Three unrelated strains of Candida Auris have emerged on three different continents simultaneously, and a new study says rising temperatures due to climate change are to blame. Dr. Arturo Casadevall from Johns Hopkins University is one of the study’s authors, and according to him,

The argument that we are making based on comparison to other close relative fungi is that as the climate has gotten warmer, some of these organisms, including Candida auris, have adapted to the higher temperature, and as they adapt, they break through human’s protective temperatures…What this study suggests is this is the beginning of fungi adapting to higher temperatures, and we are going to have more and more problems as the century goes on…”

Why This Is Scary

C. auris came to the medical world’s attention in 2009, and it has proven to be a particularly troublesome microbe. It often occurs with other infections, leading to the fungus being misidentified and mistreated. C. auris also displays multi-drug resistance and outbreaks usually happen in a healthcare setting like a hospital.

Silent and Deadly

In all the noise about climate change, it’s easy to forget that we aren’t the only organism that will be forever altered by the changes to the Earth’s climate. It would be a mistake to forget that, especially when you realize how much more easily bacteria and fungus will be able to adapt. Candida auris is a new kind of infection, one that’s immune to our usual antifungals, difficult to properly detect, and can be transmitted through person to person contact. This fungus is a new, scary plague, and it won’t be the last.

Sources:

• Deadly Fungal Infection Emerged Because of Global Warming, Study Says – Time
• On the Emergence of Candida auris: Climate Change, Azoles, Swamps, and Birds – American Society for Microbiology
• Rise of Candida auris blamed on global warming – Science Daily

A gut filled with Candida leads to chronic illness. It inhibits beneficial bacteria and proper digestion, which increases toxicity and nutrient deficiencies. Candida also increases zonulin levels, the substance that controls the tight junctions between enterocytes in the gut, which leads to weaker junctions and the development of leaky gut. Candida filaments also penetrate directly through the wall of the gut lining and contribute to leaky gut in this manner as well. Undigested proteins and pathogens seep through the gut lining causing inflammation and infection throughout the body. Candida and other fungal pathogens open up pathways for infection with filaments that damage organs and glands. This leads to the immune system becoming overwhelmed.

Candida also disrupts the endocrine system causing hormonal imbalances that also cause chronic illness. Lyme disease, celiac disease, Morgellons, and most other chronic infections and chronic ailments are an indication of an abundance of Candida in the gut and throughout the body.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut

Tiredness, Physical Fatigue

Adrenal fatigue is a common symptom of Candida overgrowth. Being exhausted or fatigued regardless of how many hours you sleep along with other symptoms including headaches, joint pain, difficulties with memory and concentration is a sign of chronic fatigue syndrome. One of the main symptoms of candida overgrowth is chronic fatigue.

Mental Fatigue, Depression, Anxiety, Mood Swings, and Mental Illness

Our brains are inextricably tied to our gastrointestinal tract. Your gut health affects your brain health. Candida overgrowth leads to an inability to concentrate, brain fog, headaches, depression, anxiety, and worse. With a leaky gut, the 180+ toxins produced by Candida travel to the rest of your body through your bloodstream, affecting your different tissues and organs, including your brain. In addition to that, Candida, its toxic byproducts, and other pathogens in the gut can reach the brain through the millions of nerves and neurons that run between your gut and brain.

Ethanol and acetaldehyde are toxic byproducts of Candida which are known to interfere with cognitive function, the respiratory system, the endocrine system, and the immune system.

Candida also affects serotonin production, the key neurotransmitter responsible for regulating mood, with 90 to 95% of the chemical produced in our gut. A deficiency in serotonin causes depression and anxiety.

Related: Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)

Intestinal Distress, Digestive Issues

Diarrhea, constipation, flatulence, bloating, cramps, IBS, stomach ulcers, and most digestive issues are an indication of Candida overgrowth. We need a healthy microbiome for our immune system to properly breakdown food to assimilate nutrients.

Allergies and Allergic Reactions

Rash and hives are typically a sign of increased fungal activity. Seasonal allergies and food allergies almost always vanish when Candida is brought under control. It sounds radical, but it’s true. Celiac disease, wheat allergies, and gluten sensitivity also subside when the gut is healed.

Joint Pain

Uric acid is one of the many byproducts of Candida albicans, which leads to joint pain in various parts of the body, and can lead to gout. High levels of uric acid can eventually do damage to the tendons and joints.

Candida can also enter the bloodstream and infect joints like the knees and hips.

Related: Running Without Knee pain

Skin, Athlete’s Foot, and Nail Fungal Infections

Candidiasis on the skin causes red, itchy rashes to form, typically in the folds of the skin and then spreading to other areas of the body.  an abundance of Candida in the gut also degrades the immune system and depletes the body’s beneficial bacteria which can lead to other skin infections as well. Liver toxicity, hormonal imbalances, and autoimmune reactions from Candida also lead to other skin issues.

Floaters

The longer thread-like floaters (not the small round ones) are a sign of an abundance of yeast in the body. Candida can also negatively impact vision.

