I am really psyched to be writing this article tonight… if this can help someone like it helped me– that makes me very happy! I was in the dark for so long… I probably have been dealing with Candida on and off for the last 18 years. Once you figure out that this is what you are dealing with… you can then start the process to kill this nasty stuff.
What in the world is Candida?
Candida is a fungus, which is a form of yeast, and a very small amount of it lives in your mouth and intestines. Its job is to aid with digestion and nutrient absorption but, when overproduced, candida breaks down the wall of the intestine and penetrates the bloodstream, releasing toxic byproducts into your body and causing leaky gut. This can lead to many different health problems, ranging from digestive issues to depression.
Here are 10 major symptoms of Candida: (there are more… including the inability to lose weight!)
1. Skin and nail fungal infections (such as athlete’s foot or toenail fungus)
2. Feeling tired and worn down or suffering from chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia
3. Digestive issues such as bloating, constipation, or diarrhea
4. Autoimmune disease such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Ulcerative colitis, Lupus, Psoriasis, Scleroderma or Multiple sclerosis
5.Difficulty concentrating, poor memory, lack of focus, ADD, ADHD and brain fog.
6. Irritability, mood swings, anxiety, or depression
7. Vaginal infections , urinary tract infections, rectal itching or vaginal itching
8. Severe seasonal allergies or itchy ears
9. Strong sugar and refined carbohydrate cravings
10. Skin issues such as eczema, psoriasis, hives, and rashes.
I had many of these symptoms for a long time and had no idea that Candida was the culprit. I did go to the doctor (she was great) but misdiagnosed what I had. I had terrible fatigue, but I shall spare you the rest of my symptoms… let’s just say that they were not fun. As I love to do research, I happened to read some good articles on Candida. I had a light bulb moment! Finally.
I took the test that this article posted. Here is a great website about Candida..this test will help you if you are wondering if you have Candida. Take the test here: http://www.thecandidadiet.com/testingforcandida.htm In addition to taking this test, you can have your doctor give you a blood test…
There are 3 antibodies that should be tested to measure your immune system’s response to Candida – IgG, IgA, and IgM. High levels of these antibodies indicate that an overgrowth of Candida is present. This is the most reliable test for Candida that you can find.
What causes Candida?
Antibiotic use
stress (stress spikes up your blood sugar and Candida feeds on that)
alcohol consumption
sugar
gluten
contraceptive pills
Well, isn’t that special? Great…
As I love to do research, I found out what I needed to do and got some information from a holistic practitioner. So, this process is going to take you about 3 months… I know that seems long, but once you get going– it is not bad. I promise. I would begin by eliminating gluten, processed sugar and alcohol from your diet. Candida loves alcohol and feeds off sugar and gluten. This seems hardcore, but it is so worth it. Once I was off sugar, I don’t crave sugar anymore. I really don’t even miss it. Let your body adjust to this new way of eating before you start the other things. You might detox a bit once you eliminate the gluten and sugar. I would do a week of this first. You don’t want to do too much at first because you don’t want to overload your liver with all the toxins.. toxins being released by the die off from the Candida. Now it is time to move in for the kill… you could take anti-fungal medication, but there are always side effects with medication and it is hard on your liver. I was able to do this with all natural methods!
Here is what I did:
**Drink lemon oil in your water daily. This will help your body be less acidic. Candida thrives in an acidic environment.
**Take a good probiotic. Probiotics help crowd out the yeast. You can find at your local health food store in the refrigerated section. You should continue to take this even when you are done with this regime. (take this mid-day)
**Grapefruit Seed Extract– this stuff is
amazing. (take 3 tablets every morning)
**Candizyme- this is a product that will help detox the yeast out of your system. If you can’t find this at your local store– you can find on-line. (take this at night before bed)
Start with this and let your body adjust. You will probably have some symptoms of the Candida die off… but don’t give up! They won’t last long. I think my most severe symptoms from the toxins lasted about 3 days… I had a terrible cold, fever and fatigue. I also felt like my head was in a vice grip. It really depends on the severity of your Candida… some people may not experience such extreme die off symptoms. If you are experiencing very severe symptoms.. just cut back on what you are taking for a while, so you can give your liver a break. Make sure to get plenty of rest, drink lots of water and take some epsom salt baths. Once you have adjusted to this, you can add in some essential oils!
Here are three good anti-fungal Essential Oils: You can put these oils into a clear capsule and take daily. Put a couple drops into a clear vegetable capsule. Pick one of these below.
