By Michael Biamonte, C.C.N.

Candida Albicans is a common organism living in your intestinal tract. Lactobacillus is also found in your intestinal tract; it is a friendly bacteria. Lactobacillus is commonly found in yogurt, kefir (a yogurt drink), breast milk, miso (a soy bean paste) and other foods. It feeds on Candida, keeping its numbers low. When antibiotics, costisone medications, birth control pills, chemotherapy and drugs or alcohol are ingested, the lactobacillus is destroyed and the Candida Albicans may then multiply. It grows like a weed, killing other helpful organisms and helping parasites and other harmful bacteria.

The latest studies show one out of three Americans have too much of this yeast/fungus in their body. It may cause vaginal or genital infections, jock itch, athlete’s foot, chronic fatigue, allergies, lowered immunity, constipation, diarrhea, bloating, poor digestion, burping, lower gas, nutritional deficiencies of all kinds, reactions to perfumes and odors of all kinds, irregular menstrual cycle, painful intercourse, low sex drive, all types of skin problems, rectal itching and much, much more.

The medical profession has been slow to recognize this as the problem that it is. Therefore, they cannot treat it correctly because they have yet to understand it. Those most eager to treat it have been nutritionists, chiropractors, and nutritionally oriented MD’s. The success rates appear to be inadequate, judging by how many patients relapse.

In this series I will explain the four-phase program originally developed by Dr. Scott Gregory, author of “A Holistic Protocol for the Immune System” that has been largely expanded and perfected by myself.

The results with this approach are estimated at 80%. This means 80% of those who follow the program correctly get the results they came for, and usually much more. We have found the remaining 20% are exposed to too much stress to either follow the program correctly or to recover.

In this approach four essential actions are undertaken, one following the other, that allow the person to recover without relapse. If relapse does occur, it is minor and quickly corrected. The four phases are: 1) killing off the overgrowth of Candida; 2) cleansing the intestines, re-balancing the friendly bacteria (lactobacillus), strengthening the digestion and repairing damage to the intestines caused by Candida; 3) correcting anemia, poor energy, and many other problems caused by Candida, including vitamin and mineral deficiencies; 4) repairing the immune system which was weak and allowed the entire problem in the first place.

In this first of the four-article series we will take an in depth look at the first phase.

HOW TO KILL CANDIDA

The purpose of the first phase is to kill all or as much of the Candida as possible.We use a protocol to do this. Protocol means the correct rules which one follows. In our first phase, the rules state that we must use different, safe, natural, and non-toxic substances to kill the Candida. We have a list of about forty different ones. Some are found in health food stores; many are not. We use only ones that can destroy the Candida effectively. They each destroy the yeast in a different way. Some will work better than others on different people. We determine which one is to be used depending on the results of the tests.

Stool analysis for Candida, other harmful bacteria and parasites compared to the friendly bacteria also help to determine which substances are given. The patient’s medical history is also used. All of these give us the necessary information to determine which will be most effective. The substances used are categorized by how they act in killing Candida. Group one are the “munchers.” These are certain bacteria (not the lactobacillus I mentioned earlier. It cannot regrow in the intestines until Candida is eliminated.) and enzymes which digest the Candida. Group two are the “oxygenators.” These add oxygen to the body and to the cells of viruses and Candida which suffocates them. Group three are the “disintegrators.” These dissolve the outside coating of the Candida (viruses also), thus destroying it. The fourth group are “the killers.” These are herbal substances which produce rapid and vicious destruction of Candida cells.

