4 Ways to Kick Candida to the Curb

These days, it's easy to find articles that will help you assess whether or not you have candida and everyone seems to have their own protocol. Some candida diets are SUPER restrictive -but what actually works?

I struggled with a candida overgrowth for several years. I took every online quiz hoping that one would suggest maybe it was something else - but no such luck. I had heard how hard candida could be to get rid of and frankly, I wasn't up to the challenge.

Unfortunately, my symptoms grew worse until I could no longer ignore it. I had a definite candida overgrowth and I needed to do something about it if I wanted to stop the suffering. While I don't necessarily believe I'm "out of the woods" yet, I found a fairly simple protocol that has worked for me.

1. Ditch Sugar

For two weeks, consume no sugar. Not even fruit. Yes, I believe fruit is healthy, but when you're dealing with candida, you really need to starve it. Candida doesn't care where the sugar came from (an apple or a donut is all the same to this yeasty beasty) so your best bet is avoidance. This is no easy feat, let me tell you. A walk down any supermarket aisle can tell you that sugar is added to EVERYTHING. Your best bet is to rely more heavily on protein and some dairy (if tolerated). After two weeks, add some fruit back in and this should allow you to back off some of your protein/dairy.

2. Find a good "Kill the Candida" supplement

Personally, I used this blend that I purchased off Amazon. It has a great mix of oregano leaf extract, caprylic acid, aloe vera leaf gel, anise seed, black walnut and wormwood leaf - all things that squash out candida. It even has a fair amount of probiotics.

3. Probiotics, probiotics, probiotics

Find a good probiotic (Garden of Life makes some great ones like this one), or even better, have some fermented food. Making your own sauerkraut is quite easy, cheap and actually contains more probiotics than you'll find in even the best over-the-counter pill. Start with the lowest recommended does and work your way up to the highest.

4. Plan Ahead

As I said above, sugar is in EVERYTHING. Planning out your meals and even snacks will prevent you from making a poor decision based out of hunger. Planning ahead also includes coming off your two weeks in a responsible way. If you've done a good job and not had any sugar for two weeks but then go down a pint of Ben & Jerry's on day 15, you're not really helping yourself. I would recommend adding fruit back in on day 15 and see how that goes for a few days. Of course, always staying clear of processed sugary junk is your best option.

There are numerous other supplements that can assist, such as Vitamin C, coconut oil, bone broth to heal the gut - in order to not get overwhelmed, consider these extra bonuses. If you follow the steps above, you CAN kick candida to the curb.