Candida is a microbiological term, an example of simple yeast that lives in all of us; it is present in all our mucus membranes, but if our immune system is functioning correctly the Candida, does us no harm. Candidiasis is caused by the yeast-like fungus Candida Albicans. Candida Albicans is one of the most common human pathogens; it may cause thrush either in the mouth and throat or in the vagina. While this is neither systemic or life threatening it is a nuisance and the problem is aggravated by the fact that few classifications of drugs are effective against fungal infections, and all of them have side effects.

When the immune system has been compromised for instance from too many antibiotics then the result may be a systemic life threatening infection.

Bacteria have many necessary functions in the body.

They supply energy for cells by producing short chain fatty acids.

They inhibit the activity of harmful toxins such as bacteroides and clostridia.

They are needed to synthesise essential nutrients, such as Vitamin K which is necessary for blood coagulation and Vitamin K2 or menaquinone, which is produced by bacteria in the intestines, unless the intestines are damaged. Lack of vitamin K leads to fractures, bleeding and possibly osteoporosis they maintain the bodies Ph, or acid balance.

Seventy percent of our immune system works within the intestines; if the intestines are not healthy we cannot be healthy. We need bacteria as a response to infection.

Within the intestine, they govern chemical reactions, which are essential to metabolism.

The balance in the intestines is fragile but a combination of low immunity and using antibiotics can upset the delicate stability. The body produces acetaldehyde when it breaks down yeasts, and it is a poison, it is ingested either through environmental pollutants such as chemical perfumes or it is produced when the body breaks down alcohol, or the carbohydrates in yeast. As we have established, it is a poison to humans and the following pathways must convert it.

Chemical aldehydes, in the form of ethanol or drinking alcohol, are routinely processed into acetaldehyde which is used in the production of fragrances, such as fragrant toilet paper, deodorants, air fresheners etc., when the aldehydes are present in the body the body uses aldehyde oxidase or aldehyde dehydrogenase to neutralise it.

As the body should be capable of neutralising it, it is only poisonous when it is partially digested. For the process to be completed the body needs to have sufficient levels of glutamine, iron, molybdenum, the riboflavin group and selenium.

Candida converts sugars into ethanol and ethanol is routinely found in over the counter medicines, because it has antiseptic properties. However if the ethanol levels are too high, either because they have entered the body as alcohol, carbohydrates, perfumes or antiseptics then it becomes a poison, an acetaldehyde. If you have adequate amounts of glutamine, selenium, niacin, folic acid, B6, B12, iron, and molybdenum, the aldehydes continue the metabolic process, conversion into acetic acid, which can be excreted, or metabolized further into acetyl coenzyme A and all is well in the gut. However, when these crucial nutrients are in poor supply the aldehydes start building up in the body.

Candida is not the enemy, and to view it as such is misleading. The actual process of digestion is complex and way beyond the paradigms of this article. When we have normal levels of Candida in our bodies and we are fully nourished, Candida furnishes the body with a necessary part of what is known as the ?Krebs energy cycle? necessary for the health and maintenance of all cells. When our digestion is unbalanced, we incompletely convert sugars into what are in effect poisons and they stay toxic within our system. When our digestion is balanced, or we give it what it needs in terms of supplements, a potential poison is transformed into a source of energy, or aldehyde poison becomes acetyl coenzyme A.

Candida converts sugars into ethanol and ethanol is routinely found in over the counter medicines, because it has antiseptic properties. As a common ingredient in prescription and over-the-counter medications, it is not bad in itself; it has important properties as a free radical scavenger and antiseptic. Unfortunately as a side effect they alter the delicate ecosystem within the intestines and are potentially storing up trouble. The problem with antibiotics is that they do not target the bad bacteria, because they cannot differentiate, and they wipe out the friendly bacteria as well as the illness they have been prescribed to treat.

With a healthy immune system the body uses the skin, the lungs; the kidney's and muscles to ward off infection from an intruder. Time and financial constraints means that insufficient tests are carried out to what type of bacteria is invading the bodies? immune system. This means that broad based antibiotics are prescribed. Because the antibiotic is broad based it attacks all bacteria including the bodies? good bacteria. There is a bacterium in the human gut that assists in the manufacture of vitamins this healthy bacterium also comes under attack from the use of antibiotics. Nearly everyone who uses antibiotics suffer from diarrhoea, and or other side effects. Once this occurs, then the Candida balance is precarious and it is likely to lead to infection.