Archive

Archive for the ‘Health’ Category

Little Known Facts about Candida Yeast Infections

April 8th, 2013

Have you ever heard of Candida? It’s a small word but the organism can have a world of impact on those who are suffering from an overgrowth infection. Candida, in short, is a naturally occurring yeast/fungus that lives in the body, just like yo have good bacteria. When the balance of yeast and bacteria becomes messed up, and the Candida organism can flourish and cause a wide variety of health complications. Here are some things you probably didn’t know about yeast and the human body.

Everyone Can Suffer from Yeast Infections

There is a misconception that only women can suffer from yeast infections. This isn’t true – at all. While women most commonly suffer from the vaginal variety, there are a ton of other fungal infections caused by Candida as well. These include jock itch, athlete’s foot, oral thrush, and ringworm. This means Candida can affect men and woman of all ages – even babies. According to the CDC, “Candida yeasts normally live ion the skin and mucous membranes without causing infection; however, overgrowth of these organisms can cause symptoms to develop.”

You Can’t “Catch” Candida, but Antibiotics Make it Worse

The Candida organism lives within your body, so you can’t technically “catch” the condition from others. You can usually catch simple fungal skin irritations from others, but Candidiasis, or the systemic overgrowth, is caused by your own health (or lack thereof). According to research on Body and Health on Canada.com, “The leading cause is the overuse of antibiotics. Yeast must compete for the right to live on us with various other organisms, many of them bacteria.” When we take too many antibiotics, the bacteria can’t continue to fight the levels of yeast in and on the body

Doctors Tend to Mess Up the Diagnosis

That’s not encouraging, is it? Believe it or not, if you don’t have one of the forms of Candida mentioned above, but have a more serious systemic infection, you’ll probably find yourself misdiagnosed at least once. According to Dr. Eric Bakker, there are two main reasons for this happening. The first is the growth of the pharmaceutical industry and the second is the way the symptoms of chronic Candida mimic other major conditions.

Sugar Doesn’t Cause Candida

There are some people out there who will tell you that sugar causes Candida infections. While sugar doesn’t have to cause Candida, per say, it definitely contributes to the ability of the Candida organism to thrive. If you are a healthy person, eating fruit and the occasional sweet treat probably won’t make much of a difference. If you’re already immune compromised, diabetic, or suffering from some other illness, the increased sugar in your bloodstream will certainly make things more difficult to handle.

candida yeast

Candida and Fibromyalgia, CFS, and IBS

Not everyone with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, or IBS will have Candida, but quite a few actually do. According to Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, if you have one of these conditions “You probably have an overgrowth of yeast or Candida. Though poorly understood by most physicians, treating this underlying infection can have profound health benefits.” As a matter of fact, treating your Candida with a natural diet and anti-fungal medications, like the plan outlined in Eric Bakker’s Candida Crusher book suggests, you should not only start to feel better but may experience complete relief from these debilitating conditions.

Acute Conditions often Hide Chronic Conditions

If you suffer from frequent fungal conditions, like vaginal yeast infections or even athlete’s foot, you may need to take a step back and consider your treatment methods. Those who have a one-time problem can usually treat themselves with OTC medications and go about their lives. Those who are plagued with the same infection over and over again need to consider the common threads. Are you constantly taking antibiotics? Do you drink a lot of alcohol? Do you live a stressful life? All of these things can contribute to an imbalance in your body’s homeostasis, allowing yeast to flourish.

Alcohol is a Huge Culprit

While you may not want to hear it, it’s definitely true. The consumption of alcohol plays a huge role in the way Candida is allowed to grow and flourish in your body. According to Dr. Bakker, “The more resistant the patient is in wanting to give up alcohol entirely (and I absolutely mean 100%) for at least 4 months to allow the digestive system to fully recover, the more likely it will be the alcohol is a major causative factor, and is continuing to underpin the yeast condition.” This doesn’t mean you’ll never be able to enjoy a drink again in your life, but if you’re seriously suffering, you’re going to have to give it up for a while.

