Cookie Dough...

Break it down and it covers most of the food groups: eggs contain protein and vitamins, flour has the required starch, butter contains essential fats and when you wash it down with a tall glass of milk, there is enough dairy for an entire day. That is my weakness.

When I was young, my Gramma would always treat us to fresh cookies whenever we visited. Then, we would take a trip to the dime store to stock up on candy. Weekends with her were always a treat.

At home, meals were different. As a large family, we rarely sat down for meals together. Everyone was on their own for food. I ate a lot of spaghetti with butter, bread with jelly, chocolate milk and steak. I could always be counted on to mix up a batch of my favorite dough or cake whenever the ingredients were available.

I wasn’t a sickly child, but I always caught the cold going around the house or the school. A really bad cold was usually good for a day or more home from school. I would snuggle up on the couch watching TV and eating Lucky Charms and ice cream. If my throat really hurt, I would take the dreaded trip to see the doctor. He would look at my throat and take a culture, and then he would write a prescription for antibiotics… just in case… because they could only help, not hurt. Antibiotics or not, my colds would usually last for a week or more.

Later in high school, I experienced the effects of yeast infections every few months like clockwork. The doctors prescribed antibiotics to alleviate the symptoms and recommended that I cleanse daily with vinegar. It was even recommended that if I had any left over antibiotic cream, to use it occasionally… just in case. They still didn’t go away.

In college, I discovered antihistamines. They were a gift from the Gods for clearing my clogged sinuses and my regular cough… and for easing other symptoms. The campus also had a clinic to dispense all the medication I needed for the various symptoms. Finally, with the help of prescriptions, I could fully experience college. The morning after a college party, I would wake up with my sinuses even more clogged… but that was part of the experience, wasn’t it?

In my early 20’s, I broke out in a mysterious rash all over my front and the itch was unbearable. The doctor could not explain it, so instead he prescribed the strongest dose of antibiotics possible, just in case it would help. After a couple months, the rash finally went away. That was not the only skin rash, or the worst one I ever had… it must have been my sensitive Scandinavian skin!

The first time I heard about Candida overgrowth was when I was driving with a friend. In a playful moment, I stuck out my tongue. He exclaimed in a childlike manner, “You have Candida!” (hear the sing song rhythm of a child). I was horrified! How could I have Candida when I faithfully brushed my tongue every time I brushed my teeth? After all, they make special tools and toothbrushes to brush and scrape your tongue. And besides that, Candida sounds like a disease that people shouldn’t talk about in public. Why would he accuse me of such an incredulous thing?

Fast forward a few months. It was time to take off a couple extra pounds to get ready for summer season. So I went on a diet/cleanse which required me to give up carbohydrates, fruits and sugars and replace them with protein, fresh vegetables and extra water. Two days into cleansing, I felt as though I could kick puppies. I’m sure it was just because I was hungry… right? Yet, I didn’t feel that hungry, just deprived.

Four more days passed and my family considered turning me in to Social Services for relentlessly inflicting mental abuse. Six days into cleansing, my rosacea and acne started to clear up on my face. Open sores in my nose that I had for over a year, miraculously vanished. I no longer felt the punching pain in my stomach every time I ate.

Now I began to pay attention. I have always had strange rashes and spots on my skin for as long as I could remember. I was preparing to visit the doctor to have a strange spot on my hand looked at that hadn’t healed after many months and was becoming quite unsightly. I researched skin disorders on the internet and couldn’t find anything that remotely resembled the spot on my hand. The only thing I could think of was the strange spots on my Grampa’s hands that never went away.

After cleansing and supplementing, other unusual things started to happen…

Strange spot…gone! Infected hangnails… gone! Hip rash… gone! Cystic acne… gone! Five pounds… gone! Foggy brain… gone! Clogged sinuses… gone!

My personal response to healthy eating and nutritional supplements was life changing!

Candida overgrowth affects each person in many seemingly unrelated ways. No prescribed set of symptoms exists. Your journey to imbalance is personal, and your journey to health and vitality is just as personal. To assist you, I always recommend partnering with a good health practitioner who understands the body’s natural ability to heal. Not a practitioner who only treats individual symptoms, but the entire system in a gentle collaborative way. Your practitioner should be your partner in good health.

Understanding Candida overgrowth may help you understand many aspects of your health history. Getting started on the road to balanced health is the most challenging aspect of any life changing opportunity. Choosing good health is a vital step many of people take for granted, either from lack of information or advice that does not reflect your overall best interest. Treating only the symptoms does not get to the cause, but treating the cause also treats the symptoms.