Taken from an upcoming issue of The RadReport:

SYI--A Case Study

Part I
Here are the syptoms: chronic muscle aches and spasms, joint pain, hypersensitivity to odors, allergies, mental lapses and confusion, depression, lack of energy and ambition, irritability, loss of physical coordination, acid reflux, bloating, and a range of intestinal effects from chronic constipation to chronic diarrhea. In 75% of cases it's fatal.

Systemic yeast infection causes all these and more. I've been fighting it for the past eight months, and experienced nearly all the above symptoms.

The major reason as many as 80% of Americans may have some degree of SYI is the overuse of antibiotics and steroids. Both kill off friendly bacteria in our bodies--organisms which normally keep yeast and fungi in balance. So the yeast proliferate unchecked. One particular variety of yeast, candida albicans, seems from my research to be the most pernicious. Women know this all too well.

Candida overgrowth begins in the lower intestine. A mild case of candidensis causes gas, bloating and other intestinal annoyances. Another symptom is GERD, gastroesophageal reflux disorder--one of those strange new diseases mainstream medicine cannot cure, because they don't understand the cause. Everybody has a "hiatal hernia" or a "weak swallower muscle".

We can illustrate the mechanisim of acid reflux by a simple analogy with what yeast does to bread dough. Give an already overgrown yeast colony anything it loves--especially sugar--and the yeast abruply expand in the intestinal tract, creating gas and pressure. There are two exits to the GI system. Since one is normally closed in polite society, the pressure of yeast overgrowth pushes north, forcing stomach acid into the throat. For about two years I had constant acid as far as my mouth, burning the membranes there and destroying my taste for food. Broiled chicken breast, done to juicy perfection, tasted like rubber.

A week after I started on natural medicine to control the yeast I cut my prescription anti-refllux dose in half; a week later I discontinued it entirely, and was symptom-free.

Besides using the natural herbal remedies I also altered my diet. Sugars, especially fructose, breads, pastry, potatoes--virtually anything fermentable--all went. And since fermented products like beer, wine and spirits all contain sugar, they were dangerous as well.

My workaround for the brandy is to steep herbs in it. The mints, anise, fennel, parsely, ginger and oregano are all excellent for the GI tract, and help purify the blood. The licorice root creates a silky-smooth libation that warms the palate and soothes the throat. That allows me to buy larger bottles of cheaper stuff, and to sip more of this excellent digestif at one sitting.

Truly, few creatures can summon greater cunning and ingenuity to the service of self-trickery than your seasoned tosspot.

(to be continued)