Candida Albicans, also known as Candida, is a naturally occurring yeast that lives in the body and is generally harmless at normal levels. When the candida begins to grow into abnormally high levels, however, it can cause a condition known as candidiasis and cause an array of health issues.

The Causes

It’s important to note that a Candida overgrowth isn’t something you catch. The yeast is already in the body; however, there are several factors that may cause the healthy bacteria to become unbalanced and cause the yeast to grow out of control. Some of the things that may trigger a candida overgrowth are:

• Antibiotic use
• Chronic stress
• Eating foods high in refined carbohydrates, sugar, starches or yeast
• Having a compromised immune system
• Experiencing hormonal changes such as menopause

The Symptoms

Candida overgrowth can cause a variety of symptoms that may affect different parts of the body depending on where it’s located. These are just a few symptoms that a person may experience. Keep an eye out for:

• Fatigue
• Brain fog/lack of concentration
• Digestive issues such as bloating, constipation or diarrhea
• Oral thrush (A white coating on the tongue)
• Recurring sinus infections
• Strong sugar cravings
• and more!

Do any of these symptoms sound familiar? It’s time to get tested!

What to Do

The easiest way to check to see if you have a candida overgrowth is to do a Candida spit test and be seen by a functional medicine nutritionist to run appropriate testing. By doing so, you may be able to get to the bottom of why you have stubborn symptoms that seemingly won’t go away.

The Candida Spit Test

The Candida spit test is an anecdotal test that can be used to determine if Candida is well-established in your body. This is a simple test that anyone of any age can do. Because this is an at-home test, it is important to use at your own discretion. Here are the steps:

1. Before brushing your teeth and/ or or drinking and eating anything, fill a clear glass with room temperature water.
2. Work up your saliva up to the size of a dime and spit into the cup.
3. Wait 45 minutes and observe your spit for the following:
4. Does your spit “crawl down” into the glass (“String- like” formations)
5. Did it sink into the bottom of the cup and look cloudy?
6. Did it suspend into the middle of the cup?

A person without Candida should find that their spit remains at the top of the glass. So, if you answered “yes” to any of these questions and are having symptoms, you may want to consider a Candida Overgrowth.

What to Do

If Candida comes out positive, it is important to follow an anti-candida diet. A brief example of this could include the following foods:

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a tasty add-on that can be put on a variety of foods. Not only does it help to regulate blood sugar, but it also has powerful antibacterial and antifungal properties that can help treat Candida. Cinnamon can be added into variety of dishes, and works well in tea.

Oregano

Oregano is an herb that’s been used for thousands of years to treat all sorts of conditions. It is recommended to use the herb itself rather than the oil, as the latter can be hard on the stomach.

Garlic

Garlic is a strong anti-fungal that can be used to both treat and prevent the growth of Candida Albicans.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Do you have ongoing symptoms that are tough to budge or strong cravings that are hard to resist? Are you currently following an anti-candida diet? Please join the conversation and let us know!

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, STYLECASTER may receive an affiliate commission.

If you’re someone who chooses to hibernate more during the colder months, there’s no better time to start a new project. Whether that’s beginning your tretinoin journey to reduce acne, setting aside more self-care (or self-pleasure) time, or working to increase hair growth on a thinning scalp, we’ve got you covered. Back to the latter: We’re basically pros at this point on finding the highest-rated growth formulas out there, and the Paisle Botanics Biotin Spray is the latest to land on our radar. 

First off, the under-$20 spray has earned a 4.3 approval rating from Amazon shoppers, with over 2,500 five-star ratings to boot. Considering the wide inventory of growth products the retailer carries, this under-the-radar product has made quite an impact for itself. And we’re here for it, especially since it’s incredibly easy to use.

Amazon

Described by the brand as an “instant hair thickening spray,” the formula is able to boost volume in a “matter of seconds.” All you need to do is spray it evenly onto damp hair and blow dry to see your results. While these instantaneous effects are great in a pinch, whether you’ve got a special event or regularly go into an office, we know the people also crave long-term results. Luckily, the spray contains ingredients like biotin and caffeine which target hair follicles that are routinely thinning or falling out and may contribute to fuller, thicker locks overtime. 

While this is a leave-in spray, you won’t find it weighs down your strands in the slightest. It was “carefully crafted to be lightweight” and sans any sticky residue, so you can confidently spray and go about your day. Oh, and it’s perfectly safe to use on color treated hair, too.

