August 28, 2025 • 20 mins
Have you ever tried a “Candida diet” or an antifungal supplement only to find yourself right back where you started? You’re not alone.
In this episode, I’m breaking down the truth about Candida overgrowth and why diet or antifungals alone don’t solve the problem. Candida isn’t something you can just starve or kill into submission, the real key is fixing the terrain that allowed it to grow in the first place.
In this episode I cover:
- Why Candida is part of a normal gut microbiome (and when it becomes a problem)
- Myths that keep people stuck like “starving Candida” with diet or relying on antifungals
- The real root causes of Candida overgrowth, including blood sugar imbalances and depleted commensals
- Why Candida is so hard to detect on stool testing and other testing options
- Practical strategies to support digestion, motility, and minerals so Candida doesn’t keep coming back
Whether you’ve struggled with Candida symptoms for years or you’re a practitioner supporting clients, this episode will help you shift from the endless Candida-killing cycle to building a resilient gut terrain.
💡 Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode:
- Take the free "Why Am I Bloated" Quiz
- Learn more about gutPractitioner™: my 4-month mentorship for dietitians and health professionals
- Connect with me on Instagram @drheatherfinley
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Heather Finley (00:03):
Welcome to the Love Your Gut Podcast.
I'm your host, Dr.
Heather Finley, registereddietitian and gut health
specialist.
I understand the frustration ofdealing with GI issues because
I've been there and I spent overtwo decades searching for
answers for my own gut issues ofconstipation, bloating, and
stomach pain.
I've dedicated my life tounderstanding and solving my own
(00:25):
gut issues.
And now I'm here to guide you.
On this podcast, I'll help youidentify the true root causes of
your discomfort.
So you can finally ditch yoursymptoms for good.
My goal is to empower you withthe knowledge and tools you need
so that you can love your gutand it will love you right back.
So if you're ready to learn alot, gain a deeper understanding
(00:47):
of your gut and find lastingrelief.
You are in the right place.
Welcome to the love your gutpodcast.
Hello, and welcome back to thenext episode of the Love Your
Gut podcast.
I'm so excited to jump in todayto chat with you about all
things candida.
I had so much fun the lastcouple of weeks doing a SIBO
(01:08):
series, so I hope you enjoyed itas well.
But we are moving on to othertopics today and one that
actually really goes along withSIBO because sometimes SIBO and
Candida can go together.
You might even have sifo, smallintestinal fungal overgrowth.
So first I wanna start out byjust talking about kind of the
(01:30):
narrative around Candida.
If you've had candida.
Or maybe you've suspected thatyou've had candida, you've
probably been told that you weresupposed to do a candida
cleanse, whatever that meanswhich may entail cutting out
sugar or carbs or even allfruits.
Maybe you even took anantifungal supplement that was
promised to.
(01:51):
Kill Candida for good.
And maybe you were told eventhat your gut issues were from
Candida.
And while that certainly can bethe case, I wanna flip the
script a little bit on Candidatoday to focus on why Candida is
really a consequence of otherissues and how if you're just
zoomed in on Candida similarlyto sibo, that you're gonna end
(02:13):
up just.
Trying to treat it, and then itcomes back and trying to treat
it and then it comes back.
So it's not that your gut isbroken or it's not that your gut
is not fixable.
It's just that you don't havethe full story.
So candida is real, um, but youcannot starve it out with diet
and you cannot just kill it offwith antifungals alone.
So today we're gonna cover whyCandida keeps coming back,
(02:37):
what's really driving it, andhow to actually address the root
of it so that you can finallyfeel better.
We have a lot of clients thatcome to us having previously
done candida cleanses or candidadiets, and.
Have a lot of food fear becausethey're scared to eat carbs.
They're scared to eat fruit, andthey're scared of candida
(02:59):
because of the symptoms thatthey've had as well.
So just wanna validate that.
Candida can be really tough andit can be tricky, especially
when you're using the wrongstrategy.
So let's first start out bytalking through what Candida
actually is.
So candida is a yeast or afungus that actually lives in
your gut.
(03:19):
And not all candida isnecessarily bad.
It's not an in invader that justsnuck in one day.
It's just part of your gutecosystem.
So.
Most people are gonna have somelevel of candida.
But the problem becomes whencandida gets too much room.
So you can think of yourmicrobiome like a target parking
(03:40):
lot on a Saturday.
If you go to Target on aSaturday, it's probably gonna be
really packed, right?
All the shoppers are there.
