If you've had the case of achy fatigue for years and think it's all in your head, primarily because doctors told you that, you could be fighting a case of Candida, a yeast infection caused by an escapee from the intestinal tract. Normally 80 percent of the population have this fungus in their mouth or gastrointestinal tract and don't show any harmful effects from it. However, if Candida ablicans, it's scientific name, goes out of whack because of lowered friendly bacteria or a weak immune system, that results in an overgrowth. The good news is that natural olive leaf fights candida and yeast infection. A fact relatively new to scientific knowledge.

Some cases of candidiasis, the person shows overgrowth on their tongue. That's thrush. This whitish fur is an indication that the gut flora, candida overpowered your body's protectors, your immune system and the friendly bacteria. These often come after a course of antibiotics that kill both the protective, friendly bacteria and the invasive, unfriendly kind. The destruction of the bacteria that helps maintain the balance between fungus and bacteria allows candida to invade.

Symptoms of candida vary from individual to individual. The yeast infection becomes a fungal infect when it overpowers your body. Even though there's nothing physically that your doctor can find, you may still feel as though something's wrong. That something might include a long list of symptoms that range from frequent headaches, irritability, muscle pain, anxiety, itchy nose, eye floater to a craving for sugar. That's right; sugar cravings might not be your fault. Yeast requires lots and lots of sugar to live. In return, they excrete alcohol as part of their fermentation process. Your body eventually gets hooked and wants it's fix of alcohol. You eat sweets, the symptoms disappear and you think you're alright, never equating the two but blaming the weakness or symptoms on low blood sugar.

Even when your doctor recognizes that you have a fungal infection, they're tough to cure with conventional medicine. That's why the discovery of the effectiveness of olive leaf back in the 60s was so important. The use of olive leaf to combat Candida was available to practitioners in 1995 but as of yet there's still not wide spread use.

Many of the studies show that olive leaf doesn't just help you conquer yeast infections but also may be useful to help overcome bacterial and viral infections too. One study in Hungry showed that it was highly effective in those cases.

The substance that makes olive leaf extract beneficial in fighting yeast and fungus is oleuropein. Oleuropein converts to elolenic acid with the help of the enzymes in the body. The elolenic acid enhances the immune system and the immune system destroys the bad bacteria, viruses and fungi that reek havoc in the body.

While many of the prescribed medications inhibit the growth candida, olive leaf actually kills it. There are no permanent side effects like those that come from prescription medications, such as liver or heart damage.

However, there is a short-term side effect with olive leaf. Die off, a name coined to describe flu-like symptoms that sometimes occur when too many of the candida in the system die at once and clog your body. The symptoms may include foggy thinking, headache and chills but they normally only last a few days if it occurs at all. The best way to avoid symptoms of die off is to start with lower doses and increase it as necessary.