Bacteria: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

Our bodies are riddled with billions of bacteria. Nature designed it that way. That may seem to contradict medical science, but there is a reason for this. Despite all the bad press that bacteria get these days, certain bacteria are not only good for us but essential for our health.

When we are born our mothers pass on to us vital bacteria (from vaginal fluid and colostrum) which jump start our immune systems. The bacteria begin their life as yeast, attach themselves to the intestines and begin to multiple to eventually make up 75% of our immune systems. These bacteria are known as intestinal micro flora and are essential to the prevention of disease.

In a healthy system, these good bacteria far outnumber the bad bacteria, known as Candida, keeping the destructive forces of the Candida at bay. However, due to overuse of antibiotics (which kill both bad and good bacteria), environmental toxins, and poor diet (Candida thrive on sugar), we have slowly destroyed the balance of good and bad bacteria in our systems.

When Candida is allowed to become predominant in our system, it injects mycotoxins into our bodies. Mycotoxins cause many common and chronic illnesses and is even suspected to cause cancer. There are a few ways to tell if you have a Candida infection. Symptoms generally start to manifest intestinally, such as frequent diarrhea, gas, bloating, indigestion or constipation and spread out to other conditions like chronic fatigue, headaches, hives and dry, flaky skin.

There are a few options for clearing Candida out of your body.

Candida Cleanse – There are several on the market today that are naturally designed to rid the body of the wrong types of bacteria. Unfortunately, if you have any type of excessive heavy metals in your system such as mercury, the Candida will be more resistant. Also, if a proper lifestyle isn’t maintained, the affects of cleansing are short lived and the Candida will return.

Candida Diet – Eating properly, i.e. rare meats, raw or steamed vegetables and whole grains, will starve Candida as it thrives on sugars and simple carbohydrates. A Candida diet should be maintained indefinitely, however if it is started too late in the game when very few good bacteria remain, the diet will not rid the body of Candida.

Probiotics – Ingesting large amounts of supplemental probiotics containing millions of good bacteria can, over time, re-establish the proper balance of flora in the body. Probiotics are most effective in conjunction with a solid diet.

Fecal Transplant – In the worst conditions, so much damage has been done, that there is no good bacteria left in the system. In such cases, either vaginal fluid or colostrum must be consumed or a fecal transplant (matter from a system with known good bacteria balance) must be put in place for the good bacteria to multiply from.