Look for me on:
“Every patient carries her or his own doctor inside.”
Albert Schweitzer
I get hundreds of emails about the subject of Candida, and a lot of them are asking me why so many health care practitioners don’t recommend the consumption of fermented foods if you have Candida. Most physicians and well-meaning practitioners only know of fermented foods made with vinegars rather than the cultured or fermented foods that I teach people to make. The ones made with vinegars should not be eaten when you have Candida. They are a completely different food than the ones I recommend because these foods don’t have probiotics in them. Probiotic foods are the key to finally bringing Candida into balance; but as they do, it can often seem that you are getting worse instead of better.
We need small amounts of the yeast Candida
Candida is a yeast/fungal organism that lives naturally within the human body. We need small amounts of the yeast Candida since it can digest things like heavy metals that our regular digestive system cannot handle. It is normally found in the body in low levels but an overproduction of this yeast can cause many problems, including the fungal infection known as Candidiasis. Candida can spread as a fungus does throughout the intestines and sinuses. Candida penetrates the bloodstream, releasing toxic byproducts into your body, which can cause a myriad of problems.
Looking for balance, not complete extinction
Candida is something that everyone is talking about and seems to be afraid of. This same thing happened many years ago with bacteria when everybody and their brother came out with antibacterial soaps and disinfectants. It was the new buzz and this caused so many problems. I believe this was the wrong approach to keeping pathogens at bay. Most people thought if we could just stamp out the bad bacteria (and now Candida) all our problems would go away, but this was not the case. If we will build up the good yeasts and bacteria, they will solve the problem for us and also create a balance that otherwise wouldn’t exist within our bodies. Killing bacteria kills both the good and the bad, and the same with Candida – you want a small amount to remain but you really are looking for balance, not complete extinction. It’s the same story again and again, good versus evil. If you focus on the good instead of only destroying the bad, the good will be in control, will dominate, and will bring things into balance. The struggle will cease.
Women and yeast infections
In women, bacteria normally colonize the vagina and keep Candida and yeast infections under control. There are five known vaginal bacteria, and many of them (such as Lactobacillus) produce lactic acid, which lowers the pH, creating a hostile environment for pathogens. [1] When these bacteria are killed by things such as antibiotics, a lot of empty space is created. Candida suddenly has room to spread out and grow. An overgrowth of yeast may result, leading to a yeast infection. It's been known among researchers for the last 30 years that killing off good bacteria in the gut with antibiotics can also allow harmful yeasts such as Candida room to grow and flourish, so having lots of good bacteria and yeasts will keep all of this in balance.
Don’t avoid cultured foods
A lot of people avoid cultured foods —especially kombucha —when they have an overgrowth of Candida, believing that these foods actually make the condition worse. Saccharomyces boulardii, a probiotic yeast, is abundant in kombucha. S. boulardii is able to effectively compete with and displace harmful yeast strains such as Candida. [2] It also produces anti-fungal substances such as capric, caprylic, and caproic acids, and this probiotic yeast will discourage pathogenic yeasts in this environment. In the case of kombucha, it is important to drink the first-fermented kombucha and not the ones with fruit juice to ensure that all the sugars are gone and it is properly fermented. Cultured foods can aid in the treatment of Candida overgrowth as long as they are made properly in order to remove the sugars and allow the probiotics to grow and become strong.
L reuteri and candida
L. reuteri yogurt is a new cultured dairy that is creating quite a buzz. It is technically not a yogurt since most yogurts have certain strains but be that as it may, it is one of the most potent microbes I have seen since I started making kefir decades ago. L. reuteri colonizes the upper gastro area and not the colon and I really have seen its effects on candida since candida can live in different parts of the body.
The good bacteria L. reuteri exhibited antifungal properties against five of the six most common oral Candida species. It eliminated these species and is now being studied for the treatment of SIFO (small intestinal fungal overgrowth). SIFO is characterized by the presence of an excessive number of fungal organisms in the small intestine associated with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. [3]
Candida can be challenging, but having large amounts of good bacteria keeps candida in check. We need balance not complete extinction, and having the proper flora makes this a natural process.
