What is Candida?
“Candida albicans is a yeast that naturally grows in the intestinal tract. Though Candida usually should not be a problem, if the normal flora (good bacteria that help our foods break down properly) in the intestinal tract gets out of balance from the use of antibiotics or other medications or stresses, Candida has the opportunity to grow and get out of hand.
The resulting imbalance can cause different symptoms in different people. Some of these symptoms can relate to behavior and the ability to learn.
So many children today have been prescribed multiple rounds of antibiotics for colds and ear infections. These antibiotics can throw off the natural balance in the intestinal tract. The antibiotics kill the good bacteria in the intestinal tract while killing the bad bacteria that is causing the illness.”
The above definition came from Dr. Mary Ann Block’s book, No More Ritalin: Treating ADHD Without Drugs.
My mom, mother-in-law, and other wise older women have passed on to me the tip of giving my children Acidophilus (Lactobacillus acidophilus) capsules when they’re on antibiotics. This simply replaces the good bacteria that the antibiotic is killing off.
Dr. Block also states:
“An overgrowth of Candida can cause many health problems. In addition to the ones that traditional physicians see such as thrush and vaginal yeast infections, it can cause systemic problems throughout the body, which are often seen in immune compromised individuals.”
She recommends The Yeast Connection by Dr. William Crook, M.D. in which he reports that he’s helped numerous children with their ADHD symptoms by treating the yeast in their digestive tract.
Consider also, that the Candida yeast feeds on sugar and carbohydrates. A child who has been on antibiotics and the typical American diet of refined foods/sugars is probably full of this bad bacteria and ripe for a variety of health problems.
Nutrition is so important. And such a gentle fix for health problems compared to drugs, which so often only treat the symptoms without curing the cause.
Could your problems, or your child’s, simply be the result of a nutritional deficit?
Comment by Leticia
May 11, 2007 @ 12:57 pm
You know I use to complain about how expensive a little bottle of acidophulus costs ( $18 ) but it is worth every penny if you want your children and yourself to feel better after taking anti-biotics.
One more thing, anti-biotics are the last resort in this family, it makes us ill and sometimes if you just give the body some, it is able to heal itself.
Comment by Mary
May 11, 2007 @ 1:34 pm
I agree, Leticia, they aren’t even a last resort for us if possible. I’m also getting pretty strict on using non-prescription drugs here at home. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Comment by Deborah
May 11, 2007 @ 1:56 pm
Great article, Mary! Love to hear about all the things you’re learning and reading about! Nice to have someone to talk with about it!
Comment by Amy
May 11, 2007 @ 2:14 pm
I’m so glad others apart from me are using this natural remedy. All three of my children were born with thrush in their mouths, we tried all sorts of medicines and anti biotics but none of them worked until we tried acidopholus yoghurt. It worked a treat and didn’t come back either
Comment by Teresa
May 12, 2007 @ 3:02 pm
Probiotics.. probiotics.. probiotics!!
Comment by Mary
May 12, 2007 @ 10:45 pm
Hey, we’re all on the same page here, how cool! Thanks for chiming in, everyone!
Comment by Gina
May 19, 2007 @ 12:01 am
I usally always do this, but forgot when Grace had her ear infection. We always have it on hand, and I guess it’s better late than never!
Comment by Mary
May 19, 2007 @ 3:09 pm
I did it faithfully with my oldest when she was young, but somewhere along the line I guess I got lazy and forgot about keeping it on hand. We’ve been rectifying that here lately!