| Dear Juliet
You and your baby are intrinsically linked through body and soul. How you feel will affect baby and what you eat will as well. If the yeast Candida albican has established itself within your system then it is because the environment in which it lives is conducive to its proliferation. In order to discourage this I would suggest a nutritionally strong diet that would help create a more alkaline state within your body. It is thought that Candida thrives in acidic conditions and things like meat, sugar, white flour, salt, tea, coffee, wine and cheese can contribute to this. Try a more vegetarian/vegan diet for a while. However make your dietary changes gradually so baby can learn to adapt to the new milk it will produce. Of course eat plenty of live yogurts and give yourself a therapeutic dose of dairy free, acid stable probiotics before you go to sleep as this will help increase friendly gut bacteria which are anti fungal. If you do this for a few weeks it should help and you will pass this goodness on to baby through the milk. You could also take 2mls of calendula tincture in water 3 times a day which will inhibit internal yeast growth. Also clean the nipples with a well diluted solution of calendula tincture and water before feeding to inhibit external growth. If you rub in calendula cream on the nipples between feeds you will help prevent cracking and inhibit micro organism growth in that area. Interestingly nutrition is not the only relevant factor in Candida. It is known that stress will increase acidic conditions within the body which yeast organisms enjoy but it is not so well known that this can over sensitize the human system to such a degree that allergic reactions can result. As yeast growth can cause leaky gut syndrome this exacerbates the problem. So the mind and corresponding emotions have a major effect on our general health. I would recommend you learn and practice a daily relaxation or meditation exercise as this can counter the unavoidable stress responses most people experience to some degree or other during their waking day. Over time this will create a calming and health giving energy that will be of benefit to both of you.
Best of health |
