 I've had Candida a few times, and for me it was very uncomfortable. The telltale signs for me is when I develop thrush or a fungal ear infection each time it flares up, but for some, Candida overgrowth can develop without them even noticing. Candida is naturally found in our digestive and genital tracts, and when kept under control it's completely fine. It only becomes an issue when it gets out of control and takes over the gut. This can happen after taking antibiotics, as Candida is a fungi so antibiotics have no effect on it. Once the antibiotics have run their course, large portions of the intestinal tract are left vacant due to the mass die off of bacteria, both good and bad, so Candida seizes the opportunity and begins to repopulate in all these vacant areas, causing Candida overgrowth. Other reasons that may cause Candida to overgrow include an impaired immune system, biofilms, toxicity, eating a diet high in sugar and processed refined foods, consuming too much alcohol and coffee, chronic prolonged stress which depletes the immune system, C-section deliveries, birth control pills, and even mercury. When Candida overgrows it causes major problems and symptoms such as persistent constipation, bloating or gas, mental fog, debilitating chronic fatigue or exhaustion, intense sugar cravings cause Candida feeds off sugar, chronic sinus infections, a white coating on the tongue, excess mucus, recurring vaginal yeast infections, persistent food or environmental allergies, depression and anxiety, and hyperthyroidism as Candida inhibits thyroid conversion. If you have a Candida overgrowth in the higher areas of your digestive tract or throat area, you may develop white sores in and around your mouth area which are cottage cheese like in appearance and really sore and inflamed. They can even have a burning sensation. If left untreated, these sores can become so severe that you are unable to eat or swallow. If you have an overgrowth in the middle of your digestive tract, you may not notice any of the usual symptoms. A book I highly recommend reading for information on gut health and how to heal the gut naturally and what best foods to eat for Candida and other gut related problems is the book Gaps which is Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride. I followed a lot of the protocols outlined in this book while healing my gut and treating the Candida overgrowth in my body and it was extremely beneficial for me in my healing journey. There are other ways to test for Candida at home to see if you do in fact have a Candida overgrowth problem which one of the ways is to do a free DIY Candida spit test. It sounds gross but bear with me. To do the spit test, over a time frame of 6 days monitor your saliva. Keep a pen and paper handy and when you wake, before eating or drinking anything, fill a glass halfway with water and spit a small amount of saliva into the glass. Leave it to sit for 45 minutes, coming back every so often to check on it and record your results each day for 6 days. Your saliva will do one of three things. It will stay floating on top, sink to the bottom, or it will grow legs. If it stays floating, there is likely no Candida overgrowth. On the other hand, if it grows legs or sinks to the bottom, then Candida is likely a problem. The reason you test your saliva over 6 days is to rule out any variables that are likely to interfere with the results. So just make sure to keep to your normal diet while testing. To treat my Candida, my naturopath gave me some strong herbal supplements and put me on the Candida diet until I got the all clear. I ate a diet that consisted mainly of meat, fish, eggs, yoghurt, sauerkraut and low-carb vegetables like pumpkin, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini. I aimed to keep my carbohydrate intake to under 50g each day to prevent the spike in blood sugar that can arise as a result of a high carbohydrate diet. I followed this regime for over 3 months until my symptoms had cleared and I no longer showed signs of a Candida overgrowth. I still stick to a high fat, low carbohydrate diet keeping within a 50g limit of carbohydrates most days as I feel my best when following this diet plan. I eat mostly meat and other animal products like yoghurt, butter and cheese now but I always source these products from an organic butcher in my local health food stores where I know the animals grew up on pasture, free to roam as they pleased and that no ill treatment occurred. Following a ketogenic type diet has really helped improve my fatigue and kept my symptoms of Candida at bay along with clearing up my ear infection that I'd had for over four years. So here is a quick run through of the Candida diet and a few of the meals that I'll eat on a typical day in my life to help combat my Candida. When following the Candida diet the foods you want to avoid are sugar. This counts for all forms of sugar like fructose, sucrose, glucose, malt, corn syrup, desserts, honey, jams, sodas, juices, fresh fruit, dried fruits and things like that. Fermented foods and yeasts is another one to avoid so things like breads, soy sauce, pickles, vinegar but apple cider vinegar is okay to have. Alcohol, ketchup, vegemite and things like that. Simple carbohydrates should also be avoided. These include things like white rice, white flour and white pasta or any refined carbs really. You'll also want to avoid alcohol, mushrooms, cheese, particularly blue and hard types of cheese, starchy vegetables including potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, beetroot, peas, parsnips and any other starchy root vegetables. The reason for this is that these foods have a high carbohydrate content and so act as sugar in the body which feeds the Candida. Peanuts are another food to avoid because some peanuts can grow a fungi or mold on them and this can trigger a reaction in Candida sufferers who are particularly sensitive to mold exposure. So you might be thinking well what can I eat? Is there actually anything left? I know I thought that when I started the diet as it feels pretty limiting at first. The foods that are safe to eat on a Candida diet are fish, poultry, meat and other quality animal protein, goats cheese, mozzarella, feta and gouda, eggs, nuts and seeds, vegetables especially green leafy vegetables, plain live yogurt and other cultured dairy which is high in beneficial probiotics so great for gut health. Just ensure you choose raw, unprocessed, organic and biodynamic dairy products where possible as these come with beneficial enzymes to help the gut better digest the dairy. Coconut oil is also a great food to include as it's a natural anti-fungal. You can rub coconut oil on topically to irritated or affected areas as well as consume it in liberal amounts. If you're game to try you can add a tablespoon of coconut oil to some tea which can help to include more of this powerhouse food in your diet. Just fair warning it is a little gross especially at first as it adds a fatty oily texture to the drink so it takes a little bit of time to get used to. Spices like turmeric and cinnamon are great too as well as bone broth, apple cider vinegar and drinking plenty of water. So what I'd eat in a typical day while on the Candida diet was some roast pumpkin which I love in coconut oil before cooking and then paired it with some organic pasture raised chicken grass fed and finished beef steak, some olives I'd bought at my local farmers market and I'd top it with some olive oil spices and sea salt for flavor. I also enjoyed dandelion lattes regularly to help minimize how much coffee I was consuming daily. When the dandelion root is roasted it has a bit of taste to it which I quite like and I'd have that with some organic raw milk. I also enjoyed a lot of organic biodynamic yogurt sometimes I'd make an omelette and add cheese to it and I'd make sure to keep to my goal of staying under 50 grams of carbohydrates a day. During the mornings I'd fast until 12 p.m as I like to intermittent fast as I feel best when I don't eat first thing in the morning and I like the benefits that this form of fasting brings to my body and that's it. I hope you enjoyed this video on how I cured my Candida naturally with no medication. Let me know how you go yourself in your journey to healing your own Candida overgrowth. I'd love to know what worked for you. I hope you have a wonderful day and I'll see you soon again.