Have you ever heard of a yeast overgrowth? 
A yeast overgrowth basically means that you have yeast (a fungus) growing in your system and it can be the source of fatigue, allergies, headaches and stomach sensitivity. Actually, the list of possible symptoms is long.
Really. Long.
It is so long doctors often miss it because the symptoms could be masking themselves as other issues entirely…like allergies.
We recently went through a “yeast cleanse” which means no yeast (obviously!) but it also means no foods that feed yeast. I.E. sugar or fermented foods.
At first I thought this meant no yeast and no vinegar…no problem…but no butter, no cheese, no cream…oy vey! Who knew that dairy products are considered fermented?
Regardless, we buckled down and were basically “yeast free” for 30 days. We can do anything for 30 days, right? When things overwhelm me like this I tell myself it is JUST 30 days. If I live to be 80 years old that is 960 months. Surely, we can be disciplined in this area for 1 of those 960 months.
Surely.
I figured if we were going to avoid yeast I would find out what fights unwanted yeast trying to make a habitat in our bodies. And my favorite discovery was that olive oil was on our side of this battle (along with other things like coconut oil, garlic, onions etc…).
Olive oil contains Oleuropein, which has powerful anti-fungal properties that stimulate your immune system to ward off yeast. Olive oil has also been shown to assist in evening out blood sugar levels; this is important because elevated blood sugar levels can help feed candida or a yeast overgrowth.
So, we ate A LOT of Extra Virgin Olive Oil during our cleanse. Which isn’t hard because we love it!
