What Candida Is, How to Know if You Have It, and How to Ditch It
Candida is a bear to deal with. If you are wondering what candida is, how to know if you have it, and how to get rid of it, you are in the right place.
So--have you ever wondered if you were totally crazy. Not like, "I feel a little crazy today", but more like, "Am I totally going off the deep end?!"
It's easy to feel like that when you've gone to doctors over and over for health symptoms that don't seem to make any sense. Every prescription, cream, and over-the-counter med they give you just takes more money from your pocket without giving you more than a short-term fix (if it even gives you that!).
They begin to suggest it's all in your head--and you begin to wonder if it really might be--if you just might be crazy....
Well, I'm here to tell you that you aren't crazy.
As far as I know anyway ;.)
Do you suffer from one or more of these symptoms:
- acne
- anxiety
- arthritis
- asthma
- athletes’ foot
- brain fog
- cold hands or feet
- colds
- colic
- constipation
- cradle cap
- cravings for sweets
- cysts
- diabetes
- diaper rash
- diarrhea
- dizziness
- eczema
- fatigue
- food sensitivities or reactions
- hay fever
- headaches
- heart burn
- heart palpitations
- hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
- hypothyroidism
- insomnia
- irritability
- joint pain
- lack of appetite
- migraines
- mood swings
- muscle aches and pain
- panic attacks
- poor memory and concentration
- pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS)
- psoriasis
- rashes and dry red or white patches
- respiratory problems
- sinus congestion
- thrush (white coating in mouth or vagina)
{From Adrienne--I had a friend who said she felt manic-depressive and almost quit homeschooling--all because of candida. Yes, it's true. It can do things that bad to you!}
I'm not a doctor, and I don't play one on T.V. . .but if you've answered yes to more than one of these, I'd ask if you might have candida.
What is Candida
Candida is a toxic, yeast-like organism that 90% of people have in their digestive system. Most of the time it's not an issue because it's generally kept in check by good bacteria. The trouble starts when candida begins to grow out of control and can quickly start a myriad of problems. Kinda sounds like a fuzzy little green creature in a bad sci-fi movie from the 70's, doesn't it?
Now, I don't want you to think candida is the cause of every illness known to man. It's not. But, it's enough of a menace to deserve a substantial amount of consideration--much more than it gets in mainstream medicine.
How Do You Know if You Have Candida?
Some of the common causes for candida overgrowth are:
- antacids
- antibiotics
- anti-inflammatory drugs
- anti-ulcer medications
- carbohydrates
- environmental toxins
- foods with starch
- foods with yeast
- hormone replacement therapy
- oral contraceptives
- over-the-counter medicines
- prescription drugs
- radiation
- smoking
- steroids
- sugar in all forms
And you can check other posts on this site regarding:
Following are some affiliate links. If you click on them and purchase, I will make a commission.
An easy way to check for candida is by taking a Candida Symptom Assessment Questionnaire. Your results might surprise you!
How to Ditch Candida
If your tests are positive, your next step is to take your health back and run up and down the street yelling, "I'm not crazy after all!"
Um. Scratch that idea.
1. REMEDIES
Instead, start by treating your candida with natural remedies, foods that fight candida, and quality probiotics rather than creams, drugs, and prescriptions. In fact, those only encourage candida to grow.
{From Adrienne: I am not sure about them causing it to grow, but I do think that candida is mutating when it can and becoming stronger as a result of the overuse of some of these meds. My story on that later.}
2. DIET CHANGE
The next step, and even more important, is to change your diet. Yeah. I said the word diet.
What you eat is one of THE most important changes you can make.
Candida thrives off unhealthy foods like sugar and starchy carbohydrates. Those foods make it grow like crazy and create chaos in its wake. Chaos from the inside out ends up almost destroying some lives.
From Adrienne here again, and it will be my voice through the end of the post:
Enter the need for many new recipes.
To get rid of candida, you need to change what you eat. From loads of sugars and refined starches to foods that won't feed candida and will let your body heal.
But that doesn't mean you need to never eat a sweet treat again.
I have young boys and they already are struggling with candida and have from when they were born. And I have a sweet tooth.
Now, I try to keep it under control, but I still do like to have treats now and then.
If you're like me, then this book, The Sweeter Side of Candida, is for you. You can also grab it on Amazon. Great info about candida, plus The Sweeter Side of Candida that you can safely eat while fighting Candida--the Awful Gut Foe.