Oregano– a powerful anti-fungal… don’t take on an empty stomach. Oregano essential oil is packed with constituents that make it a powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, anti-parasitic and immune simulating oil. Because Oregano is a natural antibiotic– make sure to not overdo it on the Oregano.
Ocotea Essential oil has shown great potential in lowering blood sugar, lowering cortisol, digestive support, and as a disinfectant, antifungal and antiparasitic. (this was my favorite to use)
Mountain Savory Essential Oil stimulates and revitalizes the nervous system. Traditionally, this oil was used as a digestive remedy specifically for diarrhea and colic. It’s antiviral, antibacterial and immune supporting properties make Mountain Savory oil effective against viral infections and urinary and gastro-intestinal infections. It is a natural remedy for vaginal yeast infection, Epstein Barr and herpes as well.
After the three months, you can continue a few of these things to ensure that the Candida does not come back. I take garlic pills,(garlic is one of Candida’s biggest enemies) Lemon Essential oil, Ocotea Essential oil, Coconut oil,(Coconut oil is a powerful anti-fungal) no gluten and Probiotics daily. I also try not to eat processed sugar and I really am careful with how much wine I drink. I am thrilled to say that I did kill the Candida beast and I feel good! No more nasty symptoms.
Good luck on this journey! You can do it.. God Bless you!
Please feel free to contact me if you have questions. Please note that I am not a doctor or holistic practitioner. I am just sharing my experience with Candida and what I did to help heal my body.
*Sharing experiences with essential oils is an effective way of learning to utilize these powerful gifts from Nature. With this knowledge we can take control of our personal health. However, we are required by law in the USA to state, “These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. Products and techniques mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.”
Lavande Aromatherapy and Wellness 
Thanks for your information! I’m using many of the things you mention here and on my way to hopefully kill all this yeast. Was there one oil or supplement that you noticed made the biggest difference? I ordered Ocotea and can’t wait to try it!
Hi Carri,
I think Ocotea was the one I liked the most.. but it definitely was doing all of these things combined that finally killed it. I am still Candida free! Good luck in killing it and keep me posted on how you do!
Angela
Thanks for sharing! Do you know if ocotea is safe while nursing? It might help my sons excema.
Hi Lindsey,
The two essential oils that I know for sure not to use while nursing are Peppermint and Clary Sage.. I am always cautious in recommending oils to a pregnant or nursing mommy. I haven’t read anything negative about Ocotea and nursing. I would suggest Lavender for you son’s eczema… dilute and put on the skin. My son had this when he was younger and it worked great for him! 🙂
How do you know your candida free? Did you take tests to determine that? Also when did you start to feel difference from your protocol?
Thanks in advance…
Hi Gina,
I actually had my naturopathic doctor test for me. (muscle testing– applied kinesiology) And I felt and feel completely different. The symptoms are gone that were causing me so much trouble. I’m trying to remember how long it took to feel better– I think a month in. I know it will take 3 months to completely get rid of it. If you don’t got to a naturopathic dr… I would ask your doctor what they could do to test for you. Good luck!
Do you know if the above products and essential oils are safe for children? I have a 10 yr old daughter with candida and it has been very difficult to clean up. She is coming into puberty so things have really ramped up. She is mostly dairy free, trying to be grain free ( very tough with this age), as refined sugar free as possible, takes an excellent probiotic daily, drinks kombucha too and eats a fairly healthy diet (very few artificial anything).
Hi Karen,
I’m sorry your daughter is going through this. It sounds like you are doing everything right. I give the Lemon EO to my kids.. they are 10 and 14. The Mountain Savory is advised not for kids under 6. Ocotea EO would be fine for a 10 yr. old. You could do 1 drop in 8 0z. of water. (I can only recommend Young Living for ingesting). Oregano would be fine… not okay for kids under 6 as well. I would try the grapefruit seed extract first and see how she does. (check our your local health food store for that) Then eventually add in some essential oils… I don’t want to overload her system. I hope this helps!
