Are fermented foods ok for those with yeast intolerance?

[Jennifer Haydon]

There's global evidence for the power of fermented foods - please, how do they affect the digestion & metabolism in those with yeast intolerance?

[Pat Robinson]

Yeast means several different things. Basically, there are good yeasts and bad yeasts. And there are live yeasts and dead yeasts.

"Yeast" collectively isn't the problem. There is (dead) yeast in (some) bread for instance and there is (live) yeast in (some) yogurt. Dead yeast are not the issue with bread. Bread breaks down rapidly into simple carbohydrates which feed "bad" yeasts in the gut and body. The "pathological" yeasts are commonly candida albicans. But simple sugars, not the yeast are what feed the candida.

Additionally, there are "good" yeasts which displace and replace candida albicans in the gut, such as Saccharomyces boulardii, which are in (some) kombucha. S. boulardii kill off candida.

HOWEVER, candida binds with mercury to store it out of circulation. If one has/had mercury fillings and detoxes poorly, they are likely to have candida.

When we kill off candida, we could release the mercury back into blood circulation to redeposit in the brain, organs and gut (fetus and breasmilk also) during "die-off" and detoxing.

Gradually make candida obsolete by providing whole food nutrients to optimize liver detox naturally. Food folate is huge for the 30-50% of the population with MTHFR gene polymorphisms with methylation issues who don't detox efficiently with synthetic folic acid supplementation.

The nutrients magnesium, zinc, vit C, selenium, B12 are critical to effective and safe heavy metal detoxification processes. These are most bio-available in whole foods. http://tuberose.com/Metal_Detoxification.html

Whole food probiotics are essential to maintaining microbial balance in the gut. I believe whole food probiotics are beneficial to consume when one has candida. Unless you address the *cause* of the imbalance, the candida just returns and returns and returns...



Candida 101
"Cleanses"
Amalgam Removal - Risks and Protocols

Probiotics Pusher
Whole Food Probiotics 101
Overwhelmed - Where to Start

Whole food probiotics are one of the MOST important foods for a healthy body, we are learning, especially in this age of multi-drug resistant bacteria.

Here are extensive references regarding the benefits of probiotics.

REAL kefir grains vs. kefir starter

HTH, Pat

[Jennifer Haydon]

Thanks for the really quick reply - much appreciated.
You've been very generous with advice - hadn't realized that the amalgam fillings could cause such damage, I didn't take them into account during previous (difficult) detoxes. Have tested negative to candida, but share symptoms

You've inspired me to try righting my digestion once more, this time spending more time on the preparation.

Thanks again

[Pat Robinson]

Yes, the issue with detox cleanses is that it just mobilizes the mercury to redeposit and do more damage from its current 'stored' location. Kinda like prodding a bull in a china shop. Unfortunately.

Detox shouldn't hurt.

Candida just goes 'deeper' when it is removed from the gut with aggressive "detox" (while mercury is present). Eczema, allergies and asthma develop and grow into autoimmune diseases when the gut becomes so inflamed with the nutrient deficiencies resulting from trying to manage excess circulating toxins and food digestion becomes impaired, leading to leaky gut...

It is a cascade of issues. Optimizing the detox pathways with whole food nutrients allows for the body to rebalance itself, assuming we are providing adequate nutrients, including whole food probiotics and avoiding inflammatory foods and environmental toxins.



Pat

[Sue Bush]

good question - I too struggle with chronic yeast and bacterial infections, including Lyme.
Kill the yeasts and bacteria feed off the debris - becomes a never ending cycle of life for unwanted friends at a party in my body.
I have found Apple Cider Vinegar in the AM REALLY has made a difference, and after a week of that I started eating Kim Chi every day (I drove 75 miles round trip to get some made with love). Kim Chi has been a wonderful addition to my life.
So for me, contrary to popular opinion, I feel i am getting a grip on balance. Can't wait till balance happens. Nothing heals overnight.
I will never really know which is the magic bullet because I made a lifestyle, not just a single food choice/change.
Could be the dried mushrooms and seaweed I add to my smoothie now.
But I noticed improvement within 3 days of just the ACV in the morning. Got better when I added kim chi, better yet when I added mushrooms and sea things. Just keeps getting better!

