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Imagine having vaginitis - swelling, redness, burning and itching - and nothing you do helps in any way. And as if that isn't enough, you also have a bladder infection (cystitis) which causes you to feel as if you urgently have to urinate every few minutes, but there are only a few drops of urine, and the pain is excruciating.
Add to this constant canker sores in your mouth that make swallowing even a sip of water extremely painful. Plus you have bowel movements only every 3 to 5 days, and the doctor says that's normal for you. Imagine the toxins accumulating in your system! Think of your sewer system blocking up and nothing moving for a few days.
Your menstrual cycle is every 3 to 4 months. Your immune system is compromised, so you catch every virus going around. You feel terrible, but you look perfectly normal, so it's hard to convince anyone you're really sick.
All your blood tests have come back with normal results, as has the abdominal ultrasound. Allergy tests have revealed nothing. Nevertheless, in spite of what doctors are and aren't telling you, you just don't feel normal, healthy or well.
Your doctor tells you they don't know what's causing either of these conditions, but the only treatment available is antibiotics.
This is a brief account of what it's like when a yeast infection goes systemic.
I struggled with these health problems for 15 years. During all that time, no doctor ever asked me about my diet, which was really unhealthy. I ate 2 chocolate bars every day; I drank soda, ate cookies, sweets and potato chips; I was addicted to sugar. My diet lacked fibre, hence the complaints about constipation.
I've been a vegetarian for 39 years, so you would think I ate a healthy diet, but that was not the case. I went from doctor to doctor, looking for answers to these health problems, but all they would say was they really didn't know what causes yeast infections in women... but here's an antibiotic that will help.
Fortunately, when we immigrated to Canada from South Africa, I needed to rethink my career path. (I studied chemistry in South Africa and had a career in the food and chemical industry. I later owned and managed two businesses with my husband, Megs.) I knew I wanted to help people and work with people, but I didn't know where to start. Megs suggested I consider studying reflexology. He had helped me using reflexology, working on my feet to relieve the chronic back pain I had.
As luck would have it, I was able to start a course right away, and this led me to take every course in complementary medicine I could find. Each course brought me closer and closer to the answers to all of my health problems.
One day in class, the teacher described every symptom I was experiencing. I honestly thought he must be psychic! Of course, that wasn't the case and he was simply describing all the symptoms of systemic Candida. I was ecstatic that finally someone understood my symptoms and knew the root cause of them.
With this knowledge, I was able to treat myself successfully with a yeast-free diet plus herbs and vitamins. Within 6 weeks, almost all my symptoms were gone. I learned that the real problem was in my gut; the Candida there affected my entire body. Following the right treatment protocol, I have been symptom-free ever since.
I was so impressed with the results that I continued my education and received a Doctorate in Naturopathy from the University of Westbrook in New Mexico, USA, and, later, one in Acupuncture. I am a member of the American Naturopathic Medical Association, and I practice as a Doctor of Natural Medicine DNM®. I am also a certified Iridologist, certified Reflexologist, and Wholistic Allergist.
Over the years, I have worked with thousands of people with Candida of all ages, and they have literally gotten their lives back. The results are apparent in just 2 weeks, although it takes somewhat longer to fully deal with Candida.
We opened Ramilas Healing Arts Clinic in 1992 and, since then, I have been committed to helping others improve their health and live a better quality of life.
My program is so simple - and clients have achieved such great results - that they kept telling me to write a book about it because they want to share it with their friends. In fact, I have done just that - my book, called The Belly of the Beast - How to Calm Your Gut and Reclaim Your Health, will be published very soon.
Next month, I will provide much more information about Candida infections: what Candida is, what causes it, and my strategy for treating it. Stay tuned!
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The best preventive strategies for metabolic syndrome are:
There are some Nature's Sunshine supplements that are relevant to this newsletter. 
Factors that help protect your telomeres include:
There are some Nature's Sunshine supplements that are relevant to this newsletter.
However, with poor nutrition due to a diet high in refined carbohydrates (white flour, sugar, rice), packaged and processed foods, and very few or no fruits and vegetables, Candida literally overtakes your body. Other factors that enable it to take over include the use of antibiotics, some other prescription drugs (e.g. steroids), stress, and a compromised immune system.
There are some Nature's Sunshine supplements that are relevant to this newsletter.
Normally the ovaries produce a small amount of male sex hormones - androgens - but with PCOS, they produce too many androgens in relation to female hormones, causing an imbalance.
Focus on nourishment as the goal. Include foods that are anti-inflammatory, such as:
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (or hypertrophy) (BPH) occurs when the prostate gland becomes inflamed or enlarged as men get older. This causes the prostate to compress the urethra, making it difficult to urinate. This can lead to a bladder infection or bladder stones.
Fortunately, there are a number of preventive measures to improve prostate health, including diet and lifestyle changes.
There has been interest in resveratrol's role in heart health ever since a meta-analysis found a significant risk reduction associated with drinking 1-2 glasses of wine daily.
Anti-aging
We all know that chocolate is an important feature of Valentine's Day.
