How do you know you have candida in all those places? I didn't realize there was a test that could pinpoint it that specifically!

I also have lots of food sensitivites and believe that it's in part due to a "leaky gut": http://www.healthy.net/asp/templates/article.asp?PageType=Article&ID=425

and
http://www.gsdl.com/assessments/ip/appguide/index.html

I temporarily cured myself of food allergies a couple years ago by avoiding all foods I was allergic to (and also alcohol, pain killers, etc - read the article above for more info on this), as well as eating a no-sugar and no-starch diet, and lots of garlic and vinegar (which are potent anti-yeast and anti-bacteria foods.) Leaky gut won't heal unless you avoid things you're allergic to, and also get rid of the intestinal infection (bactera, fungus, yeast, virus, etc). In my case, it quickly cleared up over a few weeks. After that, I no longer had any food sensitivites.

However, a year ago, I went on a month of Antibiotics for an eye infection and for prostititis, which I believed caused a candida overgrowth (or something similar), which caused the leaky gut to come back, along with food sensitivites and chemical sensitivites. I've tried getting rid of it using peroxide, and it's made a big difference, until a week ago, when I think I took too much activated charcoal, which gave me very bad indigestion, and lots of intestinal pain, and my food allergies have gotten worse again (however most of my other symptoms, such as my chemical sensitivity, are still almost completely gone.) My theory is that the indigestion worsened my leaky gut, and has caused my food sensitivites to become worse again.

My new approach (besides cutting back on the charcoal), is to fast (not eat) for as long as it takes for my gut to heal. I react to everything I put into my mouth (except water and peroxide), so I think if I'm going to overcome this, fasting may be the only way. According to the studies done about leaky gut, eating things that you are sensitive to will increase the intestinal permeabilty, and prevent it from healing. When new foods are eaten, they easily pass into the bloodstream through the leaky gut, and activate the immune system, causing you to become allergic to the new food. It's a downward spiral that will continue until you heal the gut. The above articles go into much more detail.

Peroxide will kill the organisms, and detoxify you, but I now believe that it won't heal the leaky gut unless you also avoid your food sensitivities . By the same token, avoiding your food sensitivites won't work either unless you also get rid of the intestinal infection at the same time. You also have to avoid the other things that can make a leaky gut worse, such as alchohol, pain killers, etc.

Think of it like this: if you had an external wound on your skin, and you wanted it to heal, you wouldn't expect it to heal if it had an active infection and if you kept rubbing things on it that you were allergic to - would you? An effective strategy would be to apply peroxide to the wound to prevent infection, and to put a bandage on it to protect it from the elements. The same thing is likely true for an internal wound.

By the way, intestinal permeability "leaky gut" has been linked to LOTS of other illnesses other than just food allergies . Having a leaky gut allows not just foods and toxins but also organsims and parasites to enter the bloodstream. It also puts a large burden on liver to filter this stuff out. The above articles go into more detail. Be sure to read both of them.

However, since I'm sensitive to almost everything, I feel that it's probably neccessary for me to fast (not eat) in order to overcome this. However, most people, with less extreme food sensitivites, probably wouldn't have to do this. Actually, I don't know for sure if it's going to work, but I'll let you know if it does...

>>Do you know anything about its effect regarding free radical damage?

Well, I know Dr. Ali covers this issue in some of his articles. Check out this link: http://www.majidali.com/#Oxygen%20and%20Aging and the articles listed under "Oxygen and Aging". These articles were taken from his book "Oxygen and Aging": http://www.majidali.com/books.htm#Oxygen

Dr. Ali is the editor of the Journal of Integrative Medicine, and is widely respected in the alternative medicine community.