Body Odor

Candida converts sugar into alcohols that can contribute to body odor. An abundance of Candida also reduces the beneficial bacteria on the skin that would otherwise keep odor-causing bacteria in check.

White Tounge, Oral Thrush

White tongue is a typical sign of an overgrowth of candida.

Genital or Urinary Tract Infections

An unhealthy gut microbiome leads to most UTIs and yeast infections. An abundance of Candida can reduce the variety of beneficial bacteria which can then allow a select few to become pathogenic.

While some UTIs are directly caused by yeast, many UTIs are caused by E. coli. The body relies on a variety of beneficial bacteria, including lactobacillus, to keep bacteria like E. coli in check. If the E. coli, normally found in a healthy gut, are able to proliferate, it can infect the urinary tract.

Kidney infections are often caused by slow kidney function due to swollen reproductive systems putting pressure on the kidneys (swollen prostates and PMS can cause this).

Related: How To Stop a UTIs & Yeast Infections Naturally, and How To Prevent Them From Reoccurring

Sinus Infections

Like the rest of your body, your sinuses rely on a healthy microbiome to ward off infection. Doctors used to believe that almost all chronic sinus infections were caused by bacteria. Recent research shows that many of the long-term, chronic sinus infections are often fungal. A Mayo Clinic study looked at 210 patients with chronic sinusitis and found fungal infections in 96% of the patients’ sinuses.

More Candida Overgrowth Symptoms

Due to the fact that Candida can affect all of the body’s major systems and infect every part of the body, virtually any health issue could be a sign of Candida overgrowth. While any one symptom on this page doesn’t mean Candida has taken over, it’s a safe bet that if the body hasn’t been working properly for long periods of time, Candida is one of the main underlying causes.

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

• Acne
• Alcohol cravings
• Allergic reaction to certain medications including antibiotics or steroids
• Asthma
• Bad breath
• Bad PMS and erratic periods
• Body odor
• Chronic aches and pains
• Chronic nasal congestion
• Congenital heart disease
• Constant colds and other infections
• Constant feeling of dehydration
• Constantly craving sugar or carbs
• Cracked tongue
• Feeling slightly drunk without drinking alcohol
• Hayfever
• Insomnia
• Itching
• Itchy anus
• Itchy ears
• Itchy eyes
• Mood swings
• Night sweats
• Panic attacks
• Post-nasal drip
• Psoriasis
• Recurring cystitis
• Recurring vaginal discharge
• Regular fevers
• Restless leg syndrome
• Sensitivity to smells such as chemicals and perfumes
• Stuffy nose or itchy ears after eating
• Thrush infections
• Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
• Vertigo, Dizziness
• Weight gain

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

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. And be sure to check out How To Heal Your Gut for more on this.

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

U.S. consumption of artificial sweeteners has risen substantially in the last 20 years. Soda likely comes to mind, but aspartame and sucralose are being put into more and more products from bread to toothpaste. As more studies are being done, artificial sweeteners seem to be connected to more and more negative health consequences. That’s probably because they’re poison.

Artificial Sweeteners May Harm Gut Bacteria

Ariel Kushmaro is a professor of microbial biotechnology at Ben-Gurion University. He told Business Insider, “My recommendation is to not use artificial sweeteners.” Kushmaro and his team performed a study with common artificial sweeteners and E. coli bacteria. Don’t confuse this bacteria with the kind that makes us sick; E. coli is a beneficial bacteria in healthy human intestines.

Factory farming is how we get the “superbug” variety of E. coli. The “superbug” variety of E. Coli can happen when a cow is fed a very acidic, glyphosate-heavy grain diet while being pumped full of antibiotics. Whatever doesn’t kill you…

Researchers exposed the E. coli to six artificial sweeteners including aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet), sucralose (Splenda), and saccharin (Sweet’N Low). They also subjected the bacteria to various protein powders and flavoring packets that use artificial sweeteners.

After dosing the E. coli bacteria with artificial sweeteners ‘hundreds of times,’ Kushmaro concluded the sweeteners had a toxic, stressing effect, making it difficult for gut microbes to grow and reproduce. The researchers think that a couple of artificially sweetened sodas or coffees a day could be enough to have an influence on gut health —and could even make it tougher for the body to process regular sugar and other carbohydrates.” – Business Insider

Obviously, we need more testing. Fortunately, Kushmaro plans to run more of these kinds of experiments to see how artificial sweeteners alter the human gut microbiome.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut

Artificial Sweeteners Won’t Reduce Appetite, or Satisfy Sugar Cravings

Sugar-sweetened foods trigger hormones throughout the body and chemicals in the brain that leaves us feeling satisfied after eating. The phenomenon, how it works, is similar to what happens with addiction to drugs. The satisfaction is short-lived, but it’s there. But artificial sweeteners don’t provide the sugar, or any calories for that matter, so scientists say the “food reward” system is never activated. This is probably why artificial sweeteners are shown to increase appetite, and sugar cravings as well.

