Swedish Bitters

I just wanted to share some info on a herbal tonic that can be useful to those battling candida. Candida causes the large intestine environment to switch from being slightly acid to being slightly alkaline. The friendly probiotic bacteria mainly from the lactobacillus family produce and secrete lactic acid and are known as lactic acid bacteria (LAB). The LAB dominate the gut by crowding out pathogens and also in the case of candida by creating an acidic environment which is unfavorable to the candida. One goal in treating candida infection of the gut is to restore the natural acid balance.

Swedish bitters can stimulate your stomach to produce more hydrochloric acid as well as digestive enzymes. It is an old folk remedy very popular in Europe. In case you are afraid that it will cause or exacerbate acid reflux, it actually treats this condition (weird but true):

http://chriskresser.com/get-rid-of-heartburn-and-gerd-forever-in-three-simple...

Another reason you want to increase the acidity of the gut is so that certain antifungals such as caprylic acid, undecenoic acid and monolaurin will remain in their acid form which is their active therapeutic form. If these acids were to enter an alkaline gut environment they would turn into salts and wouldn't be effective as antifungals.

I am just starting to take Swedish bitters and it does have a calming effect on the stomach. There is a small amount of alcohol in it which is necessary to solubalize the active ingredients. It is recommended that the bitters be allowed to remain on the back of the tongue where the taste buds that respond to bitterness are located. This stimulation of those taste buds is what signals the gut to release HCl and enzymes. I hold it for about 3 minutes. It doesn't taste great but is has a herbal mediciney taste. You can read more about Swedish bitters as it relates to candida yeast infection here:

http://www.thecandidadiet.com/swedish-bitters.htm Tweet