[Rachel Ernst]

Pat:

I thought I posted a couple of days ago, so forgive me, but I can't find it now and I'll re-ask my question here, because it is totally related.

I had a food allergy test that says I am allergic to both brewer's yeast and baker's yeast. What I attribute this to, from my layman's perspective, is proteins from the yeast entering bloodstream through leaky gut and subsequently the immune system beginning to recognize the yeast proteins and now fighting them off, hence chronic state of low-level inflammation.

So, the gut is leaky, holes in it big enough to allow undigested proteins (like from yeast) to enter through. We want to heal the gut tissue so that it no longer leaks. In order to heal the tissue, we want to eliminate as many things that cause the immune system to keep reacting. We want to cool the inflammation.

If we are allergic to dairy, and we keep ingesting it, we keep setting off the immune system. If we are allergic to yeast proteins and continue ingesting it, then we keep setting off the immune system. More inflammation.

If we don't cool the inflammation, can the gut tissue itself heal?

Furthermore, will we be going forward or backward in gut tissue healing if the "healing food" we are ingesting is full of yeast... even if that good yeast is supposed to change the balance of the flora in the gut.

If I am allergic to garlic (my test says so) should I continue eating garlic just because it is so powerful a healing food? It holds promise to fight pathogens. And, it could be fighting off pathogens at the same time it is setting off my immune system!?

So far, what I have come up with just recently is that I should eliminate the yeast (and garlic and blueberries and dairy incl. cultured dairy and kombucha) as much as possible and make do with whatever other substitutes I can figure out for the same healing and balancing properties without the stimulation to my immune system.

I am certain that I am allergic to yeast. When I eat a lot of it, my reactions are hard to ignore. 10 ounces of kombucha will give me diarrhea. Could it be candida die off? Or could it just as easily be an allergic reaction to the yeast?

I know you believe in healing foods far and away above bottled supplements. But, right now I feel better about taking an allergen-free bottled probiotic, which does not contain sac boullardii, so that I am not causing further inflammation... so that the gut tissue can heal.

I LOVE vinegar. Always have. Pickles, etc. Olives--oh yes. And, I am having trouble avoiding the olive bar so that I can in fact eliminate yeast from my diet. I have a copy of The Yeast Connection Cookbook and I am avoiding looking at it because out of all the things to test allergic to, yeast is the most daunting. It's not just one food to avoid. It is a host of foods to avoid. And it sucks. It sucks worse than losing dairy options.

Raw vinegar should be great, right? I could make the master tonic (if I wanted to eat the garlic). I like raw vinegar on greens. But, if I do this, then I am adding to the yeast load in my diet. And, that means those yeast proteins are going to enter through my leaky gut and set off histamine symptoms. I won't notice it so much from small portions. But, if I start adding in a bunch of fermented foods, I am sure I would have far worsening symptoms (itchies, stool loosening, sinus)

So, the question becomes: should I take a SMALL amount of fermented food in order to achieve some of the benefits, but not enough to set off my own symptoms. What if the symptoms are there, but I can "live with them" in order to justify the supposed benefit? OR, on the other hand, again (trying to explain myself well here and hoping this is making sense), if even a tiny bit of the dietary yeast causes a reaction of the immune system, raising my inflammation, then aren't I doing more damage than good??

Okay, I've said that several ways, and I hope it was clear. Looking forward to hearing your answer.

-Rachel

[Jennifer Greenfield]

Fermented foods contain lactic acid which is essential for keeping the large intestine slightly acidic. Only in an acidic environment can the "good" bacteria/yeasts survive and thrive. When the large intestine becomes alkaline, then the "bad" bacteria/yeasts proliferate and wreak havoc on the intestinal tract and immune system.