RELATED: Ulta’s Huge Skincare Sale Includes Half Off Zitsticka, Murad, CosRX & More

Shoppers of all ages are praising it. “This has been the best product for my hair. So if I can grow some hair when I am 71 years young, you can too,” wrote one.

“My hair was almost completely gone in the front of my head,” shared another. “I have been using the product for about 6 months. I spray it on before I get in the shower. Now the bald spots have new growth. Even my stylist asked me what I was using. I am very happy with results I have experienced after using this product.”

Whenever a professional stylist is intrigued, we can’t help but think a product is the real deal. Shop it for less than $20 on Amazon right now.

Would you rather read a book than take a walk? Do you prefer cooking to working out? Well, if the former choices are what you usually prefer, you’re not alone.

We all know exercise is important for our health, yet only 20% of the population get regular, adequate exercise. If you’re among that 20%, pat yourself on the back. If you’re not, well… it’s never too late.

How Much Exercise Is Enough?

The American Department of Health and Human Services recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity, like brisk walking, per week or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity, like dancing.

They also recommend strength training exercises at least twice a week, using a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after 12 to 15 repetitions.

I’ve never finished a walk and been sorry afterward, but sometimes it’s hard to get myself out there. If you’ve lacked motivation to exercise, I hope these 10 tips will help you jumpstart to a regular exercise plan.

Exercise or Walk for Just 10 Minutes – Once, Twice, or Three Times a Day

If your schedule is too crazy to carve out a half hour to exercise, try stealing 10-minute segments to walk, dance, or do stretches. Try to repeat it a few more times each day.

Take the Stairs Instead of the Elevator – at Home, Take the Stairs Twice

Stair climbing is an excellent form of both aerobic and strengthening exercise. If you have stairs in your home, try doubling your climbs by buzzing back down and up each time you use the stairs. If you live in an apartment building, climb at least a few flights before hopping on the elevator.

Dance! Either Go Out or Dance in Your Living Room

At one time I was dancing around a friend’s kitchen as we cooked dinner, and his daughter asked, “Are you drunk?” Nope, music just makes me dance.

My husband and I often dance around the house. On Sunday mornings gospel music sets us off, and in the evenings, we dance to Latin, blues or rock. Of course, our favorite is going out to dance.

Find an Exercise Buddy (or Group) for a Regular Walking Date

My neighbour lost her husband 15 years ago, and she started a neighbourhood walking group to get herself out of bed each day. We all wanted to support her, and our morning walk has become a ritual. We walk a mile or two, and the socializing has bonded us. Friends are a great motivator.

Park a Few Blocks Away When You Run Errands

City dwellers, especially Europeans, walk to do all their errands, which keeps them fit. We Americans drive from one place to the next, parking as close as we can to store entrances.

How about parking at the far end of the lot, or down the street? Park your car between destinations to add more steps to your day.

Exercise During Commercial Breaks

Are you a TV junkie? Do commercials drive you nuts? Well, use them to your advantage. As soon as they pop up, you pop up, too. Instead of heading to the kitchen for a snack, take this opportunity to jog in place, lift hand weights, or do stretches. Let those commercial breaks improve your health.

Find an Exercise Video to Do Each Day

I used to exercise with a Jane Fonda workout on cassette tape, and I still use some of her exercises in my morning routine. YouTube has some excellent workouts, ranging from 5 minutes to over an hour.

You can google “exercise for seniors,” or try what I have listed below.

Dance

Fat burning Cardio Dance Workout: Jane Fonda – Doo-Wop (13 minutes)

Balance and Strength

7 Strength, Balance and Flexibility Exercises for Older Adults from Go4Life (14 minutes)

Mobility and Flexibility

Sixty and Me Gentle Yoga program (15 30-minute videos, more than 10 hours of yoga for seniors practice):

Join an Exercise Class at Your Local Y or Fitness Center

I’ve fallen in love with two classes at my local YMCA: Zumba Gold dance exercise for seniors and Qi Gong, a gentle Eastern practice like Tai Chi. If you enjoy connecting with other people, classes are a great motivator.

Walk Your Dog (or Offer to Walk Someone Else’s)

Owning a dog is a great motivator for walking. Dogs need exercise as much as we do, and it’s a guaranteed way to meet people (and other dogs). If you don’t have a dog, borrow one from a neighbour, and you’ll make a great canine friend in the offing.

