Kill candida overgrowth with these nine powerful herbs

(NaturalNews) Whether you are battling full-blown candida overgrowth or simply want to prevent future infections from occurring, herbs are a powerful tool for naturally keeping candida at bay. Here`s a list of nine highly effective herbal remedies for candida:

#1 Oregano Oil

The phenols in oregano oil are highly concentrated and extremely effective in fighting bacterial infections, fungal infections and candida overgrowth. Wild organic oregano oil is known to be especially effective in fighting conditions like candida.

#2 Olive Leaf Extract

The oleuropein in olive leaf extract is used by the body to fight fungal infections caused by candida overgrowth. A high-potency standardized olive leaf extract can obliterate candida quite effectively.

#3 Pau D`Arco

Another popular anti-candida herb, Pau D`Arco is often brewed into a tea. Drinking one cup per day is an easy way to harness its antifungal properties.

#4 Garlic

Garlic is a powerful antibacterial and antifungal agent. Candida cannot survive when garlic is present, so consistency is the key. Garlic can simply be added to your normal meals, but most find it more convenient (and less odorous) to take standardized garlic capsules three times per day.

#5 Neem

Used extensively in Ayurvedic medicine, neem is known for stimulating the immune system and fighting infections and fungal overgrowth. It is also a potent detoxifier. Neem oil can also be applied topically as needed.

#6 Apple Cider Vinegar

Not quite an herb (but too effective to leave off this list), apple cider vinegar balances the pH level of your body and can prevent harmful pathogens like candida from growing out of control. A teaspoon to a tablespoon taken before each meal can aid digestion and prevent undigested food particles from feeding candida in the gut.

#7 Echinacea

Although echinacea is best known for stopping a cold in its tracks, this herb also provides anti-candida benefits. It supports your immune system in the fight against candida as well as other infections.

#8 Black Walnut

Black walnut is a natural herb which contains tannins that not only kill fungal overgrowth like candida, but also kill parasites. It may be especially useful for those who suffer from both candida overgrowth and a parasitical infection.

#9 Coconut Oil

Also not an herb, but coconut oil`s anti-candida properties are too powerful to ignore. The medium chain fatty acids that make coconut oil such a great energy source are also what fuel its ability to fight candida. Fatty acids like caprylic acid and lauric acid are potent antifungal agents. Work up to taking three tablespoons of coconut oil per day to harness its anti-candida power.

Note: Avoid jumping into any anti-candida regimen too quickly. Killing off candida too fast can produce a die-off reaction that includes symptoms like foggy thinking, headaches and chills. For some this can be quite uncomfortable. If you notice these symptoms, cut back on your dose and start again more slowly when symptoms subside.

For more information:

http://www.sheilashea.com/candida.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/025452.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/025478_garlic_candida_supplement.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/025199.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/027567_candida_olive_leaf.html


Tuesday, August 30, 2011 by: Elizabeth Walling

About the author

Elizabeth Walling is a freelance writer specializing in health and family nutrition. She is a strong believer in natural living as a way to improve health and prevent modern disease. She enjoys thinking outside of the box and challenging common myths about health and wellness. You can visit her blog to learn more:
www.livingthenourishedlife.com/2009/10/welcome.html

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/033459_candida_natural_remedies.html#ixzz23J3W657u

The Mutant Fungi Wreaking Havoc in Your Body

By Jonny Bowden

Right now, deep inside your digestive track, you have bugs crawling about…LOTS of bugs. In fact, each of us is lugging around about 70 trillion of these, weighing in at about 3-4 pounds.

Some of these are good bugs...some of these are NOT so good bugs.

The "bad bugs" I am talking about include all sorts of things from bacteria to yeast to parasites and other germs...sounds rather disgusting, but most of us walk around without knowing they are even there.

But, for the most part, your body's immune system is able to keep the bad bugs in check.

HOWEVER, under certain, and surprisingly common conditions, one of those bugs, a particular type of yeast called Candida albicans, can go through a dangerous mutation that makes it wildly aggressive, destructive and hell bent on wreaking havoc throughout your entire body.