People are getting groceries,they're getting all the things
from the dollar section and allthe things that Target tells
them that they need, right.
When the parking lot emptiesbecause maybe somebody took
(04:01):
antibiotics or restrictivediets, or stress has wiped out
the bacteria for this analogypurposes, or maybe all the
shoppers have gone home.
Candida is kind of like thatparty bus that pulls in and
takes over.
So candida isn't necessarilyreally the enemy here.
The empty parking lot is, so ifyou think of your microbiome
(04:23):
like a parking lot, I just wantyou to kind of keep that in your
mind as you're listening to thisepisode and thinking about maybe
your case.
Because this is what keepspeople stuck.
You are, you have a lot ofdifferent parking spaces in your
gut, and we wanna fill them withgood bacteria, not necessarily
unwanted bacteria or fungus.
(04:45):
So there are a couple myths thatI think often keep people stuck
when it comes to candida.
And number one is that you canstarve candida with diet.
So the truth is that diet alonedoesn't kill candida.
While you may.
Get rid of your symptoms.
Typically, when you're cuttinglots of sugar, lots of carbs, it
might just give you temporaryrelief.
(05:07):
But as soon as you add thosefoods back in, the symptoms
return.
And the reason for this isbecause food was not the cause.
The terrain of your gut was thecause, so you were removing the
fuel source or the food source.
But the second you add it backin.
It comes right back.
So we've had clients, many, manyclients, but one that I can
(05:27):
think of specifically who wentmonths without fruit, without
grains, wouldn't even eat sweetpotatoes and her symptoms,
although her candida symptomswere better, she was more
exhausted, more constipated, hada lot more cravings, brain fog,
and other symptoms, and she wasreally scared to add foods back
(05:48):
in because she didn't want hercandida to come back.
But what happened was once werebuilt her digestion and we
looked at everything from headto toe, supported her minerals
and got her actually eating anormal balanced diet.
All these symptoms improved andthe candida didn't come back
because we had targeted what wasactually causing the candida.
(06:10):
And I'll get into that a littlebit more later on in the
episode.
Myth number two is thatantifungals will fix it.
So once again, while that can behelpful, if somebody's motility
is sluggish, where they're notclearing their bowels every
single day, or their digestionis really weak, where they're
not actually breaking down theirfood.
(06:32):
And maybe their microbiome isdepleted, candida will come
right back because it's theperfect environment.
Ideally, when you eat food.
You chew your food, you swallowit, your stomach acid starts to
break it down.
Then your liver and yourgallbladder and your pancreas do
their job.
And food should end up in yourSmall intestine, very well
(06:52):
digested, where it continues tobe digested and then transported
to your large intestine.
If your motility is slow or yourdigestion isn't working and food
isn't broken down properly, orthings are sitting there longer,
there's more opportunity forfermentation and growth of.
Candida or other types of yeast.
So we have to address the wholesystem if we really want to
(07:15):
eradicate candida.
One client that I worked withyears ago had done three rounds
of antifungals.
We actually have another clientthat I can think of right now
who has recurrent yeastinfections and has been on.
Antifungals for like ongoing formonths and months and can't get
(07:37):
rid of the symptoms, so everytime this past client felt
better.
On the antifungal, she wouldfeel better for weeks and then
everything would come roaringback.
So what actually worked later onwas focusing on her
constipation, focusing on hermotility, supporting her
minerals so that her body couldactually contract muscles and
(07:57):
move things through.
So her bowels were moving.
So her nervous system wassupported, her thyroid was
supported, her stomach acid, allthe things.
Once her bowels were movingdaily and we addressed other
root causes at play, theantifungals were finally
working, and then she didn'thave to be on them ongoing.
We were able to also repopulateher target parking lot or her
(08:18):
microbiome.
And then the last myth that Iwant to mention is that candida
is the root cause of everything.
So while candida can cause a lotof symptoms, which I'll mention
in a little bit.
It's usually a sign of somethingdeeper.
Sometimes blood sugar imbalancesdepleted, beneficial bacteria,
low stomach acid, stress,antibiotic use, slow motility,
(08:41):
poor digestion.
So if you're just focusing onkilling candida, you're really
missing the bigger picture, andthat's the case with any
digestive issue, right?
If you're just focused on whatfood you're eliminating or.
What food you are or you aren'teating, you're really missing
the big picture of what'sactually going on.
So let's hone in on some of theroot causes and what if it's
(09:04):
actually not just your diet orit's not just antifungals.
