Yeast is wonderful, right? It makes bread rise. It makes
beer and wine possible. So what’s not to like about yeast? It turns out that
too much yeast in your body can produce exhaustion and a variety of illnesses.
Yeast is everywhere. In fact, yeast makes up about 1% of
all fungi in the world. Yeast cells are tiny, just 3 or 4 micrometers across,
with some gargantuan yeast varieties going 10 times that size. These monsters of the yeast world are about
as wide as a strand of hair. Awesome!
Yeast cells occur naturally, feeding on almost anything
organic. Our skin is covered with yeast cells, without any negative effects in
general. Unfortunately, people taking antibiotics or even eating too much sugar
can get an overabundance of yeast, and that’s when things turn ugly.
Yeast overgrowth is a term that means that you have too
much yeast in your body. Typical symptoms include fatigue, malaise, lack of
energy and libido, loss of concentration and general irritability. In severe
cases, it can cause gastrointestinal distress, including bloating, cramps and
diarrhea.
Clearly, these symptoms can be caused by a wide variety
of issues, with yeast overgrowth pretty far down the list. Do you think that
you might be suffering from too much yeast? Here’s an easy test. Merely spit
into a glass of water first thing in the morning before you drink anything or brush your teeth. Then wait 15 minutes. If you see trails from the surface
of the water toward the bottom of the glass, or a pool of sludgy liquid on the
bottom of the glass, you may have yeast overgrowth.
The good news about yeast overgrowth is that it is easy
to correct. Just avoid foods with simple sugars and starches for a while. At
the same time, boost your inventory of “good” bacteria by eating fermented
foods, like sauerkraut. Add in some probiotics (think the yogurt section of the
grocery) to help out your digestion. Also, consider Listerine Breath Strips,
which can help with yeast colonies in your mouth and throat. Within a week or
two the yeast population should be back down to normal and you can add back in
that occasional donut or slice of bread.
Have you battled the mighty yeast? Click on the Comment
button and share your tales.
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