Candida Die-Off
Please note that as you work on getting rid of candida, you may experience candida die-off. It's important to do what you can to prevent that or manage it to make your healing process more manageable.
This post on candida die-off should be of help as you try to ditch this horrible beast.
Candida Course - Kicking Candida
If you're wanting direction and hope for dealing with candida in an effective way, my Kicking Candida Program is for you.
I developed this course after figuring out how to overcome candida in my own life and wanted to help others do the same. It's a supportive program that tackles many aspects of the condition, helping your body to heal so you can feel your best. Candida can be a bear, but I'm here to help!
The Sweeter Side of Candida
Here's more on the candida recipe cookbook mentioned above. Check out these delicious recipes!
- The Feet in the Sand Coconut Ice Cream I mentioned yesterday. My boys pulled it out of the freezer today to have some more just now.
- "Best" Almond Butter Buckeyes - Sooo good I had them for breakfast and
- Mmmm... Shortbread Caramel Cookies. I will be making these soon. Think Twix :)!
These, and 67 more finger-licking treats can be found here:
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Need recipes that will help you stay healthy, lose weight, and fight candida? This book is for you!
This cookbook is *not* only for those who suffer from candida. It's for anyone who wants to lose weight and/or stay healthy too!
What do you think? Do you think you might have candida?
What are you doing / going to do to get healthy?
So I scored at 369. I had been cutting out sugar, flour, and bad carbs for a while and the holidays hit. I am going back to that way of life. I need to be healthy again. Thank you for the article!
You are so welcome!!
Dear ALL:
Please get treated with the GAPS Diet by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. Good luck.
Parting Quote: All Diseases Begin In The Gut. Hippocrates. 460-370 BC
Adrienne do you still come on here? Would there be a way we can talk?
Hi there. Yes, I respond to comments frequently. A little tied up right now - let me know what you need.
Im having a lot of severe issues and i was wondering if you could give me some insight. I dont know if its candida or something more like MS. I see you are tied up so you dont have to respond right away but i would really love your opinion. I am truly having a very hard time.
I am so sorry to hear what you are going through. I of course can't give medical advice, but you can either leave your question here or email me at wholenewmom {at} gmail {dot} com. I had an MS scare years ago and it turned out it wasn't it. Blessings and I will pray for you.
I just took the candida test and scored a 253. Ugh!! I already had a feeling that I had candida. My symptoms started right after two rounds of powerful antibiotics in less than a month. I am having a issue with tolerating anything to help myself get better. Before this happened I was taking a probiotic and became intolerant to it very quickly after the symptoms started. The reaction was extreme fatigue and lethargy with a racing heart. It seems like most things that I try to take to help rid myself of this monster causes similar reactions. I was just wondering if this is common? Did you experience anything similar and if so did you just push through it or stop? I am so sensitive to even the smallest amounts of herbs or anything I try to use to detox or kill the candida. Small amounts of coconut oil or saurkraut cause really bad brain fog, lethargy and vision problems. Does any of this sound familiar??? My family and friends keep telling me that it's all in my head.
Hi there. I would not say that a racing heart is normal at all w/ a probiotic. I would think you are having a reaction to it. What kind was it? You could have an autoimmune disorder and have Th1 and Th2 intolerances. The reactions to sauerkraut, etc. might be something else - have you seen this post? https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/why-i-dont-have-fermented-foods-on-my-blog/
None of this is medical advice - please get medical attention. I would highly recommend someone like the practitioner whom I am currently working with or the one who wrote this post. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/thyroid-disease-hypothyroid-what-causes-hypothyroidism/
Feel free to contact me for the contact information of the one I am working with now.
Adrienne,
Have you ever heard of Beeyoutiful or their products? I have been thinking about taking their product called Yeast Assassin along with Tummy Tuneup which is a Probiotic. I believe the Yeast Assassin is supposed to kill the Candida/Yeast and then you take the Probiotic to help build up the good bacteria at the same time.
Thanks!