Some researchers believe that artificial sweeteners do not satisfy our biological sugar cravings in the same manner as sugar, and could therefore lead to increased food intake. However, the evidence is mixed.” – Healthline

Related: Healthy Sugar Alternative and More

Artificial Sweeteners May Promote Obesity

In addition to promoting overeating, there are other mechanisms with which artificial sweeteners may promote weight gain. Sweet taste receptors are found not just in the mouth, but also in the bladder, the lungs, and our bones. Recent research looked at how artificial sweeteners affect our cells that make up our fat stores.

The new research, results of which were presented at ENDO 2018, the 100th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Chicago, looks at the effect that artificial sweeteners have on the cells that make up our fat stores. These cells have a glucose transporter (a protein that helps glucose get into a cell) called GLUT4 on their surface and, when we eat more sugar, the cells take up more glucose, accumulate more fat and become larger. The researchers in this latest study found that the artificial sweetener, sucralose, commonly found in diet foods and drinks, increases GLUT4 in these cells and promotes the accumulation of fat. These changes are associated with an increased risk of becoming obese.” – The Conversation

Artificial Sweeteners May Lead To Diabetes

Dr. Brian Hoffman, George Ronan, and Dhanush Haspula are the authors of a new study that found a link between consuming artificial sweeteners and changes in the blood that increases the prevalence of type 2 diabetes. Researchers found that acesulfame potassium, a sugar substitute, accumulated in the blood of rats tested. This accumulation of potassium harmed the cells that line blood vessels. The study indicates that artificial sweeteners can alter how the body processes fat and how we use energy at a cellular level. According to the authors, this vascular impairment may lead to diabetes (and obesity).

Gut ecology plays a huge role in disease, including diabetes, and medical science is at the forefront of realizing this. A potential new treatment hailed to be a likely medical breakthrough removed the mucous membrane of the small intestine to cure type 2 diabetes. The treatment inserts a balloon into the small intestine and inflates the balloon with hot water, hot enough to kill the gut’s mucous membrane. Within two weeks, if the patients eat well enough, a healthier membrane develops.

By destroying the mucous membrane in the small intestine and causing a new one to develop, scientists stabilized the blood sugar levels of people with type 2 diabetes. The results have been described as ‘spectacular’ – albeit unexpected – by the chief researchers involved. In the hourlong procedure, trialled on 50 patients in Amsterdam, a tube with a small balloon in its end is inserted through the mouth of the patient down to the small intestine.

“Even a year after the treatment, the disease was found to be stable in 90% of those treated. It is believed there is a link between nutrient absorption by the mucous membrane in the small intestine and the development of insulin resistance among people with type 2 diabetes.” – The Guardian

It stands to reason that if foods and chemicals like artificial sweeteners negatively influence our gut ecosystem, this damage may promote diabetes, as well as a host of other chronic illness.

Related: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Artificial Sweeteners May Contribute to Cardiovascular Disease and More

Researchers from the University of Manitoba’s George & Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation reviewed 37 trials that followed a total of more than 400,000 people for an average of 10 years. The study showed a link between artificial sweetener consumption and increased risk of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and other health issues.

Artificial Sweeteners Are Likely To Promote Candida

Modern health loves to compartmentalize everything. Natural health practitioners generally have a more holistic outlook. Our belief is and has been, that toxic chemicals do damage to the body in a myriad of ways, including damage to the gut microbiome. Damaging the gut’s ecosystem has long-lasting, far-reaching consequences to virtually every facet of health.

Damage feeds candida and other pathogens. Cells in the body are made up of sugars and starches. When these cells are damaged they can feed pathogens. A healthy gut feeds the body with healthy, beneficial bacteria (it’s a misnomer that all bacteria is supposed to stay in the gut). An unhealthy gut with pathogens feeds the whole body pathogens.

Toxic chemicals damage the gut’s ecosystem and they also do damage all over the body in various ways. This promotes pathogenic proliferation. Candida is a normal part of a healthy gut colony, but if beneficial bacteria is damaged enough candida is very likely to take over. If not candida, other another fungus is likely there ready and waiting. It’s nearly impossible to kill fungal spores. Once they proliferate it’s a challenge to get them under control, especially with our modern sugar and toxin-laden diets.

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

Athlete’s foot thrives in damp, warm areas and can spread from person to person. Athlete’s foot fungus is often contracted from pool areas, public bathrooms, and locker rooms, hence the name, “Athlete’s Foot.” Ringworm and Candida are two types of fungus that most commonly cause athlete’s foot. There are many types of Candida and many types of ringworm and many other fungi that can infect us in many different ways. Fungi like feet because feet are generally within socks and shoes, which make for the kind of warm, moist environment preferable to fungi.