What is actually drivingcandida?............
quick pause before we continue.
If you are a dietician or ahealth professional, listening
and thinking, this is exactlywhat my clients are struggling
with, but I don't feel confidentknowing how to actually address
it, that is why I created gutpractitioner.
(09:26):
This is my four month clinicalmentorship where I teach you the
exact gut together frameworkI've used for over a thousand
clients so that you can stopguessing, stop handing out
another low FODMAP diet orcandida diet to your clients,
and actually get to the rootcause.
Even with the trickiest GIcases, inside gut practitioner,
you'll get live case consults,20 plus self-paced modules, a
(09:50):
private community where you canpost.
Cases, anytime and get feedback.
And then we have live calls.
It is not just education, it'sreal time support so that you
never feel stuck in front of acomplex client again.
And you have the support from meand my team while you're in the
program.
So if you've been wanting tofeel confident interpreting labs
(10:10):
like GI Map, HT MA, or justfinally wanna have protocols
that actually work.
Gut practitioner is exactly whatyou need.
You can learn more and save yourspot.
Using the link in the shownotes, we kick off the first
week of September.
Number one could be blood sugarimbalances.
This one is huge.
If your blood sugar is spikingand crashing all day, candida
(10:33):
thrives.
Think of it as the sugar isfertilizer for the yeast.
And so those 3:00 PM energycrashes and sugar cravings or
that feeling hangry, that's notwillpower, that's unstable blood
sugar, that's feeding theterrain.
So it's not about cutting outcarbs, it's not about cutting
out all grains, all fruits.
(10:53):
It's about balancing your mealsand making sure they have enough
protein and enough fat andenough fiber, really mineral
rich, potassium, magnesium,sodium.
Keeping your blood sugar steadyso that candida doesn't get that
constant fuel and so that yourcortisol is not all over the
place.
Your stress response isn't allover the place.
It's not always about cuttingout more.
(11:15):
It's about how do we make thingsmore stable.
The next one is depletedcommensals.
So again, back to that targetparking lot analogy.
Your healthy bacteria or yourgood bacteria keep candida in
check.
But when you're on antibioticsor cutting out a million
different foods, stress,hormonal, birth control, all the
(11:35):
things.
That wipes out your beneficialbacteria.
So we don't want our commensalsto be depleted because then
candida has no competition.
So this is why adding foodvariety and sometimes probiotics
that are targeted can be waymore powerful than restriction
because we want a lot of cars inyour parking lot, so the party
(11:56):
bus cannot come in.
Another root cause is lowstomach acid or poor digestion.
So since stomach acid is kind ofyour defense mechanism or your
defense wall, low acid will letmore microbes slip through.
And then if you add sluggishbile flow or weak enzyme output,
you've got a really openinvitation for candida.
(12:18):
Your bile is antimicrobial, andso every time you eat.
Your bile is surging and coatingyour small intestine and helping
to kill off any microbes there.
Next is sluggish motility, whichI mentioned earlier, but candida
loves stagnation.
You can think of this like apond, right?
If the water's not moving it,there's algae, it smells.
(12:42):
If you're not pooping daily,this gut is stagnant.
That's where things overgrow,and so daily motility and daily
bowel movements are really anon-negotiable for healing.
The next one is mineraldepletion and burnout.
Minerals regulate stomach acid.
They help with en enzymeproduction.
They help with energy.
You are, you need minerals tomake energy.
(13:03):
You need minerals for immunedefense.
And so if you're burnt out, ifyou're low minerals are also
contributing to poor stress,resilience, poor sleep, low
secretory, IGA.
Your body's really depleted.
Your body simply can't keep up.
And it can't keep Candida incheck.
And then the last one that I'llmention today, and there's many
(13:25):
more, is that birth control,antibiotics and steroids.
Certain medications will wipeout protective bacteria.
So it's kind of tipping thescales in favor of candida,
which is why it is really commonto get candida whenever you are
taking an antibiotic or some ofthese other medications.
So we have to intentionallyrebuild the microbiome and make
(13:47):
sure that it's supported.
So let's talk testing.
How do you know if you havecandida?
Because we often get thisquestion like, is your stool
test that you're gonna do?
Is this actually gonna test forcandida?
And the answer is yes.
There's a lot of ways to testfor candida.
One of the most common teststhat we use is GI Map stool, TE
(14:09):
stool testing.
Now what I will say is while theGI map can pick up candida, the
problem is that candida oftenhides in biofilms.
