The best anti-yeast protocol to combat holiday bloating, speed weight loss, and more.

You just can’t escape yeast. Candida albicans is in the air, in your throat, and in your gut. That’s a fact of life. This yeast is everywhere, coexisting with all the other microorganisms.

But when Candida grows out of control—like when we consume sugar in the form of “white stuff” or even too many natural sugars from fruits and/or fruit juices—this normally harmless yeast becomes an invasive troublemaker. You can end up with intense fatigue, sinus pain, headaches, joint problems, urinary infections and…weight gain.

You can’t totally eliminate Candida, but normally your probiotic defenses work with your immune system to keep the “fungus among us” out! As that natural balance breaks down, however—under pressure from too many antibiotics, birth control pills, chlorinated water, excess dietary copper, and not enough zinc from too much chocolate, soy, and regular tea—one in three adults, mostly women, experience the discomforts of candidiasis overgrowth.

Do you Have Excess Yeast?
Yeast overgrowth has so many diverse symptoms that self-diagnosis can be difficult. One easy at-home test, though, which my clients have used for years, involves spitting into a glass of water. If saliva rises to the top and looks stringy (or ropey) and sticky, that’s a pretty good sign of Candida yeast overgrowth and a good starting point for more advanced testing.

If any case, here’s my anti-yeast protocol to fight Candida overgrowth—and accompanying weight gain:

• Get the sugar, which feeds yeasts, out of your diet, and read labels carefully to limit sugary processed foods. Even health food stores are not safe havens for sugar-free foods anymore. Avoid any produce which contains barley malt, beet or brown sugar, cane-juice crystals, cane or date sugar, caramel, corn syrup, dextran, diastaste, ethyl maltose, fructose, fruit juice or concentrate, glucose and its solids, golden sugar or syrup, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), invert sugar, lactose, malt syrup, maltodextrin, maltose, mannitol, raw sugar, refiner’s syrup, sorbitol, sorghum, sucrose, turbinado sugar, and yellow sugar. Oh, and that also means agave. Agave, which is naturally sweeter than sugar, has recently been linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and miscarriage during pregnancy. Stay tuned for an entire blog on the bittersweet truth about this undesirable sweetener.

• Cut out molds and yeasts in alcoholic beverages, breads and other refined carbs, brewer’s yeast, fermented foods, vinegar (except apple-cider vinegar), and yeast-based supplements (read directions carefully). These can cross-react with Candida.

• Cook with garlic and thyme, natural fungicides, every day.

• Balance blood sugar and maintain a healthy weight with the Fat Flush protocol.

• Avoid irritating the genital/vaginal area with feminine hygiene fragrances or sprays, tight-fitting clothing and panty hose. Wear cotton-crotch panties, and use sanitary pads rather than tampons.

• Don’t run out to buy an over-the-counter product for vaginal yeast infections. If you don’t have a yeast infection, you run the very real risk of creating drug-resistant yeasts where you definitely don’t want them! (Instead, make your own douche by mixing 1 teaspoon Flora-Key in 8 ounces of pure water to establish the right vaginal pH.)

Homeopathy Works
The one anti-yeast solution—that I have found personally and professionally extremely effective—is the homeopathic product Y-C Cleanse. This homeopathic formula has been clinically shown to be safe and effective against Candida albicans and other yeast overgrowth that leads to allergies, bloating, fatigue, and food cravings.

To stimulate the body’s own healing powers, Y-C Cleanse contains homeopathic dosages of the most prevalent pathogens. In addition to Candida albicans, Y-C Cleanse also contains Geotrichum candidum, the most common type of fungi found in hundreds of my clients’ stool sample results. The formula also contains Skatolum and Indolum, very frequently found by-products of intestinal putrefaction, and Echinacea, for extra immune power.

Designed for both acute symptoms and long-term maintenance, I typically recommend that Y-C Cleanse should be taken for at least 24 days. Then, take a five- or six-day break and resume treatment if symptoms persist, as they can in more severe yeast challenges.

For maintenance and preventive care, use Y-C Cleanse at least two to three times a week, especially after consuming too much sugar, alcohol, or yeast-based foods. It’s also a must for at least six weeks after taking a course of antibiotics.

Yeast Detox
Just one more thing.

Like most successful detoxification processes, combating yeasts may create die-off (the Herxheimer reaction), which can sometimes increase symptoms for a bit. Not to worry! This response is actually good—it’s a sign that your system is cleansing and you’re on the road to better health! Just cut back the usual dose in half for a couple of days and resume the recommended dosage afterward. Keep in mind that an immunological response, like the Herxheimer reaction, in some cases, is necessary for the effective elimination of fungi.

Along with Y-C Cleanse, you should consider a probiotic like Flora-Key, which can also satisfy your sweet tooth without feeding yeasts, to help maintain healthy levels of beneficial bacteria to fortify your immune system.

Personally, I use both Y-C Cleanse and Flora-Key on a daily basis, but will use Y-C Cleanse twice a day come New Year’s Eve when I know I will be toasting to everyone’s good health and a happy 2011!

Sources:
Before the Change
The Gut Flush Plan
Get the Sugar Out
www.ehow.com/list_6181868_agave-health-risks.html
www.msu.edu/~eisthen/yeast/
www.womenshealth.gov/faq/vaginal-yeast-infections.cfm