It is believed that around 70% of us could have a fungal and / or a parasite issue in our digestive system.  This often occurs over a period of time, but usually because of long term stress, bad eating and drinking habits, drug use (both legal and illegal), especially antibiotics, steroids or oral contraceptive medication or a combination of all of the above.

As the ecology of the digestive system starts to break down then the bad yeasts and bacteria start to take hold.  This then opens your digestive system up to being a lovely inviting home to parasites also.  Initially you may not notice any symptoms / side-effects of this happening but eventually (sometimes years later) you may notice your health isn’t quite right, that Monday morning feeling never goes away and you may also have started to have some or most of the symptoms below.

1. Flu / Sinus Problems / Coughs/Sore Throats
2. IBS / Upset Tummies / Constipation/Indigestion
3. Depression
4. PMS, Mood Swings & Irritability
5. Headaches/Migraines
6. Chronic Fatigue / Low energy levels
7. An inability to Lose Weight / Weight Gain
8. Itching throughout the body & including the genital and rectal areas
9. Poor Concentration / Feeling Generally Muddled
10. Skin Conditions / Acne /Eczema
11. Dizziness
12. Muscle Weakness/Pain
13. Food & Chemical Sensitive’s
14. Low Libido
15. Thrush and Athletes Foot
16. Inability to absorb and utilize adequate nutrients from your food

The reason for this is because as the fungus grows it produces toxins which spread throughout the body.  They can affect all areas of the body and especially run amuck through the digestive and endocrine systems, potentially affecting our hormones, including things like thyroid function and insulin production.  The more the fungus grows the more toxins it produces and the more overrun the body becomes.  Your body works hard to try to remove these toxins and in the meantime the fungus is producing more and more of them.  Without some additional help the body simply cannot deal with the fungus and its friends, the parasites and you start to become increasingly unwell.

The good news is that it is fairly easy to bring the fungus back to a normal healthy balance.  You can do this in one of (or a combination of) the following ways.

Detoxing the body

If you create an environment that the fungus and parasites do not like within your body they will leave.  If you follow a really healthy diet plan then the digestive system will eventually become balanced again.  This can be helped by cutting out processed foods, sugars and alcohol and consuming a combination of detoxing herbs.  The three following herbs are especially powerful at eliminating fungus and parasites, but if in any doubt see a qualified herbalist who will advise you on how and when to take these and any others:  Wormwood, Black Walnut and Clove.  Also look to introduce anti-candida foods, such as ginger, garlic, coconut oil and oregano.

Fermented Food and Drinks

Fermented foods and drinks are full of good bacteria, yeasts and probiotics, when you consume these they help to rebalance the digestive system and eliminate the overgrowth of fungus and eventually encourage the parasites to leave, as they don’t like healthy environments.  Try to have as many different strains (different fermented food and drinks) as possible for optimum benefits.  Start with a very small amount, maybe a tablespoons worth and slowly build up, otherwise you may find you have some pretty side effects, as the fermented produce affectively detoxes the digestive system.  A slight churning of the stomach is a good sign, it means the good stuff in the fermented produce it attacking the bad stuff in your gut, however if you have any worsening symptoms than this then please reduce how much you are consuming and slowly build it up again.  Note: By fermented I mean lacto-ferments or cultured foods and drinks, not pickled.

Zapper

Zappers are wonderful little boxes of health.  A traditional zapper looks like a small box that has two electrodes and a strap attached to it.  You wear it next to your skin (on the lowest setting to start with and never above 12 volts) for 60 minutes in the morning, afternoon and evening.  It literally draws toxins right through the skin and along with this it is thought to kill many viruses, bacteria, fungus and parasites within the body.  It also helps to ground you and reduces the effects of electromagnetic stress, due to it being negativity charged, just like our planet.  Zappers are thought it help alkalise and balance the body and remove everything from herpes and Lyme disease to emotional blockages throughout the body.  These are not recommend for anyone with a pacemaker or if pregnant.