Biofilms are like protectivelayers that make it hard to
detect.
I kind of think of it like aCadbury egg, so like the hard
candy coating with the softmiddle.
(14:29):
Biofilms can be hard to crackthrough.
So we have clients with veryobvious candida symptoms and
candida history, but their GImap comes back negative, so we
often have to aggravate itbeforehand.
That doesn't mean that it's notthere, it just means it's pretty
stealthily.
It might be a little bit harderto treat.
There's probably a lot of rootcauses.
(14:50):
Maybe it's been there a longtime.
Some other ways that you cantest would be an organic acid
test.
This looks at urine byproductsof that candida produces like
arabinose.
It's can sometimes be a bit moresensitive than stool.
And then honestly, the clinicalpictures really important here.
Symptoms can tell us a lot morethan a lab.
So some symptoms that you mighthave that would point to candida
(15:13):
would be chronic bloating, yeastinfections, sugar cravings, skin
issues like eczema, psoriasis,just other rashes, brain fog.
Fatigue, history of antibiotics,all of those can point to a
candida imbalance.
So don't panic if your stooltest doesn't show candida.
The real question is, what isyour terrain telling us?
(15:35):
What are your symptoms tellingus as part of our assessment
process with clients?
Of course, we're gonna dig intosome of this, and like I said.
We can always try to aggravatethe C candida using a biofilm
disruptor prior to see if itshows up, and obviously consider
the whole client picture in thetreatment process.
So what actually works, I wannatalk about five steps towards
(16:00):
actually getting rid of Candida,and here's the approach that we
take with clients.
Number one is you have tosupport digestion, so you have
to support stomach acid, bileenzyme output.
To put your defense system backonline, you're, you need to keep
things moving.
You need to keep things beingkilled off, that need to be
(16:20):
killed off and the top of thechain working so that the bottom
of the chain will work.
We also wanna balance bloodsugar, so focusing on the
framework that we teach ourclients is called PFFC.
So protein, fat, fiber, color.
We wanna use really mineral richfoods.
We wanna stabilize energy, wewanna stabilize cravings.
We wanna make sure that somebodyis getting adequate protein,
(16:41):
fat, and carbohydrates and fiberin their diet.
Step three is we wanna rebuildcommensals.
We need to add in prebioticfibers and food variety and help
to get that target parking lotfull.
Again, you cannot rebuild yourgut.
By just taking probiotics, youhave to give them their fuel in
(17:03):
the form of prebiotic fiber, andthat is often a huge missing
piece because a lot of peoplehave symptoms, they add in
prebiotics, onions, garlic,apples, whatever it is, and they
get a lot of symptoms, whichshows us that there's an issue
there, which we need to addressfirst, so then we can start
adding in the foods.
(17:24):
Step four or number four is toprioritize minerals.
We have to make sure thatsomebody's minerals are
supported to regulate digestion.
And if the body's depleted,nothing else sticks.
We have to make sure that thebody has the raw materials to
actually do what it needs to do.
And then the last piece is tokeep motility moving.
(17:45):
So daily bowel movements.
Emptying the bowels is anon-negotiable.
Sometimes we need to usemotility support.
We have a lot of veryconstipated clients, and so this
is a huge, huge piece along withall the others.
So once these foundations are inplace.
We sometimes add in antifungalsor different protocols to
address candida, but thedifference is now the terrain,
(18:09):
and now the gut is actuallyready so they actually work.
We're not just throwingantifungals at someone who's
constipated and can't actuallyget rid of anything.
We're not throwing antifungalsat somebody whose minerals are
so depleted that their bodydoesn't even have the energy to
actually clear anything.
We're not throwing antifungalsat someone who doesn't have
(18:31):
adequate bile flow, doesn't haveadequate stomach acid to
actually help the top of thechain of digestion.
And so then you don't end uprepeating protocol after
protocol after protocol.
I.
So here's the big takeaway.
Candida is real.
It can cause major symptoms, butyou can't just starve it out
with diet.
(18:51):
You can't just kill it off withantifungals, or at least not for
good.
So candida will thrive whenblood sugar is unstable, when
beneficial bacteria aredepleted.
When your digestion is weak, andthe real solution is rebuilding
your gut from the ground up.
Supporting blood sugar,restoring commensals, supporting
minerals, getting motilitymoving.
(19:12):
You can think of any gutintervention like a three-legged
stool.
We always have to supportnutrition.