Prevention

The prevailing opinion is that anyone can catch athlete’s foot, but this is not true. Susceptibility to outer fungal infections like athlete’s foot indicate a weak immune system which indicates an unbalanced gut – a gut full of Candida, which leads to an abundance of Candida in the body. The best way to prevent athlete’s foot is to keep a healthy and balanced gut. We have more on gut health near the end of the article, and here are some other preventive measures that will also help accelerate healing as well:

• Keep toenails short
• Change socks regularly
• Rotate shoes
• Don’t go barefoot in a gym locker room or pool area, wear flip-flops
• Dry feet thoroughly after bathing; especially between your toes
• Give feet time to breathe
• Put a few drops of essential oils in each shoe every day into the toe area
• Open a probiotic capsule and put contents into each shoe at the toe area

Socks and shoes cause feet to stay moist and dark with little to no airflow. Fungi love these conditions. If you’re dealing with athlete’s foot, give your feet some time to breathe outside of shoes and socks. For instance, wear sandals in the house, relax with bare feet on the autumn, keep your floors, feet, and sandals clean and dry,  and go to bed without socks. If feet sweat regularly, even outside of socks and shoes, this is a sign the endocrine system needs repair.

Must Read: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Topical treatments don’t get to the root of the problem but combine three or more of the following topical solutions with an efficient gut protocol like the one listed below and you should be able to get rid of athlete’s foot fast. Keep the gut healthy and be rid of it for good. We don’t recommend baking soda or cornstarch. These two ingredients can in some cases make the fungus infection worse.

Essential Oils

Essential oils are often applied undiluted, directly to the skin, which is effective, but this can also cause pretty serious pain to broken skin. Other options include making a foot bath and making a topical solution with essential oils with a carrier like aloe vera, or coconut oil (or both). You can also use avocado oil, olive oil, or any other healthy oil as well, but I like the antifungal properties and the thickness of coconut oil and I also like the soothing aspects of aloe.

Add 5-10 drops of your preferred essential oil to a one to two tablespoons of coconut oil or aloe vera (gel or juice).  The gel is easier to use, obviously, but it’s best if you’ve got the whole plant, fresh and unprocessed. An easy way to use this solution is to apply the carrier on the foot near the infection but about a half an inch away from any broken or irritated skin, and then add a few drops of the essential oil, mix, and repeat until the desired amount of essential oil has been applied. Then, spread throughout the infected area.

Apply this treatment at least three times a day (five or more for best results) until the infection is gone.

Top antifungal essential oils

• Lemongrass
• Satureja Montana
• Tea tree oil
• Oil of oregano
• Thyme
• Rosemary
• Peppermint
• Lemon
• Clove
• Garlic
• Lavender
• Geranium
• Cinnamon
• Citronella
• Eucalyptus

Lemongrass and Satureja Montana have come out on top for antifungal properties in multiple studies comparing the antimicrobial effectiveness of essential oils, but fungi are very adaptive, so mix it up. Try one or two on the first few rounds and then try one or two others on the next application.

Foot Baths

Another option is to soak your feet in an antifungal bath. Forty drops of essential oils mixed with water can make for a potent antifungal footbath, and you can also add these essential oils to any of the following footbath solutions. Don’t forget to dry your feet thoroughly after soaking. Ideally, these soaks are done two times a day at least, preferably three to five, until all signs of the infection are gone.

Epson Salt

1. Add a half a cup of Epsom salt to a small, suitable container for your feet
2. Soak the infected foot or feet for 15 minutes, three times a day

Or, better yet, do an Epson salt bath; soak your whole body in a tub. And of course, add your favorite essential oils.

Vinegar

Vinegar is acidic. Fungi that commonly infects us (including Candida) don’t like acidity. But vinegar can cause pain to broken and otherwise damaged skin, so beware. But it usually is very effective.

1. Mix one part apple cider vinegar with 3 parts warm water in a small, suitable container for your feet
2. Soak the infected foot or feet for 15 minutes, three times a day
3. Once finished, dry feet completely

Feel free to combine essential oils with vinegar and epson salt. Do not mix hydrogen peroxide with vinegar

Hydrogen peroxide with iodine

This is our least favorite solution. It’s messy, it stains, and it can be very painful with damaged skin. But a recent study did find that the combination kills fungi effectively, and using these two ingredients together are much more effective than using them separately.

• Pour hydrogen peroxide into a suitable container for the feet
• Pour enough to cover infected areas of the foot when submerged
• Add a tablespoon of Iodine or about a quarter cup of an iodine solution, available at most drugstores

The foot bath solutions can also be applied topically. So can the following herbs and other supplements.

Garlic

Garlic is going to hurt damaged skin but it also accelerates healing.

1. Crush a clove of garlic and mix it with an oil to apply topically
2. Apply the paste to the infected area and leave it alone for 30 minutes.
3. Wash off the area and dry completely

Supplements For Topical Use

SF722

This is the best fungal killer on the market. It will burn for a little bit, and it’s intense, but the pain goes away pretty quickly, and I know of nothing that works faster or better to kill the fungus. The other benefit of SF722 is that fungi cannot build up a resistance to it like it can with other treatments. Try taking five capsules of SF722 three times a day (fifteen total) and break open a gel tab to apply topically three or more times a day as well.