Like you, I love to do research and figure things out in spite of the fact that they advise against it. Once you start researching what you may have, you start to lose it and think you have every disease known to man. But, it does help to zero in your problems. Self diagnosis is best as you, yourself can sense what is going on inside of you. Everything I ate produced a very foul smelling odor. I felt fatigued, couldn’t drop lbs. mood swings, couldn’t digest food properly, and so on. I came across articles about yeast overgrowth and stuff and figured that I had it to some degree based on the symptoms. I was in the brink of having blood work done to confirm, but then I said let me try some natural methods first. Before going into these, let me quickly brief you on how this yeast spiraled outta control: SUGAR! It’s cancerous, toxic and sneaks into deep pockets of every cell in the body wreaking havoc. I took it to an extreme, especially since it’s so addictive! I just couldn’t stop. 3 entire blueberry pies in one sitting. 6 blueberry muffins in another sitting, chocolate galore, pastry (27 baklavas in a row). Surprised I’m still alive..but anyway I would never feel satiated. I tried these bars thinking I was eating healthy, then I found out about the agave syrup ingredient- as lethal as sugar. I said ok, now I’m going to beat this thing or else I’ll become suicidal. The gas, bloating, fatigue, the yellow toenail fungus (gross and unsightly), itchy, red, scaling feet, oh and those black eye FLOATERS! You didn’t mention them! I’m guessing either you forgot or it just wasn’t an issue, but it def was for me. So anyway, I steered cleared of ALL sugar, sugar substitutes, and anything remotely close to it except Stevia- my savior at the time. I stated reading up on all the products. I used oil of oregano- v potent, a probiotic, cayenne pepper (capsacin I think), garlic..but the problem was I was STILL having awful symptoms. Why? Well bc here and there I would have a pastry or something sweet. Huge mistake. Between the die off and the original gas, things were v bad. And so, I stopped the sugar completely! The Dow off was bad but at least I knew I was doing something right and was on May way to heal in for good. It’s hard to tell exactly when the symptoms subsided but I knew I started feeling normal- no more digestive issues, skin was looking better and better, toe nail fungus was going down; everything seemed to be improving. They said even one crumb of sugar can set you back and with a vengeance. That said, I said. Will abstain for life! Scariest and worst experience of my entire life. Overall it probably to a year to completely heal. I recall a time I would be studying ingredients so intently trying desperately to find a sugar substitute- i.e. Erythiol, sucralose..I was like what am I doing. There’s so many healthy and awesome foods around. Don’t need stupid sugar in my body. I completely gave up fruit- this was very difficult at first. I love bananas. I recall after a year I had one banana and I was like wow I actually feel ok but something still a bit awry in the intestines. I could feel it. Everyone said its in my head and I was like nope it’s in my body! Lol. Anyway, so I said I will replace fruit with vegetables and in time it worked! 🙂 I don’t miss it at all! Screw that fructose- fruits are dangerous in spite of all their touted antioxidants and vitamins and minerals. Can get them all from veg plus more. Bottom line and suggestions that I have in orde to cure this yeast-beast of candida is as follows: 1) you don’t have to go crazy buying all these supplements and stuff. You’ll go nuts, and broke! 2) abstinence from sugar! That’s the key- no sugar, no alcohol, STARVE that candida. 3) rectifying your diet and you’ll rectify your life. 4) candida is not a curse but a blessing in disguise. Eliminating sugar will help you live longer, better, happier, smarter, skinnier, diabetes free, etc. trust me you won’t miss it. Sugar is out the system in 5 days. After 5 days, your body won’t have that physiological dependency. Don’t look at advertisements and don’t go into bakeries or anything like that bc once you do, something will go off in your brain signaling the want for that stuff. Especially since it does look so damn good. 5) supplements & food: vegetables only, nuts (except pecans and peanuts or any other or legume that may have mold growth) mold is a yeast feeder. Protein is fine; in fact it’s perfect. But protein from grilled chicken, eggs, salmon, tuna, burgers, etc..you may want to also avoid bread for a few weeks. Breads are too high in carbs and the carbs get broken down into sugar in the digestive sys. Moreover they are loaded with preservatives and artificial flavors and stuff. This is prob the most difficult part of the whole ordeal- but just note that it’s only temporary. Supplements- like I said don’t go crazy. Take a good, clean, perservative free probiotic (at least 50 billion cultures), eat fresh garlic plain, as much as your body can tolerate, and drink as much warm water with fresh lemon or lime as possible in order to keep the body alkaline. Having an acidic body is a welcome environment for candida to thrive in. Drink lots of water and only herbal, all natural teas. Avoid coffee bc of the acidity. You can reintroduce coffee about a month or two in. See how your body is responding. It’ll take some time, patience, resourcefulness, will power BUT it CAN be done. And once you accomplish This defeat, there is no doubt you’ll have a huge smile on your face! Sorry but I have to reiterate this again: NO SUGAR!!! And no sugar substitutes of any kind!
