If you struggle with food allergies, it may be your an imbalance in your gut that is to blame. It’s often difficult for Candida sufferers to make the connection, but the gluten and dairy allergies they experience may well be related to Candida overgrowth.
This is all thanks to intestinal permeability (often known as Leaky Gut Syndrome), which is frequently caused by Candida. The good news is that there are some extra steps you can take to cure yourself, and maybe eliminate some of your food intolerances along the way.
Leaky Gut Syndrome And Candida
Leaky Gut Syndrome is a weakening and inflammation of the intestinal wall. This can occur for several reasons, including strong laxatives, spices, and too much coffee. Most importantly for Candida sufferers, an imbalance in the intestinal flora is often to blame too. During a Candida overgrowth, the fungal cells attach themselves to the intestinal walls, using long filaments named hyphae to penetrate through the membrane into your bloodstream.
These tiny gaps in the intestinal walls allow Candida metabolites and food particles to enter into your bloodstream. The presence of these particles inflames the intestinal membrane further and prompts a strong immune response from the body. These are ‘foreign’ particles that do not belong in your blood, and so your immune system reacts quickly to destroy them by sending specialized immune cells known as macrophages.
This is exactly how your immune system should react, but it can have long term consequences. When your immune system creates antibodies to neutralize a threat, it retains memory of that threat just in case it sees it again. This is how you build immunity to certain strains of cold and flu virus, but in this case it backfires. The next time your immune system recognizes those food particles that escaped from your gut, it will trigger an immune response. This hypersensitivity of the immune system is one way in which food sensitivities start.
Food sensitivities put your body under a great deal of stress. These allergic responses put pressure on your adrenal glands and immune system, the very parts of your body that you need to recover from Candida Related Complex. Unless you get your Leaky Gut Syndrome under control, it can end up making your Candida symptoms even more severe.
Treating Your Leaky Gut Syndrome
Food sensitivities are a symptom of this relationship between Candida and Leaky Gut Syndrome. To eliminate or reduce them, the best strategy is to treat the underlying cause. A diet that is low in inflammatory foods (like sugar and alcohol) is a great start.
Following the Candida Diet is a great start, but you should also consider some foods and supplements that can help to repair the gut and restore the integrity of your intestinal walls. Good options are foods like cabbage juice and supplements like glutamine. However, there are a few other things you can do that will help.
First, here are a few pro-inflammatory substances that you need to avoid, as they will place extra stress on your intestinal walls and increase the inflammation.
- Avoid powerful laxatives
- Avoid eating strong spices
- Reduce your caffeine intake
Second, increasing your intake of soluble fiber will help too. This moves waste through your intestines more quickly and reduces the chances of it leaking into your bloodstream. Psyllium husks, dried beans and peas, and oat bran are all good examples. You can also try to eat more of your vegetables raw, as cooking tends to reduce the fiber content.
Another technique is to rotate your foods. The so-called ‘rotation diet’ simply means that you leave a gap of a few days between each time that you eat certain foods. For example you might have allergies to grains, but these may become more manageable if you commit to eating them only once every four days. This gives your immune system a break and reduces the chance of building up extra intolerances.
For lots more information on the symptoms, causes and treatment of Candida, take a look at our Ultimate Candida Diet treatment plan.