We always have to supportlifestyle, and we always have to
support using targetedsupplementation.
Supplements alone.
The stool's gonna tip over.
If we miss one of those things,it's not gonna be a balanced
approach.
So I hope that this is helpfulin just giving you a little bit
(19:35):
of insight into possibly whatcould be going on with your
recurrent candida, or maybeyou're just.
Curious about possibly havingcandida and what to do about it?
I think that the best way or thebest place to start would be to
take our free quiz.
If you're curious, is it myblood sugar?
Is it my stomach acid?
(19:56):
Is it my motility?
I have a free quiz, it's called,why Am I Bloated?
Even if you're not bloated, youcan benefit from this quiz'cause
it will ask you questions aboutyour root causes.
But this will help you whittledown what one of the major root
causes that has been unaddressedcould possibly be for you.
And the nice part is after youtake the quiz totally free, you
(20:16):
will get a video that walks youthrough what it means.
How to address it.
Some resources, some differentpodcast episodes that I've done
and other resources as well.
So if you don't know your rootcauses or are curious, you know,
maybe things have changed overthe years.
I think the quiz is a greatplace to start.
So I.
This is kind of a shorterepisode, but I hope that you
(20:37):
enjoyed it.
I hope that this helps maybeclear up a little bit of
confusion about Candida andpossibly why what you've done in
the past hasn't worked.
So would love to hear anyfeedback, and I will see you
next week on the next episode ofthe Love Your Gut podcast.
Thanks for tuning in.
Welcome to the Love Your Gut Podcast.
I'm your host, Dr.
Heather Finley, registereddietitian and gut health
specialist.
I understand the frustration ofdealing with GI issues because
I've been there and I spent overtwo decades searching for
answers for my own gut issues ofconstipation, bloating, and
stomach pain.
I've dedicated my life tounderstanding and solving my own
(00:25):
gut issues.
And now I'm here to guide you.
On this podcast, I'll help youidentify the true root causes of
your discomfort.
So you can finally ditch yoursymptoms for good.
My goal is to empower you withthe knowledge and tools you need
so that you can love your gutand it will love you right back.
So if you're ready to learn alot, gain a deeper understanding
(00:47):
of your gut and find lastingrelief.
You are in the right place.
Welcome to the love your gutpodcast.
Hello, and welcome back to thenext episode of the Love Your
Gut podcast.
I'm so excited to jump in todayto chat with you about all
things candida.
I had so much fun the lastcouple of weeks doing a SIBO
(01:08):
series, so I hope you enjoyed itas well.
But we are moving on to othertopics today and one that
actually really goes along withSIBO because sometimes SIBO and
Candida can go together.
You might even have sifo, smallintestinal fungal overgrowth.
So first I wanna start out byjust talking about kind of the
(01:30):
narrative around Candida.
If you've had candida.
Or maybe you've suspected thatyou've had candida, you've
probably been told that you weresupposed to do a candida
cleanse, whatever that meanswhich may entail cutting out
sugar or carbs or even allfruits.
Maybe you even took anantifungal supplement that was
promised to.
(01:51):
Kill Candida for good.
And maybe you were told eventhat your gut issues were from
Candida.
And while that certainly can bethe case, I wanna flip the
script a little bit on Candidatoday to focus on why Candida is
really a consequence of otherissues and how if you're just
zoomed in on Candida similarlyto sibo, that you're gonna end
(02:13):
up just.
Trying to treat it, and then itcomes back and trying to treat
it and then it comes back.
So it's not that your gut isbroken or it's not that your gut
is not fixable.
It's just that you don't havethe full story.
So candida is real, um, but youcannot starve it out with diet
and you cannot just kill it offwith antifungals alone.
So today we're gonna cover whyCandida keeps coming back,
(02:37):
what's really driving it, andhow to actually address the root
of it so that you can finallyfeel better.
We have a lot of clients thatcome to us having previously
done candida cleanses or candidadiets, and.
Have a lot of food fear becausethey're scared to eat carbs.
They're scared to eat fruit, andthey're scared of candida
(02:59):
because of the symptoms thatthey've had as well.
So just wanna validate that.
Candida can be really tough andit can be tricky, especially
when you're using the wrongstrategy.
So let's first start out bytalking through what Candida
actually is.
So candida is a yeast or afungus that actually lives in
your gut.
(03:19):
And not all candida isnecessarily bad.
It's not an in invader that justsnuck in one day.
It's just part of your gutecosystem.