Enemas and Colonics:

Enemas and colonics are very affective at removing those pesky critters from the digestive system.  Enemas are fairly easy to do at home, but in my personal opinion they don’t get high enough up the digestive system to be completely remove all fungus and parasites, however colonics do.  I would highly recommend going to a fully qualified colonic expert, preferably with a medical or nutritional back ground.  They will be able to tell you if you have a fungus or parasite issue and the best course of action to help support the treatments they give you (note there should be multiple treatments to be affective).

Yeast die-off Diet

This option is a bit more drastic, but affective.  There are many die-off diets around, some lasting years, some just a few days and others using pills and potions.  The die-off diet I recommend lasts around 3 weeks (slightly less for moderate cases and slightly more for more severe cases).

During a die-off diet you would aim to starve the fungus so that it retreats back to a healthy level within the body.

To do this you would need to completely cut out all sugars for this period, this includes fruit sugars and honey as well as all the bad sugars.  You also need to cut out all yeasts and funguses as well, this includes mushrooms, vinegars, blue cheeses and pickled goods as well as alcohol.  On top of this you would cut out all items that create a sugary or yeasty effect in the body, so this includes all refined carbohydrates, and many white foods like white potatoes, white flour / pasta and white rice (but brown rice is fine and things like quinoa are fine).

Tomatoes and carrots are both fine raw but cooked they become sugary, so they are best avoided or dramatically cut down in this period.

You should try where possible to only eat organic foods, especially where meat and dairy are concerned.  These two types of foods in particular if not organic that can hold a high number of antibiotics and additional hormones that the fungus will love.  Any pesticides and preservatives on fruits and veggies will be a little gold mine for the fungus also, so if you can’t manage organic make sure you wash these well.

If you have any food or chemical sensitivities then these need to be avoided for this time to help the body heal and the immune system strengthen.

It is very important that during this time of change you have a varied and balanced diet and do not cut items out not to be replaced by other items.  Varying your diet will minimise food sensitivities and help your digestive system work more effectively, as well as give you a good supply of essential nutrients.

Anything you can do to strengthen the immune system is going to help, so make sure you have adequate amounts of Vitamin C, Zinc & Selenium in your will help.

Drink at least 2-3Litres per day water to flush the fungus and it’s toxins out and to support a healthy digestive track. You can make this water more alkalising by adding cucumber, ginger or pH drops.

Cut out, or if not down on caffeine, instead replacing this with herbal teas, especially one’s that support the liver, like nettle and dandelion.

Make sure to take a daily probiotic (if you are not consuming fermented foods and drinks), one with many million strains of lactobacillus bacteria.

Grapefruit Seed extract (not grape seed extract) is recommended, please read the label and consume only as advised and start with the minimum dose.  This is a very strong, natural antifungal and isn’t for everyone, so if you find this is too much for you then please discontinue use.  This is also not advised long term.

Oregano Oil extract is an excellent natural antifungal, but again it is fairly strong, so shouldn’t be taken long term.  And although it suggests on the label that you can put this directly onto the mouth undiluted, I would not recommend this unless you want to be hopping about the kitchen trying to scrap the taste off your tongue for the next hour (like I was).

I would not recommend taking the above anti-fungals for longer than 12 weeks, which is the believed amount of time it takes for all the toxins from the fungus to leave the body after the die-off diet.

Lastly, try having daily Epsom salt baths to help draw out the toxins created by the fungus and the die-off of itself.

You will know when the die-off is finished as you will likely be feeling under the weather during this time and will literally wake up one morning (usually around the 3 week mark) feeling absolutely fine again.

Here’s some other relevant links:

The Body Ecology Diet – Donna Gates, for her website, click here.

Cultured Food for Life – Donna Schwenk, for her website, click here.

Zapper – Dr Clark, for her website, click here.

Parasite Cleanse – The Kitchen Stewardship, click here.

Candida Cleanse – The Candida Diet, click here.

Do any of you have any tips for dealing with inner beasties?