25 Yeast Reactions

What could produce a metabolic slowdown hazardous to your weight loss program? What could require you to temporarily drop cheese, mushrooms, vinegar and other fermented foods from Atkins? The answer to both questions is a one-cell fungus called yeast.

Candida albicans, the culprit's medical name, is one of four hundred species of indigenous organisms residing in the human intestinal tract. In other words, Candida is a normal part of us, and, in healthy competition with our other intestinal flora, it serves us well. Candida, however, is an opportunistic organism and at the first sign of stress it has a tendency to spread inappropriately. When it does, you have a yeast overgrow-and, very often, yeast sensitivity. The symptoms are extremely common: One in three people may be subject to them.

This might seem far from the subject of this book, but since you're preparing a lifetime eating plan, yeast reactions will affect the foodsyou can eat. When people with a predisposition to yeast and mold problems show characteristic symptoms doing Atkins, it's very often because they have started eating cheese again after denying themselves this pleasure while on a low-fat diet. Thus I can't ignore this topic.

A Wild World of Symptoms

Nor would I want to ignore it. Many physicians treat yeast only in the form of oral thrush or vaginitis. But it can be a far more extensive problem. People with yeastcan suffer from a long list of complaints (see "Yeast Symptoms" below). I've seen thousands of people who exhibited many of these symptoms and eventually found out that the large majority were affected by overgrowth of yeast.

Yeast Symptoms

· Do you suffer from gas, bloating, heartburn, constipation, diarrhea or abdominal cramps?

· Do you suffer from sinus headaches or nasal congestion?

· Do you have a runny nose or post-nasal drip?

· Do you often feel 'spaced out" or 'foggy'?

· Are you bothered by odors such as perfume or chemical fumes?

· Do you feel worse on damp, humid days?

· Are you often depressed, Low or irritable?

· Do you crave sweets and certain other foods?

· Do you retain water or get puffy?

· Is your energy Low, even when you get enough sleep?

· Do you get skin eruptions, hives, rashes and such?

· Do you get rectal or vaginal Itching?

· DO you experience PMS, Low sex drive, Irregular menses or impotence?

· DO you suffer from recurrent vaginal, prostate or urinary symptoms?

· Are you susceptible to a variety of

A Set of Provokers

Yeast overgrowth occurs most commonly in individuals exposed to one or more of the items on the following list:

· A diet high in sugar and refined carbohydrates.

· Repeated courses of antibiotics (a total of more than twenty weeks in a lifetime—or more than four times in one year-would make Candida overgrowth likely).

· Birth control pills, fertility drugs or other hormone therapies.

· Prednisone and other steroids.

· Chronic and excessive emotional stress.

· Any immune suppression condition.

With a list like this, it's hardly surprising that millions of Americans suffer from yeast overgrowth—and most of them don't realize they have it.

Clearly, you know my thoughts on sugar and carbohydrates. As for antibiotics, they can be life-saving but are often overprescribed. Birth control pills, HRT and steroids are drugs whose importance to your life I cannot judge without knowing you. If you do have a yeast overgrowth, you may have to make a difficult decision regarding these drugs. All alter the balance of beneficial bacteria in the intestine—which keeps Candida in check.

To understand how yeast can interfere with your success doing Atkins, you should hear about one of my patients. Laurie Yule was just 5 feet tall and weighed 134 pounds before doing Atkins. Her goal was to reach 118 pounds. She got down to 122 quite easily. Then after getting severe bronchitis, she was placed on antibiotics by another doctor. Laurie soon began to feel bloated and had difficulty losing any more weight. Essentially, the antibiotic had disturbed the balance of her intestinal flora and she was experiencing a yeast overgrowth, which had stalled her weight loss. Once I took Laurie off yeasty foods, the bloating vanished and she moved beyond her plateau to lose another four and a half pounds in a month.

What You Eat

I cannot point to published research that proves diet can actually cause yeasL But my clinical practice has convinced me that the wrong foods can and will encourage the continuation and expansion of a Canadida overgrowth.

The worst offender is sugar. It is the major growth factor for yeast, and Candida patients are invariably warned to stay away from ice cream, candy, pastry, corn syrup, maple syrup, molasses, etc. If you're doing Atkins, there's certainly no possibility you're eating any of that. You'll also be avoiding the natural sugar in fruit juice and lactose in milk.

