Watch the video
- Watch the video on youtube
Yeasts in food and intestinal flora
Quite popular among the proponents of various alternative medicines, practically absent in the textbooks of official medicine, we are talking about "yeast intolerance, a generic expression to indicate a dysbiosis of the intestinal flora with overgrowth of the fungal component, in particular of yeast Candida albicans. Let's start by saying that the terms fungi and yeast are often used interchangeably, since yeasts represent unicellular fungi of microscopic size.
The intestinal bacterial flora can be considered a sort of genetic imprint, different from individual to individual and influenced above all by the diet, which tends to favor some microbial species over others. In this sense, the functionality of the digestive system is very important, which - with the same diet - can diversify the amount of unabsorbed or poorly digested nutrients that reach the colon. Some drugs, first of all antibiotics, corticosteroids and hormonal therapies (contraceptive pill, oral replacement therapy), can interfere with the microbial flora, generating dysbiosis.
Although the alterations of the intestinal microbial flora find limited space in the textbooks of official medicine, more and more experts and empirical experiences consider them responsible for disorders that are not disabling, but rather widespread in industrialized countries: from food intolerances to imbalances of the immune system and related consequences (increased susceptibility to infections, allergies, autoimmune diseases, etc.), from fungal diseases (especially candida) to alvo disorders (diarrhea, constipation, bloating, flatulence, abdominal cramps, etc.), from genital and urinary infections to nutritional deficiencies (especially vitamins and minerals), from the predisposition to colorectal cancer to low physical efficiency, with migraines and a sense of weakness.
Easy Pizza Without Yeast
Problems with playing the video? Reload the video from youtube.
- Go to the Video Page
- Go to the Video Recipes Section
- Watch the video on youtube
Yeast intolerances: a personal matter ...
In the face of the aforementioned disorders, food intolerances are very often brought up, today very fashionable and often overestimated, sometimes confirmed and supported by diagnostic tests of dubious usefulness or completely unreliable. As often happens, one starts from established scientific assumptions (those listed in the introductory part) and then gets lost in simplistic reasoning reaching completely misleading conclusions. Let's think, for example, of brewer's yeast, the undisputed protagonist of the leavening of bread and bakery products; the microorganisms that constitute it (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) ferment the glucose of the bread producing the carbon dioxide necessary to make it rise; here then, when faced with symptoms such as swollen stomach, bloating and excess intestinal gas, it is easy to blame an intolerance to yeasts. In reality the factors called in question are innumerable and must be carefully studied to find a solution to this disorder (lactose or gluten intolerance, poor digestive efficacy, overeating in a sedentary environment, excessive consumption of carbonated drinks, insufficient or excessive consumption of fiber, digestive intolerance in comparisons of particular combinations of foods, aerophagia and so on). Often, however, we tend to prescribe pre-printed diets that eliminate certain categories of foods. For example, in the case of "diagnosed" a "yeast intolerance, often at the hands of subjects who boast of skills and titles never achieved, we tend to impose:
- the removal of sugars, alcohol and foods rich in yeasts and mycotoxins. For this reason, at the top of the "black list" we find sucrose, fruit (both sugary and dried), most of the cereals, sugary and alcoholic drinks (especially beer), smoked foods or foods rich in preservatives, peanuts, vinegar, bread (unleavened bread allowed) and hard cheeses. On the other hand, the candida diet encourages the consumption of unsweetened yogurt (as a food rich in bacteria useful for intestinal health), specific probiotic and prebiotic formulations, garlic, turmeric and various foods fermented such as miso or kefir. Allow fish, eggs, lean meat, olive oil and other seed oils, brown rice, seaweed and vegetables (well washed).
- The anti-candidal diet gives a lot of space to some supplements, such as the aforementioned probiotics (especially bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus), prebiotics (FOS and inulin), caprylic acid, sorbic acid and sorbates, and complements based on soluble fibers (pectin, gum guar, psyllium and flax seeds).
- Other times, all fermented foods are eliminated from the diet.
In reality, rather than providing pre-printed diets or abolishing some categories of foods out of the blue, in the face of a presumed intolerance to yeasts it would make much more sense to educate the subject to a healthy lifestyle and to respect a series of dietary rules of general character particularly useful in case of symptoms attributable to dysbiosis; For example, it is advisable to evaluate if there is an improvement in symptoms:
- severely limiting the consumption of milk and dairy products for a few days;
- strongly limiting the consumption of leavened bakery products for a few days (bread, crackers, breadsticks, rusks, biscuits, sweets, pastry products ...);
- strongly limiting the consumption of carbonated and fermented drinks (wine, beer, alcohol in general, black tea);
- strongly reducing the consumption of food for a few days (see purifying diet) in order to give the digestive system - overloaded by too much work - the time necessary to rebuild its enzyme pool; eventually after this phase, start the consumption of probiotics (consult the doctor);
- chewing food for as long as possible before swallowing it, consuming one's meals in a serene and comfortable environment: "put down the cutlery" with each bite;
- eating small and frequent meals, rather than concentrating much of the food intake at lunch and dinner;
- preferring simple cooking methods (steamed, in a non-stick pan with a little oil) to more laborious ones (frying, grilling, various sauces ...);
- increasing physical activity, especially for sedentary people;
- adopting the main rules of the dissociated diet, particularly useful in case of dyspeptic symptoms attributable to "food intolerances" in general: do not combine foods rich in protein with others based on carbohydrates within the same meal, especially if they are rich in sugar; to combine protein sources of different nature (for example meat and fish or legumes and dairy products); eat complex carbohydrates and sugars in separate meals; abandon the classic habit of ending the meal with fruit and / or dessert; better to consume these foods alone and at different times of the day.
