How to Know if You Have Candida Overgrowth
If you experience bloating, recurrent yeast infections (or UTI’s), IBS-type symptoms (like weird poops), fatigue, brain fog — and you’ve done any googling 🙋♀️ — you might have come across something called “Candida” or fungal overgrowth.
Candida is a type of yeast that is naturally found in the human body, and is one of the many microorganisms that make up your microbiome.
When candida is kept in check (by our immune system and other beneficial microbes), we generally don’t experience any issues as far as symptoms are concerned.
It’s when candida has full reign to overgrow, that we can see it cause issues for our gut health, and lead to pesky symptoms — some of which you may be experiencing if you landed here 👋
Wondering if this might be the culprit behind your symptoms?
Let’s dive into the nitty gritty, and find out 👇
Understanding Candida — When Candida Becomes Problematic: Too Much of a Good(?) Thing
As we determined above, candida is a type of yeast. It’s yes, found in the gut microbiome, but it’s also found in the upper gastrointestinal tract, skin, mouth, and vagina.
It is a SUPER resilient, smart, and dynamic microbe.
It can morph into different forms of itself, create biofilms (a protective outer layer) that make it really hard to get to, and has the ability to survive off many different food sources, making it a potentially really tricky microbe to navigate properly.
So we know that candida is a normal part of our gut microbiome.
It’s what’s considered an “opportunistic” species. When given the right conditions, the right opportunity, this microbe will happily proliferate.
It’s when candida proliferates too much, and we’re left with candida overgrowth, that it can be problematic 😅
Candida overgrowth can lead to a variety of digestive symptoms (which you can read about below), as well as symptoms outside of the digestive tract.
Here are some of the common drivers for candida overgrowth:
medications like PPIs (proton pump inhibitors often requisitioned for GERD, gastritis, acid reflux, etc.), birth control (the pill, IUDs, etc.), NSAIDS
high carbohydrate/sugar consumption
high alcohol consumption
antibiotic use
poor immune function
poor digestive capacity (ie. low stomach acid levels; or hypochlorhydria)
motility disorders (like gastroparesis)
heavy metals
Suspect you may have candida? See how many signs & symptoms you can tick off below 👇
Symptoms of Candida Overgrowth
If you're experiencing any of the following symptoms, it might be time to take a closer look at what's going on in your microbiome:
Digestive issues such as bloating, gas, constipation, reflux, abdominal pain, and indigestion
Food sensitivities and intolerances
Sugar cravings
Joint and muscle pain
Fatigue and brain fog
Mood swings, irritability, headaches
Weight concerns
Recurrent infections such as yeast infections and urinary tract infections
Oral thrush (that thick white-ish coating on your tongue!)
These symptoms can be caused by a variety of factors (you’ll hear me say this often, but symptoms can often be vague and overlap with multiple underlying contributors), but candida overgrowth is one potential culprit.
By identifying the root cause of your symptoms, you can take steps to address candida, ditch your frustrating symptoms, and bring balance back to your gut (and overall!) health.
Addressing Fungal Overgrowth: Bringing your Gut Microbiome Back into Balance
If you suspect that you have a fungal overgrowth like candida (if you’re able to check off a number of the symptoms mentioned above, it may be worth considering!), there are several steps you can take through nutrition, lifestyle, and even supplementation to address both the candida, AND bring balance back to the microbiome 😎
Because I’m a stickler for a root-cause approach when I’m working with clients — I’d be remiss not to mention this here:
You need to address why you have candida overgrowth.
Did it overgrow after a round or two of antibiotics? Due to excessive sugar and carbohydrate intake? Medications? Alcohol intake? A compromised immune system? A damaged mucosal barrier?
It’s important to identify what might be contributing to an environment that’s conducive to our lil’ friend proliferating in numbers.
Aside from that — there’s tons you can do through nutrition, lifestyle, botanicals, and even supplementation to get a handle on your candida populations.
As far as nutrition for candida overgrowth is concerned, here are a few things to consider:
These are some food sources you can focus on, and prioritize to support your microbiome, and reduce exposure to foods candida likes to feed on:
Focus on whole foods as much as possible (avoiding ultra-processed foods to the best of your ability)
Stay hydrated; make sure you’re drinking at least ~1/2 your bodyweight in ounces of water, daily (bonus if you add minerals in to help with hydration — like a pinch of Celtic or Redmond’s salt, or Concentrace drops)
Good quality protein (like eggs, poultry, beef, seafood, SMASH fish, beans and legumes, tempeh and tofu, edamame, pork, high-quality dairy, etc.)
Healthy fats (think eggs, good quality animal protein, butter, olive oil, olives, avocado, avocado oil, ghee, good quality dairy, hemp hearts, fish & seafood)
A variety of plant-based foods (like leafy greens, cruciferous veggies, some root veggies, low-glycemic fruit, beans and legumes, etc.)
Fermented foods (if you’re able to tolerate them), and polyphenols (prioritize eating the rainbow!)
