Have you ever experienced fatigue combined with other symptoms such as bloated stomach, excessive wind, fullness of the stomach, bitter taste in the mouth, yellow or milky coating on the tougue, dry furry feeling on the back of the throat, and itchy genital area? If you suffer fatigue, and it is associated with more than three of the above symptoms, then chances are that you have a degree of yeast infection.

Yeast infection is an extremely common modern day western disease. Heavy consumption of dairy products, sweets, preserved meats and other products, beer, vegemite, bread, and other yeasty foods is the basic cause of this infection. Excessive use of antibiotics further depletes the friendly intestinal flora, which function as the human defensive mechanism. When friendly gut flora is destroyed, rapid growth of the yeast is encouraged, thus exacerbating the infection in the gut.

A significant percentage of Australians suffer intestinal yeast infections. From my clinical experience, almost one out of two females, and one out of three males, have yeast infections, although the degree of infection varies.

When I suspect a patient has a yeast infection, I order a Hemaview analysis. Hemaview is a blood analysis performed with high-powered dark-field microscope that allows the technician to examine the blood while it is still alive. This effective test reveals the health condition of the digestive tract, along with bowel toxicity, and red and white blood cell function. The result of the test confirms the presence or the absence of the yeast infection.
Clinical signs and symptoms of yeast infection are very obvious. The most common indication, as mentioned, is fatigue combined with a constantly bloated stomach, thick yellow coating on the tongue, and cheesy-smelling wind.

In TCM terminology, yeast infection is classified as Damp Heat in the Lower Heater. The Lower Heater incorporates the stomach, spleen, small intestine, and bladder. Dampness is caused by consumption of cold, milky, sweet food such as cold milk, ice cream, cream and yeasty food like beer and bread. Heat is caused by chronic accumulation of dampness, and is aggravated by stress. People with chronic yeast infection typically eat cold, damp food; every time they are stressed, the condition becomes much worse.
The treatment of yeast infection is very straightforward. First, I prescribe a bowel-cleansing program, because the bowel is where the biggest and most aggressive colony of yeast accumulates. This bowel cleansing can take from eight to twenty weeks: the time is dependent on the severity of the infection. In addition, I use a botanical anti-yeast formula along with biochemical nutrients such as immunoglobulin.

When the bowel cleansing is completed, the next step is to implement a bowel repair program. This involves the use of nutrients to strengthen the connective tissue in the bowel wall and the mucous membrane, and to rebalance the bowel flora. The course will take between four and six weeks to complete.

After the bowel cleansing and the bowel reconditioning, I move onto liver detoxification and liver support. Liver function is crucial for playing the supportive role in the assistance of bowel function. It is impossible for the bowel to work well without proper liver function.

During the process of the bowel and liver detoxification, I design a specific diet plan for the individual patient, determined by the duration and severity of their bowel yeast infection. Some serious cases need a rather strict anti-yeast diet; some go on to the bowel detox diet, while others will use the Blood Type diet.

While yeast infection is not considered medically to be a serious disease, it is serious enough to cause health dysfunction. It depletes the immune system, negatively affects digestion and, more importantly, the absorption of nutrients. This is the reason why yeast infections are one of the major causes of fatigue.