Yeast may be good leaven for bread but ask any women inflicted with yeast infection and they will have a mouthful to say. Burning, swelling, redness, pain, itch are just some of the common complaints—there is also pain while urinating and having sex, not forgetting undesirable cottage-cheese looking discharge. No woman wants to go there, yet according to Womenshealth.gov., 75% of women experience at least one yeast infection in their life time with half of the women having 2 or more infections in their life time.

Cause of Yeast Infection

A healthy vagina has many kinds of bacteria and some yeast living in it at any one time. Usually, the balance of these good and bad bacteria are kept in check by a common bacteria called Lactobacillus acidophilus. However, a number of factors can tip the balance and allow the yeast fungus to grow out of control. Most yeast infections are caused by a type of yeast called Candida albicans. Before we go any further, let’s look at some of these factors:

• · High estrogen levels caused by pregnancy or hormone replacement therapy
• · Diseases such as diabetes and HIV infection
• · Taking certain medications such as birth control pills, antibiotics, and steroids
• · Hormonal changes during your periods
• · Poor eating habits
• · Stress
• · Lack of sleep
• · Tight-fitting undergarments

As you can see, any change in lifestyle or habits can make you a good candidate for Candida to flourish in your vagina. To fight yeast infection, there are a number of things you can do to effectively tame Candida—fight it, hold it in check or kill it --all within your power to win this yeast battle. Of course, you can fight it with over-the-counter medications but since food and lifestyle play a big part, you may want to go that route to keep getting repeated infections.

Fight Candida

Candida diet diehards will tell you that a healthy diet can boost your immune system and help  build up your flora of healthy bacteria to fight infection. Eat a wide range of foods that are rich in antioxidants and phytonutrients to fight free radicals in your body and provide nutrients for overall good health. Choose a wide range of colorful fruits and vegetables (they are colored because they are full of healthful anthocyanins), whole grains, legumes, nuts and fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, herring and tuna.

Starve Candida

Most people (ok, maybe not health nuts) like sugary snacks, and unfortunately, so do Candida. Refined sugars and carbohydrates are stripped of nutrients and once consumed; they readily raise blood sugar levels as well as provide great feasting for yeast. So, starve Candida by limiting white flour, refined sugars and nutrient-depleted processed snacks. We’re talking cinnamon rolls, chocolate cake, little Twinkies and  just about anything in the snack aisle made with refined sugars.

Kill Candida

Probiotics are microscopic bacteria that normally live in the intestines of healthy animals and much of our immune function is dependent upon this healthy gut flora. However, taking antibiotics, poor diet, stress, among others can reduce the level of probiotics in your body, causing Candida to proliferate out of control. You can effectively restore the balance of these good bacteria by eating a diet with probiotics.

Where do you get probiotics? They can be found in yogurt and kefir, even yogurt cheese. However, it is better to choose plain unsweetened yogurt or kefir made from pure, unadulterated dairy as opposed to pasteurized versions.

If dairy is not your cup of tea, how about fermented vegetables like sauerkraut and kimchi? The fermentation process encourages the growth of lactobacillus acidophilus, the live cultures that kill Candida. You can ferment many vegetables into probiotic wonders—including cucumber, radishes, Napa cabbage and chili peppers.

Interesting related reads:

Eat Colorful Fruits and Vegetables to promote health: http://hubpages.com/hub/Anthocyanins--Colors-of-Health

Holistic Cures for Yeast Infections: http://hubpages.com/hub/-Holistic-Treatments-for-Yeast-Infections--Candida-Albicans

Yeast Infection in Men: http://hubpages.com/hub/YeastInfectionMen

Diet with Probiotics : http://www.candida-cure-recipes.com/probiotics-candida.html

How to make fermented vegetables: http://www.nourishingdays.com/?p=1883