What is Candida?

After months of doctor visits, blood tests, new supplements, restrictive diet, and hours of research, and some, but little improvement, I am now 85% sure that my main problem is CANDIDA OVERGROWTH. Even though my naturopath has confirmed this, I've still been unsure since I'm still feeling sick every day, but after hours of research on candida, it's the only thing that makes sense anymore.

So I thought I'd write a post about what candida even is and why it's so hard to get rid of, for those who might be curious.

What is Candida? 

Candida albicans is a yeast- a kind of fungus and 70% of people have this yeast in their bodies. It is normally kept under control by the healthy bacteria that live in our gut, so the candida itself isn't the problem initially, however, any fluctuations in the internal bacterial environment which influence our immune health can enable the yeast to grow past its tipping point, thus causing these once harmless strains of candida to become pathogenic and start invading the mucosa and causing significant damage (leaky gut, food allergies, digestive problems, etc.)

A candida overgrowth releases all kinds of toxic byproducts into your system and causes a wide variety of symptoms.

The reason candida gives you all these symptoms and makes you feel sick is because "As the yeast feeds it also metabolizes. The by-products left behind from the yeasts' feast are perhaps more dangerous to your health than the yeast itself. These are toxic chemicals and dead yeast cells classified as mycotoxins (little fungal poisons) that can be released into your bloodstream." -Ricki Heller, author of "Living Candida-Free" (a book I just bought on amazon a few days ago that explains what candida is and has a 3 stage program for getting rid of it with 100 great recipes)

What are the symptoms of Candida overgrowth?
These are just some of the many symptoms of candida: (and my main symptoms)

• Digestive problems
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Anxiety
• Brain fog
• Weakened immune system
• Skin irritations
• Multiple food allergies.

(There are a bunch of online quizzes you can take to see if you have candida overgrowth based on your symptoms-- Here's one I like that I'd recommend:

Candida Assessment Questionaire

My Results:

Your total score is 157

MILD - 35 to 55

MODERATE - 55 to 85

SEVERE - 85 and higher

If you think that's an insanely high score, it's actually gone down about 30 points since I took this test a few months ago.

So I have very severe candida.. and it definitely feels like it too with my awful symptoms I have every single day.

What causes a candida overgrowth?

• SUGAR: candida cells feed on sugar in all forms: fruits, sweeteners, starchy vegetables, etc. 

• ANTIBIOTICS: destroy the good bacteria that live in our gut

• STRESS: stress raises your blood sugar levels and damages your immune system by weakening your adrenal glands

So how do you treat candida?

1. DIET
- eliminate all processed carbs, starchy vegetables, grains, sugars, and processed meats

So here's what I eat: eggs, celery, carrots, cucumbers, homemade hummus, homemade flaxseed crackers, homemade roasted chickpeas, crock pot turkey, chicken, steak, pecans. (I set a whole day aside last week to trying new candida recipes and loved every one so I'll have to share my recipes in another post because my homemade hummus and roasted chickpeas and crackers are great snacks)

But yeah, that's it. No more fruit for me. I eliminated sugar, grains, and starches in January so every time I get stricter with my diet, it's hard because I hate giving up even more things when I already feel like I can't eat anything, but the more restrictive I get, the more I crave fruit or yogurt instead of chocolate or candy. So what I'm trying to say is it's really hard still, but it's hard because I want my fruit not because I'm so mad I can't have cake or pizza today.. I got over that stuff a long time ago :)

2. ANTIFUNGALS
Some good antifungals are: caprylic acid, grapefruit seed extract, colloidal silver, aloe vera juice, apple cider vinegar and coconut oil)

3. PROBIOTICS
Probiotics crowd out the candida yeast, regulate your gut acidity, and boost your immune system
(I'm taking theralac probiotic right now)

4. REDUCE STRESS
Not only is reducing your stress levels good for helping you simply cope with such a strict lifestyle and health challenge, but it's also a vital part of getting rid of candida

When you eliminate sugars, grains, starches, etc. from your diet and take antifungals to kill candida, you experience a die-off reaction because when the yeast dies, it releases toxins into your body.

So basically, I feel sick if I don't kill the candida, and I feel sick when I do kill the candida.. but if you don't take care of it, the damage it causes to your intestines, immune system, etc. will eventually lead to ulcers, cancer, and other serious consequences, so even though it takes 3 months-over a year to get a candida overgrowth under control, it's worth it to not only make you feel so much better but also to prevent it from leading to something even worse than it already is.

I'm not a very patient person, so one of the hardest parts of chronic illness for me is not getting results instantly. But it takes a LONG time to get rid of candida and every little mess up, like if I eat a banana today, it's going to be that much harder to get rid of it because as long as I feed it anything sweet, it just grows and grows. It's basically like a cancer.. So I've had to learn to be a lot more patient and accept that it's going to take a while.

So anyways,  I'm officially on the strictest anti-candida diet now as of a few days ago (I had to eliminate cheese, rice, oats, and fruit from my already restrictive diet) and it's really not that bad, because I've slowly gotten more restrictive and more disciplined every month the past year so I'm used to eating this way.. the only hard part now is still feeling sick all the time.

But if I stick with this diet for the next few months or longer, take my antifungals and probiotics daily and try to reduce my stress levels by not dwelling on the fact that I went from working 3 jobs and having $10,000 in my bank account a YEAR ago to now being sick every single day, having no job, no money, a car payment every month, and SCHOOL to pay for and be healthy for in 3 months, *deep breath* THEN I will be all better and I will finally be able to take all I've learned from this beautiful trial and use it for good. :)

Happy Monday!