of developing certain diseases while the plant sterols work to lower cholesterol and improve the health of your heart. Essential vitamins improve your skin tone and digestive system while also helping to treat and prevent several health conditions. This delicious and nutritious oil can also improve memory function, along with your sex life.

Summary

It is hard to believe that this natural oil can offer so many health benefits while also making salads, pastas, and even bread taste unbelievable. Used for centuries in the Mediterranean for its nutritional properties, it has now become a popular choice for many people looking to lose weight and improve their health. Extra virgin olive oil can be used in cooking, as a dressing for vegetables and pasta, or to simply dip your bread in. It will improve your digestive system making it easier to lose weight safely, and its natural compounds work to improve the health of your body. As a bonus, this natural oil does not contain any allergens and is generally considered safe for anyone to ingest.

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