Worried About Candida Induced Dysbiosis?
acteria” brings to mind images of illness and
uncleanness, but in fact the human body has about 500 types of
bacteria living in the gastrointestinal tract alone, almost all
of them beneficial.
We call them “friendly bacteria,” and they have a symbiotic
relationship with us. We help them by giving them a place to
live and food to eat, and they help us by producing nutrients
such as B vitamins, helping to metabolize drugs and hormones,
and maintaining a healthy pH balance in the intestinal tract.
Friendly bacteria also protect us from infection by bad
bacteria. For the most part, they do this simply by being more
numerous: With good bacteria occupying most of the available
space, there isn’t room for bad bacteria to thrive.
But when something happens to disrupt the balance, bad bacteria
can start to outnumber the friendly kind, and illness occurs.
What causes this shift in bacteria population? Paradoxically,
taking antibiotics can actually be one of the major causes of
having too much bacteria. Most antibiotics kill all bacteria
indiscriminately, including the good kind. If more good
bacteria dies than bad bacteria, the bad kind will start to
take over.
Birth control pills and other hormones (including steroids) can
disturb the balance, too. In addition, an unhealthy diet, too
much alcohol, and too much stress will nourish the unfriendly
bacteria while killing the friendly bacteria.
One of the most plentiful harmful bacteria is the genus Candida
(usually Candida albicans, specifically), a type of yeast that
lives in the small intestine, the urinary tract and the mucous
membranes. Normally, Candida’s numbers are kept in check by
friendly bacteria. When it is allowed to flourish, however, it
causes dysbiosis — the opposite of symbiosis, where one
organism is now harming the other — and illness.
Symptoms of Candida dysbiosis are often reminiscent of a
hangover. Why? Because Candida is a yeast, and yeasts produce
ethanol (or alcohol), as well as acetaldehyde — the main
chemical responsible for hangover symptoms. If there is too
much Candida, too much alcohol is produced, and the person
experiences the side effects of drinking without touching a
drop!
Too much Candida can manifest itself in these symptoms:
fatigue, headaches, aches, weakness, general “hungover”
feeling, lack of concentration, diarrhea, nausea, constipation,
allergies, and vaginitis, among other things.
In addition, while Candida is normally a bacteria, when it
becomes strong it can change into a fungal form, with little
branching “arms” that can jab into the intestinal wall. This
leads to something called “Leaky Gut Syndrome,” which is
exactly what it sounds like: a permeable intestine that allows
toxic chemicals to escape and be absorbed into the body.
One of the simplest ways to avoid all this unpleasantness is to
resist taking broad-spectrum antibiotics. They may help with the
immediate condition that requires treatment, but they may be
more harmful in the long run. With several hundred types of
bacteria in your system, most of them beneficial and necessary,
it’s best not to send medication in that’s going to wipe them
out.
About The Author: Jane Symms has an interest in Candida. For
further information on Candida please visit
http://www.eliminating-candida.com/candida.html or
http://www.eliminating-candida.com/blog/2006/11/23/worried-about-candida-induced-dysbiosis/
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