Probiotic

A probiotic capsule can be opened and used topically. This provides some immediate relief and it’s not painful at all. I recommend rotating this with SF722 throughout the day. I like Abzorb, which is a probiotic and an enzyme – both kill fungi.

Colloidal Silver, Oil of Oregano, Pau D’Arco, Coptis Chinensis

Much less painful than the other treatments but I don’t think it’s as effective either. The other herbs listed here are very effective against fungal infections but can cause some pain when applied to broken skin.

Heal the Gut

If you have athlete’s foot you’ve got a body with an abundance of Candida. This is also true if you have recently had a vaginal yeast infection, a white tongue, allergies, or pretty much any chronic inflammatory illness. If you suffer from athlete’s foot, Lyme disease, AIDS, or diabetes, the first step is to heal the gut. Here is a supplements stack for fungal elimination, and articles below that I recommend to help balance the gut. Supplements can help a lot, and SF722 is the best one to get if you can only afford one, but a healthy diet is crucial. If you think your diet is healthy, but you deal with chronic illness, I contend you need an even better diet. See the article links below for more on that.

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

Gut Health Articles

• Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections
• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• Stop Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet
• How to Make the Healthiest Smoothies – 4 Recipes
• How to Avoid GMOs in 2018 – And Everything Else You Should Know About Genetic Engineering
• How to Heal Your Gut

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract of a healthy mammal is home to a complex community of bacteria. This microbial community is often called “microbiota,” “gut flora,” or “beneficial bacteria.” These microbes have evolved with us to coexist in a mutually beneficial relationship.

An Introduction to Gut Microbes

We need beneficial gut microbes for proper B vitamin production, digestion, and assimilation. Some bacteria also synthesize vitamin K. In fact, we need bacteria for synthesization, digestion, and assimilation of many vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, and many other nutrients. Healthy bacteria also keep the population of other microbes (like candida) down to healthy levels. Healthy bacteria colonies form a biofilm that keeps the intestinal wall healthy and acts as a barrier against pathogens. Healthy bacteria move slowly and crowd out unwanted pathogens. A healthy gut biofilm is a home to thousands of different beneficial bacteria, the more the better. And they don’t just reside on our gut. Some of them can and do pass through the gut wall and they live all over our body. It’s often said that bacteria in our body outnumber our own cells by about ten to one. That’s incorrect, but there are more bacteria cells than human cells in the human body. The ratio is about 39 bacterial cells to every 30 human cells.

If you have ever been to a bio-dentist, they may have shown you what your mouth bacteria looks like under a microscope. Generally, the fast-moving bacteria are up to no good. You can see these guys frantically swimming around looking for trouble, banging against the teeth and gums, maybe looking for a good spot to burrow in and make a home, feed, and reproduce. If you have teeth and gum issues try this: take the capsule of a probiotic, break it open, and empty the contents into your mouth. Leave it in there. Move it around. Swish it around when you’ve built up some saliva. You should notice that some of the pain subsides. Now picture how this works in your gut. Incidentally, oral health is a very good indicator of gut health.

Without enough healthy bacteria, the whole body suffers. Gut microbes can change brain chemistry and alter endocrine functionality. Depression is tied to irritable bowel syndrome. Autism is believed to be caused by or at least exacerbated by an unbalanced gut. In my experience, every single autoimmune disease resides in the body of someone with an unhealthy gut.

Hopefully, you’re getting an idea of how important healthy bacteria are to our health. We need them for good health for many reasons, and likely most of which we aren’t even yet aware of yet.

It should be noted that the phrases “good bacteria” and “bad bacteria” are pretty inaccurate. Bacteria are only responding to their environment. “Good” bacteria, under bad circumstances, will become “bad” bacteria very quickly.

Candida

We all have candida spores in our gut even if we’re healthy. They’re practically indestructible. Anything we could do to kill them would probably kill us. They can reside in the body dormant without causing problems for an estimated six months.

Antibiotics kill bacteria and antibiotics can also kill other pathogens including fungi. But yeast spores are left to rule. When there is an opportunity to flourish candida turns fungal, becoming pathogenic.

Common Causes of Candida Overgrowth

• Alcohol
• Antibiotics
• Vaccines
• Amalgam Fillings
• Refined foods
• Smoking

An often overlooked way that candida gets fed is damage to the body. Cells are mostly made up of glycogen and starch. Damaged, dying cells feed yeast and other pathogens.

Leaky Gut

The gut is permeable, so to some extent, it’s always leaky. A health gut biofilm doesn’t let unwanted things pass into the bloodstream. Some of the “good” bacteria will get through, but that’s ok. Remember, there are bacteria all over our body. We want the good guys, not the bad guys. If candida takes over, an abundance of candida increases zonulin levels, the substance that controls the tight junctions between enterocytes in the gut, which leads to weaker junctions and the development of leaky gut. And here’s a scary fact for you: candida filaments also penetrate directly through the wall of the gut lining and contribute to leaky gut in this manner as well. In other words, picture centipede looking things with very long legs that kind of drill into the gut lining. The intestinal wall will also get dry and cracked. All of this makes for a gut that is much more permeable than it should be. At this stage pathogens and undigested proteins make it into our bloodstream, overwhelming the body’s immune system. Proteins have to be broken down completely or else the body sees them as foreign proteins and reacts accordingly. This is how most allergies happen.

