Fighting Fungus - Oregano Oil

[mamadrama]

Dr. Mercola recently had an article on oregano oil and some other benefits.

Oregano, Other Essential Oils Destroy Strep Pneumonia Cells


Researchers have found that some essential oils, oregano, thyme and rosewood oils, in particular, create an autolytic reaction in organisms, including Streptococcus pneumonia. Dr. Diane Horne of Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, told the 98th general assembly of the American Society of Microbiology about the serendipitous discovery of the impact of the oils on cells such as Streptococcus pneumonia.

A coresearcher was spraying aromatic oils in the laboratory. "When I looked at the S. pneumonia that I was preparing for another experiment, the cells were just falling apart," Dr. Horne reported. Dr. Horne and coworker Sue Chao, of the Young Living Essential Oil Company of Payton, Utah, tested the autolyzing properties of 74 different essential oils.

The best results occurred with oregano, thyme and rosewood and intermediate inhibition of the pathogens was achieved with cinnamon oil and clove oil, Dr. Horne said at a poster presentation at the meeting. Dr. Horne pointed out that the oils also showed efficacy against E. coli and several species of fungi.

COMMENT: It is amazing what one can do with herbs. This is a wonderful piece of research documenting the effectiveness of oregano. It is still not to late to get your garden up and running and plant some oregano. Oregano is a hardy perennial. For you non-gardening types, that means this plant will return year after year and provide you with a natural, inexpensive way to stay healthy. It is a bit late to plant seeds for the season but you can get some good plants from any nursery. I would recommend the Greek oregano which only grows about 18 inches tall. Avoid the taller 4 foot plants (Oregano vulgare) as they do not have as much of the effective essential oils.

 

[Z...]

here is the wining combinatin for the stubborn nail fungus infections which dont seem to be responsive to low carb diet and oregano oil.

- Australian Blue Cypress Wood Oil (Calitris Intratropica)
- Lavander Oil (Lavandula Angustifolia)
- Tea Tree Leaf Oil
- Linalool
- Geraniol
- Limonene

If you dont feel like making your own concoction, as some of these oils may be difficult to source
all of the above ingredients can be found in this product
_http://www.nailner.com/int/nail-fungus.aspx
It has proven to be very effective and also comes as a pen for easy application.

 

[RedFox]

here is the wining combinatin for the stubborn nail fungus infections which dont seem to be responsive to low carb diet

fwiw it may be worth checking your digestion is working correctly....that is you have enough stomach acid/bile to properly digest the food/fat (see the chapter in Primal Body Primal Mind on digestion). Plus taking a good probiotic (one that will fight bad bacteria). I had one small fungal nail infection and this has cleared up by following the above.

 

[lilyalic]

I've had a fungal infection on my skin for nearly a month now, it started off on one of my nipples and spread across the whole thing, then I started getting dry patches of red skin around my chest/shoulders/arms/legs that were very itchy, and now it has appeared on my other breast. I started upping my candida treatment, started taking oregano oil, collodial silver, NAC, vitamin C, probiotics, anti-candida, goldenseal root, and loads more. I'm not eating ANY sugar of any kind. I've applied tea tree oil, olive oil, coconut oil etcetc.. it just doesn't seem to be getting better but worse. I went to the "walk in" center and was advised to get a cream with Clotrimazole in, which I've been applying ever since but still not much is changing. I'll be going to sign up for the doctors tomorrow as I think this may require some doctors advice, although I definitely don't want to be taking any antibiotics.

Does it really take a long long time to get rid of a fungal infection? I think it's making me really fatigued, and I've been getting frequent headaches that can sometimes become severe. I'll start applying the oregano oil topically instead of orally as a friend advised it can kill some "good" bacteria also.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Gaby]

Lilyalic, do you eat any vegetables at all?

Some people on a very low carb diet develop fungal infections out of a gut imbalance and/or a nutrient deficiency. Typically things go better when some vegetables are eaten in order to "feed" good bacteria, i.e. green beans and some roots.

It is hard to tell why, but it is true that some people develop fungal infections on an extremely low carb diet. It is documented in other forums and by other researchers as well.

Make sure it is a fungus too.

 

[lilyalic]

Lilyalic, do you eat any vegetables at all?

Some people on a very low carb diet develop fungal infections out of a gut imbalance and/or a nutrient deficiency. Typically things go better when some vegetables are eaten in order to "feed" good bacteria, i.e. green beans and some roots.

It is hard to tell why, but it is true that some people develop fungal infections on an extremely low carb diet. It is documented in other forums and by other researchers as well.

Make sure it is a fungus too.

I have green beans nearly everyday to avoid going complete 0 carbs.

I listen to a Chris Kresser podcast that stated ketones can actually feed candida

The trouble with GAPS and SCD, depending on how they’re done, is that they can be extremely low-carb diets. If they’re extremely low-carb, they can become ketogenic, which means you start producing ketones. Paul Jaminet was one of the first people to start talking about this a few years ago. But there are several studies that suggest that Candida and other yeast can actually thrive on ketones. So this is one of my biggest problems with a very low-carbohydrate diet—GAPS, SCD or even sort of typical Candida diet—that removes every possible source of glucose or sugar in the diet. That can lead to ketone production. Then there are studies, for example, that show that neutrophils, which are white blood cells, are less able to kill Candida when ketones are present. There are studies of diabetic patients with ketoacidosis—you know, a lot of ketone production—developing Candida overgrowth. There are studies of obese people developing Candida infections when fasting causes ketosis. There are studies showing that serum drawn from fasting patients is less protected against Candida than serum drawn after meals, and that antifungal drugs, and I would assume botanicals, tend to work better in a fed state than a fasted state, where ketone production would be occurring. So there’s this whole kind of constellation of evidence that’s pointing to the idea that ketone production is not a good idea.

http://chriskresser.com/top-4-mistakes-people-make-when-treating-candida-overgrowth/

When I saw a nurse, she did state it was a fungal infection, and all the research I've done seems to point that way. Especially when it came up "thrush on nipples" which usually related to breastfeeding and all the symptoms following.

