I have dealt with many years of chronic illness and food intolerance. In 2010, after an anaphylactic reaction to gluten, I went on a gluten free diet. A histamine disorder developed in 2012 and later an Oxalate issue in 2017 which brought on my candida issues. I have also dealt with mold illness in the past too.

Let me explain how all this interrelates to candida by explaining my issues. They may, in turn, explain some CanXida customers’ issues with chronic candida infections as well. Our health tends to go downhill by domino effect. One thing leads to another to another. You get the point.

Well, this requires a little explaining.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Pamela Kullman and I run a Histamine Intolerance support site, link below, should you wish to join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/histamineintoleranceprivate

I also provide one on one consults to my members or anyone looking for guidance in the areas I have dealt with.

Now, If anyone wonders about what a histamine issue is, it is part of a spectrum. You can have Histamine Intolerance, Mastocytosis or Mast Cell Activation Syndrome.

Histamine intolerance (not literally an intolerance as we need histamine to function) can be caused by low dao, an enzyme in our stomach that digests histamine in food. All Food contains histamine in varying levels. If we are low dao, then we can’t keep up with processing histamine in food and we get symptoms.

Another form of Histamine Intolerance is due to methylation issues where the body cannot detox histamine fast enough and it builds up and causes symptoms.

Now histamine is a naturally occurring substance in our bodies which is both a hormone and a neurotransmitter. It, along with inflammatory chemicals are found in a mast cell. Food and non food triggers (exercise, exertion, barometric pressure, sex, viruses, stress, etc) contribute to our histamine levels.

Mastocytosis, from my understanding, is where there are excess mast cells in the body, this, as you can imagine, would release more histamine than normal which can lead to anaphylaxis. There are different forms of this issue as well, ranking in severity.

My problem is Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. Mast cells are part of the body’s immune system and deal with many many things including fighting invaders like bacteria, viruses, fungi, toxins, etc. When the mast cells are fighting an invader, they degranulate (explode) their contents to deal with whatever they have to. Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) develops after a period of extreme stress like a trauma, abuse, a virus, ptsd, a hormonal milestone (puberty, childbirth and menopause), mold illness or any other kind of stressor. In the presence of a stressor, mast cells go into defence mode and once the stressor is passed, the mast cells should return to normal. In the case of MCAS, our mast cells remain vigilant after the fact, seeing all things as a threat, in essence our mast cells become overreactive to everything. This is ,sometimes, due to someone having a predisposition for MCAS, a genetic weakness if you will.

Healing is possible but there is no cure for most of us.

I developed MCAS after the death of my father brought it forward and later an exposure to mold. Mold can occupy the immune system’s time by living and thriving in our body. This takes the immune system away from controlling other problems like Epstein virus, candida, Lyme, etc. Our body is the perfect environment for mold to grow, damp, warm and dark. Mold is also a form of fungus like candida. Candida is a normal part of our gut flora and its normal appearance is oval shaped but when upset in some way, converts to its hypha form that grow tendrils that penetrate the gi tract and into the blood stream and tissues. However, I have come to see that candida may also be a messenger. It lets us know when there is a problem in our body that needs to be addressed. It could be an invader like Oxalate or mold, stress which alters the environment of our gut allowing candida to overgrow, a nutritional deficiency like low Biotin or poor microbiome from years of antibiotics.

Between stress and mold illness, I began to have occasional issues with candida but it did not become a more frequent problem until my Oxalate issues developed.

Oxalate sensitivity is actually quite prominent in our world but it remains unidentified by most of our medical and holistic community. If any doctor does know about Oxalate, they only diagnose it if kidney stones are present but Oxalate affects the whole body so that is a flawed understanding. Oxalate is a plant toxin found in every form of plant food in varying levels like grains, legumes, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds. It is a very destructive toxin and anti nutrient and creates alot of oxidation in our body leading to inflammation. Signs of Oxalate issues can range from pain to low mineral counts, to things like thyroid, gall bladder or kidney stones all the way to other serious issues. Celiacs, interstitial cystitis (bladder inflammation but feels like a uti), vulvadynia, and fibromyalgia are also issue tied to Oxalate.It appears like a sharp crystal which aggravates mast cells causing high histamine and inflammation in the body. It binds with minerals to leave the body leaving the body deficient. It lodges in skin, bone, joints, organs and causes havoc.

