How to naturally treat Candida Overgrowth without using medication. I share the tips that helped me get rid of my candida naturally, plus how to prevent candida overgrowth from occurring again in the future.

I’ve had candida overgrowth quite a few times throughout my adult life, and each time it’s been very uncomfortable.

I’d develop thrush and a fungal ear infection each time it would flare up in my gut. But for some, candida overgrowth can develop without them even noticing.

Candida is naturally found in our digestive and genital tracts, and when kept under control, it’s completely fine. In fact, candida may actually help protect the body from mercury and other toxic metals! According to Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride in her book, Gut and Physiology Syndrome: Natural Treatment for Allergies, Autoimmune Illness, Arthritis, Gut Problems, Fatigue, Hormonal Problems, Neurological Disease and More, she shares how ‘this fungus [candida] absorbs and retains mercury, thus protecting us.’ She goes on to mention how, ‘from clinical experience, we know that people who have amalgam fillings in their teeth can never get rid of candida overgrowth in their gut, because the body uses it to protect itself from mercury and other toxic substances leaching from the amalgams.’

How incredible!

Candida is a normal part of our human microbiome, and in a healthy person with a balanced gut flora and a large diversity of microbes, it is beneficial, and the candida produces no symptoms.

It only becomes an issue when it gets out of control and takes over the gut. This can happen after taking antibiotics, as candida is a fungi, antibiotics have no effect on it. Once the antibiotics have run their course, large portions of the intestinal tract are left vacant due to the mass die-off of bacteria (both good and bad), so candida seizes the opportunity and begins to repopulate in all these vacant areas, causing candida overgrowth.

What’s more, a type of beneficial bacteria known as Lactobacilli that helps to eat fungi and control their growth and populations, are often largely wiped out and destroyed by antibiotics, leaving candida uncontrolled. This is often why many cases of fungal overgrowth tend to occur after courses of antibiotics.

Candida Diet Video

Symptoms of a Candida Overgrowth

Other reasons include an impaired immune system, biofilms, toxicity, eating a diet high in sugar and processed refined foods, consuming too much alcohol and coffee, chronic prolonged stress which depletes the immune system, C-section deliveries, birth control pills, and according to Marla Pietruszko HD BSc RHN, mercury is a causative, too. ‘Mercury increases candida overgrowth and is also a non-competitive enzyme blocker in ATP formation. This means that if you have too much mercury in your body, you will have difficulty fully clearing candida overgrowth from the system! You will also most likely experience extreme fatigue as your body is not able to produce enough ATP for energy.’

According to Wellness Mama, when candida overgrows it causes major problems and symptoms such as:

• Persistent constipation, bloating, or gas
• Mental fog
• Debilitating chronic fatigue (or exhaustion)
• Intense sugar cravings (candida feeds off sugar)
• Chronic sinus infections
• White coating on the tongue
• Excess mucous
• Recurring vaginal yeast infections
• Persistent food or environmental allergies
• Depression and anxiety
• Hypothyroidism (candida inhibits thyroid conversion)

If you have a candida overgrowth in the higher areas of your digestive tract or throat area, you may develop white sores in and around the mouth area which are ‘cottage cheese-like’ in appearance, and really sore and inflamed (they can have a burning sensation). If left untreated, these sores can become so severe that you’re unable to eat or swallow.

If you have an overgrowth in the middle of your digestive tract, you may not notice any of the usual symptoms.

A book I highly recommend reading for information on gut health, how to heal the gut naturally, and the best foods to eat for candida and other gut-related problems, is the book, GAPS: Gut and Psychology Syndrome, by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride.

I followed a lot of the protocols outlined in this book while healing my gut and treating the candida overgrowth in my body, and it was extremely beneficial in my healing journey.

How to Test for Candida

I had my naturopath test me using a bioresonance machine which quickly diagnosed my mild case of candida.

There are other ways to test for it; things like stool, blood, and saliva lab tests, or a DIY free candida spit test you can do at home.

To do the spit test, over a time-frame of six days, monitor your saliva. Keep a pen and paper handy, and when you wake, before eating or drinking anything, fill a glass halfway with water and spit a small amount of saliva into the glass.

Leave it to sit for 45 minutes, coming back every so often to check on it, and record your results each day for six days.

Your saliva will do one of three things; stay floating on top, sink to the bottom, or it will grow ‘legs’.