 

[DougEE]

Check out this thread on Iodine:
http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,13371.0.html

I think the best approach is to use Lugols Solution for external applications and Nascent Iodine for internal usage.

 

[Gaby]

I have green beans nearly everyday to avoid going complete 0 carbs.

If green beans is your only source of carbs, you're probably having 20 grams at the most. I would add some tubers and fermented vegetables, see if it helps.

Rather than focusing on ketones or no ketones, I would focus on giving a little bit of fiber to the good critters.

 

[lilyalic]

Check out this thread on Iodine:
http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,13371.0.html

I think the best approach is to use Lugols Solution for external applications and Nascent Iodine for internal usage.

Thanks DougEE, I'll give that a read!

I have green beans nearly everyday to avoid going complete 0 carbs.

If green beans is your only source of carbs, you're probably having 20 grams at the most. I would add some tubers and fermented vegetables, see if it helps.

Rather than focusing on ketones or no ketones, I would focus on giving a little bit of fiber to the good critters.

I'll happily spice up the vegetable intake! Guess I'll have to start eating sauerkraut again, thanks Gaby! :)

 

[lilyalic]

I was thinking maybe all this could be caused by a Herxheimer reaction:

Die-Off Symptoms

Here is a list of some of the symptoms you might experience during a die-off (otherwise known as a Herxheimer reaction).

Nausea x
Headache, fatigue, dizziness x
Swollen glands x
Bloating, gas, constipation or diarrhea x
Increased joint or muscle pain x
Elevated heart rate
Chills, cold feeling in your extremities
Body itchiness, hives or rashes x
Sweating x
Fever
Skin breakouts x
Recurring vaginal, prostate and sinus infections

(X are all the symptoms I've been having)

but still it's all really confusing with potential deficiencies, killing off too many critters, having too many carbs etcetc...

 

[Jenn]

Have you tried applying oregano oil topically? I also was reading that if it is fungal it can 6 weeks +/- a few weeks to clear fully.

I recently deveoped a rash after shaving my armpits and putting on bicarb(as a deoderant) within the space of a few minutes (big mistake!)
It not only really hurt, but within a few hours I had developed a nasty rash that was like tiny red itchy splodges, it was only on one armpit though which was abit weird.

Anyway I tried coconut oil, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, sunshine, none of them worked, my soap and salt of the earth deoderant was really irritating it aswel. It's been here for about 2-3 weeks now.

For three days I have been taking Rainbow Light Candida cleanse,eating more green veg, and mixing 2 drops oil of oregano with about a tbspn of olive oil, soaking it up with a cotton bud and putting it all over the rash morning and night.

I'm so surprised, the itching is almost non-existent, and the redness has reduced alot! Now there's just faint traces of the rash left.
I think mine mustve been quite minor to have cleared up that quickly and probably just an infection of a hair follicle.

I hope it clears up soon Lilyalic, I can imagine it's really unpleasant!

 

[lilyalic]

Have you tried applying oregano oil topically? I also was reading that if it is fungal it can 6 weeks +/- a few weeks to clear fully.

I recently deveoped a rash after shaving my armpits and putting on bicarb(as a deoderant) within the space of a few minutes (big mistake!)
It not only really hurt, but within a few hours I had developed a nasty rash that was like tiny red itchy splodges, it was only on one armpit though which was abit weird.

Anyway I tried coconut oil, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, sunshine, none of them worked, my soap and salt of the earth deoderant was really irritating it aswel. It's been here for about 2-3 weeks now.

For three days I have been taking Rainbow Light Candida cleanse,eating more green veg, and mixing 2 drops oil of oregano with about a tbspn of olive oil, soaking it up with a cotton bud and putting it all over the rash morning and night.

I'm so surprised, the itching is almost non-existent, and the redness has reduced alot! Now there's just faint traces of the rash left.
I think mine mustve been quite minor to have cleared up that quickly and probably just an infection of a hair follicle.

I hope it clears up soon Lilyalic, I can imagine it's really unpleasant!

I did try the oregano oil topically, but it just stung no matter how much I diluted it with oils, water etc. I have been using that along with colloidal silver and the hives etc seem to be getting a little better (with the anti histamines and Vitamin C).

That rash sounds painful! glad you've found a solution for it, Thorn. :) I guess you won't be using Bicarb as deodorant from now on
If you're still concerned about putting deodorant on, try mixing the Bicarb with coconut oil to soften it up.

 

[Kay Kim]

A one month ago, the book Life without Bread's reasoning theory made me stop eating Bread, Sugar, Vegetable Oil, Corn, Beans....
But since than I had problem sleeping whole night. I goes bed about 10 PM and wake up at 2 or 3 am and too difficult for me to go back to sleep. I even took Melatonin 3mg and 6mg but it didn't help.

And I got me a 1 pound USDA Organic, cut, sifted, Mediterranean Oregano leaf from Amazon. Then last 2 night I made tea use 1 teaspoon and drank before went to bed. What a relief, I slept good until 6 or 7am.