Question: My daughter, a heart nurse, is under significant stress and has an irregular night-shift schedule, which affects her sleep and overall health. Although she’s underweight, eats healthily, and has nursing knowledge, she’s skeptical about non-surgical solutions for improving her sphincter. How can I assist her in managing stress and health amidst her hectic schedule? Are there particular exercises, excluding Yoga, and dietary additions like lemon water, apple cider vinegar, or specific fruits, vegetables, and juices that could help?

The sphincter is made up of two rings of muscle. Either of these muscles can become weak. This could be due to childbirth, constipation and straining, general wear and tear, and surgery, but there may be no obvious cause. If you have weak muscles you may leak gas, liquid or solid stools. There are specific exercises that focus on the anal sphincter muscle. These exercises can help to improve bowel control. These involve contracting and releasing the anal sphincter muscle. By exercising, the muscle should become thicker and stronger and give more support to the internal sphincter thus helping to prevent leakage.

Like any other muscle in the body, the more you exercise and use it, the stronger and more effective it will become. A healthcare professional, such as a continence physiotherapist or specialist continence nurse, will guide you through these routines and help you to keep track of your progress. To locate your sphincter muscles, pretend that you are trying to hold in a bowel movement or prevent yourself from passing wind. You should now feel the muscles around your anus start to tighten. You should sit, stand or lie in a comfortable position with your legs slightly apart. Now try and squeeze the muscles for as long as you can. Relax in between each squeeze. Try to hold for up to 10 seconds and do this up to 10 times. You should try and do each of these sets of exercises 3 times a day. It’s important to try to prevent sphincter weakness from happening in the first place, if constipation may be an issue it may be useful to increase fiber intake, 30 g/d is ideal for gut health or taking a supplement like psyllium/flax 10g/d can also help.

Question: I have just ordered 2 x Canxida remove bottles for a case of dientamoeba fragilis. Can these be taken alongside my antibiotic metronidazole? Also should I be taking 2 tablets a day of Canxida? How long will it take for D fragilis to be eradicated from my body? Lastly, I have heard good things about taking Paramomycin for D Frag high efficacy rates. Is that true?

Normally, there is a balanced mix of bacteria, parasites and yeast in the gut. Unfortunately, gut infections are common in people who recently took broad-spectrum antibiotics. Antibiotics will kill both the bad and beneficial bacteria in our gut. The good bacteria are responsible for keeping other pathogens like parasites under control. After an intense course, antibiotics can make the body more propense to an infection. Metronidazole is one of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics for the treatment of D. fragilis infections and is an effective short-term solution.

However, this approach targets the symtoms rather than the root cause of the overgrowth which is gut dysbiosis so there’s a chance it could come back. Lifestyle choices can get to the root cause by restoring a healthy balance in the gut. Take probiotics, they are an essential way to promote good microbes in your body, and are helpful for restoring a balanced microbiome after a round of antibiotics. The probiotics Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium have both been shown to be effective in promoting a healthy gut environment and crowding out pathogens including parasites like dientamoeba fragilis. You can additionally try herbal supplements. Certain herbs have antiparasitic properties that can help lower parasite levels and restore balance in your gut such as oregano oil, garlic extract, black walnut and berberine.

Question: I have watched several of your videos, and received a response of severe Candida overgrowth from your quiz. However, I don’t think I can take two of your 3 supplements because I am allergic to citrus and ascorbic acid. This is a genetics trait, I believe, since several family members have it. I experience a burning scalp & small hives when I consume tomatoes, citrus fruit, kiwi, strawberries, etc. What do you suggest?

Yeast bodies like Candida albicans can exist in multiple forms. The round-bodied yeast form can be killed by the normal anti-fungals. The problem is that when under attack, Candida can morph into Hyphae forms. These hyphae can get away from the anti-fungals and morph into the resistant hyphae, which can from biofilms and become a chronic infection. So yeast can then travel around and invade all parts of the body. Herbal extracts are a novel therapy to fight the hyphae form of Candida.

For example caprylic acid can disrupt biofilm formation by destroying its polymer matrix. Pau’d Arco and berberine can revert hyphae back into yeast bodies to make them easier to kill. Oregano and garlic oil can then destroy the cell wall of the yeast. So as you see combining several antifungals together with different propertes can help get rid of Candida more effectively. If you are allergic to the component of the CanXida Remove formula work with a naturopath or health care provider to guide you into a special antifungal treatment. The most important antifungals to include are Pau d’Arco, oregano, Uva Ursi, caprylic acid, biotin and Gymnema sylvestre. Its best to cycle between each to avoid generating resistance. The general protocol often involves three components. Besides antifungal substances that are prescribed to kill the yeast following a diet low in sugars is essentiall to starve the yeast of its main fuel. Finally, beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria are key as they compete for space with the yeast and therefore rebalance the microflora and boost gut immunity.

Disclaimer: It’s crucial to consult with your healthcare professional before making any changes to your health regimen or when experiencing symptoms.