Many people in the northern United States feel mid-March is a good time for the snow to stop falling and for the sun to shine to melt the snowbanks. It is well worth the puddle-jumping and accumulation of mud to feel a rise in temperature and give the spirit a boost. The feeling of optimism, renewal and warmth far outweighs the problems with moisture, until the allergies start and mold and mildew appear inside and out.
Changes in the weather and increased humidity can stimulate the growth of buds on trees and shrubs, and also create the perfect environment for moisture-friendly fungi to take up residence. This is why a household should keep their hot, humid, wet bathroom as dry as possible by venting excess moisture, to control areas where fungi infiltrate. It's easier to work at preventing mold than to continue to clean areas where mold is present. Fungus is hearty.
To stay healthy at this time of year, avoid overly moist areas where you may breathe in or come in contact with fungal spores. Once the fungal spores are in the body or penetrate the skin, once again, it's hard to get rid of them. If you believe you have a fungus problem, there are a number of antifungals (olive leaf extract, apple cider vinegar, garlic, undecylenic acid, grapefruit seed extract, caprylic acid, oil of oregano, curcumin), probiotics (it should contain 3 billion or more a day) and fiber (psyllium, flaxium, organic kamut grass leaf powder) to eliminate it. Also, keep sugar in the diet to a minimum. Sugar only feeds fungus.
Be aware of your surroundings and how they may affect you. Fungus symptoms of the skin are systemic or topical, and appear in the form of a rash, cracking, peeling, itching or raised bumps. Fungal lung conditions are due to inhalation of fungal spores and can cause fatigue, brain fog, coughing, and flu-like symptoms. Natural antifungal supplements will be effective within the first few weeks if your diet is extremely low carbohydrate. Remember, fungus loves sugar and won't leave if you keep feeding it.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
A Fungal Secretion
Approximately 8 months ago, Japanese researchers reported their findings on how fungus creates a guise in their attack on the immune system of plants, animals and humans. The guise is called chitin fragments - particles deposited around a fungus, which warns a host of a potential attack, stimulating its immune system. Once the immune system is warned, a protein is secreted by the fungus which collects the chitin fragments and makes them invisible to the plant, animal or human. The immune system backs down because it lacks recognition of the fungus and the attack begins. Pretty smart, those fungi.
"This knowledge may enable scientists to design novel methods to combat fungal diseases in agriculture (leaf mould, root and stalk rot, smut, wilt disease, apple scab, rust, tree cancer) and in health care (dandruff, athlete's foot, candida-infections, aspergillosis, etc.)."1
What the statement above fails to recognize are the numerous other diseases, potentially life-threatening, that are prevalent in many facets of society. Fungal related disease can strike anyone, at any time, especially those with weakened immune systems. These fungi have the capability of developing strategies to avoid an attack by white blood cells in humans, and create a very complex environment in the host body for any researcher to pinpoint the most effective counterattack. Another problem with a fungal disease is its ability to invade the body, multiply quickly and harbor itself before being recognized by a healthcare professional.
One well known fungal strain causing attention in the Northwestern United States is Cryptococcus gattii. Due to cold temperatures and the strain being of tropical origins, it has taken approximately twelve years to spread from Vancouver, British Columbia, down the coast to northern California. This particular strain causes severe respiratory and brain infection, however, is still pretty rare.
Other strains of fungal infections and disease are Candida glabrata (a skin fungus that rapidly mutates once in the blood stream); Chromoblastomycosis; Zygomycosis; Onychomycosis (the most common nail infection); and Endophthalmitis. There are way too many to list here.
The bright side to all this? A person can protect themselves from fungal infection and disease by eating a very low carbohydrate diet, taking probiotics and taking a series of antifungals to kill off any potential invasive organisms. The low carbohydrate diet is just as critical as supplementation because the lack of sugars in the body will starve fungus, keeping it from multiplying. Here's a little evidence to prove it.
1Wageningen University and Research Centre (2010, August 20). Smart fungus disarms plant, animal and human immunity. ScienceDaily.
"This knowledge may enable scientists to design novel methods to combat fungal diseases in agriculture (leaf mould, root and stalk rot, smut, wilt disease, apple scab, rust, tree cancer) and in health care (dandruff, athlete's foot, candida-infections, aspergillosis, etc.)."1
What the statement above fails to recognize are the numerous other diseases, potentially life-threatening, that are prevalent in many facets of society. Fungal related disease can strike anyone, at any time, especially those with weakened immune systems. These fungi have the capability of developing strategies to avoid an attack by white blood cells in humans, and create a very complex environment in the host body for any researcher to pinpoint the most effective counterattack. Another problem with a fungal disease is its ability to invade the body, multiply quickly and harbor itself before being recognized by a healthcare professional.