Michael, I am so glad you were able to get rid of this! And you are so right… sugar is the main culprit. I have a little now and then but I try and steer clear as well! The key is not to get lax but to keep taking care of your body, so it doesn’t come back! Take care and thanks for your note.
Hey everyone!! Thanks for your posts! I’m personally finding the idea that fruit is to be avoided difficult to believe.. Has anyone heard of dr Robert Morse? He says that fruit is ok as long as you’re treating the candida with things such as ocotea etc.. (His tinctures to be precise)
Im feeling a bit confused about sugar and fruit..
Has anyone beat candida and continued with fruit?
Thanks !!
Kristin
Hi Kristin! I haven’t heard of Robert Morse but I will check him out. I really went hardcore to get rid of mine.. I basically went off all sugar and fruit except for grapefruit. But I went back on fruit and some sugar, once the candida was killed off. I’m not careful with fruit (I have 2 servings a day) but I am careful with processed sugar. I would love to hear from others on how they did after beating candida!
Hi! Love your post! With my 3rd baby, we have fought candida in the form of thrush for months. I finally got rid of it doing the Maker’s Diet, using a product called saccharomyces boulardii, using GSE capsules, and a product called Candex. It has been about 6 weeks… i have a question… in the Maker’s Diet, at this point it allows adding in sprouted grain bread (like Ezekial bread) and also allows raw, unfiltered honey. For candida do you think i should leave these out?
I’m sorry I am so late in getting back to you! I can’t tell you what you should do but I did eliminate all sugar and all grains for 3 months. I don’t know if that would have hindered my progress or not. After the three months, I added those things back in. I’m sorry about your baby… hope things are better!
Grape fruit may interact and counteract some form of birth control. Ladies please be careful and make sure you read up on any medications you are taking grapefruit has been listed on the last two birth controls I have been on.
This is a great and informative article I am doing research for my dog. Yep my dog as a yeast infection.
Yes, this is so true! I should have mentioned this … always make sure that you check with the meds you are taking. (grapefruit interferes with a lot of things) Also with essential oils.. always check the contraindication of an oil first. And I am not a doctor and I don’t want to tell you what you should do, but oral contraceptives usually fuel candida.. if you can find an alternative that would be the best. People find that once they are off certain forms of birth control.. they can get the candida under control. Thanks for your input! And I’m sorry about your dog! They make good probiotics for dogs and that would help the yeast infection. Our dog is on some and it has helped with many issues.
Thanks, for your article. With three essential oils how did you split it up? Was it a month taking Oregano once a day and then the next month taking Ocotea once a day and Mountain Savery the last month?
And when you say you are Candida free does that mean you can sometimes have refined sugar? Or are you saying that you have to stay on this Candida diet forever?
Thanks,
Heather
Hi Heather,
The essential oils I listed were the ones I knew that were the best to help with Candida… I only used the Ocotea… along with the other things I did. So, you could pick which one you wanted to use. I did a couple drops of the Ocotea everyday. I actually now have a little bit of sugar but I really try to limit it because I know how much Candida loves it! And you definitely don’t have to stay on this diet forever. Although I do feel better when I am eating as clean as possible. I do make sure that I continue to do the probiotics daily and I take my lemon oil everyday to help with the ph balance. I also try to incorporate coconut oil and organic apple cider vinegar as much as possible. I hope this helps!
Hi, thank you for your article. My husband and son were diagnosed with candida several years ago when we lived near a naturopathic doctor that we trusted. We recently moved and haven’t found one yet. I just bought ocotea and for this and recurrence and wanted to know how you dosed it for yourself. Also, just curious, what would you think of dosing it for a ten year old? Thank you!
Hi Lori,
I’m sorry you guys are dealing with candida! I looked at the Young Living site and they said Ocotea would be fine for a 10 yr. year old. I would start out with a couple drops a day in water… see how your son does with that. After awhile.. I would bump it up. Maybe 5 drops total a day. (spacing them out) I also found a new product that I have been taking to keep me free of Candida.. it is called ProBio 5 by a company called Plexus (it is the best probiotic I have ever taken. I give this to my boys as well) It contains anti-fungal and enzymes. Along with that I take their other product called Bio Cleanse.. this helps clean out the intestines (cleans out those dead candida cells) Let me know if you want more info on that. These products have also helped my son with his migraines as well. I hope this helps your son, Lori! Here is my website for the Probio 5 and Bio cleanse if you are interested http://backoffice.plexusworldwide.com/angelaistroh/