This Fungus is Far More Common -
and Dangerous - Than You've Been
Led to Believe...

Sound like a freakish incident that only happens in rare medical circumstances?

Well, think again as nearly 3 in 4 women suffer (and many men) from some type of yeast overgrowth in one way or another.

Some suffer with minor symptoms such as:

• rashes
• increased PMS symptoms
• bad breath

Some suffer with much more serious conditions such as:

• irritable bowel syndrome
• depression
• joint pain
• even chronic fatigue syndrome

In fact the calling card for a yeast overgrowth problem is a whole bucket full of seemingly unexplained chronic symptoms that just won't seem to go away no matter what you try.

The worst part is that most mainstream health practitioners haven't a clue how to treat this potentially serious problem...

And those who do treat it, use dangerous drugs that frequently make the situation even worse.

Those naughty little yeast critters are a crafty bunch:

• Part animal / part plant / part bacteria
• Able to reproduce sexually (with a mate) or asexually (by itself)
• Can shift its shape and take 7 different forms
• While rearranging it's chromosomes as an adaptive strategy to insure survival.

Wow - that's an amazing set of attributes...no wonder it's so hard to get rid of a yeast infection!

How this Little Devil Does it's
Handy-Work...

Candida, found in its normal, simple and relatively harmless yeast-form looks like a small white egg, with a relatively consistent, smooth shape, living happily in your gut, essentially keeping to itself, feeding off of the food you eat.

However, under the proper conditions, this innocent yeast can mutate and transform into a monstrous super-fungus that rapidly multiplies in its unrelenting quest to colonize as many parts of your body as possible. In fact, in certain areas of your body, if it finds a good food source - it absolutely LOVES sugar - it can double the size of its colony in less than an hour.

This mutated fungus-form of Candida (technically called the mycelial-form) grows elongated, finger-like tentacle structures called rhizoids that then tunnel, burrow and bore their way through the walls of your gut, enters your blood stream, and blooms into a systemic infection that can appear in virtually every part of your body including your heart, eyes, kidneys, liver, lungs and even your brain.

So next time you hear that you someone you know has a yeast infection, I hope you understand that this is really just a canary in the coal mine and that something much more dangerous and insidious is going on deep inside their tissues.

A Broken Sidewalk in Your Belly?

Have you ever seen a tree that's growing in or around the sidewalk where the roots of the tree have grown so thick, deep and wide that they have cracked the sidewalk, exposing everything underneath?

Well, that's exactly what Candida does once it mutates into its more dangerous super-fungus form.

Not only does it slip into your blood stream through these cracks in your gut, but the holes it opens up also allows all sorts of other things into your blood stream that are supposed to be restricted to your gut...things like undigested food, bacteria and other toxins...this is why a Candida overgrowth can make you feel so incredibly lousy and sick.

It Can Literally Make You Drunk from the Inside Out...

One of the most dangerous aspects of Candida is the by products it releases as part of its own life cycle.

In fact, Candida has been found to produce 79 distinct toxins.

When the yeast dies in its natural cycle, it releases the toxin acetaldehyde, which is converted into ethanol by the liver.

This is the same chemical that leads to hangovers after drinking alcohol!

As the Candida infestation continues to grow and more acetaldehyde is produced, your blood alcohol level actually rises, just as if you were drinking alcohol, resulting in symptoms like:

• brain fog
• impaired thinking
• lack of concentration
• irritability
• depression
• slowed reflexes
• fatigue
• and more

Additionally, red blood cells find it difficult to flow into small capillaries, which can result in fatigue, migraines and muscle aches.

In turn, white blood cells have difficulty in fighting infection, which can result in allergies, rashes, acne and slowing of the healing process.

Moreover, just as bread rises from yeast due to carbon dioxide production from fermentation of carbohydrates, Candida also produces carbon dioxide in the intestine. The result is persistent gas and bloating.

Mainstream Medicine Has it All Wrong...

Unfortunately, the treatments that mainstream conventional medicine offer do absolutely nothing to get rid of this insidious yeast overgrowth and in fact can make things work.