So.
Most people are gonna have somelevel of candida.
But the problem becomes whencandida gets too much room.
So you can think of yourmicrobiome like a target parking
(03:40):
lot on a Saturday.
If you go to Target on aSaturday, it's probably gonna be
really packed, right?
All the shoppers are there.
People are getting groceries,they're getting all the things
from the dollar section and allthe things that Target tells
them that they need, right.
When the parking lot emptiesbecause maybe somebody took
(04:01):
antibiotics or restrictivediets, or stress has wiped out
the bacteria for this analogypurposes, or maybe all the
shoppers have gone home.
Candida is kind of like thatparty bus that pulls in and
takes over.
So candida isn't necessarilyreally the enemy here.
The empty parking lot is, so ifyou think of your microbiome
(04:23):
like a parking lot, I just wantyou to kind of keep that in your
mind as you're listening to thisepisode and thinking about maybe
your case.
Because this is what keepspeople stuck.
You are, you have a lot ofdifferent parking spaces in your
gut, and we wanna fill them withgood bacteria, not necessarily
unwanted bacteria or fungus.
(04:45):
So there are a couple myths thatI think often keep people stuck
when it comes to candida.
And number one is that you canstarve candida with diet.
So the truth is that diet alonedoesn't kill candida.
While you may.
Get rid of your symptoms.
Typically, when you're cuttinglots of sugar, lots of carbs, it
might just give you temporaryrelief.
(05:07):
But as soon as you add thosefoods back in, the symptoms
return.
And the reason for this isbecause food was not the cause.
The terrain of your gut was thecause, so you were removing the
fuel source or the food source.
But the second you add it backin.
It comes right back.
So we've had clients, many, manyclients, but one that I can
(05:27):
think of specifically who wentmonths without fruit, without
grains, wouldn't even eat sweetpotatoes and her symptoms,
although her candida symptomswere better, she was more
exhausted, more constipated, hada lot more cravings, brain fog,
and other symptoms, and she wasreally scared to add foods back
(05:48):
in because she didn't want hercandida to come back.
But what happened was once werebuilt her digestion and we
looked at everything from headto toe, supported her minerals
and got her actually eating anormal balanced diet.
All these symptoms improved andthe candida didn't come back
because we had targeted what wasactually causing the candida.
(06:10):
And I'll get into that a littlebit more later on in the
episode.
Myth number two is thatantifungals will fix it.
So once again, while that can behelpful, if somebody's motility
is sluggish, where they're notclearing their bowels every
single day, or their digestionis really weak, where they're
not actually breaking down theirfood.
(06:32):
And maybe their microbiome isdepleted, candida will come
right back because it's theperfect environment.
Ideally, when you eat food.
You chew your food, you swallowit, your stomach acid starts to
break it down.
Then your liver and yourgallbladder and your pancreas do
their job.
And food should end up in yourSmall intestine, very well
(06:52):
digested, where it continues tobe digested and then transported
to your large intestine.
If your motility is slow or yourdigestion isn't working and food
isn't broken down properly, orthings are sitting there longer,
there's more opportunity forfermentation and growth of.
Candida or other types of yeast.
So we have to address the wholesystem if we really want to
(07:15):
eradicate candida.
One client that I worked withyears ago had done three rounds
of antifungals.
We actually have another clientthat I can think of right now
who has recurrent yeastinfections and has been on.
Antifungals for like ongoing formonths and months and can't get
(07:37):
rid of the symptoms, so everytime this past client felt
better.
On the antifungal, she wouldfeel better for weeks and then
everything would come roaringback.
So what actually worked later onwas focusing on her
constipation, focusing on hermotility, supporting her
minerals so that her body couldactually contract muscles and
(07:57):
move things through.
So her bowels were moving.
So her nervous system wassupported, her thyroid was
supported, her stomach acid, allthe things.
Once her bowels were movingdaily and we addressed other
root causes at play, theantifungals were finally
working, and then she didn'thave to be on them ongoing.
We were able to also repopulateher target parking lot or her
(08:18):
microbiome.
And then the last myth that Iwant to mention is that candida
is the root cause of everything.
So while candida can cause a lotof symptoms, which I'll mention
in a little bit.
It's usually a sign of somethingdeeper.
Sometimes blood sugar imbalancesdepleted, beneficial bacteria,
low stomach acid, stress,antibiotic use, slow motility,
(08:41):
poor digestion.
