- my iParenting
- quick clicks
- moms today articles
- moms today q&a
- community & groups
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
From Our Sponsors
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Candida and Pregnancy
When Your Sweet Tooth and Cravings Spell Trouble
By Laura Cone
While the word "candida" may sound like candy, the overgrowth of this naturally occurring yeast in your body can lead to more than just cravings for candy. During pregnancy, when your body has all kinds of odd cravings, it's difficult to tell whether your cravings for carbohydrates are a sign of a more serious health issue.
Candida overgrowth is a major factor in the development of leaky gut syndrome, a condition that occurs when food penetrates the bowel walls, entering the blood stream. Many experts link leaky gut syndrome with food allergies and autoimmune diseases such as lupus, diabetes, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease.
Anne Khoury, a certified colon hygienist at Health Connections Center, the oldest holistic center in Philadelphia, Pa., says the most frequently occurring species is candida albicans, which can crowd out beneficial bacteria. In addition to changing their diet, she says pregnant women may take probiotics such as acidophilus strains, which are friendly bacteria.
Women may cleanse their bodies of candida by changing their diet and choosing more foods and drinks that cause an alkaline rather than acidic response in the body, according to experts.
"We work with a lot of people who have candida," Khoury says. "Basically what we do is get them on a diet that does not feed the candida, which means taking away yeast products [and] sugar products. They should not eat anything fermented. They should not have any fruit juice or anything with a lot of sugar in it. It feeds the candida."
pregnant, you have these strong desires for certain kinds of food." Khoury says a person's colon should have 85 percent friendly bacteria and just 15 percent "opportunistic bacteria."
Want to see more?
Comments
There are no comments for this article yet.Be the first to 
|
Post As:
|
||
| Enter your comment below: | ||
| Title | ||
| Comment Text | ||
| CAPTCHA | ||
| Please note that any comments submitted become the property of Disney Family / iParenting and can be edited and posted at our discrection. | ||