Topical treatments, creams, oils, lotions and rinses are only marginally effective wherever they are used and don't come close to addressing the systemic, body-wide nature of the infestation.

Likewise, the "nuke it" approach of using powerful antifungals, while addressing the system-wide nature of the infestation, again only works temporarily as the remarkably flexible and intelligent yeast eventually develops a resistance to whatever anti-fungal treatment is used.

How to Get At the Root Cause...

But all is not lost as there is a proven, effective way of getting rid of out-of-control yeast overgrowth problems...one that that fixes the problem for good, once and for all.

The REASON the yeast infection develops in the first place is because your body is out of balance in some way, shape or form. Somehow your immune system has been compromised allowing the yeast to flourish unchecked.

Well, if that's the reason that the Candida overgrowth developed in the first place, then common sense says that the only way to rid yourself of those nasty little burrowing toxic critters is to re-balance whatever is out of balance and to restore your body's innate immune capacity.
If you are plagued by...

• brain fog
• bad breath
• rashes, fatigue
• trouble concentrating
• weird allergies
• strange aches and pains
• or anything else you can't explain...

it's a strong sign that something with your body's terrain has made it far too hospitable for Candida to flourish.

To permanently cure yourself of a system-wide or even localized yeast infection, you must create an environment that's both hostile to the yeast and nourishing to your body's own natural healing powers.

A Tried-and-True, Tested and
Effective Program...

Frustrated and at wits end, suffering from constant fatigue, heartburn, stomach cramps and brain fog, a certified nutrition specialist embarked on a 12 year mission to find way to beat Candida for good.

After 35,000 hours of research, testing and trying, experimenting to find what works and discarding what didn't, this remarkable woman finally stumbled upon a holistic, multi-dimensional, all-natural approach that ended her yeast overgrowth in less than 2 months.

She's decided to share her Candida killing blueprint with others and has compiled an A-to-Z blueprint for exactly what to do and when without resorting to drugs, without creams or lotions and regardless of the severity of the infection.

You can read much more about her remarkable solution here as well as her 5 key facts about Candida/yeast infections that EVERYONE must know about before it's too late!

I hope you enjoy - remember, do your own homework, use common sense and decide on what's best for you.

Warmly,

Dr. Jonny Bowden

P.S. Since 2004, over 138,000 people have successfully gone through this program with many of the remarkable and inspiring case studies available for you to read here. Many of these women (and some men), experienced the following benefits:

• Their external yeast infections were gone within days and often within hours...
• They became completely free from vaginal, male or oral yeast infections...
• Thrush, athlete's foot, and other types of skin yeast infections had vanished...
• Food allergies and digestive disorders like bloating, acid reflux, IBS and LGS had disappeared...
• They had no more joint pain, muscle aches, migraines, brain fog or blurred vision...
• They felt lighter, healthier and energetic...
• Their general health and quality of life had improved...

Read much more about these remarkable results here »

How to Fight Candida Yeast Infections Naturally

(NaturalNews) A yeast-like fungus, Candida albicans usually lives in the intestines along with many other microorganisms known as intestinal flora. If these microorganisms are not carefully balanced, Candida can multiply unchecked, causing infection. The taking of antibiotics, steroids, a diet high in yeast-containing foods, alcohol and refined carbohydrates can affect the delicate balance of intestinal flora. Prevent and treat Candida the natural way to restore and maintain health.

Also called thrush or yeast infection, a serious Candida infection can cause various symptoms including fatigue, headaches, poor digestion, flatulence and general feelings of malaise.

In women, in the vagina, it causes a white, thick discharge often accompanied by itching and soreness. Oral thrush causes sore, yellowish patches in the mouth and on the tongue.

Tips to Prevent Candida

Cut out refined sugar and foods containing refined carbohydrates. Reduce intake of foods containing natural sugars such as milk, fruit and wine, since Candida thrives on sugar.

