Maybe be you have heard of it but are still unclear about just what is Candida?

Candida - or more properly Candida albicans - is now commonly acknowledged as the particular genus of yeast that causes yeast infection or thrush in humans - otherwise known as Candidasis.

Yeast is a single cell organism that grows into colonies of many cells and can be seen physically at this stage when it infects areas of the body as white patches or clusters, This is how it may appear in the throat, the vagina or in the intestine when a ‘camera’ is sent in to investigate!

Normally Candida is restricted in its growth by those other little micro-organisms that are commonly called ‘good bacteria’ (at least in Yoghurt adverts!). The good bacteria do not tend to cause any adverse symptoms in the body, and their actions actually provide benefits. One group, or family, of good bacteria are the Lactobacillus strain. Lactobacillus are rod shaped bacteria and they can be derived from certain products like live yoghurt, where their action of creating lactic acid helps to turn milk into the thick creamy dessert or breakfast item.

One reason that yoghurt is sometimes recommended for application to thrush affected areas is that it will provide a ‘dose’ of Lactobacillus to try and bring Candida back under control. But note, only live yoghurt will help - so be sure to check the tub! Smearing pasterized, ‘mango and kiwi’ yoghurt on your ‘parts’ that is laden with extra sugar will only likely make matters even worse!!

In normal lower levels Candida is not really a problem and in some respects it also provides some benefits for the body. Candida is a sort of ‘natural’ kind of waste digester and starts to ferment sugary wastes. But the problem comes when it grows out of control.

This occurs when the good bacteria have been inhibited - say for example after you have taken a course of antibiotics. Antibiotics kill off the bacterial entities that cause an infection, but indiscriminately kill off your good guys too! this allows Candida (which is a yeast, so NOT killed by antibiotics) to ‘run wild’. This is why many people suffer a yeast infection when or just after taking antibiotics.

Candida loves warm. moist places - so you can easily suffer a vaginal yeast infection or penile thrush after taking antibiotics. But worse can happen - because one key areas where we tend to have lactic acid bacteria keeping our system running smoothly is in the gut. If Candida grows out of control in the gut it can lead to ‘leaky gut’ syndrome and the yeast can pass into the blood stream and literally be transported around the body where - if the bodily imbalance continues - it can cause all sorts of havoc.

In addition to losing our good bacterial body guards we are also liable to excessive Candida growth when our body becomes overly ‘acidic’. Now this is a major problem in Western society for various reasons. Most notable the issue relates to diet. Typical modern processed foods, soda drinks (like Coke or Pepsi - whether diet or otherwise!) all add acidic influences to the body. Eating foods that contain simple carbohydrates is also a problem - ingredients like white sugar and white flour - provide food sources for Candida and simply exacerbate the overgrowth of yeast.

Another acidifying influence can also be stress - and the world we have created today often causes us to be stressed and therefore more acidic (the psychological impact of stress causes the release of natural acids in the body).

If Candida albicans does pass through the gut walls and begin to manifest itself in colonies around internal organs of the body it can potentially lead to serious health issues.

One real problem with typical prescription drugs, creams or pessaries for thrush infection, is that so no more than quell the more noticeable symptoms of yeast infection - for a time. If your body is out of balance you need to try and address this in order to bring yeast overgrowth under control. The only effective way to do this is to take a holistic approach. This is where the selection of tried and tested holistic methods for treating Candida come in.

Simply applying a cream may temporarily provide local relief…But if Candida is affecting you systemically you urgently need to adopt an holistic strategy. The real worrisome issue with allowing Candida to continue to thrive is that internally massive colonies of Candida can starve healthy cells of oxygen. This then sets up a dangerous precedent. Cells do not willing ‘give up an die’ so they will start to operate ‘without oxygen’ - which is technically called becoming ‘anaerobic’. When cells do this they have literally regressed to a self preserving mode - but it is one that can become disastrous for the body. Groups of anaerobic cells are commonly referred to as a ‘tumour’ - that’s correct - it is the beginning of a Cancerous condition!

So do not ignore a yeast infection, particularly if it is persistent. You need to start a process of re-balancing your body as soon as possible and following an holistic plan for regaining health and bringing Candida back under control is paramount.