If it stays floating, there is likely no candida overgrowth. On the other hand, if it grows legs or sinks to the bottom, then candida is likely a problem.

The reason you test your saliva over six days is to rule out any variables that are likely to interfere with the results. Make sure to keep to your normal diet while testing.

How to Treat Candida Naturally

When we try to attack candida with anti-fungal medications, we attack many other fungal species along with it (similar to what happens when we take a course of antibiotics), which are likely to be beneficial for us. When we attack candida, it releases mercury and other toxins back into the body, which can make us very ill. Then, as soon as we stop attacking the candida, it re-grows back again very quickly, making it virtually impossible to ‘eliminate’ from the body.

The only way to deal with a candida overgrowth is to restore diversity to our gut flora, so that the other microbes keep the candida in check. It’s also important to remove the toxins which these fungi are protecting us from. The best way to control the growth of candida in the body is to have a healthy population of beneficial bacteria in the body.

To treat my candida, my naturopath gave me some strong herbal supplements and put me on the Candida Diet until I got the all-clear.

I ate a diet that consisted mainly of meat, fish, eggs, yoghurt, sauerkraut, and low-carb vegetables like pumpkin, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini. I aimed to keep my carbohydrate intake to under 50 grams each day, to prevent the spike in blood sugar that can arise as a result of a high carbohydrate diet.

I followed this regime for over three months until my symptoms had cleared and I no longer showed signs of a candida overgrowth.

I still try and stick to a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, keeping within a 50 gram limit of carbohydrates most days, as I feel my best when following this diet plan. I eat mostly meat and other animal products, like yoghurt, butter, and cheese now, but I always source these products from an organic butcher and my local health food store, where I know the animals grew up on pasture, free to roam as they pleased, and that no ill treatment occurred.

It’s important to source animal products that are free from antibiotics, as these medications remain in the products we end up consuming. Similar to fresh produce, if we’re eating food that was contaminated with pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and other agricultural chemicals during farming, these act as antibiotics in their nature, too.

Following a ketogenic-type diet has really helped improve my fatigue, and kept my symptoms of candida at bay, along with clearing up my ear infection that I’d had for over four years.

The Candida Diet

The following list shares foods to avoid as well as foods that are okay to eat to help the body naturally fight candida overgrowth. For more information on the foods and supplements to eat (and avoid) to treat candida, see here.

Foods to Avoid

• Sugar: This counts for all forms of sugar like fructose, sucrose, glucose, malt, corn syrup, desserts, honey, jams, sodas, juices, fresh fruit, dried fruits, etc.
• Fermented foods and yeasts: Things like breads, soy sauce, pickles, vinegar (apple cider vinegar is okay to have), alcohol, ketchup, Vegemite, etc.
• Simple carbohydrates: Like white rice, white flour, white pasta, etc. (Any refined carbs).
• Alcohol
• Starchy vegetables: These include potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, beetroot, peas, parsnips, and any other starchy root vegetables. These foods are to be avoided while on the candida diet as they have a high carbohydrate content.
• Peanuts: This is because some peanuts can grow a fungi or mould on them, and this can trigger a reaction in Candida sufferers who are particularly sensitive to mould exposure.
• Mushrooms
• Cheeses: Blue and hard types especially.

Foods to Eat

• Fish, poultry, meat and other quality animal protein
• Goat’s cheese, mozzarella, feta, and Gouda
• Eggs
• Nuts and seeds
• Vegetables, especially green, leafy raw vegetables: Avoid high-carbohydrate vegetables like potatoes.
• Plain live yoghurt and other cultured dairy: High in beneficial probiotics. Great for gut health. Ensure you choose raw, unprocessed, organic and biodynamic dairy products where possible, as these come with beneficial enzymes to help the gut better digest the dairy.
• Coconut oil: One of coconut oil’s many benefits is being a natural anti-fungal. You can rub coconut oil on topically to irritated or affected areas, as well as consume in liberal amounts.
• Spices: Like turmeric and cinnamon.
• Bone broth
• Apple cider vinegar
• Drink plenty of water

This blog is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice. The use of information on this blog or materials linked from this blog is at the user’s own risk. The content of this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have, and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.

Have you had Candida before? What worked for you in helping to treat it? Share below.

Lots of love,

Vanessa