I practiced in the same town as Bill Crook. Most in the medical field
consider him to be a plagerist in that he took most of his information from
others in Birmingham. As for me, I considered him to be a pompous cad. He
died a few years back. Researchers now consider his book to be filled with
falsehoods as controlled studies have proven. He was a big proponent of
DHEA. Little did he know the impracticality of oral DHEA and the potential
serious side effects. That is not a scientist in my opinion.

"dkistner" wrote in message
ups.com...
Ray Calvert wrote:
As far as
yeast causing someone to be perpetually drunk, that really sounds
like an
urban myth. I am sure there is no truth to it or I guarantee all in
this
group would have it as we all sample our fermenting stock.

Actually, Ray, it is not an urban myth. The particular case is
discussed in The Yeast Connection by William G. Crook, M.D., of a man
in Japan who had the disorder, which was quite severe and did cause him
to be drunk all the time. He didn't drink, either, and people thought
he was either lying about not drinking or was mentally ill.

A milder (but by no means "mild") problem is systemic infection with
Candida albicans, called Candidiasis. Basically, it's when normally
occurring yeasts in the gut overgrow and are not kept in check by other
healthy flora. If the yeast levels get too out of hand, the yeast
morphs into a form that allows it to move out of the gut and into the
rest of the system in search of food. Nasty symptoms, like depression,
fatigue, severe migraines, etc., can result. I don't mean to get off on
a side discussion of this, but I do want to bring it to everyone's
attention here so they can investigate it on their own if so inclined.

There is a test for Candidiasis, called the Candisphere, that
determines if one has C. albicans in the blood stream. This is
considered pathological and means the yeast has gone systemic and is
causing problems. I know this because I scored 180 on this test; a
score of 120-130 is suspect and my score resulted in a definitive
diagnosis of Chronic Candidiasis. Many doctors "don't believe" this
condition exists because they know yeast is supposed to be part of the
normal intestinal culture; they have not read the research. (You'll
know who these non-believers are because their eyes start rolling
involuntarily if they so much as hear the words "alternative medicine";
IOW, if it ain't pharmaceutical company-pushed drugs and studies, it
must be voodoo. Seek a physician through NCCAM or ACAM. Dr. Ralph C.
Lee in Atlanta is the one who evaluated/diagnosed me.)

When you have an overgrowth of yeast, you tend to crave sugar and
fermented foods that feed the yeast. You tend to bloat and be gassy and
gain a lot of weight, which I have...25 pounds in a few months! I
didn't gain weight that quickly when I was pregnant! Until I started
trying to get my intestinal flora back into balance, my stomach was
bloating out hugely and was acting like a vigorous primary fermentation
was going on in there. (I was making my first mead at the time, and
when I used it as an analogy, Dr. Lee said he suspected that was
exactly what was going on. The test confirmed it.)

We know about the care and feeding of yeasts. The only thing that would
"settle my stomach" was another glass of wine. (Huh, wonder why?)

My sister, who is being treated for Candidiasis with antifungals and a
very strict diet (and has dropped 30 pounds in about three months in
the process!), kept telling me yeast was my problem, but I did not want
to believe it. I love my wine and cheese and yogurt and for a while was
consuming little else. I'm not making the good progress she is, because
I'm still drinking wine every day, but I've cut out cheeses for a while
and am taking over-the-counter supplements that are helping a little to
get the yeast to stop acting so unilaterally aggressive.

Those of us who really love our wine and mead would be wise to take
garlic and olive leaf extract (both potent OTC antifungals) and
something with Lactobacillus cultures in it daily. Since I started
doing this, I'm already feeling a whole lot better and my weight's
starting to go down some, too. I'm looking into the fermented foods in
the book Wild Fermentation, because they are heavy on the
Lactobacillus. I probably won't "get well" on this approach--you really
have to go cold turkey for three or so months and follow a careful diet
and antifungal regimen to correct the problem--but at least I've
settled the yeast down a little. I'm not waking up at night feeling
like elephants are stampeding through my stomach, and my energy and
mood are improving.

Diane