However, if you do have a yeast overgrowth, there is another category of food that you will need to avoid: yeastand mold-containing foods. This includes cheese (except for mozzarella and cream cheese), vinegar, soy sauce and other fermented condiments, plus mushrooms, sauerkraut, sour cream, peanuts, cashews and pistachios (all nuts are subject to mold but these last two often contain the greatest amount). The list also includes smoked or cured foods, yeast-containing vitamins (make sure the label says they are yeast-free) and wine, beer and spirits.

The Allergic Connection

You may wonder why I mention mold. If you have allergies, be aware that yeast and mold are co-reactors—meaning that if you react to one you react to the other. Therefore, if you have a yeast problem, you should do your best to avoid not only yeast and mold in food but also places that harbor environmental mold. This includes office buildings with "sick building syndrome," your damp basement and bathrooms with poor ventilation.

If you are subject to hayfever or other seasonal allergies, such as those stemming from ragweed or pollen, your system is already stressed, making you more vulnerable to an even greater yeast sensitivity. One way to reduce mold exposure is (at certain times of year when mold counts are high) to cut out the yeast and mold in your diet. This may decrease the degree of symptoms you experience.

It is important to remember that yeast overgrowth stresses the immune system, undermining your total health. When it comes to weight loss, a yeast overgrowth, in combination with mold sensitivity, may lead to a suppressed metabolism. This may deplete your body of the energy it takes to burn fat. Of course, there may well be other causes that we haven't yet identified. I think that the complete explanation of what Candida overgrowth does to the human body is still well in the future. (For a few common annoyances, see "Did You Know These Conditions Are Yeast Related?" on page 337.) But I do know from my medical practice that this is a problem that can cripple weight loss efforts.

What Can You Do?

If you think you might have excessive yeast in your system, your best bet is, in addition to controlling your carbohydrate intake, to cut out all yeastand mold-containing foods and wait to see if your symptoms clear up. Give it four to six weeks. If your symptoms do not improve, your problem may not be yeast alone, If you improve in some of the areas I mentioned earlier, then you may have identified a yeast probleto or conceivably you may have removed a food to which you're allergic (see the next chapter), If you do improve after four to six weeks, cautiously reintroduce some of these foods to see if your symptoms return. It is possible that you may always have to consume yeast and mold foods in moderation.

Lingering symptoms that look yeast related are a reason to refrain from eating yeastand mold-containing foods a while longer. If you live in a hot, humid climate, be aware that your house may contain a considerable quantity of mold. I've had patients benefitfrom installing a hepa-filter air purifier in their bedrooms so that they can decrease their allergy load of dust and mold spores, at least when they're asleep. A preferable solution would be to install such filters throughout the house, if your budget allows. (See "Good Housekeeping" on the opposite page for more ways to control mold in your home.)

Probiotics

Probiotics, or beneficial bacteria, are essential in dealing with yeast. If Candida a/b/cans has overgrown, then repopulating your insides with good bacteria that compete with Candida is certain to be helpful. I recommend that you find a probiotic compound that contains not only acidophilus—which is a direct inhibitor of yeast overgrowth—but also such other beneficial bacteria as bifidobacterium and bulgaricus. Preparations that do not need to be refrigerated are preferable. The best products are sold in dark glass or plastic. light-screening containers. Make sure that the probiotics are not in a milk base. It's worthwhile paying a bit extra to get a really good product.

Other nutrients that can have a favorable effect on a yeast overgrowth include caprylic or undecenylic acid, oil of oregano and olive leaf extract. For a full discussion of these and other natural remedies, I suggest you refer to Dr. Atkins' Vita-Nutrient Solution.

My final bit of advice is that you take yeast seriously. Like any allergy or infections overload, it puts a great strain on the immune system.If it undercuts your weight loss program, it will also impair your relationship with Atkins, and that is certainly one relationship I hope to see you maintain for a lifetime.

Did You Know These Conditions Are Yeast Related?

· Athlete's foot

· A white-coated tongue

· Jock itch

· Fungal nail infections

· Ringworm

· Vaginitis

Good Housekeeping

To control the mold in your environment as much as possible, consider doing the following:

· Keep humidity low.

· Use an air conditioner or dehumidifier.

· Allow adequate ventilation.

· Avoid using humidifiers.

· Clean walls and add mold inhibitor to paint.

· Limit the number of houseplants (they carry pollen).

· Avoid foam rubber and feather pillows.

· Decrease dust exposure by minimizing the number of books and magazines.

· Vacuum carpets regularly, or, better yet, keep wood floors

· Install an exhaust fan in each bathroom, or If this is not possible, be sum to open the window regularly.

· Vent the clothes dryer outdoors.