And that gut drilling thing candida does – it does it all over the body as well, opening up pathways for infection throughout the body.  It’s easy to see how candida wrecks havoc on the liver. Consider the gut-liver axis. 70% of the blood flow to the liver is flowing from the gut. The liver quickly becomes overwhelmed with the toxins produced by candida.

I could go on and on about candida, but I’m attempting to write my shortest gut-health article to date, so I’ll stop here. But if you want to know more, read Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections. I’ll bet it’ll blow your mind. Candida is a fascinating creature.

Supplements

If you want to see a list of the top 25+ supplements for killing fungi, this is your list. Below is a list I put together a supplement stack with just a few that work very well to put the gut back into homeostasis.

• Activated Charcoal: Binds with positively charged things in the gut, like candida in its pathogenic form, and many of the toxins it produces, which then gets defecated out of the body. (more on activated charcoal)
• Astragalus: A potent antimicrobial that also is anti-inflammatory, boosts the immune system, slows tumor growth, helps prevent and reverse diabetes, and more.
• Berberine: This plant-root alkaloid extract has confirmed and potent antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-fungal properties.
• Biotin: With the presence of the B vitamin, biotin, it is said that yeast is unable to change into its mycelium form. On the other hand, there are some studies that suggest candida can feed off of biotin.
• Black Walnut: Studies have shown that black walnut can effectively kill canker sores, herpes, and syphilis sores. The husks of black walnuts have potent anti-fungal powers; more powerful than many prescription drugs. Fungi and parasites thrive in an acidic environment.
• Caprylic acid: A the fatty acid in coconut which contains antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties. Coconut or coconut oil by itself does not have very strong antimicrobial properties.
• Chlorella: It’s not an anti-fungal, but chlorella is negatively charged like charcoal and has a host of other benefits that counter candida symptoms. Chlorella also helps remove heavy metals and limited amounts of positively charged candida from the blood.
• Cinnamon: A potent natural antifungal with tons of other health benefits. Read more on cinnamon.
• Clays: Like activated charcoal, bentonite clay can bind with candida and heavy metals and other positively charged items to pull them out of the body through defecation.
• Clove: This strong smelling spice contains some of the same compounds as oregano oil. Studies have shown that cloves contain powerful antimicrobial and anti-fungal compounds.
• Cranberry: There is nothing better for a urinary tract infection than unsweetened, unadulterated cranberry juice. Click for Recipe.
• Diatomaceous Earth: Often called DE for short, this supplement is another negatively charged chelator (like charcoal and bentonite clay, but not as effective in that way), that also kills pathogens, but candida biofilm protects itself well from DE. More on DE.
• Enzymes: Hemicellulase, protease, and Cellulase have been shown to break down the cells walls and the biofilm of candida. These must be taken within a protective capsule that will break apart in the gut and not the stomach acid. More on enzymes.
• Garlic: Allicin, a compound in garlic, has antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties, and garlic helps strengthen the immune system. Read more about garlic.
• Goldenseal: A popular herb that has been used by Native Americans for hundreds of years, with potent antimicrobial activity, including some pretty decent antifungal properties.
• Goldenrod: Goldenrod is antifungal, diuretic, diaphoretic, anti-inflammatory, expectorant, astringent, antiseptic, and carminative.¹⁰
• Magnesium: Breaks down the toxic metabolites (byproducts) of candida albicans. Read about homemade calcium and magnesium here.
• Molybdenum: Also breaks down the toxic metabolites (byproducts) of candida albicans.
• Mushrooms: Fight fire with fire, and fungi with fungi! Many mushrooms produce natural anti-yeast factors to prevent other fungi from taking over their turf. The reishi mushroom is well known throughout the world for its plethora of health benefits, including powerful antifungal properties, but there are many other mushrooms that help clean the gut as well.
• Lemongrass: Lemongrass oil is the most powerful antibacterial and antifungal essential oil.
• Neem: This plant’s properties include immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antihyperglycaemic, antiulcer, antimalarial, antifungal, antibacterial, antioxidant, antimutagenic, and anticarcinogenic.
• Oil of Oregano: This extract is very well known for its ability to kill off pathogenic activity, and there are plenty of studies that demonstrate its efficacy.
• Olive Leaf Extract: This extract is known for killing fungal and pathogenic bacterial infections without harming healthy bacteria. I suspect this is because it’s weak and doesn’t penetrate biofilm.
• Pau D’Arco: Also known as Lapacho, this supplement has received worldwide attention in recent years due to the numerous studies proving its amazing health benefits including the ability to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria and difficult fungal infections like candida.
• Probiotics: Most everyone knows to take probiotics to fight yeast infections, but make sure the probiotic is of quality. Lots of cheap probiotics break down in stomach acid and the ingredients end up actually feeding yeast. Also, they need to be able to pass through stomach acid and into the gut to do its job. Taking probiotics with antimicrobial supplements will reduce the effects of both.
• Spirulina: For purposes of candida killing, it works just like the other aforementioned algae, Chlorella. Check out How to Grow Spirulina at Home
• Turmeric: Turmeric is a potent antimicrobial herb with proven antifungal properties and a host of other amazing health benefits. Check out How to Optimize Curcumin.
• Undecylenic acid: This fatty acid is six times more effective than caprylic acid. It’s been shown in studies that candida cannot build a tolerance for undecylenic acid, which probably makes it the most potent candida killer on this list.
• Wormwood: This is a potent antimicrobial’s active ingredient is Artemisia, and it is better known the world over for its ability to kill parasites.
• Zinc: helps with protein digestion, enzymatic reactions, energy production, antioxidant functions, and it is imperative for proper mineral balance. It’s common to see a zinc deficiency in a candida-laden body.

