Nutritional Advice:

Consume nothing that contains antibiotics - meat and fish do most of the time. By choosing organic meat and fish you can reliably avoid these. Also try to eat organic vegetables and fruit if at all possible.

Cut out alcohol, tea, coffee, carbonated drinks and tobacco and eat no sugar - for a period of at least two weeks and then have occasional fruit. Consume no fruit juice initially because the concentration of sugar is attractive to candida fungus and there will be higher levels in juices. Avoid fruit concentrates and frozen juices. Instead drink fresh lemon juice in water.

Eat food with plenty of uncooked, cool spices and herbs. Do not eat cooked chillies or other 'hot' foods. The 'heat' will attract the candida fungus.

Include lots of garlic as it will decrease the levels of fungus. Include three to four whole cloves of garlic daily if possible, which are either added to cooked food or taken raw in salads or drinks.

Cut out all yeasty or fermented foods i.e. Marmite, mushrooms and other yeast based spreads and sauces. Also avoid apple cider vinegar normally suggested for poor digestion and low hydrochloric acid levels. At a later date these can be beneficially re-included which is a naturopathic route used in Germany very successfully.

Avoid all refined carbohydrates - that is, any processed junk food.

Eat only eat whole grains and raw foods - grains, vegetables, seeds and nuts.

Herb Quality:

A large proportion of our herbs are grown in English soils, harvested using bio-chemistry analysis and many but not always, processed fresh, which heightens their remedial properties. The majority are grown organically and or sustainably wild-crafted. All manufacturing is carried out using licensed good manufacturing practice.

DO NOT MIX HERBAL MEDICINE AND GP PRESCRIBED MEDICATION WITHOUT THE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR GP OR PRACTIONER

Natural Healing:

Highly diluted tea-tree oil can be used to treat external fungus, but be careful to really dilute it because used neat or overly strong the tea-tree will cause deep and angry flesh burns. Use 5mls tea-tree oil to 250mls of safflower and olive oil or neat aloe vera gel or lavender oil in aloe vera gel. A few drops of lavender essential oil added to the bath will also help

Use vaginal pessaries to soothe the vagina.

Oral contraceptives can upset the micro-organism balance in the body. Ensure that you use alternative contraception should you decide this may be a cause.

Take acidophilus to repopulate the bowel with beneficial bacteria capable of overpowering the fungus. These are available from Bio-care (Tel: 0121 433 3727) or soil organisms from Kiki ltd.

Take hot and cold showers - always finish with cold water. Never go to bed straight after a hot bath - only after a cold shower. Cold sitz baths can be helpful if you wake up in the night feeling very hot - especially vaginally.

Get plenty of sleep and use cotton sheets; under-bedding and quilts should also be of natural fibres as these breathe, allowing moisture to escape and will prevent incubating the fungus further.

Always use cotton based tampons and sanitary towels to encourage better oxygen flow.

The text below is courtesy of DOH we felt that this would be useful extra information for this site.

Thrush is caused by a yeast that normally lives harmlessly on the skin, or in the mouth, gut and vagina without causing any problems. Normally it is kept in check by harmless bacteria. Occasionally conditions change and the yeast increases rapidly, causing symptoms. (This is called clinical thrush or candidiasis.)

Signs and symptoms

Both men and women can get thrush. It is more likely to develop in men who are not circumcised.

Women

There may be one or more symptoms, including:

• itching, soreness and redness around the vagina vulva or anus

• a thick, white discharge from the vagina that looks like cottage cheese and smells yeasty

• a swollen vulva

• pain when you have sex

• pain when you pass urine

Men

There may be one or more symptoms, including:

• irritation, burning or itching under the foreskin or on the tip of the penis

• a thick, cheesy discharge under the foreskin

• difficulty in pulling back the foreskin

• a slight discharge from the urethra

• discomfort when you pass urine

How thrush develops

Your chances of developing thrush are increased if you:

• are pregnant

• wear lycra shorts or tight nylon clothes

• take certain antibiotics

• use too much vaginal deodorant or perfumed bubble bath, causing irritation

• have sex with someone who has a thrush infection

Where to go for help

Your own GP

Your local HNS sexual health (GUM) clinic. You can find details of your nearest NHS sexual health clinic in the phone book under genitor-urinary medicine (GUM), sexually transmitted diseases (STD) or venereal diseases (VD). Or phone your local hospital and ask for the ‘special’ or GUM clinic. You will get free, confidential advice and treatment. You can go to any clinic anywhere in the country – you don’t have to go to a local one – and you don’t have to be referred by your GP. (Non-NHS sexual health clinics may not always offer the full range of services which are available at NHS sexual health clinics.)

If you have been treated for thrush before and the symptoms have returned, your pharmacist can sell you a treatment. If the symptoms persist, go to your GP or a sexual health clinic.

The tests for thrush

Diagnosis and treatment

Samples taken during the examination are looked at under a microscope to check for infection. In clinics, the result is available immediately. A second sample may be sent to a laboratory for testing, the result of which is available usually within one week.

Treatment is easy. Women may be given pessaries (long tablets), to insert into the vagina using a special applicator, and also a cream. The cream is applied externally to the genital area – the doctor or nurse will explain how. On some occasions pills are given instead.

You should get individual advice about having sex during treatment from your doctor, nurse or health advisor.

Follow-up

It is advisable to return for a check-up after you have completed the treatment to make sure that the thrush is gone.

Any man can develop thrush, but is more likely in uncircumcised men, who should wash under their foreskins as part of their daily routine.

Complications

The symptoms of thrush may go away without treatment but it can get very sore. Sometimes men get an uncomfortable swelling of the foreskin, but complications are rare.

Remember, after treatment, using condoms during sex can reduce your risk of getting or passing on sexually transmitted infections.

This fact-sheet is one of a series which give information on the following range of infections and diseases: bacterial vaginosis, Chlamydia, cystitis, genital herpes, genital warts, gonorrhoea, hepatitis (A, B and C) non-specific urethritis, penile cancer, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), prostate cancer, public lice, scabies, syphilis, testicular cancer, thrush and trichomonas vaginalis.

Free copies of any of these fact sheets are available from GP surgeries, NHS sexual health (GUM) clinics or your local health promotion unit (in the phone book under your Local Health Authority).