Yeastie Beasties

Healthy by Nature radio show this week: Oh boy! Widely popular national TV personality, author, fungus expert and long-time friend, Doug Kaufmann will be on the show live this time so that he can answer your questions. Then I speak with author Diana Denholm about her book, The Caregiving Wife's Handbook: Caring for Your Seriously Ill Husband…Caring for Yourself. Call show with questions at 1-800-281-8255. Click here to find podcasts, show archives and ways to listen nationwide.

THERE IS A FUNGUS AMONGUS

What do these things have in common: mold in the shower grout; toadstools in the front yard; ring worm on the skin; green fuzz on left overs kept too long in the fridge; the thing that makes bread rise and grape juice become wine; a white coating on a baby’s tongue; and the cause of dandruff and athlete’s foot? They are all forms of fungus—some of them called “yeasts”. Add to that list of physical problems caused at least in part by yeast these conditions: depression, foggy thinking, fatigue, achy joints and perhaps even cancer and diabetes. Virtually every person is host to a certain amount of yeast like the relatively well-known type, Candida. In small amounts when vastly outnumbered by our beneficial bacteria, they don’t cause much mischief. However, when we upset that balance, for example, by taking an antibiotic, danger awaits. It is relatively easy to understand that an overgrowth of yeast in the intestinal tract might be the cause of many chronic digestive problems. Chronic sinus infections are usually caused by yeasts. (Acute sinus infections are rarely bacterial—90% of the time they are caused by viruses. In spite of the fact that antibiotics don’t kill viruses the drugs are often mistakenly prescribed setting the person up for a chronic yeast-based sinus infection.) In case you find it hard to imagine that internal yeasts might interfere with your thinking or mood, consider the ramblings of a drunk. Remember that I said that yeasts turn grape juice into wine by making alcohol? Yeasts in your system can also turn the grape juice you drank into wine. People who never took an alcoholic drink but who had serious yeast overgrowths have been arrested for DUI. Alcohol is just one type of “mycotoxin”.  The last part of that word, “toxin” gives away that these are poisonous substances. (Alcohol is used to kill bacteria on the skin, right?)  The mycotoxins apparently serve the fungus by weakening the host which makes it easier for the fungus to proliferate. One mycotoxin that has been in the news is aflatoxin. It is released by molds that grow on grain in silos and is a known potent carcinogen. When food has gotten moldy, the danger is not from the mold itself but the poisons that they leave behind. Those are not eliminated by cooking. Yeast mycotoxins created in our bodies can sabotage the function of all cells, organs and systems—hence the aching joints and much worse. They weaken the lining of the intestinal tract (leaky gut) which contributes to both poor nutrient absorption and food sensitivities…perhaps even worsening auto-immune problems. The fungus also crowds out our good bacteria depriving us of their many benefits. To get an idea if yeast might be a problem for you, take the yeast quiz available from this page: LINK. Find this topic interesting? Please tune in to hear Doug Kaufmann this week on the May 12 show when we talk about how to avoid and control yeast problems. Maybe I will also continue the discussion next week in this newsletter.

LAST WEEK

Stuart Tomc of Nordic Naturals discussed “Are fatty foods addictive—like cocaine? What can we do to help?” He had some powerful information about why processed foods so easily hook us and perpetuate the munchies. In case you missed it or want to have someone else listen to the show (someone fighting the battle of the bulge?), here is the archive LINK.