Candida fighting foods include plain, unsweetened yogurt with live cultures, leafy green vegetables, garlic and olive oil. The bacteria in yogurt help to maintain a healthy balance of microorganisms in the intestines. Other items on the menu should comprise mainly of a vegetable rich diet and carbohydrates in the form of whole grain cereals, nuts and seeds. Eat two or three freshly chopped garlic cloves daily.

As far as vaginal Candida goes, be sure to keep the genital area clean. However, avoid very hot baths or showers. Do not use bubble bath products or soap bars with fragrances and/or emulsifiers or anything that might irritate the skin. Use a plain, mild, non perfumed soap. Be sure to wear cotton underwear rather than synthetic fiber underwear.

Herbal Remedies and Aromatherapy to Fight Candida

Echinacea and grapefruit seed extract are known herbal remedies to inhibit the growth of intestinal Candida. Adding a few drops of lavender, thyme or tea tree essential oil to a warm bath can help to cure vaginal yeast infections and ease discomfort, since these oils are known for their anti-fungal properties.

If a Candida infection does not clear up after a few days, if a mouth infection starts developing or the condition worsens, make an appointment to see a professional homeopath for further analysis and treatment. When it comes to herbal remedies, stick to recommended doses and do not mix herbal remedies in combination with conventional treatments without the approval of a homeopath.

By: Fleur Hupston, citizen journalist, at Natural News.

Natural Cures and Remedies for Oral Thrush

Oral thrush is a condition in which the fungus Candida albicans accumulates in the mouth. Ultimately thrush can spread to the gums, the back of the throat, the tonsils and even down the esophagus. Oral thrush occurs most often in babies and toddlers, or in older people with compromised immune systems.

Symptoms of Oral Thrush

• Oral thrush symptoms can develop suddenly but they persist for a long time if not treated.
• Oral thrush looks like creamy or white lesions (or like cottage cheese) on the tongue and inner cheeks and sometimes spreads to other parts of the mouth and back of the throat.
• The lesions are painful and may bleed a little bit if rubbed or scraped.
• If the thrush spreads into the esophagus it can make swallowing more difficult and may feel as if there is food stuck in your mouth.
• Oral thrush can make eating very painful and difficult.
  
  

Causes of Oral Thrush

• The main cause of thrush is a poor functioning immune system.
• Thrush can occur as a side effect of taking antibiotics. This is especially true in infants.
• Corticosteroids and birth control pills may upset the balance of microorganisms in the mouth and may cause thrush.
• Poorly fitted dentures or dental appliances.
• Diabetes mellitus can cause oral thrush as it can cause high levels of sugar in the saliva which encourages the growth of candida.
• HIV/AIDS can cause oral thrush as it damages and destroys the immune system.
• Cancer patients can have oral thrush as the disease and the treatments weaken the immune system.
  
  

Lifestyle and Home Remedies

Practice good oral hygiene by brushing at least twice a day and flossing at least once.
Completely remove sugar from your diet. Candida albicans, the cause of oral thrush, thrives on sugars. Eating sugar will cause it to proliferate more rapidly and make it harder to control.
Salt Water -- Rinse your mouth with salt water. Use 1/2 teaspoon of salt in one cup of warm water and rinse it around in your mouth. Do not swallow but spit it out when finished.
Yogurt -- Eat yogurt containing lactobacillus acidophilus and/or bifidobacterium. This is especially helpful after taking antibiotics in preventing oral thrush. Be sure to use a high quality yogurt.
Coconut Oil -- Caprylic acid, a well known candida remedy, is a substance found in coconut oil. Using coconut oil for oral thrush is easy and effective. Take 1/2 tablespoon to one whole tablespoon of organic extra virgin coconut oil and let it melt in your mouth. Then swish the oil around in your mouth for at least five minutes and up to 20 minutes. Don't swallow any of it but spit it out when you are finished. Also rinse your mouth out with water thoroughly when finished.
Tea Tree Oil -- Mix four drops of tea tree oil into a half a glass of warm water. Swish it around in your mouth for at least a minute, longer if you can. Make sure you reach every part of your mouth. Do not swallow but spit out solution when finished.

Find out more about natural cures and remedies here.