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Candida Albicans

What Is Candida Albicans Overgrowth – Virus, Bacteria, Infection?

By January 16th, 2013No Comments

What Is Candida AlbicansWhat is candida albicans overgrowth? It’s a question asked by many people, and curiously enough, everyone who asks this question already has it. It’s a fungus, but not the kind that you stuff with cheese or slice to top a pizza. It is a naturally occurring fungus that definitely lives among us (just like dormant cancer cells), and, all over us, primarily in mucous membranes such as the throat, intestines, stomach, eyes and ears, genitals, bladder and esophagus. The regular amount that we tote around all over us all day long without thinking about it is relatively harmless, however in its prolific, overgrown state, it can result in anything from yeast infection and oral thrush to constipation, migraines, energy loss, and many more severe digestive, physical, dermatological and neurological disorders!

You may think that candida bacteria is to blame. It’s not a bacteria at all, although many people still mistakenly refer to it as such. It is also not a virus, so you can lay to rest any notion or wonderings of ‘is candida contagious’. This nearly invisible fungus is actually a body helper. It is a Swiffer of sorts for your mucousy regions, cleaning up baddies that can infect otherwise healthy areas, a very short yet effective answer to the question of what is candida albicans. The problem that can occur is a candida yeast overgrowth, in which you simply have too much in one particular zone that can cause adverse reactions that vary depending on the affected area. In the genitals, you can end up with a yeast infection (particularly common in women); in the mouth of infants, thrush.

So now that you have answered the question of what is candida albicans, you may be wondering what to do next. If you have no visible symptoms of overgrowth, this does not mean that you may still not have a too-big-to-ignore fungal colony filling your mucous membranes. So you may also be wondering how to test for candida, and unfortunately there is no good answer. Blood and spit tests are ineffective and inconclusive. In Canada, for instance, no such blood test is available for the general public. And when it comes to the over-hyped spit test you may be tempted to take, take note that the heavy mucous strands drowning in your glass of water may be an indication of other conditions and cannot be relied on for candida identification. So, if you have gone from wondering “what is candida albicans?” to “how do I know if I have it?”, you will likely find that a questionnaire is your best bet. This will help you determine if you have many of the risk factors associated with an overgrowth. The candida questionnaire will ask you anything from the frequency of use of antibiotics and birth control pills, to digestive (such as bloating, constipation, IBS etc), physical (muscle aches etc), neurological and mental discomfort and changes you had noticed throughout your life.

Luckily, dietary changes and vitamin supplements are likely all that is required for you to remedy your fungus problem, and eliminating candida’s favorite foods is easier than you might think! Read our other articles related to candida to help you overcome potentially dangerous health complications caused by candida albicans overgrowth.

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