Hi there. I have heard of them but haven't tried their products and hadn't heard of those. I think candida is a bad bad thing and I am looking at more things like heavy metals. I did write this post on them and now am looking in other directions. I think the two are tied tightly together, along w leaky gut. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/could-you-have-heavy-metal-poisoning-and-not-know-it-part-one/
413. I stumbled across information about Candida while I was googling chronic ear infections. For 8 months I've had them continually and was given 7 courses of antibiotics - my entire immune system feels useless. I have almost every single symptom on that list. THANK YOU for sharing this - there's been times where I felt I was going crazy. I will definately be adopting an anti-Candida diet.
HI Kim. I hope it helps you. Most of the recipes on my site should be of help to you. I don't know what the "413" at the beginning of your comment means.
I scored 420... *sigh. Good thing I've been working towards going keto...
You can do it! But be careful about keto - you can do too much and hurt your thyroid from what I have heard. Not medical advice of course :).
Thanks! And thanks for the warning, I also already have thyroid and adrenal issues, so I don't want to make things worse!!
We should talk.....
I just recently learned on a trip home to Germany that my almost 8 year old daughter has a Candida overgrowth and we are just educating ourselves on how to battle it. She almost can't function at all right now. Doctors have suspected mental illness and I just never believed that could be it. We are wondering if she had this since she was born per c-section. My doctor here in the US is telling me that I'm wasting my time with this and I should just see a good psychologist. I want to find a doctor somewhere who actually believes in this and wants to help us, I have the lab tests to prove that her levels are through the roof but I can't do a cleanse with a child like adults do.
I wrote about her here: https://cuckoo4design.blogspot.com/2014/09/an-update-on-our-daughter.html
My holistic practitioner friend in Germany is trying to help me but I would love to find help for battling Candida as a child here in the US. It's so frustrating, especially the no-sugar diet.
Thanks for sharing. For sure c-sections are an issue as I believe the baby is given antibiotics when they are born and the baby does not benefit from the mother's gut flora in the vaginal canal. I am so sorry for what you are dealing with. Is there anything I can help with? Blessings. I loved your country, by the way. I visited there years ago!
We did reduced sugars and starches with my kids and we still do so. I suspect adrenals and thyroid and gut healing is an issue and well and perhaps heavy metals. There is a lot to think about. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/could-you-have-heavy-metal-poisoning-and-not-know-it-part-one/
been wondering what has been up with me for a while, but all my symtoms were for different things so i thought it was all in my head. this is the first thing i've found where all my symtoms match and after scoring 369 on that test i think i do need to look into it a whole lot more. thanks for the help!
Wow. Well, at least I am not alone. My score was pretty high as well. Stick around. The recipes here should help you. Take care!
I scored 53 on the test but for about a year now I've had a lot of problems with nausea and gas build up, which can vary in strength day to day. I recently took some antibiotics for a week for an unrelated illness, but for that week I felt pretty good. Do you think the antibiotics killed some of the bacteria? I still have no idea what is causing my symptoms, despite multiple blood tests etc.
I am not a doc so I can't say. Maybe you should talk to a natural practitioner? I have one I can recommend for an inexpensive consult.
This is great information, Adrienne! How could I have missed it the first time round?? I had SO many of those symptoms (not to mention almost ALL of the causes). I'm going to share this post on my "Living Well with Candida" Google+ board! Thank you! 🙂
Thanks! You're a doll!
I LOVE this post! You are exactly right about candida. If our gut is not healthy, we can not be healthy.
Below is a link to my facebook page where I share health information also. I also found fantastic products that have helped thousands of people get rid of candida and get their health back. You can read about it on my page. We have probiotics that are the best in the world. My friend had terrible psoriasis all over her body and our probiotics got rid of her psoriasis.
https://www.facebook.com/restoredhealthnaturally
OUCH! I just scored a 340!!! YIKES! I guess I need to look into this more!
Our bodies naturally have yeast, in small amounts it's not harmful. It's overgrowth that leads to problems. Dr. LeAnne Deardeuff in her book "Inner Transformation Using Essential Oils" talks about yeast and offers a simple "saliva test" for candida. "First thing in the morning before you eat or drink anything, fill a glass with clean water, work up some sliva and spit into the glass on top the water. Check it every 15 min. for an hour. If it remains a blob on top the water, it is a good indication you don't have candida. If the spittle spreads out, develops long trendils hanging down, sinks to the bottom of the glass or creates specks in the middle of the water, there is a good chance you have a yeast overgrowth." Her book is about cleansing for better health, and includes a whole chapter on getting rid of yeast.