Reward Yourself for Exercising

Though exercise can be a reward in itself, I treat myself to a steaming cup of coffee after my wake-up stretches each morning. Other rewards can be time with a magazine, a soak in the tub, a movie, or a 10-minute nap. Choose a low-calorie reward, or you’ll undermine your efforts.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

What tricks do you use to motivate yourself to exercise? What do you do to squeeze exercise into your day? Please share your tips and tricks in the comments below.

When my husband and have meals with our grandchildren, we often have a favorite game we play at the dinner table. We call it ‘the mad, sad, glad’ game. I highly recommend it.

The rules are quite simple. We begin by going around the table and each person has a chance to tell us about something that made them mad that day. When one person is talking, the others are just expected to listen and encourage one another.

Next, we each take a turn sharing about what made us sad that day, and then what made us glad.

I am always surprised to see how this simple game allows not only the children; but also their moms and dads to have a chance to open up about something they wouldn’t normally talk about with the kids.

Adding More

We recently added some more things to our game: “What did you learn today and what made you laugh today?”

I remember the first time we did the ‘laugh’ part. When it was my turn to share, I paused and asked, “Can it be something that made me smile today?”

“Nope,” my 6-year-old granddaughter quickly retorted, “It has to be something that made you laugh, Grandma!”

“Hmm…” I paused, “I can’t really think of anything that made me laugh today. Can I have more time to think about it?”

Our 10-year-old jumped to my rescue… “Here’s an idea, Grandma. You can say, ‘What made me sad today was when I couldn’t think of anything that made me laugh.’”

Pay Attention to Life

It seems my grandkids often remind me to pay more attention to my life; like the fact I wasn’t laughing as much these days.

Have you heard of statistics that say children laugh about 400 times a day and adults about 15 times a day? Have you ever wondered why that is?

At what point in our maturation period did we decide to drop the other 385 laughs? It must have been during puberty… or maybe for us women, it was at childbirth. (That’ll take the grin right off your face.)

Come to think of it; it must have been when all four of my kids turned into teenagers!

I guess when my doctor reported my bone scan showed I was losing bone mass, I should have asked him if that loss was also occurring in my funny bones?

I found myself pondering this question:

Is Laughter a Big Deal?

Since I am often in search of finding out about things that might make me happier, healthier, and more fulfilled, I decided this question would be a worthwhile research project.

Can laughter play a role in improving not only our attitudes, but also our health?

So, what do you think? Is getting your laughs in each day all that important?

Norman Cousins thought so. It was over 40 years when he called attention to his experience with laughter as a cure. Cousins famously chronicled the effects of his self-prescribed “laughing cure” in his book Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient.

Cousins, who suffered from inflammatory arthritis, claimed that just 10 minutes of hearty laughing while viewing Marx Brothers movies brought him two hours of pain-free sleep – and that both his inflammation and pain were significantly reduced. His laughter caused the body to produce its own natural painkillers.

What Does New Research Tell Us About Laughter?

Cousins was on to something! In the last seven years there has been many new scientific studies that support the benefits of laughter in our lives.

Laughter Benefits Our Physical Health!

Laughter Is Good for the Heart

A recent study of 20,934 individuals, aged 65 years or older, showed that laughter had a profound impact on their health and well-being. Persons who reported rarely or almost never laughing experienced a 21% higher prevalence of heart disease than those who reported laughing every day.

The same startling result was true for the prevalence of stroke: 60% higher among the non-laughers than among those who reported a daily dose of laughter.

Are you serious?? I need to watch more Johnny Carson reruns!

So when we read in proverbs that laughter ‘maketh our heart merry’ it is not only a nice adage but also a scientific fact! Laughter, I learned, improves our blood pressure. It enhances our intake of oxygen-rich air, which not only stimulates our heart, but also our lungs and muscles.

Laughter Leads to Greater Resistance to Disease

When negative thoughts manifest into chemical reactions, they can affect your body by bringing more stress into your system and decreasing your immunity. By contrast, positive and humorous thoughts can actually release neuropeptides that help fight stress and potentially more-serious illnesses.

Laughter Helps with Insomnia

One more reason not to go to sleep watching the evening news.

Laughter Helps with Pain

Laughter alleviates pain which supports Norman Cousins earlier claims.

Laughter Benefits Our Mental Health:

Laughter increases health-enhancing hormones (such as endorphins), neurotransmitters, and infection-fighting antibodies.

