My 34-year-old patient Margaret was struggling with weight-loss resistance, moodiness, and fatiguewhich made her feel pretty miserable.
Then one day she casually mentioned that she craved fruit.
In other words, she could eat all the fruit she wanted and often did.
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Your best protection against yeast overgrowth is a normal acidic stomach pH.
Unfortunately, many of my patients use acid-blocking medications, have vagal nerve dysfunction, or have anH.
pyloriinfectionall of which make their stomachs less acidic and create fertile ground for problems like candidiasis.
Is there an accurate test for Candida?
Many candidiasis symptoms overlap with other common health problems, making it difficult to diagnose based on symptoms alone.
Stool testing:
I often do stool testing on my patients via microscopy and culture.
Specialty labs can analyze stool for yeast overgrowth.
Candida species produce arabitol, which is absorbed and then converted to arabinose by the liver.
The kidney secretes the final metabolite.
If its high, it suggests gut yeast overgrowth.
Like I said, none of these tests are perfect.
So you have Candida, now what?
Just like no test proves comprehensive, eliminating candidiasis will also differ for every patient.
Here are the strategies that work well for many patients:
1.
Eliminate sneaky sugar sources.
Cook with coconut oil.
It has antifungal properties that help kill off excess Candida.
Implement these herbal, plant-based antimicrobial powerhouses.
I recommend working with a trained practitioner to monitor efficacy and dosing of these and other nutrients.
Like many patients, I immediately saw the impact stress had on Margarets gut health.
Margaret learned to prioritize stress management once she saw the wide-ranging problems it created.
All together, that creates fertile ground for Candida overgrowth.
I asked Margaret to give up red wine for a month (“Its only a month!”
I assured her), and eventually she did a medically supervised detoxification plan to rejuvenate her liver.
Patients also love my coconut water kefir (check out the recipe below).
I highly recommend working with a practitioner to determine the right time to repopulate.
But remember to go slow.
Adding fermented foods too soon in the treatment plan can actually cause uncomfortable die-off symptoms.
Even the healthiest foods can contribute toCandida overgrowth.
Here area few to keep an eye on.
*Water kefir grains can be found in natural-food stores or online.
With proper care, the culture can be used indefinitely to create probiotic-rich kefir.
The sugar water will keep the grains healthy long-term.