So if you're just focusing onkilling candida, you're really
missing the bigger picture, andthat's the case with any
digestive issue, right?
If you're just focused on whatfood you're eliminating or.
What food you are or you aren'teating, you're really missing
the big picture of what'sactually going on.
So let's hone in on some of theroot causes and what if it's
(09:04):
actually not just your diet orit's not just antifungals.
What is actually drivingcandida?............
quick pause before we continue.
If you are a dietician or ahealth professional, listening
and thinking, this is exactlywhat my clients are struggling
with, but I don't feel confidentknowing how to actually address
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(09:26):
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(09:50):
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(10:10):
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Using the link in the shownotes, we kick off the first
week of September.
Number one could be blood sugarimbalances.
This one is huge.
If your blood sugar is spikingand crashing all day, candida
(10:33):
thrives.
Think of it as the sugar isfertilizer for the yeast.
And so those 3:00 PM energycrashes and sugar cravings or
that feeling hangry, that's notwillpower, that's unstable blood
sugar, that's feeding theterrain.
So it's not about cutting outcarbs, it's not about cutting
out all grains, all fruits.
(10:53):
It's about balancing your mealsand making sure they have enough
protein and enough fat andenough fiber, really mineral
rich, potassium, magnesium,sodium.
Keeping your blood sugar steadyso that candida doesn't get that
constant fuel and so that yourcortisol is not all over the
place.
Your stress response isn't allover the place.
It's not always about cuttingout more.
(11:15):
It's about how do we make thingsmore stable.
The next one is depletedcommensals.
So again, back to that targetparking lot analogy.
Your healthy bacteria or yourgood bacteria keep candida in
check.
But when you're on antibioticsor cutting out a million
different foods, stress,hormonal, birth control, all the
(11:35):
things.
That wipes out your beneficialbacteria.
So we don't want our commensalsto be depleted because then
candida has no competition.
So this is why adding foodvariety and sometimes probiotics
that are targeted can be waymore powerful than restriction
because we want a lot of cars inyour parking lot, so the party
(11:56):
bus cannot come in.
Another root cause is lowstomach acid or poor digestion.
So since stomach acid is kind ofyour defense mechanism or your
defense wall, low acid will letmore microbes slip through.
And then if you add sluggishbile flow or weak enzyme output,
you've got a really openinvitation for candida.
(12:18):
Your bile is antimicrobial, andso every time you eat.
Your bile is surging and coatingyour small intestine and helping
to kill off any microbes there.
Next is sluggish motility, whichI mentioned earlier, but candida
loves stagnation.
You can think of this like apond, right?
If the water's not moving it,there's algae, it smells.
(12:42):
If you're not pooping daily,this gut is stagnant.
That's where things overgrow,and so daily motility and daily
bowel movements are really anon-negotiable for healing.
The next one is mineraldepletion and burnout.
Minerals regulate stomach acid.
They help with en enzymeproduction.
They help with energy.
You are, you need minerals tomake energy.
(13:03):
You need minerals for immunedefense.
And so if you're burnt out, ifyou're low minerals are also
contributing to poor stress,resilience, poor sleep, low
secretory, IGA.
Your body's really depleted.
Your body simply can't keep up.
And it can't keep Candida incheck.
And then the last one that I'llmention today, and there's many
(13:25):
more, is that birth control,antibiotics and steroids.
Certain medications will wipeout protective bacteria.
So it's kind of tipping thescales in favor of candida,
which is why it is really commonto get candida whenever you are
taking an antibiotic or some ofthese other medications.
So we have to intentionallyrebuild the microbiome and make
(13:47):
sure that it's supported.
So let's talk testing.
How do you know if you havecandida?
Because we often get thisquestion like, is your stool
test that you're gonna do?
Is this actually gonna test forcandida?
And the answer is yes.
There's a lot of ways to testfor candida.
One of the most common teststhat we use is GI Map stool, TE
(14:09):
stool testing.
Now what I will say is while theGI map can pick up candida, the
problem is that candida oftenhides in biofilms.
Biofilms are like protectivelayers that make it hard to
detect.
I kind of think of it like aCadbury egg, so like the hard
candy coating with the softmiddle.
(14:29):
Biofilms can be hard to crackthrough.
So we have clients with veryobvious candida symptoms and
candida history, but their GImap comes back negative, so we
often have to aggravate itbeforehand.
That doesn't mean that it's notthere, it just means it's pretty
stealthily.
It might be a little bit harderto treat.
There's probably a lot of rootcauses.