Laughter reduces levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine, and dopamine; Currently, research is indicating that the physical act of laughing, even without humor, is linked to chemical changes in the body that potentially reduce stress and increase pain tolerance.

Laughter Helps with Depression and Anxiety

Laughter improves our mood. It gives us a more positive mindset and overall outlook on life.

Laughter Even Sharpens Your Mind!

Although you may not think of the funny pages as intellectually stimulating, laughter sharpens your mind. So, put more humorous books on your list of fun activities. Erma Bombeck is one of my favorite authors for finding humor in everyday life.

Laughter Benefits Our Social Life

Laughter Helps Us Connect with Other People

Laughter improves communication. Communication can sometimes be awkward . Even for those of us who share the same language. But laughter can transcend language and strengthen playful communication.

Sets the Mood for Romance

Although most of us focus on being physically attractive to find that man, but laughter can be a real turn on. Unless of course your laugh sounds like Lily Tomlin’s snort.

Laughter is great at fostering emotional connection. And it gets to the core of deeply felt emotions too.

Laughter makes you more approachable. Who doesn’t like to be around someone with a good sense of humor?

Laughter Is the Best Medicine

It appears that laughter really is the best medicine. It can improve our mental health, our physical health and our social lives.

And finally; laughter makes you feel younger; in fact it’s been revealed that humor can actually be the key to living longer.

And this powerful tool in our toolbox for healthier living is also fun and free! Plus, you can get it without a prescription, and no negative side effects.

Knowing all this, why in the world wouldn’t I do more to seek out this medicine to improve my health, and my happiness?

And why wouldn’t you?

‘More Laughter in My Life’ Challenge

Here’s my 5-step plan:

Step #1

I found this quote and I am going to post it on my refrigerator.

“The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”

—Nicholas Chamfort

Step #2

I will do a laughter assessment and ask myself at the end of each day: What made me laugh today?

Step #3

Write down my responses and take notice of how much better I felt after a good laugh.

Step #4

Be open for more opportunities to find something to laugh about. Take laughter yoga, for example. (Yes, this is actually a thing.) Not only do you get to practice your laughter… you get to do it with friends.

Step #5

At the end of the month look for commonalities, aha-s and new ideas for bringing more laughter in my life.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

So, what made you laugh today? What gives you the giggles, or better yet, what causes you to bust out into a good old belly laugh? Have you had ‘laughter-healing experiences’ in your life? We would love to hear about them.

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, STYLECASTER may receive an affiliate commission.

If you’re someone who chooses to hibernate more during the colder months, there’s no better time to start a new project. Whether that’s beginning your tretinoin journey to reduce acne, setting aside more self-care (or self-pleasure) time, or working to increase hair growth on a thinning scalp, we’ve got you covered. Back to the latter: We’re basically pros at this point on finding the highest-rated growth formulas out there, and the Paisle Botanics Biotin Spray is the latest to land on our radar. 

First off, the under-$20 spray has earned a 4.3 approval rating from Amazon shoppers, with over 2,500 five-star ratings to boot. Considering the wide inventory of growth products the retailer carries, this under-the-radar product has made quite an impact for itself. And we’re here for it, especially since it’s incredibly easy to use.

Amazon

Described by the brand as an “instant hair thickening spray,” the formula is able to boost volume in a “matter of seconds.” All you need to do is spray it evenly onto damp hair and blow dry to see your results. While these instantaneous effects are great in a pinch, whether you’ve got a special event or regularly go into an office, we know the people also crave long-term results. Luckily, the spray contains ingredients like biotin and caffeine which target hair follicles that are routinely thinning or falling out and may contribute to fuller, thicker locks overtime. 

While this is a leave-in spray, you won’t find it weighs down your strands in the slightest. It was “carefully crafted to be lightweight” and sans any sticky residue, so you can confidently spray and go about your day. Oh, and it’s perfectly safe to use on color treated hair, too.

RELATED: Ulta’s Huge Skincare Sale Includes Half Off Zitsticka, Murad, CosRX & More

Shoppers of all ages are praising it. “This has been the best product for my hair. So if I can grow some hair when I am 71 years young, you can too,” wrote one.

“My hair was almost completely gone in the front of my head,” shared another. “I have been using the product for about 6 months. I spray it on before I get in the shower. Now the bald spots have new growth. Even my stylist asked me what I was using. I am very happy with results I have experienced after using this product.”

Whenever a professional stylist is intrigued, we can’t help but think a product is the real deal. Shop it for less than $20 on Amazon right now.