There are 20 times more bacteria than cells in your body! This may sound alarming, but many of these organisms are crucial to good health.

Candida normally resides in the intestinal tract, mouth, throat and genitals. In some situations though, it can dig holes in the intestinal tract, enter the blood stream and make its way into major organs. It emits over 70 different toxins into the body. Some people may even become allergic to the yeast itself.

The bacteria that lives in the colon serves a vital function for the human body. They are the bodies scavengers, helping to absorb any remaining nutrients that the intestines does not absorb, they also help to attack any bad bacteria. The main use of Probiotics is to help balance the good bacteria with the bad.

Poor eating habits, chlorinated drinking water, stress, disease and the increasing absorption of antibiotics food and medical treatments can cause the destruction of “good bacteria” and enable bad bacteria to multiply. When the ratio of good bacteria to bad is lowered, problems begin to arise such as excessive gas, bloating, constipation, intestinal toxicity and poor absorption of nutrients. These are some of the symptoms of Candida.

So how do you avoid and treat Candida? The answer is simple, eat foods high in good bacteria like live yogurt, Japanese Miso, Tempeh and some cheeses. This is easier said than done, so consider supplementing your diet with probiotics.

Probiotics can be taken as a dietary supplement that includes microorganisms that are beneficial to the human body. They are important to sufferers of Candida because they grow the number of “good” bacteria in the intestines which then help to prevent and control Candida. They also help the body make many vitamins, such as bioten, vitamin B-6, folic acid and niaci and fight vaginal yeast infections in women.

Probiotics also secrete lactic acid and acetic acid in the intestines and vagina, helping to deprive harmful bacteria of the nutrients they need to flourish. Probiotic treatment has also been linked to a decrease in the likelihood of colon cancer.

The good news is that there is a way we can all prevent the onset of Candida and the solution is not difficult to apply. Prevention is about e3ating the right foods to avoid a disproportionate amount of bad bacteria growing in the body. This is particularly important after taking anti-biotics, which kills the good bacteria. A simple solution is to supplement your diet with Probiotics.   Probiotics supplements are beneficial because they contain the right amounts of the various good bacteria we need to defend our bodies effectively.

In summary, Candida is a genus of yeasts that occur naturally in the body. Typically this is OK unless the balance of bacteria is changed, often through consumption of antibiotics.  Symptoms include bloating, excessive gas and constipation. Fortunately prevention and treatment is relatively simple; just supplement your diet with a good Probiotic.   There are many on the market and you should be able to find then relatively easily.

If you try to use a medication and find that your symptoms don’t go away within a week, or get worse, then you should always visit your doctor. If you are pregnant you should always contact your doctor before starting a course of medication to be on the safe side as some of the medications for yeast infections shouldn’t be taken while pregnant.

If you find that the yeast infection keeps reoccurring then you should visit the doctor too. If you have a sexual partner then the infection may be being transferred between you so you may have to both take the medication at the same time to eradicate the problem, but before doing this you should contact your doctor.

If you have other symptoms such as a fever or blood being discharged then you should immediately contact your health care professional as this could be a symptom of a more serious problem that may need urgent attention. Vaginal yeast infections can exhibit similar symptoms to much more serious conditions which is why if your symptoms don’t stop within a week a doctor should be consulted immediately.

Another reason for visiting the doctor is if you have a weak immune system already.

In most cases going to a hostpital isn’t required for a yeast infection or candidasis, but if you are experiencing chills, vomiting or pain along with a vaginal discharge then you should seek medical care at a hospital immediately as again these can be symptoms of a more serious condition such as kidney infections.

In all cases, if you are unsure of the best treatment or whether you have a yeast infection you should always contact a doctor as soon as possible so that treatment can begin. It’s always better to be safe and get a professional diagnosis.

When the female partner has a yeast infection it is often passed to the male, so for that reason the doctor often recommends both partners undergo the treatment as otherwise the male will just pass back the infection to the female during sexual intercourse. It the female has had a yeast infection, it is very likely that the male in the relationship has it too.

Some symptoms of a male yeast infection cam include pain while urination or sexual intercourse, a rash or swelling along the shaft or tip of the penis and in rare cases a discharge.  However in some cases male yeast infections are difficult to spot as the symptoms are very mild and not noticeable.

It should also be noted that just because a male has the symptoms of yeast infection that doesn’t mean that he definitely has it. This is because the same symptoms could be caused by a number of other problems – some more serious – and so a visit to the doctor should always happen to make sure yeast infection is the correct diagnosis. As with all illnesses if you want to make sure you have the correct treatment the only way to be sure you are getting the best form of treatment for you is to get a personal diagnosis by a doctor in real life – the internet isn’t always a good resource as we all know and can be misleading with symptoms.

There are plenty of products on the market specifically for vaginal yeast infections but this isn’t often the case for males, so it can be harder to treat. In some cases male yeast infection treatment can be treated using the same medicine over the counter as female, but you should check with a health care professional before using it.

With such a large range of yeast infection medicine available how do we choose the best treatment?

The first thing to keep in mind is that its important to ensure that you actually have an infection, up to two thirds of the woman who buy yeast infection medicine actually have an unrelated problem. Using anti-fungal medication when you have a bacterial infection can lead to more problems than it solves as it will mean that a more serious infection goes untreated. For this reason it is important to get confirmation from a doctor before treatment especially if this is the first time you have had these symptoms.

How Do I Find The Right Yeast Infection Medicine For Me?

If this is the first time you have suffered from a yeast infection I don’t see anything wrong with giving the over the counter treatments a try. For some people this will be enough to get rid of the problem quickly and hopefully that will be an end to the infection. Monisat and Canestan are two products that have a good reputation and will work perfectly in many cases. These products are available in 1, 3 or 7 day courses. I advise trying the 3 day course your first time, hopefully that will be sufficient to see an end to your yeast infection.

And If I Don’t Want To Use Infection Medicines?

There’s a growing number of people who feel uncomfortable using conventional medical treatments due to the fact they haven’t worked for them or because of possible side effects which come from their use.  Natural yeast infection cures tend to use a combination of diet, herbs, exercise and various other methods to get to the root cause of your condition. Due to the large number of variables in the equation it always helps to get advice from someone experienced in this area to point you in the best direction to take with your treatment.

Thanks to years of scientific research there’s no longer any need to use conventional yeast infection medicine to cure your problem.

If you are one of the many people who find creams and pharmaceuticals from the drug store to be ineffective in treating your yeast infection you will be pleased to hear that natural cures for yeast infection also exist. With natural cures for yeast infection we can use a more systemic approach to treatment, aimed at regaining our natural health rather than just treating symptoms like conventional treatments tend to do.

Some Natural Cures For Yeast Infection To Try

1. Garlic – Perhaps the best known natural cure for yeast infections is the use of garlic. Garlic has been used both internally and externally to treat a vast range of ailments for thousands of years because it has been proven to work. A great enemy of yeast bacteria, garlic should be on the menu for everyone with Candida Problems.

2. Apple Cider Vinegar – Almost all vinegar should be excluded from the diet of yeast infection sufferers because of the acidic effect it has on your internal environment. Raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar is the only vinegar allowed because of the positive effect it has on restoring the natural balance of bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract. It is an immune system builder which greatly aids your body in getting a yeast infection under control.

Probiotics – The destruction of the friendly bacteria in our gut, brought about by overuse of antibiotics and bad diet, is one of the main reasons why so many women suffer from yeast infections in the first place. By replacing these missing bacteria we allow the body to repopulate the gut with the friendly bacteria once again creating harmony in our system.