I have a vivid memory
of when my son was really unwell. He was six months old and we were back at the pediatrician for the third time that week because I knew something was terribly wrong. In addition to being covered in an eczema rash, he had so much mucus in his poop and while he was still breastfeeding, there were clumps of stringiness that just didn’t seem right. Then there was blood and I just kept taking him back in. His symptoms had been evolving over the past few months and I spent so much time googling trying so hard to figure out what was wrong. I found one photo that reflected so perfectly what I was seeing in my son's diaper. It was captioned Candida.
Well here I was, back with the pediatrician with a cloth diaper full of mucus, blood, and some weird stringy clump, desperate for an answer. I asked if he could possibly have Candida? She quickly responded “definitely not. Everyone has Candida. This is just his body learning how to poop.” And we were sent on our way.
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Transcript:
This is an episode that really hits home for me. Because had I known what you will learn today, years of my child struggling would have been avoided. Had that pediatrician taken the time to explore what my google search upturned and my intuitive suspicion instead of quickly shutting me down, his first years of life would have been completely different.
So here is everything you need to know about candida . . .
Candida is a type of yeast that naturally exists in everyone's mouth, intestines, and skin. When you have the proper amount it actually serves several positive purposes. It helps with the absorption of essential vitamins and minerals and helps break down certain carbohydrates. It contributes to the development of immune tolerance, which is important for preventing allergies and autoimmune reactions. Candida assists in the detoxification processes within your body by binding to toxins and helping in their elimination. This is particularly important in your gut, where Candida helps prevent the absorption of harmful substances into your bloodstream.
But! Candida is incredibly resilient and it is really easy to develop an overgrowth. So lets talk about the symptoms of overgrowth, causes and how to heal.
The symptoms of Candida overgrowth can vary widely and may manifest differently from person to person. Some of the most common symptoms include:
- Oral Thrush: Which are white patches on the tongue, gums, or inner cheeks.
- Vaginal Yeast Infections: So Itching, burning, and abnormal smell or discharge.
- Digestive Issues: Like Bloating, gas, constipation, or diarrhea.
- Fatigue: So Feeling really tired or lethargic, even after getting adequate sleep.
- Skin Problems: Like acne, rashes, eczema, or persistent fungal infections.
- Mental Health Issues: like mood swings, irritability, difficulty concentrating, depression or anxiety. In children this can look like behavioral outbursts and frequent meltdowns.
Now let’s talk about what causes the development of Candida yeast overgrowth . . .
There are several contributors including antibiotic use, high sugar diets, gmo’s, a weakened immune system and stress. One of the biggest contributors that I want to take a minute to talk about is hormonal changes. Because my son never had antibiotics, he had never consumed anything other than breastmilk and I was really intentional about what I ate. So why did he have an overgrowth of candida?
Well, a woman's body experiences significant hormone fluctuations throughout pregnancy. It is not uncommon for women to experience an overgrowth of candida during pregnancy but without an awareness of this, we unknowingly pass this overgrowth onto our children during birth. This is what happened to my son.
When he was 2.5 we finally met with a naturopath that confirmed what I had known for two years. Our son's gut was significantly imbalanced. He had too much candida in his body.
He struggled for so long and it was completely unnecessary. We healed his gut and every single one of his symptoms went away.
When you have candida yeast overgrowth it makes your gut more susceptible to SIBO, leaky gut and it causes inflammation in your body which then leads to other health complications. Healing is so important and I know if I had not learned how to heal my son, he was going to develop an autoimmune disease or an irreversible illness.
So how do you rebalance your gut to get your candida levels back into check? Well, I have made it really simple for you. Our journey was so darn hard and lonely and confusing. Once I witnessed the healing in my son and then a few years later in my fourth baby, I knew I needed to share it with the world. This is why I built my business ōNLē ORGANICS. This is what my Women’s and Children’s Gut Rebalance Kits are designed to do. To balance the bacteria and yeast in your gut. When you purchase these kits I will gift you free access to The Essentials of Gut Health Course where you will learn all about the foods that feed bad bacteria and yeast and how to starve them while simultaneously supplementing. You will find so much support and guidance in there so you are sure to heal. Because you deserve to thrive!
I am so happy to be here sharing this awareness with you and to help you live your best life. Take care.