After seven days of exposure to any substance trying to kill it, Candida is able to begin developing a resistance. Therefore, whichever of these substances is used, it must be taken for less than seven days. The best way is to find about five different ones that will be best for the patient. Have him take only one of them for four days, then stop it and switch to another for another four days. He would continue doing this until each one was taken by itself for four days. This is called a “rotation.” It prevents the Candida from ever getting used to and, therefore, building an immunity to any of the substances. When taken, a “die-off” will occur. This means that the actual Candida cells are dying and their toxic wastes are being dumped into the person’s blood. This sounds disgusting, but is a sign that things are working. “Die-off” usually produces headaches, nausea, loose stools or diarrhea, and many times bad breath. Flu-like symptoms and rashes are also common. It may last 1-2 weeks, sometimes longer. Distilled water both drunk and used as an enema help to relieve the symptoms. The pH (meaning how acid one is) can be used to determine how well someone is progressing. An acid pH is a sign of infection still present, while an alkaline one shows it’s being eliminated. A special urine test done in my office can determine how much protein wastes from dead or living Candida is being eliminated from the body. Both of these tests are useful in determining how the rotation is progressing and to verify if what appears to be bad reactions are actually caused by the Candida dying.

Another test we perform is called an Indican test. Indican measures how much fermentation (breakdown of foods from harmful bacteria and yeast) is going on in the bowel. When this is low we know the bad organisms and Candida are eliminated. Many times a patient will have more “die-off” or unpleasant symptoms when taking certain substances and feel better while taking others. The ones that are causing the bad reactions are killing the most Candida. If the patient repeats the whole rotation of about five different items three times, he will notice each time through the reactions will become milder, until they eventually stop. This means there is little or no more yeast to kill.

CANDIDA DIET

Many Candida diet books emphasize the importance of eliminating sugar, alcohol and carbohydrate foods from your diet in an effort to starve the yeast to death. This sometimes can take years to accomplish. Lacking adequate knowledge of what can kill Candida effectively, diet as a means of controlling symptoms by keeping the yeast starving, is heavily stressed by many doctors. With this approach it is necessary to follow the Candida diet only while one is on Phase I and Phase II. Usually this is a total of 6 to 8 months as opposed to the rest of your life! While we are killing them we certainly do not want to feed them and make them strong. But we can kill them effectively enough to discontinue the Candida diet once the tests say we can. Bad reactions to foods or allergy reactions to foods may still exist, not because yeast is there but because damage from the yeast must still be repaired.

On Phase I any other viruses found may also be destroyed while destroying the Candida. It is common that people suffering with chronic fatigue syndrome have frequent viral infections along with Candida. Viruses and Candida can cause similar symptoms. After completing Phase I most people report a reduction in fatigue, in allergies, vaginal infections and the foggy, spaced-out feeling that accompanies Candida. We do not expect all the person’s complaints to be handled with Phase I completed. We expect a 25% improvement with each one of the four phases complete. This would give 100% at the completion of the fourth phase. With Phase I completed, it means the person has eliminated most, if not all, of the Candida. If any remains it will be eliminated on Phase II.

Once the yeast is destroyed it is very important to move immediately to Phase II to restore the normal, friendly bacteria to the intestines. This helps stop the yeast from coming back. Most relapses occur when people do not move quickly from Phase I through to Phase II. I have found that one of the key reasons for relapses by patients doing other kinds of Candida treatments is not doing each of the four phases in the exact order I described earlier.

Many people wish to take vitamin supplements to help them overcome Candida. It has been found that harmful bacteria and yeast are helped and can spread if the patient is taking vitamins. Stimulating the person’s immune system to fight yeast on its own is not useful in the beginning stages of treatment. Here the person already has an exhausted immune system. Trying to get it to destroy yeast is useless because it couldn’t do it in the first place and it makes no sense to “whip a dead horse.”

Bowel cleaning can be done during Phase I to help reduce the reactions coming from dead yeasts. However, it is much wiser to cleanse the bowel fully after the Candida is killed, because the results will be more permanent, and the friendly bacteria will be able to re-grow.

In the next article we will discuss Phase II, which is the key phase in preventing relapse.

Michael Biamonte holds a Doctorate of Nutripathy, and is a New York State certified Clinical Nutritionist. He is a professional member of the International and American Association of Clinical Nutritionists,The American College of Nutrition and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Clinical Nutrition Certification Board. He is listed in “The Directory of Distinguished Americans” for his research in Nutrition and Physiology.