While I generally don’t love recommending that folks remove foods from their diet (I believe variety in our nutrition is critical), there are definitely foods that can drive candida proliferation, and could be helpful to avoid for a while:
Processed carbohydrates and sugars. Even excessive fruit intake and fruit juice (especially the ones with high sugar content, like tropical fruits — think: mango, grapes, pineapple, etc.). Sugar is sugar is sugar. Even if it’s from fruit. On a chemical level — it’s all the same and your body can’t discern between sugar in its simplest forms, whether its from fruit or from refined carbohydrates.
These foods directly feed candida populations, and will contribute to overgrowth if that’s what you’re experiencing.
Alcohol. Sorry 🥴 There’s just no benefit to our health when it comes to booze — and with regards to candida, and yeast/fungus specifically, alcohol can disrupt the microbiome, dampen the immune system, make the gut lining more permeable (aka leakgy gut), and even contribute to the growth and proliferation of candida.
Some specific “anti-fungal” foods you can consider incorporating into your day-to-day are:
coconut oil
garlic
green tea
cinnamon
oregano
cruciferous veggies
apple cider vinegar
clove
thyme
Here are some lifestyle tools & practices to consider to support your digestion (and immune system, which is super important for managing candida!):
Practice meal spacing. Leaving 3-4 hours between meals gives your body time to digest properly, and move things along in a timely manner via something called the migrating motor complex. This lessens the likelihood of constipation, bloating, and the potential for overgrowth and imbalances in the gut microbiome.
Prioritize good quality sleep. It’s important for your gut health, and it’s important for your immune health. Don’t skimp out on this! Prioritize 7-9 hours of good quality sleep, every night.
Make mindful eating part of your daily routine. Taking a few deep breaths before meals, carving out time and space to enjoy your meals (taking 15-20 minutes to actually sit down and eat!), eating without distractions (put your phone away!), and properly chewing your food goes suchhhhh a long way in optimizing digestion, minimizing symptoms, and improving nutrient absorption.
These are some of the botanicals and supplements helpful to combat candida:
Garlic and Green Tea: One of the ways green tea and garlic act on candida is their ability to inhibit adhesion. Candida can adhere, or “stick” to cells, and create biofilms, which makes it super tricky to deal with & get rid of. Incorporating green tea and garlic routinely into your nutrition can help inhibit candida’s ability to stick onto things 👋
Household herbs like cinnamon, clove, thyme, oregano, etc., all have anti-candida properties, and are a great addition into your daily nutrition.
Probiotics like lactobacillus strains, and saccharomyces boulardii are particularly helpful in cases of fungal overgrowth. They might be something to look into!
For candida eradication — a protocol that’s completed to eradicate, or “kill off” candida overgrowth there are medications (such as Nystatin and Amphotericin B), as well as nutraceuticals and botanicals (which is what I use in my practice with clients, as I am a non-prescribing practitioner), that can be used.
Nutraceuticals like caprylic acid, berberine, allicin, oregano, etc., can be used strategically to help combat candida overgrowth.
I always recommend utilizing these products under the guidance and recommendation of a practitioner, who can work closely with you, and make the best recommendations for you based on your unique case.
Testing for Fungal Overgrowth
As a practitioner who aligns with the world of functional and integrative medicine, I love to take a “test, don’t guess” approach to most cases.
Symptoms can be vague — and while we can do our best to presume fungal overgrowth when we’re checking all the boxes on symptoms, it’s nice to have a definitive answer (which we can get via testing), to determine the best next steps as far as restoring balance to the gut microbiome.
There are a few ways we can test for candida/fungal overgrowth:
comprehensive stool testing (like the GI MAP from DSL, which is my fav)
organic acids testing (like the OAT test from Mosaic Diagnostics, or the OMX Organic Metabolomics from DSL)
Here are a few samples of what this could look like on a test:
(a GI MAP report from DSL)
(a partial OAT test from Mosaic Diagnostics)
While there are absolutely things you can do from home without a practitioner — from a nutrition, lifestyle, and even herbal perspective — to help keep fungal levels at bay, and support a healthy, balanced microbiome.. when it comes to full on anti-fungal protocols, testing & working with a practitioner is a great direction to go in, to ensure it’s being done both correctly, and effectively.
What’s Next for You & Your Candida
In terms of what’s next for you — definitely start with some of the low-hanging fruit recommendations above!
There’s sooo much you can do from a nutrition/lifestyle/herbal perspective to support your microbiome and keep candida levels in check.
Implement the lifestyle tools I highlighted, incorporate some of the anti-fungal foods and herbs, be mindful of your sugar, refined carbs, and alcohol intake — and you’ll have taken a ton of steps in the right direction 👏
However! If you suspect you may have a full-on candida overgrowth, and you’ve checked off a good majority of the symptoms mentioned above in this article.. it might be time to seek out support from a practitioner and consider testing to determine your personal best next steps to get rid of the overgrowth!
If you’re interested in learning more about how I help my clients navigate candida overgrowth in my clinical practice, you can learn more here.
If you’d like to book a free discovery call to chat about your gut health, next best steps, and whether we might be a good fit to work together, you can go ahead and book one in here.
