Candida is ever present in the digestive system but it’s when our healthy and friendly yeast has got out of control and started to fight and disarm good bacteria, then Candida will become an issue. This is bad enough but as a by-product of this gut fermentation, toxins and noxious gases are released. Immune War in fact! Which mirrors in the many and varied symptoms outlined above; this stage is ‘relatively’ straightforward to deal with and is entirely separate, quite literally, to chronic Candida.

Chronic Systemic Candida is the stage where Candida migrates out of the digestive system. It forms root-like growths that are now a fungus and penetrates the intestinal wall and the Candida now enters the bloodstream system and will find it easy to get into deeper tissues and organs (eyes, brain, heart, liver, kidneys etc.) where over time it will become increasingly more entrenched and deep-seated. The toxins given off by the fungus, yeasts and moulds continues, but now these start to overwhelm the entire body. The result is an ever increasing list of symptoms due to the ferocity of the mycelial Candida roots and their ability to infiltrate. As I’ve said, for the purposes of this newsletter, I’m only going to discuss the gut/digestive form of Candida, which is a gut yeast overgrowth.

Cinnamon and Winter go hand in hand. Added to drinks, apple dishes, curries or as a Nutri-Bullet addition, it brings warming and festive cheer. It's multi-healing abilities come from the essential oils found in the perfumed sticks and are used to treat a very wide range of ills from fungal overload to diabetes and blood clots to digestive issues.

As an all-round anti-microbial, Cinnamon has been used for centuries to help preserve foods and ward of microbes, so in the gut it will defend and neutralize undesirable fungus and bacteria. Added to this, it is digestive, fragrant and comforting as it soothes the stomach lining, increases metabolism and aids any gastro-intestinal spasms because it contains an agent that breaks up intestinal gas.

As Autumnal weather draws in our rosemary is bright green and will be all Winter long.

Used in ancient Greece as a head wreath for hard working students or those taking exams, we now know from modern research that Rosemary stimulates brain function yet reduces anxiety. In fact some research was undertaken with nurses taking exams and using Rosemary essential oil around the head area. It showed lowered cortisol (stress hormone) and heightened memory retrieval. I really love Rosemary for a million reasons and uses and equally for the fact that it is available as an evergreen year round. Long before Ginkgo was popular and discovered in the West, we all used Rosemary, putting them together can also work really well too.

The name Rosemary is Latin for ‘dew of the sea’ – as its pale blue flowers glowed like dew in the hills above the sea.

Our stomachs are getting more fragile, leaky and bloated. Why and what can be done?

We are increasingly becoming more prone to food toxins and our guts ever more fragile, leaky and generally troubled. As the stomach is the engine room of our bodies and our everyday fuelling station, this is not a good trend. There are steps that can be taken to change this over time, so lets have a look.

Giles “Eat to Live Forever” documentary was/is a very personal voyage for him due to the ‘early death’ of his father aged 69 years and his sadness that he never met his one and three year old children. He is palpably upset about his early death and reflects on missing him on a daily basis and places this central to his realization that his male line is progressively dying younger and younger (Grandad 76) . The idea for his project is based on not wanting to follow in their footsteps and deny his children a longer living Dad. He admits that his Dad “did all the wrong things” in terms of eating choices, coupled with heavy smoking. He is after a ‘Healthy Balance’ – so his quest began to live to his Great Grand Father’s age of 93 and for this he went to America.