The dreaded yeast infection, Ugggggh! I’m sure you have experienced it at some point in your life or maybe often, but could an overgrowth of yeast be the cause of your health problems?

Shortly after my 3 year old was born, and my body was getting back to normal, I noticed one week prior to my cycles, I would get yeast infections. Hmmmm, that was sort of throwing me off because, I normally don’t get yeast infections.

I scheduled an appointment with my gynecologist and the next couple of days she called me back and prescribed me an antibiotic. She then informed me that I should take this antibiotic daily and then said, “your body could get immune to this so just take it until the yeast infections go away and then discontinue use.” Taking a pill daily until it goes away didn’t sit well with me.

I want to expose you to the truth about yeast and yeast overgrowth that no one talks about and give you 5 ways to avoid and treat it.

Put your seatbelt on, because we are about to dive into the deep end!

Candida, better known as yeast, is normal in the immune system and creates naturally in the body. Don’t think the growth of yeast in your body indicates something is wrong with you. That may not be the case. When the sugar amount in our diets rises so does the yeast and it begins to overgrow in our small intestines. Your sugar and sugar cravings make yeast grow even more in your body.

Makes you want to put down that donut, huh?

Yeast destroys B-vitamins, when it destroys B-6 it affects serotonin and melatonin. Let’s break that down a little more!

B-Vitamins are nutrients that help you stay energized. Melatonin is a chemical in your body that regulates your sleep, and Serotonin is a chemical in your body that regulates your mood and mood changes (in which lack there of causes depression) Soooooo, if you are feeling tired, moody/depressed, and can’t sleep, Yep! You guessed it; it’s probably a yeast overgrowth.

When a doctor prescribes you an antibiotic, know that antibiotics do not cure yeast. Antibiotics work to kill bacteria, the thing is they kill off the good and the bad bacteria and not the yeast. Same for creams like Monistat, they don’t get to the root of the problem.

Yeast has many triggers, here are some examples: yeast toxins, sugar, mercury, stress, cortisone creams, antibiotics, inhalers, mold, and processed foods just to name a few.

There are some things you can do to avoid a yeast overgrowth in your body or if you are experiencing more yeast than normal, avoid the following during that time…

1. Bread-

Did you know a simple thing like not eating bread could stop your yeast infections? One of bread’s main ingredient is yeast, the bread’s yeast plus your natural yeast equals: TOO MUCH YEAST, resulting in yeast overgrowth. Bread also breaks down into sugar.

Starve the yeast.

2. Sugar-

SUGAR FEEDS YEAST. When you are having those sugar cravings, it’s the yeast. At any one time in the bloodstream there are four teaspoons of sugar. If you drink one can of soda there are now 10 teaspoons of sugar, which causes an imbalance. This results in improper digestion which causes it to end up in the large intestines and trigger yeast. A lot of causes! Remember: Starve the yeast.

3. Milk & Dairy Products-

What! No milk or cheese? Yes! Antibiotics are used to fatten cattle, we digest it and it stores as a yeast toxin in our fat cells. Milk and dairy products also break down as sugar and can actually be the cause of your weight gain (but that’s a whole other topic.)

4. Hydration Is Key-

Hydration alone is a major help. Always hydrate your body, alkaline water is best. Pure water is acidic and will make the pH in the body rise. Hydrate in the morning, hydrate in the noon and hydrate in the evening and between those times too. Just hydrate girl!

5. Probiotics-

Probiotics inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria, they also promote good digestion, and immune functions as well as builds resistance to infections. You want to look for refrigerated with a guaranteed amount of 2-10 billion live organisms. If it’s not refrigerated, look for a guarantee of 25 billion living organisms to expiry.

Got you thinking? By getting to the root of the problem, your yeast infections and yeast overgrowth are less likely to return.

Hey! I’m Toye Releford-Penny.
I am an awesome lady, a wife to a native of the Caribbean who is also a vegetarian, a mom to two amazing daughters (and another on the way), a simple, healthy eating & lifestyle strategist, a JumpFit Cardio Instructor & Certified Holistic Health & Lifestyle Coach at So7Health.com.

I help busy, career moms by giving them time-saving, strategic kitchen solutions. In my private practice and through my programs I’ve helped many women achieve their health & lifestyle goals. I love to support my clients by creating simple, healthy eating and lifestyle strategies specifically tailored to their needs; which leads to a healthy and complete life. Being a mom is the hardest job in the world, and in order to sustain that job plus the many other jobs you have, you need to be whole within yourself.