One of the most common questions I received from my recent blog series was pertaining to Candida and what my course of diagnosis and treatment was going to be.

A quick review tells us that:

• Candida, which is a yeast like fungus, is commonly found in your intestines, however, in a healthy individual, its growth is usually limited by your immune system and by other good microflora.

This yeast like fungus is normal and you cannot completely eliminate it from a digestive system.  But we can control and manage the the condition.

It’s a classic battle of good(Daniel Son) verse bad microflora in the body:

Classic Karate Kid Fight. Good vs Evil!

If we review the definition of the condition above I feel extra emphasis needs to placed on  the sentence “its growth is usually limited by your immune system and by other good microflora.”

Since being diagnosed with this overgrowth I have been reading from many sources and learning a ton.  I see many resources out there proclaiming to help with the overgrowth and many supplements being proclaimed as the cure all.  I even see one so called professional claiming a spit test can home diagnosis you with this condition.  I call BullSh*t on this spit test.  I do think some home remedies might work…but…I am not going to put all my money on a spit test telling me if I have an over growth of Candida in my body.  I feel the most reliable and supported method is finding a medical professional with the appropriate certifications to help diagnosis you with a condition.  Please remember; only a medical professional can diagnosis you with medical conditions.

My method of testing was a blood test.  A test that gives a piece of information happening in our body.  Tapping right into the information lines in my body and giving a direct message as to what was happening inside my body.  My blood tests came back with an abnormal elevation for the presence of Candida.

This condition may be pretty common in our population due to the high level of antibiotics in our food, and high levels of over prescribing of antibiotics in our medical professional population.  We also have a high stress life these days with constant stimuli coming in all directions (phone, email, internet) and the many hours we are working.  That being said, many people are taking advantage of this Candida condition,  tapping into a common problem and trying to develop a quick fix.

This happens all over our society, it is especially popular in the health and fitness world and even the rehabilitation world.  Everyday you see a new and improved product to help you lose weight and get fit!  Fix that back pain forever with this little patch to wear!  The common problem: obesity and heart disease…..exercise it off (crazy titled workout videos i.e. insanity, P90X and something you do in 24 mins)(remember 8 min abs…..did you see anyone getting 8 min abs…nope) or…join this diet….drink this shake.  Quick fixes, tend to only be a a waste of time and money.  Don’t do it.  Invest in the long term!

Lets get back to the topic; we see many “professionals” claiming to have the 6 week fix to Candida.  Well, I am here to tell you there is not a 6 week fix to this problem.  I know…call me mister negative.  But really I am not being negative, I am being mister honest and true and hoping to instill hope in everyone reading this blog.  So don’t waste your time and money on a quick fix, when in reality after you finish the 6 week “cleanse” you have not really treated the underling issue that started the Candida over growth.

The truth lies in finding a medical professional qualified to help you with this condition.  It takes appropriate testing, it takes dedication to make lifestyle changes and it take sacrifice to make the changes.  You may even end up being a little different from the popular trends happening.  Thats OK!  It’s ok to find your proper nutritional path to make you feel great!  Be proud of taking control in your nutrition and your healthcare.

I am going to give you a sample of my experience and I will let you choose if this sounds logical and sensible to create a sustainable change in my life.

1)  I visited with a medical professional that sat and discussed my medical and health issues.  This took about an hour and a half.  She took detailed notes and discussed all aspects of my life.  Past, Present, and where I would like to be in the future.

2)  Determination by the medical professional as to the right types of testing to be done and gather information on my body.  I will note, at the end of our first visit….she gave me no information to try and help me…she explained that we needed to gather information first and then when the results were in, we would determine a course of action.

3)  Test results were in.  I learned I had many food IgG food sensitivities.  Many of these outlined in my post: The Burn and the Bloat: Part 2.   These food sensitivities were compromising my immune function.

4)  I worked on eliminating the foods that caused IgG issues and at the same time I worked on follow a level two nutrition plan to help support decreasing my levels of Candida.  At my healthcare providers office they provide a Candida Nutrition plan based on the levels reported in testing.  Level one for mild elevation and level three for very high elevation.  I was given the option to follow level two.

5)  Supplement support for my immune system and high potency probiotics to begin introduction of more healthy microflora to my GI.

6)  Being consistent and following the plan.  Understating that the changes are going to be slow.  Consistency and dedication will be the key to success.  After all, it has been years my body has been dealing with the food sensitivities and Candida.  My body must rebuild and heal my GI.  It will not and cannot be fixed permanently in 6 weeks.  It takes time!

Many times we focus so much on the Candida (or any other heath issue) that we tend to actually dismiss the underlying issue, and dismiss gathering information as to what might be the cause of the condition.  It far too common to prescribe a pill or a group of supplements to work on candida.  The candida for me was a byproduct of a immune system malfunction.  Or more simply put, my immune system was so focused on the food sensitivities and fighting the IgG inflammation triggers it could not help with the unhealthy amount of candida growing in my GI.

It has been approximately 10 weeks since I began my elimination of food sensitivities and following a Candida Level Two nutrition plan.  I have seen a gradual change in many things in my life.  One of the most notable area is my ability to recover from training.  I feel changes happening in my movement and also in my strength.  I can feel changes in my hips and thoracic spine that are allowing me to progress in my training.

This past week on 3/13/2015 was able to Dead-Lift a single rep of 315lbs.

In this video you can see how I am able to get my back in position to pull the weight with my hips.  I produce tension to protect my back and allow my hip to perform.  This is how we all should train a dead-lift.  Avoiding any back movement, producing stiffness in the back to allow the hip to move strong.  If we cannot get into this alignment, well, then….something else will do the work and our movement will be compromised and we have a higher potential for injury.  Please note this took me almost 4 years to re-build after a few nasty injuries that were out of my control.

Here is another video of a sit-to-stand movement and an over-head squat with a barbell:

Finally, please invest in the time and effort to follow a quality path for nutrition and fitness.  This treatment is taking me down a path to live for the rest of my life.  A path that will work to help ME be at my best.  As I am waling down this path I am noticing more and more how the food and drink we place into our body has a very large effect.  Look for a professional to help you to find your path.  Once you find your path, you will notice, your health will improve, your movement will improve as these two areas improve you will be well on the path to have the image of a healthy mind, and body.

If you need help in either of these areas I am always happy to help.  I have detailed training methods as well as nutritional coaching packages to help you to progress to any goal in life.  Visit On-Line Training with Eric Gahan for more details.