The probiotic yeast that inhibits Candida
S. boulardii is one of the most researched probiotics and has been used worldwide to support gastrointestinal health. S. boulardii is a good yeast and is unrelated to the yeast Candida albicans and other Candida species. A healthy gut only has a yeast content of 0.1% yeast, Candida albicans being the most prominent yeast present. We need not only good bacteria but good yeasts as well to keep us in balance. When you have Candida proliferating, it will decrease the acidity of the gut making it susceptible to harmful bacteria and yeasts. S. boulardii exerts the opposite effect producing lactic and other acids known to inhibit potentially harmful Candida yeast species.[4] We have an article that tells you how to make your own potent S. boulardii which is stronger and more effective than pills.
Stopping Candida
Studies On Children
There are now some studies supporting my life experiences. One study included 155 hospitalized children (106 boys, 44 girls) between the ages of 3 months and 12 years who had been on broad-spectrum antibiotics for at least 48 hours. They were divided into one trial group and one placebo group. For seven days, the subjects in the trial group received a sachet of probiotics twice a day; the other group received placebo packets. Each probiotic sachet contained Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosum, Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Saccharomyces boulardii (the good yeast in kombucha), and Saccharomyces thermophilus—all of which are common in cultured foods—and fructo-oligosaccharides, which are a type of prebiotic.
The presence of Candida was the same in both groups on the first day, but on the last day that probiotics were administered, 27.9 percent of the patients in the trial group were colonized with Candida infection, compared to 42.6 percent of the patients in the placebo group. Candida infections continued to increase in number from day 7 to 14 in the placebo group but not in the trial group that took the probiotic sachets. This showed that supplementing with probiotics could help reduce Candida colonization in critically ill children receiving broad-spectrum antibiotics.[4]
Other studies show that when you add probiotics from the Lactobacillus family you downregulate Candida, stopping yeast infections and keeping them from recurring.2 I can think of no better way to do this than through cultured foods, which are loaded with many probiotics, especially those from the Lactobacillus family
So What Is The Solution?
Having lots of good bacteria keeps Candida in check. It keeps it from spreading out and growing into places it does not belong.
Building up the good bacteria in your body with a lot of cultured foods can become a very powerful weapon that can clean house and bring you back into balance. You can start adding them to your meals and increase them as you adjust to the huge influx of good microbes that begin to conquer and dominate your microflora. Caution: it can cause a Herxheimer Reaction as the bad bacteria and bad yeasts leave the body. They give off toxins as they die off and you can experience a healing crisis.
Please check out this article:
The Healing Crisis and Cultured Foods
For years I took yeast killers. Although these were effective in the short term, they also killed good bacteria and left me struggling. They never really returned me to the balance I was seeking until I started eating a lot of cultured foods.
Coconut oil for Candida
One thing I do recommend is ingesting coconut oil. The caprylic acid found in coconut oil is a powerful Candida killer that works well with cultured foods; but it, too, can make you feel worse before you feel better, so go slowly.
Cultured foods right before bed
If you take probiotic cultured foods right before bed they work significantly better. They have time to grow and multiply while you are resting, which is when the body can repair itself best. Remember, even if you are only adding small amounts of cultured foods, such as a spoonful of cultured veggies or kefir, you can still have symptoms of a die off. Bacteria work in numbers and they sense you the host, determine how big you are, and then determine how many bacteria are needed to do the job. When your body has enough of these bacteria they will do their job.
The Trilogy
Your body contains many different strains of bacteria which is why I recommend eating the Trilogy: kefir, kombucha, and cultured vegetables. These three types of food contain the different strains of bacteria and good yeasts which can bring you back into balance. Check out — Three Foods That Changed My Life.
“Look for the good in every person and every situation. You'll almost always find it.”Brian Tracy
Listen To My Podcast
More often than not, if you have a yeast problem, your gut bacteria are out of balance. You have to have lots of good bacteria to keep Candida in its rightful place. Join me to find helpful ways to keep it in balance with probiotic foods and gain wisdom into how your body really works.
Are you on the list?
Sign up today and I'll send you my free Getting Started Guide!
Each week I'll send you updates, tips, recipes, and more! You might even be a winner of my weekly giveaway! (starter cultures, memberships, and more!)
Come be a part of my cultured food family!
