It’s the “little” things in life that often have the greatest impact.

Personal paradigm shifts (aka life changes) can come in many shapes and sizes. In 2009, mine came in the form of a microscopic organism called Candida Albicans, a form of yeast (fungus) inside the body.

You may or may not know, we—men, women, and children—have two kinds of yeast in our body – beneficial and harmful. Healthy bodies will effectively ward off the bad yeast…or, at a minimum, keep it in check with minor health-related annoyances.

Bodies with compromised immune systems—due to surgery/antibiotics, processed foods, birth-control pills, poor diet/carbohydrates etc—have a much more difficult time fighting the harmful yeast, which, if left unchecked, can result in often misdiagnosed or “incurable” problems such as:

Other factors that contribute to an overgrowth of Candida include environment and lifestyle, which is not surprising since “stress is one of the leading causes of an unhealthy immune system.”

So today it’s estimated that approximately 80 percent of the population is living with Candida. And in its benevolent round-shaped yeast form, most people do not even know they have Candida.

However, when the perfect storm of opportunity presents itself – based on the aforementioned factors –Candida can and will mutate into a dangerous fungal form.

In this state, as a filament-shaped organism, Candida becomes invasive. It will poke holes in your digestive tract (also known as Leaky Gut Syndrome), enabling undigested food and waste to travel into the blood stream.

On top of that, Candida emits over 70 of its own different toxins into the body. At this point the body’s immune system becomes quite overwhelmed, making it much more difficult to fight infection.

It is no wonder Candida has also been linked to major diseases.

Also, while in its fungal state, Candida rapidly proliferates throughout the body, creating of host of aggravating ailments. For example, Candida “affects up to 85 percent of men; they usually suffer in the form of digestive problems, and, later in life, prostate problems…”

If you have any of the above conditions, or any “syndromes” or “chronic” ailments, they could be related to Candida.

Here are the three steps you should take:

1. Identify the Candida symptoms
2. Take this questionnaire
3. Get tested (more about this in my next blog post).

Candida symptoms and fungus-related ailments vary extensively by individual…as do the symptom lists and questionnaires. To be safe, I recommend that you still get tested regardless of the results of the first two steps. Why?

• First, research regarding Candida is always ongoing…as are the new discoveries about its impact on health.
• Second, Candida is highly adaptable and evolutionary; so even the symptoms and related health issues may change!
• Third, if you do have yeast overgrowth and it’s left unchecked, Candida can be quite debilitating and dangerous (as in “life threatening”). “It will steal your breath, your energy, your life.”

Remember: Candida affects every person differently. No two cases are the same.

Coming Soon – Part 3: Good news and bad news can be the same

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