Why do we develop Oxalate issues?

Mankind used to eat seasonally but when the emergence of imports changed our eating habits by making plant foods available year round, we began to consume too many plant foods. The human body has minimal defences against Oxalate. It only has the mucousal layer of the gi tract and a gut flora, oxalobacter formagene.

However, Oxalate can enter the body even before it hits those defences, thru the stomach. People that have had bariatric surgery can also introduce this issue to the body. High antibiotic intake is something I see a lot that leads people to Oxalate issues. It lead to mine, for sure. Mold illness, there are certain mold strains like Aspergillus that can create their own Oxalate in the body. The body itself produces Oxalate in the liver. Certain supplements like high dose vitamin C, collagen and bone broth are all converted to Oxalate by the body. Some of these are common ingredients with leaky gut protocols. Not helping if you have Oxalate issues. The other ingredient in Leaky Gut protocols is L glutamine, which is a histamine liberator for many with a histamine disorder.

There are so many things that contribute to a leaky gut:

Histamine being a vasodilator can contribute to leaky gut. Anyone with a histamine disorder would likely suffer this.

Others like Stress, antibiotics, alcohol, toxins, pesticides, candida, oxalate themselves, all contribute to leaky gut. I don’t think, in my opinion we can heal the gut perfectly or permanently due to so many leaky gut contributors.

Oxalate can damage and overwhelm the microbiome causing things like candida or SIBO or gut dysbiosis to develop. When the gut becomes leaky, toxins like oxalate and food particles can enter the bloodstream leading to many health issues, autoimmune issues and food intolerance development.

The other defence against oxalate is Oxalobacter formagene which is a gut flora that processes Oxalate in food. However if we were to over consume plant food, it could not keep up the processing, allowing for absorbtion of Oxalate. This gut flora is also very vulnerable to antibiotics and tend to die off with antibiotics use. Some of us have none left and it is irreplaceable. An attempt was made at producing a probiotic of oxalobacter formagene but failed miserably. Other gut flora can take over for it but if they too are overfed Oxalate, bacterial overgrowth can occur, and gut dysbiosis. This can bring on candida and SIBO infections. If you notice SIBO or candida keeps returning, Oxalate may be the culprit.

How does this relate to candida?

The mere presence of excess Oxalate will cause the candida to go aggressive. Damage Oxalate, alcohol and/or antibiotics cause to the microbiome reduce the microbiome’s ability to keep candida and other opportunistic bacterias or parasites in check. This leads to overgrowth of candida, bacteria and or parasites. CanXida is the ideal application for these issues as it is antifungal (good for candida and mold), antimicrobial and antiparasitic. CanXida has an overall advantage over the medicinal antifungal products out there like nystatin and flucozanole, it is herbal so candida cannot adapt to it where medicinal antifungals can be adapted to over time. Another thing that no one knows is nystatin use can cause inflammation. Nystatin kills candida by punching holes in the candida cell but it cannot differentiate between a normal cell and a candida cell. This would trigger the inflammasome, in other words, inflammation. Flucozanole can also cause inflammation by activating the inflammasome.

Another thing I liked about CanXida is with SIBO or bacterial overgrowth, most practitioners would prescribe antibiotics. Problem is they target all bacteria good and bad so if you are destroying the bacteria that would control bad bacteria or candida overgrowths then what is to control it?

According to the makers of CanXida, “CanXida does not target good bacteria which is an advantage over other remedies.”

A note to those with histamine issues, CanXida contains clove extract which is a histamine trigger. I had to start very low and work up to acclimate to it. I managed to get to 3 pills a day with minimal histamine symptoms. The CanXida digestive probiotics also contain L. Casei, a histamine producing bacteria but I seemed to tolerate it well.

I will keep CanXida in my medicine cabinet whenever I have candida and whenever I have to take antibiotics which usually trigger a yeast infection in me. It is a quality product and it performs well. It has been in my life a few years now.

Disclaimer: This article was written by one of the leading histamine intolerance expert Pamela Kullman. While the views and information presented align with CanXida’s standards and beliefs in health and wellness, the wording and style reflect the expert’s contribution. Please note that the information provided should not be considered medical advice and we recommend consulting with a healthcare professional for personalized guidance.