At the end of the day, you can’t avoid the Candida yeast organism 100%. You’re living with it right now. What you can do is take action to make sure you’re keeping your body and health in balance; and talk to doctor sooner rather than later if you experience odd symptoms. The sooner you start to treat a Candida yeast infection, the better off you’ll be.

Health

Getting Better Cardio with Running

February 25th, 2013

In the last decade the thought of personal fitness has arisen in nearly every country. Before that it was never really mainstream to talk about working, most people did sports or didn’t. But in the last decade this has greatly changed, with fitness gyms and martial arts gyms opening in every country in the world. Taking care of your personal health has become one of the top priorities of a person in our world. This mainly because of the advent of new diseases and society becoming generally less active. With the immergence of technology humans have jobs that require less and less manual labor. Working out can be anything from yoga to strength training to any sport.  But one of the easiest ways to get fit and be rid of most disease is be in good cardiovascular shape. A good body needs a good heart. Good cardio is not easy to come by but a good running routine can help massively.

One thing about running is that it’s easy, if you’ve been alive for long enough you probably know how to run properly. Of course there is a form and shape to running but it’s very instinctive and simple. On the equipment side you only need some loose clothes and good running shoes. For the clothes you might want to wear something made out of a really light fabric, that lets the wind breeze in and not absorb the sunlight. Cotton is one nono for running; it really makes a difference during a hot, humid day. Nike’s track & field shirt are great for running and have good durability. For shoes you might want regular running sneakers but there has recently been a popular alternative the vibram foot shoes. There is even an optionWhich are made scientifically to avoid foot injuries. They are also lighter than any regular running sneakers which make for easier runs. Socks are also important, here we must also avoid the cotton, something made out of polyester is recommended. Back to running, running burns the most calories per minute than any other activity other than a high intensity workout. Best way to get into running is joining a local marathon(place doesn’t matter) or just going on runs by yourself. Those were some tips on running.

Health cardio workouts, get better cardio, running equipement, running routines, running shirt, running socks, running tips

Fastest way to get a slim stomach

February 20th, 2013

Many people say that losing weight is one of the hardest things to achieve with your body but that is not entirely true, gaining weight and losing weight can be hard for a certain body type but one thing that is just generally hard to get rid off is a belly. A fat belly is not considered attractive but it also sticks out which is unfortunate and disturbing. Losing a sticking out belly is not entirely an easy thing as stated earlier but can be achieved by doing certain things and avoiding certain things.

Things to do and not to do

Sleeping less can lead to a fat belly mostly because staying awake will lead more ghrelin production in your body which will lead you to starvation and compulsion eating. Also sleeping less can unbalance your hormonal system. Obviously eating healthy is a good suggestion. Some things that are generally always considered good despite the trend of health industry being very bipolar are the following, fish, green vegetables and fruits. If you already have a good diet and still get a belly, you might want to try going vegetarian for less protein and carbs in your diet. Although remember that proteins are alot easier to burn than carbs. But starving yourself is not the answer but quite actually the opposite, eating less than your needs will also give you a belly. Eating more can be actually benefit if you train most days of the week. Staying motivated and keep a steady workout routine will also help you out. Especially a workout that covers the cardiovascular, strength and endurance. Some out of the regular exercises include breathing exercises which are very common for stress relief but work fine for body relaxation in general which will help your body lose or gain weight. Vitamin C is also an effective way to produce carnitine which is a compound that helps you burn fat. Thus Vitamin C pills can be a fat burning machine for you. Also it is perfectly safe to take 4-5 vitamin c pills per day. Some folks will tell you ab exercises are the best way to get rid of a fat belly but that is far from the truth. Ab exercises only will strength the bottom abdominal parts of your body rather than removing the fat. But light exercises slightly throughout the day will help you if you don’t do a full workout. Something simple as taking long walks and doing some planks will be fine.

Health get a slim stomach, how to lose belly fat, lose stomach fat