Digestive problems, chronic fatigue, skin issues, cravings, mental fog, joint pain, and other common ailments could be contributed to one word: candida.
Have you heard of candida before? Specifically, candida albicans. Candida is a form of yeast that lives in your digestive tract. It’s a normal part of your gut flora, living peacefully among the rest of the microorganisms. Or so you hope.
When the peace is disrupted and candida takes over is where the problems occur. Many factors throughout life can contribute to a candida overgrowth to where it overpowers and dominates the gut – throwing off the peaceful balance of microorganisms. Antibiotics, long periods of stress, and high-sugar diets are all factors that could lead to a candida overgrowth. Anytime your gut flora is unbalanced, it will almost always lead to digestive problems.
Candida overgrowth is dangerous because it can release over 75 byproducts. One byproduct in particular is acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is responsible for causing brain fog and headaches, but more importantly, is known as a potential carcinogen. You definitely don’t want that circulating around your body!
Candida is not something you want to put on the back burner.
But the questions arise: how do you know if you suffer from candida overgrowth and how do you heal from it?
A story for you…
Growing up I suffered from the occasional sinus infection, and other common ailments, that led me to go to the doctor and get a prescription for an antibiotic. I wasn’t aware, nor were my parents, that antibiotics were so harmful to the gut – especially during developing years as a child. Those circumstances paired with my very serious illness of Toxic Shock Syndrome later in life were probably enough to have a candida overgrowth. But of course stress comes into play as well, and I didn’t always eat as healthy as I do now! I enjoyed treats as a kid and while I wouldn’t say I had a high-sugar diet, I definitely consumed plenty of sugar.
I recently started seeing a doctor that specializes in functional medicine – focusing on healing from the root cause. I am always trying to improve my health and exploring things I haven’t tried before. If you are familiar with my story, this road hasn’t been easy for me. And in the last year or so I felt like something was off, but I couldn’t figure out what – and in all honestly I just related it to stress. Well, when I started seeing this new doctor he was baffled at my history and the fact that I’ve never been tested for candida before! Apparently even one antibiotic prescription in your past is case enough explore the possibility.
A couple tests later and the results were in: candida overgrowth. I never suspected that I had it because of how healthy my diet is. And his response was this: your healthy diet is what has kept you going all this time. I didn’t experience many of the candida-related symptoms because I’ve been eating really healthy. But even healthy foods like fruit can feed candida. I was doing enough ‘right things’ to help combat the majority of the symptoms. If I ate a standard American diet with processed foods and soda, I would be in a whole different boat right now.
Candida feeds on sugar.
Any sugar at all. It doesn’t discriminate between natural sugars or artificial sugars. Even carbohydrates like a potato, which breaks down and digests in your body as sugar, feeds candida.
Even with a healthy diet, candida can still thrive if it’s already present. I assume candida took over in my early to late teen years. I had severe digestive issues that weren’t addressed because doctors told me, “It was all in my head” and couldn’t help me. But when I started seeing a naturopathic doctor and got diagnosed with Celiac Disease everything changed for the better. My digestive issues went away and my diet took a 180. I was eating tons of veggies, eliminated most processed foods, didn’t drink soda, etc. I got made fun of in college because of how healthy I ate! I guess serving your friends quinoa for drunk-munchies doesn’t work out too well 🙂
The point is, some people don’t realize they have a candida overgrowth because they aren’t experiencing all the symptoms. The problem with candida is that it creates damage from the inside out. A lot of people don’t know they have it until it’s presented in ways like severe eczema or IBS that doesn’t heal with conventional treatments. And I didn’t realize I have it because my digestion is great! But the bouts of fatigue I was experiencing aren’t related to stress… Now I know and can fully heal from it!
I never promote strict diets or deprivation, but this cleanse is one of those diets. The good news is: if you do it right, you won’t have to do it again!
What is the candida cleanse?
The two main parts of healing from candida overgrowth are with a low-sugar diet and supplements. You need to starve the candida with your diet and then kill it with the supplements. And when I say low-sugar, I mean zero sugar! It’s the strictest diet out there. It’s helpful to do this with a trained expert like a naturopathic doctor or a nutritionist, like me! I’ve taken clients through the candida cleanse before with great success. Knowing exactly what to eat and what supplements to take are important in this process (because it’s not something you want to have to do twice)!
If you suspect you might have a candida overgrowth and want to explore the possibility further, apply for a free Start-Up Session with me and we can chat.
With joy and health,
References: thecandidadiet.com
