Yogurt: The Natural Cure for Yeast Infections
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Yeast infections (Candidiasis) are yet another good reason to eat your homemade yogurt. This bad fungi (yeast) causes the most agony when it invades a woman's vagina but it can also develop in skin folds, nail beds and even teeth. Men can also get yeast infections, which can be spread during sex.
Yeast grows best in a dark and moist environment and that is why prolific vaginal infections are particularly unpleasant. While your doctor will prescribe creams or suppositories, this only treats the current infection not the reason your body was susceptible to begin with. If you have just one or have chronic yeast infections, yogurt is the best natural cure.
The Cause of Yeast Infections
The short answer for the cause of yeast infections is a compromised immune system.Your immune system has one job: to protect you from disease. The immune system operates through a detect and defense process. When it identifies pathogens, parasites, viruses, fungi, tumor cells and toxins, its job is to seek and destroy.
Your Best Defense Against Disease
Although the immune system does a remarkable job, in the seek and destroy process, our own lifestyle and life itself can undermine our immune system's best intentions.
From simple to complex, these are the main reasons your immune system didn't prevent your yeast infection:
- Fatigue. Too little or poor quality sleep or a lack of proper rest and rejuvenation.
- Stress. Stress causes a natural release of the hormone cortisol whose job is to get the body ready for fighting or fleeing by increasing your fuel supply, namely carbohydrate, fat and glucose. Too much cortisol in your body suppresses the immune system in order for the body to get ready for action.
- Poor nutrition. This is a no-brainier. If you are living off junk food, you're immune system will be junk. The number #1 offender is SUGAR, which is in nearly every processed food you eat.
- Prescription Medication. Especially antibiotics and birth control drugs.
- Hormones. Not even our immune system understands our hormones. Adolescence, pregnancy and menopause can all send your immune system into a state of confusion.
- Disease. Obviously once disease has invaded your body, your immune system is weakened and compromised.
How Yogurt Fights Yeast Infection
Do you ever get a gut feeling that something is wrong? It isn't just your intuition talking, studies indicate that a whopping 70% of the body's immune capacity is in the intestines.
Fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir and miso contain healing and strengthening microorganisms called probiotics. By strengthening and healing the immune system, your body can do its disease fighting job. Lactobacillus acidophilus, a common good bacteria used to ferment yogurt, occurs naturally in the gastrointestinal tract, mouth and vagina.
Why Homemade Yogurt is Best
Unfortunately, many commercial yogurt manufactures treat yogurt more like a dessert than the health-giving food it really is. Determined to rid it of its natural tart flavor, which is wonderful once your taste buds get off the sugar buzz, they load it with yeast causing SUGAR. The grams don't lie, read more about the sugar in store bought yogurt.
According to the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing, Yogurt can also be used as a topical treatment to colonize the vaginal ecosystem. Yogurt is cheaper and healthier than prescription and over-the-counter medication. Just coat a tampon with plain yogurt and insert.
Be sure to use yogurt made with the lactobacillus acidophilus
bacteria such as Euro Cuisine Yogurt Starter.
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