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

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.

Diet

You could probably take lots of SF722 every day and eat like the average health-conscious person does and be fine. If you don’t want to take supplements forever, you’ll need to adopt a much healthier diet.

Here are three articles I put together on diet. This is indicative of how my family eats every single day. The first article has recipes for cranberry lemonade and salads.

• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet
• How to Make the Healthiest Smoothies – 4 Recipes

Make cranberry lemonade every day. The cranberry lemonade helps keep the kidneys and liver working optimally. These organs typically get sluggish quickly when lots of candida are killed. If salads are #1, this cranberry lemonade is #2, and supplements are a distant #3.

Eat a very large salad (7-9 cups) for breakfast. The salad has at least 10 different vegetables and a few different herbs.

Don’t let anyone cook or prepare your food for you. This means no boxes or cartons or almond milk. Make it yourself. No restaurants, not premade dinners, no prepackaged meals, your foods you buy should have only one ingredient.

Start off with cranberry lemonade and a huge salad every morning. For lunch, for those that aren’t very sick, do a smoothie or snack on some nuts and/or fruit, or we finish that massive breakfast salad.

For dinner, cook from scratch, which will take preparation and time, but it gets easier. Try rice and beans, quinoa, lentils, millet, and amaranth. Some of these foods are not recommended on candida-cleanse diets, but I feel they are beneficial when one is eating the aforementioned salads. Also, we add lots of raw vegetables and herbs to our dinners as well. For instance, the rice and beans go great with raw chopped tomatoes and avocado, diced onions and garlic, and shredded turmeric and ginger. Eat raw herbs and cooked herbs together for maximum health benefits.

The salads are the most important part of this protocol. More than supplements, more than anything save getting enough water, the salads are imperative. Eat lots of raw vegetables. Eat a variety of them. Your fridge should be full of produce! There is nothing more beneficially life-changing than developing a salad habit when the salads are big and diverse and homemade. They do more than any supplement or any other food to clean the intestinal walls of filth and develop a beneficial gut ecosystem.

For those with very serious gut issues, legumes and grains may be a no-no for the first few weeks at least, but when enough salad has been consumed, the gut should be able to reap many benefits from cooked foods like the dinner meals aforementioned. I recommend, for those who are very sick and who have a hard time digesting foods, to slowly add in the aforementioned dinner foods into salads first.

Sweet fruit should be severely limited, and for those who are chronically ill, avoided until the gut is working well. Grapefruit, cranberry, avocado, lime, and lemon do not fall under this category.

Juicing with fruits is not much better than refined sugar, so don’t make the common mistake of thinking a fresh-juice fast is going to get you well.

Modern fruit has too much sugar in it; I don’t recommend being a fruitarian, especially with an abundance of candida. The key to fixing the gut is a very wide variety of fresh raw vegetables and herbs. Some fruit is great, but too much fruit can send even a healthy gut into fungal overload.

Wheat and oats should be avoided until gut health is restored. Wheat and oats tend to be drenched in glyphosate before they are harvested, and wheat has a host of other issues regarding health. If you want to eat bread, make your own using heirloom seeds and old-school practices. Check out Gluten Intolerance, Wheat Allergies, and Celiac Disease – It’s More Complicated Than You Think for more information.

Variety

You need a lot of different kinds of bacteria to make a healthy gut colony. Different bacteria like different foods, and the most beneficial bacteria like the healthiest foods. Raw vegetables and herbs feed the gut the best, producing the healthiest bacteria. If you think about it, nature really wouldn’t work any other way. A lot of health practitioners want to limit the diet when someone is sick. They also often say to avoid raw produce. These two ideas are wrong! I work the other way. Limit sweets, including fruits, and eliminate refined and processed foods, but expand your healthy whole foods that don’t feed pathogens, and fresh raw produce is best.

