Candida Strategy

#candida is a wicked, sneaky thing that stirs up all sorts of trouble.  After a dental procedure had me on antibiotics, and I had horrid sharp pain in my right lower abdomen, I went to the doc 🏥  Concerned it could be either appendicitis or my gall bladder, they did a CT scan.  Both those things were good, but they found some things I hope will improve...because the next thing they did was a urinalysis.  That’s when they found the Candida overgrowth.  

We all have this little Candida party inside us, but when the “good guys” in our system get outnumbered by them, due to antibiotics, birth control, a diet heavy in starch/sugar/processed foods, it’s bad news.  Candida is the culprit in so many kinds of maladies that I won’t list them.  

Probiotics and anti-fungal treatment will help; but the only way to really rid yourself of these wretched inner-guests (make it a fair fight with your “good guys” in the gut), is a #candidadiet of some sort.

Essentially, Candida albicans feeds on sugar & starch (which is most easily converted to sugar in the system).  You gotta starve em out, which means:

1.  Whittle our the white stuff.  Just like avoiding ants at a picnic, don’t make it easy for these buggers to eat.

2.  Dairy is sugar too.  But fermented foods can actually help - think yogurt.

3.  Probiotics.  Just start taking them and don’t stop.  Really - they’re that good for you.

4.  Greens:  salad, smoothie, soup, or this smoothie I ate with a spoon (gazpacho).  

5.  Rest when your body asks for it.  One thing that exacerbates the bad bugs is lack of sleep.

6.  If at all possible, choose natural alternatives to antibiotics.

7.  Coconut oil is said by most of the articles I read to actually kill Candida overgrowth.  

8.  Tongue scraping and oil pulling, especially first thing in the morning.  If you stick out your tongue and it looks like a light snow hit overnight, odds are good it’s Candida.

9.  Warm and warming foods.  Candida yeast critters are happiest with cold and damp.  Spices like thyme, cinnamon, clove; roots like ginger and turmeric will all help.

10.  Essential oils, carefully applied, diluted - trust me on the diluted part...I learned the hard way with oregano oil!  It can actually cause chemical burns if you don’t; so I now add it to a bit of coconut oil (won’t blend without fat).

Other advice is out there, and most folks say it takes anywhere from 9 months to two years to fight, depending on how ingrained it is.

A final bit of wisdom:  try intermittent fasting.  Just quit eating after supper and wait to break-your-fast until “lunchtime” most days.  If these little opportunists don’t have access to easy grub, they cease to thrive.