One well known fungal strain causing attention in the Northwestern United States is Cryptococcus gattii. Due to cold temperatures and the strain being of tropical origins, it has taken approximately twelve years to spread from Vancouver, British Columbia, down the coast to northern California. This particular strain causes severe respiratory and brain infection, however, is still pretty rare.
Other strains of fungal infections and disease are Candida glabrata (a skin fungus that rapidly mutates once in the blood stream); Chromoblastomycosis; Zygomycosis; Onychomycosis (the most common nail infection); and Endophthalmitis. There are way too many to list here.
The bright side to all this? A person can protect themselves from fungal infection and disease by eating a very low carbohydrate diet, taking probiotics and taking a series of antifungals to kill off any potential invasive organisms. The low carbohydrate diet is just as critical as supplementation because the lack of sugars in the body will starve fungus, keeping it from multiplying. Here's a little evidence to prove it.
1Wageningen University and Research Centre (2010, August 20). Smart fungus disarms plant, animal and human immunity. ScienceDaily.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Bye, Bye Weight
Here's a little story:
Approximately thirty years ago, a man named Doug Kaufmann started taking the fungus and disease correlation quite seriously, and because of him, and the resolve of many other pioneer fungal experts, research on the subject has become more prevalent, and interest is finally webbing outside of the tiny community. The frustration of chronically sick people receiving the same answers from mainstream healthcare professionals, has also created a backlash of determined knowledge collectors with independence to taking their health into their own hands.
Fungal-related disease today should be a commonplace consideration for anyone who has become discouraged in the lax response to finding a solution to a condition or disease. Those who are frustrated over weight loss and the constant dieting road blocks are no different. All that is needed is an alternate approach to weight loss than the past. If you think about it, your body has been exposed to many elements throughout its life, some more than others depending on choices that were made, foods eaten, environments lived in. There is so much that has built up internally, no wonder it rebels in the form of disease.
As Dr. David Holland explains in Doug Kaufmann's book, The Fungus Link, volume 2, Tracking the cause, "...to lose weight, you need to consider both weight training and doing something aerobic....And, you need to cut down on the amount of grains and fatty meats you eat." Dr. Hollands reason for cutting down on grains and fatty meats? Farmers feed their livestock grains, which are carbohydrates, to fatten them, and give them antibiotics when the livestock are sick. Grains and the antibiotics feed fungus in the livestock, then we eat the livestock. Some of that fungus enters us through consumption, and the same goes for having a diet high in carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates role is feeding the fungus we have already consumed or ingested. The amount of fungus differs per person, however, and its safe to presume, through research, that the more overweight, the higher the fungal content in a persons body.
An alternative solution to combat weight would be:
Approximately thirty years ago, a man named Doug Kaufmann started taking the fungus and disease correlation quite seriously, and because of him, and the resolve of many other pioneer fungal experts, research on the subject has become more prevalent, and interest is finally webbing outside of the tiny community. The frustration of chronically sick people receiving the same answers from mainstream healthcare professionals, has also created a backlash of determined knowledge collectors with independence to taking their health into their own hands.
Fungal-related disease today should be a commonplace consideration for anyone who has become discouraged in the lax response to finding a solution to a condition or disease. Those who are frustrated over weight loss and the constant dieting road blocks are no different. All that is needed is an alternate approach to weight loss than the past. If you think about it, your body has been exposed to many elements throughout its life, some more than others depending on choices that were made, foods eaten, environments lived in. There is so much that has built up internally, no wonder it rebels in the form of disease.
As Dr. David Holland explains in Doug Kaufmann's book, The Fungus Link, volume 2, Tracking the cause, "...to lose weight, you need to consider both weight training and doing something aerobic....And, you need to cut down on the amount of grains and fatty meats you eat." Dr. Hollands reason for cutting down on grains and fatty meats? Farmers feed their livestock grains, which are carbohydrates, to fatten them, and give them antibiotics when the livestock are sick. Grains and the antibiotics feed fungus in the livestock, then we eat the livestock. Some of that fungus enters us through consumption, and the same goes for having a diet high in carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates role is feeding the fungus we have already consumed or ingested. The amount of fungus differs per person, however, and its safe to presume, through research, that the more overweight, the higher the fungal content in a persons body.
An alternative solution to combat weight would be:
- Decrease carbohydrates and simple sugars, foods contaminated with mycotoxins or fungus, foods containing yeast or yeast products;
- Take antifungal supplements, such as probiotics (to build the health of the gut), olive leaf extract (at least 16% oleuropein content), caprylic acid, oil of oregano, curcumin, apple cider vinegar, garlic, grapefruit seed extract, a good multivitamin/multimineral, and dietary fiber;
- Exercise regularly, according to what a healthcare professional would recommend.
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