Six Months

It takes around six months for spores to die off. It takes about as long for the gut lining to heal. Fortunately, you can build a healthy biofilm full of beneficial microbes much faster than that. Unfortunately, spores are ready to come to life as soon as they’re feed. For anyone with systemic fungal related health issues, it takes six months of being very careful and strict on the diet – six months from the day, after all, symptoms are gone – to really get rid of candida, other fungi, and chronic illness.

Sources:

• Scientists bust myth that our bodies have more bacteria than human cells – Nature
• Why gut bacteria are essential for a healthy immune system – Medical Express
• The role of gut microbiota in immune homeostasis and autoimmunity – NCBI

Why and How the Two Go Together

The human body is colonized by an unfathomable number of different microbial species including bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Candida is a normal member of human gut flora. Virtually all of us have it. When beneficial bacteria is not present Candida can become virulent. Lyme patients often undergo long-term antibiotic therapy. Antibiotics destroy beneficial intestinal bacteria which then allows candida, other fungi, and other pathogens to flourish.

Most pathogens, including candida and Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme bacteria), need carbohydrates to survive. How they get their carbohydrates differs, but a diet high in sugars and starches literally feed Candida and Lyme as well as other living pathogens both directly and indirectly.

Since virtually all of us have Candida, those with Lyme are especially susceptible. Even without antibiotic treatments, a weak immune system allows Candida to flourish, grow hyphae, and colonize all around the body.

Some people are not susceptible to Lyme disease. Scientists think that genes and overall health determine susceptibility, but the presence of virulent Candida is probably one of the best measures of the health of a person. As mentioned, we all (or nearly all) have candida, but healthy bodies do not have virulent candida. Candida overgrowth is what happens in a compromised immune system. In other words, even if someone has not been treated with antibiotics, it stands to reason that virulent candida, and many other pathogens are present in the body of someone who is susceptible to Lyme.

Why Lyme Is Becoming More Prevalent

Ticks can’t survive in very cold climates. Warmer climates help ticks reproduce and survive longer, proliferate earlier, and live farther north. And yes, our climate is warming. We can argue that this is caused by man-made pollution or the reversal of our polarity, or the ebb and flow of the planet’s ecosystem, or even intentional geoengineering, but the climate is, without a doubt, getting warmer. Even a minor adjustment in average temperatures can have massive effects on the ecosystem. Warmer winters are also expanding the geographic range of animals associated with Lyme, helping to explain the spread of the disease in northern climates like Canada.

In addition, we have more deer. Deer were nearly extinct at the turn of the 20th century. Hunters deci­mated deer populations and Lyme disease is believed to be most often contracted by deer ticks. Over the last century, deer have obviously made a comeback.

It’s not just the deer, forty to 90 percent of white-footed mice carry Borrelia burgdorferi, and these mice are also proliferating and expanding their territories lately. There are other creatures that carry the ticks, and other parasites that carry the disease as well.

Some researchers estimate that global warming has doubled tick populations in the US, and increased populations by up to five fold in Canada.

Why Candida Is So Common

Our modern world’s continued fervor for irradicating germs, mostly bacteria, live us to deal with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and fungi. Our sugar and starch consumption is also increasing while our diet diversity is decreasing, and consequently, our gut’s ecosystem diversity is also decreasing. Fungal infections are becoming increasingly prevalent in the human population. Candida albicans incredibly opportunistic and is the most common fungal pathogen found in humans worldwide.

Even the fruit we consume has far more sugar than what our ancestors were accustomed too. Check out the difference between our modern hybridized bananas and the wild ones:

Try looking into other fruit as well and you’ll see that we used to have to work a lot harder for that sugar.

Why You Have To Address Address Both Lyme and Candida

Candida overgrowth opens up the gut. There little tiny holes that are only supposed to allow digested, completely broken down foods. When Candida becomes virulent it makes the gut much too permeable, consequently, pathogens including parasites, undigested proteins, and sugars get into the bloodstream radically overwhelming the immune system. The body is not capable of handling Lyme under such stress. The immune system already has its work cut out for itself under healthy conditions. And, in case you haven’t heard yet, your immune system is only as good as your gut health.

Have you ever heard the phrase “feed a cold, starve a fever?” There is some truth to it, but its incomplete. The phrase should be, “feed a virus, starve bacteria and fungal infections.” But Lyme and Candida take a long time to get rid of, and fasting for months is not a good idea. But we can still starve them by restricting sugars and starches, and we can speed up their demise with supplements.

For more information on Candida, along with a protocol including recommended supplements and diet, check out my article Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections.

I also wrote, Best Supplements To Kill Lyme and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Lyme Disease, but I recommend starting with Candida.

Sources:

• Tetracycline Effects on Candida Albicans Virulence Factors – NCBI
• Carbohydrate utilization by the Lyme borreliosis spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi
• Dietary Carbohydrates Modulate Candida albicans Biofilm Development on the Denture Surface – Plos One
• Candida Related Complex: A Complicating Factor In Lyme Disease – Public Health Alert
• Adaptive immune responses to Candida albicans infection – NCBI
• Does Lyme Disease Thrive on a High Sugar Diet? – Alternative Health