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Thrush

Here is another dirty word. Thrush! Some women suffer from it without ever being able to shake it off. Some people, and that includes some babies, suffer from oral thrush.

What Is It?

Well, thrush  is caused by a fungus, namely: Candida albicans . Candida is one of the normal micro-organism that live in the human body: in the digestive tract and in the vagina, it's not a baddy as such. Its numbers are kept under control by other very useful micro-organisms such as Acidophilus and Bifidus. The problem comes when the good guys can't control Candida any more, its numbers explode and it creates a lot of by-products. It is the by-product that is experienced as the yucky, sticky white discharge.

Why Is It So?

Well, this is an ecological problem, which goes a bit like this: if we have an environment where foxes and rabbits live, the foxes eat the rabbits and this keeps the rabbits under control. If suddenly the foxes die, the rabbits, out of control, overrun the environment by eating everything and digging holes everywhere.

The solution is not to try and poison the rabbits but to put the predators back in. [By the way, this is NOT meant to bear any similarity to the Australasian ecology!]

In the case of the human body what we need to do is to re-establish a good environment and return the proper micro-organisms, ie Acidophilus and Bifidus. Using anti fungal cream and medication only work for a very short time and before you know it the ‘rabbits' are back with a vengeance.

What Do We Do About It?

As usual we can't have a good environment with pollution so we need to clean up the system. Then we need to return the good guys.

Cleaning up the environment

The things that pollute the human body, create a bad environment for the friendly bacteria and therefore allow the growth of unwanted micro-organisms are:

  • Sugar. As in: cakes, biscuits, ice cream, chocolate, jam and marmalade, dried fruit.
  • Alcohol
  • Coffee
  • Candida albicans just LOVES the above, it thrives on them. If you are serious about getting rid of it, you need to have several weeks, or sometimes months avoiding the above as much as you can.
  • The other things that can tip the balance in favour of thrush are:
  • Antibiotics – which kill all bugs good and bad but don't touch Candida
  • Some contraceptive pills – because they change the pH of the vagina.

Putting the good guys back in

There is an excellent product you can buy from your chemist called Inner Health. All you need is half a teaspoon in a little water to be taken before food and this will recolonise your gut.

If you take powdered Acidophilus and Bifidus from the health food store make sure they come in different bottles (in the same bottle they eat each other) and that they have been kept in the fridge. Acidophilus and Bifidus in tablets or capsules are not worth the bottle they are in. Take a quarter of a teaspoon of each, also in a little water, also before food.

People always think that yogurt is good for putting the good bugs back in. Yes and No. It works like this: if you have a goodly amount of bugs in your gut, yogurt will feed them and increase their numbers. But if you are really deficient in good bugs, there is NO WAY yogurt alone can recolonise the gut by itself. Yogurt can only give you a few thousand bugs, while you actually want BILLIONS.

So, get some Acidophilus and Bifidus and then let them eat yogurt.

Local treatment

“How about vinegar douches and yogurt douches and tea tree oil douches?” I hear you ask.

Well, they do not do the job of creating a good balance and putting back the good bugs.

First of all, do NOT, NEVER EVER, put any essential oils in your private parts, especially in a douche which can send them really far up. Essential oils are far too strong for the delicate mucous membrane of the reproductive tract.

Secondly avoid having baths with bath salts (such as Epsom salts or Radox) if you have a thrush problem because they create an alkaline environment and the vagina should be acidic (pH 3.2 to be precise).

Douching should be done with good old Acidophilus and Bifidus (or Inner Health) to the count of half a teaspoon per litre of tepid water. Douche every night (except during menstruation) for two or three cycles.

How Long Do I Do This For?

Some women come to me having had thrush for years, some other only have just had an attack after a course of antibiotics or taking the pill. Obviously the duration of the treatment is going to be different. The longer you have been suffering, the longer you need to stick to the programme. When you are well again, if thrush starts showing its ugly head, don't ignore it for it to go away. It won't. Blast it with the douches and starve it by not feeding it sugar and alcohol.

How About Thrush in Babies and Little Children?

In the case of babies or little children, antibiotics are often the cause of the problem. The recommendations are the same as far as diet is concerned: no sugary foods. They also need to have their gut recolonised so you also need to give them supplementary Acidophilus and Bifidus, a couple of pinches two or three times a day.

If a baby who has not had antibiotics has thrush this also means that s/he needs more acidophilus and bifidus. This often happens to babies weaned on fruit. Don't give fruit to these babies; they are much better off having mashed veges.

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