Hi Adrienne, great post... I'm reposting on my FB site hopefully, it will get you some more hits. I was wondering, in your experience, how effective is that questionnaire with men? It seemed a bit grated towards women though I did see a couple male specific. I've done a little reach on candida also... scored 214 on the quiz. So, pretty sure I'm guilty... Though I've been eating paleo/WAPF for over a year. Beginning to see that candida is a #$%&* to eradicate.
Hmmm.. I don't have experience with it but I will say that I think the folks at Whole Approach are really sharp. I don't follow their protocol anymore and have thoughts about other things like heavy metals and more (like I don't think their probiotics are the best) but I overall think they are good folks.
Have you read my heavy metals post? I have soooo much more to share. I am working on so much -- sorry I can't get it out as fast as I would like.
I have had a white coating on my tongue that started with a sore throat, after antibiotic and almost all of the liquid nystatin it went away, I then used my travel toothbrush again while out of town and it came back on my tongue again and this time I have been so run down and chest pain in the bronchial area even after finishing the nystatin liquid again nothing impoved... I now need a inhaler and finally going to the dr monday. So scared that it is something more than just candida. I tried gargling and drinking apple cider vinegar with water a couple times a day... No improvement and visited the bathroom in result.
I don't eat a lot period, so my diet is not consist of a lot of sweets.. Not anymore than ever in the past.
Hope I find out what this is....
Hi April. I am not a doctor and can't medically advise, but if the nystatin took it away that makes sense that it is candida. I read about getting rid of or sanitizing toothbrushes if you have it bad. Sometimes people needed to go to great lengths to get rid of it. I can't speak to the bronchial pain so that sounds different. However, now that I am thinking and reading a little on the web, it sounds like you might have an underlying condition that is allowing the yeast to proliferate in your mouth. Whatever your definition is of "a lot of sweets", if it were me I would personally get off of them totally and limit starchy foods but not eliminate them. Again, it's not medical advice - just what I would do if it were me right now.
Sigh. I scored a 334. I know it. I have struggled with a candida diagnosis for 20+ years. No diet has helped long term and my pregnancies made it worse. Much worse. I know I gave candida to both of my children and I am working hard to help them not have to suffer like I have. I pray my husband finally gets it soon for them as he doesn't take my food restrictions seriously.
Unfortunately, probiotics and fermented food cause an extremely violent reaction in my body and my list of foods I can eat is getting slim. I am now allergic to chicken, turkey, and pork and very likely sensitive to beef and maybe all meat. Not a fan of that.
I am going to look into some homeopathic remedies to add in gut healing and am looking for an extremely knowledgeable dietary consultant to help me identify all the foods I can't tolerate (as the list has grown since last tested) and create a customized gut healing diet similar to GAPS. While I have used many diets to control candida I haven't used them to heal the lining of my leaky gut and rid my body of the huge candida imbalance I have.
I tell people constantly that they have candida and people just give me the deer in headlights look. Hopefully this article helps many, many people. Best wishes.
OH My Lauren. Did you see the Heal Your Gut course on my site? It's in progress right now but I wonder if that would be helpful for you. Did you see my series on Fermented Foods? Take a look at it and get back to me. I would be interested to hear what you think. Take care.
I scored ridiculously high on the assessment, and want to start some natural treatments, but I'm nursing - is it safe to use the herbs mentioned while breastfeeding?
I would check them out 1 by 1 if I were you. I can't medically advise. Are you on a candida diet?
No, not yet.
Well, again, I am not a doc but I would do that first. If you follow my blog you will get only stuff that is candida friendly. I have some grains but if you watch them typically you can do OK and that way you don't need to worry about the nursing. I might be able to help if need be. Look up a few herbs you'd like and let me know. I think the diet on Whole Approach is quite good - they have stages listed out for you. I should get something like that on my blog.
So I just took the quiz... and I am in shock. OMG. I think I need to dig into this a lot deeper!
I bet I beat you :).
You may have but my score was a 327 and was purposefully conservative in my answers. Definitely a reason for me to look into this more!
Wow. Mine was about there too. I really encourage you (not medical advice) to do so. Hope it helps.
Mine was up there to mine was 357 and the fatigue all the time is really sucks bcause im a kid still and its hard to do simple exercise like walking,my stomach feels reallly weird and probioctos helps said WholeBodyResearch
Thanks for the information. It makes me wonder.
Did you take the test?