By Michael Biamonte, C.C.N.
There exists the myth that Nystatin, Lamisil and Diflucan are very powerful antifungal treatments. This myth exists due to the fact that they are the most prescribed and revered antifungal. It also exists because the drug companies and your Doctor may say it’s so.
However the herbal kingdom also contains antifungal substances. In fact there a dozens and dozens of different antifungal compounds that exist in nature in the forms of herbs.
The purpose of this article will be to reveal the myths, the pros and the cons of both the herbal antifungal and the prescribed drugs such as Nystatin and Diflucan.
Nystatin. Lamisil and Diflucan are given to patients who suffer from chronic fungal or yeast growth. The fungal yeast growth could be anywhere in the body, the intestines, genitals, mouth etc. The assumption is that the medicine will kill the fungus, it will go away and all will be well. This is about as ignorant as the person who invites Osama Bin Laden or Charles Manson to his home for dinner and expects to have a nice quiet evening at home.
Limitations of Nystatin and Diflucan
Nystatin is particularly known for causing drug resistance in different strains of Candida Albicans. It has done this for several reasons. One is that it has been so widely prescribed. Millions of individuals prescribed this drug equals billions of colonies of Candida have had a chance to mutate against it. Beyond this however, it is typical for Nystatin to be prescribed for periods of time that exceed 30 days. My contention is that drug resistance in Candida colonies begin after the colony has been exposed to the same medication for 21 days continuously. Nystatin can be prescribed for 30,60 or 90 days at a time.
Diflucan is rarely prescribed for that long because it is simply too toxic and may cause liver and kidney damage. However is it not as toxic as Nizerol which could cause a disaster if prescribed that long.
Nystatin is active mostly in the intestinal tract and is poorly absorbed systemically. This is an advantage of Diflucan or Nizerol in that they are absorbed systemically and are not limited to the intestinal tract.
Dysbiosis
The definition of Dysbiosis is an imbalance in the intestinal tract of normal intestinal flora. Lactobacillus Acidophilus which inhabits the 40-60 foot long small intestine and Bifido Bacterium which inhabits the 6-8 foot long colon are the most abundant protective bacteria in the digestive tract. They help produce vitamins, help us digest and absorb nutrients from our foods and also protect us from harmful bacteria, parasites and yeasts which find their way into our digestive tract. When medication such antibiotics, steroids, antacids, and immune suppressing drugs are taking these friendly protective organisms die-off. This condition is called “Dysbiosis”. “Dysbiosis” is a state of imbalance where the harmful micro-organisms achieve an abnormal dominance over the good organisms. This allows a build up of toxins produced by the organisms and also disrupts normal digestion. Due to this, stomach acid and enzymes produced by the pancreas that digest foods (particularly proteins) lessen. This leads to incomplete digestion of proteins.
It is impossible for someone to have an overgrowth of Fungus or Yeast without also developing Dysbiosis. This is because once the friendly flora that protects us from Fungus or Yeast in compromised the growth of harmful bacteria and parasites occur along with the Fungus or Yeast. Does Nystatin or Diflucan kill harmful bacteria or parasites? The answer is no!
So if you use these drugs to eliminate your Candida problem and if you are lucky enough that they do indeed eliminate it, you are still left with the harmful bacteria and the parasites the make up the remainder of your Dysbiosis. That being the case the harmful bacteria and the parasites prevent your friendly bacteria from growing back despite the hundreds of dollars you are spending on acidophilus and probiotics. So what happens in time? Well of course, the Candida grows back again? Why? Because you treated Candida only and not the complete problem which is the Dysbiosis!
Why Use Herbs?
1. Antifungal herbs are plentiful do you can rotate 3,4 or 5 different ones taking each one for 4, 7 or 10 days at a time and then moving to another one without ever causing dug resistance to occur.
2. Herbs are much less toxic then the prescription antifungal drugs.
3. All the antifungal herbs are to a greater or lesser degree also effective against harmful bacteria and parasites. So when you use the herbs you’re treating the Dysbiosis and not just the Candida. This gives you a better chance a eliminating your Dysbiosis so that the acidophilus will grow back!
They “cons” regarding using herbs are very few. Allergic reactions may occur in very sensitive individuals to some of the plant substances in the herbs. That aside there are none.
So while in fact there is the myth of Nystatin and Diflucan being so powerful, you now may see that they are nothing more then big bullies who can’t ever do the job correctly so like all bullies their own short comings lead to their eventual failure.