(14:50):
Maybe it's been there a longtime.
Some other ways that you cantest would be an organic acid
test.
This looks at urine byproductsof that candida produces like
arabinose.
It's can sometimes be a bit moresensitive than stool.
And then honestly, the clinicalpictures really important here.
Symptoms can tell us a lot morethan a lab.
So some symptoms that you mighthave that would point to candida
(15:13):
would be chronic bloating, yeastinfections, sugar cravings, skin
issues like eczema, psoriasis,just other rashes, brain fog.
Fatigue, history of antibiotics,all of those can point to a
candida imbalance.
So don't panic if your stooltest doesn't show candida.
The real question is, what isyour terrain telling us?
(15:35):
What are your symptoms tellingus as part of our assessment
process with clients?
Of course, we're gonna dig intosome of this, and like I said.
We can always try to aggravatethe C candida using a biofilm
disruptor prior to see if itshows up, and obviously consider
the whole client picture in thetreatment process.
So what actually works, I wannatalk about five steps towards
(16:00):
actually getting rid of Candida,and here's the approach that we
take with clients.
Number one is you have tosupport digestion, so you have
to support stomach acid, bileenzyme output.
To put your defense system backonline, you're, you need to keep
things moving.
You need to keep things beingkilled off, that need to be
(16:20):
killed off and the top of thechain working so that the bottom
of the chain will work.
We also wanna balance bloodsugar, so focusing on the
framework that we teach ourclients is called PFFC.
So protein, fat, fiber, color.
We wanna use really mineral richfoods.
We wanna stabilize energy, wewanna stabilize cravings.
We wanna make sure that somebodyis getting adequate protein,
(16:41):
fat, and carbohydrates and fiberin their diet.
Step three is we wanna rebuildcommensals.
We need to add in prebioticfibers and food variety and help
to get that target parking lotfull.
Again, you cannot rebuild yourgut.
By just taking probiotics, youhave to give them their fuel in
(17:03):
the form of prebiotic fiber, andthat is often a huge missing
piece because a lot of peoplehave symptoms, they add in
prebiotics, onions, garlic,apples, whatever it is, and they
get a lot of symptoms, whichshows us that there's an issue
there, which we need to addressfirst, so then we can start
adding in the foods.
(17:24):
Step four or number four is toprioritize minerals.
We have to make sure thatsomebody's minerals are
supported to regulate digestion.
And if the body's depleted,nothing else sticks.
We have to make sure that thebody has the raw materials to
actually do what it needs to do.
And then the last piece is tokeep motility moving.
(17:45):
So daily bowel movements.
Emptying the bowels is anon-negotiable.
Sometimes we need to usemotility support.
We have a lot of veryconstipated clients, and so this
is a huge, huge piece along withall the others.
So once these foundations are inplace.
We sometimes add in antifungalsor different protocols to
address candida, but thedifference is now the terrain,
(18:09):
and now the gut is actuallyready so they actually work.
We're not just throwingantifungals at someone who's
constipated and can't actuallyget rid of anything.
We're not throwing antifungalsat somebody whose minerals are
so depleted that their bodydoesn't even have the energy to
actually clear anything.
We're not throwing antifungalsat someone who doesn't have
(18:31):
adequate bile flow, doesn't haveadequate stomach acid to
actually help the top of thechain of digestion.
And so then you don't end uprepeating protocol after
protocol after protocol.
I.
So here's the big takeaway.
Candida is real.
It can cause major symptoms, butyou can't just starve it out
with diet.
(18:51):
You can't just kill it off withantifungals, or at least not for
good.
So candida will thrive whenblood sugar is unstable, when
beneficial bacteria aredepleted.
When your digestion is weak, andthe real solution is rebuilding
your gut from the ground up.
Supporting blood sugar,restoring commensals, supporting
minerals, getting motilitymoving.
(19:12):
You can think of any gutintervention like a three-legged
stool.
We always have to supportnutrition.
We always have to supportlifestyle, and we always have to
support using targetedsupplementation.
Supplements alone.
The stool's gonna tip over.
If we miss one of those things,it's not gonna be a balanced
approach.
So I hope that this is helpfulin just giving you a little bit
(19:35):
of insight into possibly whatcould be going on with your
recurrent candida, or maybeyou're just.
Curious about possibly havingcandida and what to do about it?
I think that the best way or thebest place to start would be to
take our free quiz.
If you're curious, is it myblood sugar?
Is it my stomach acid?
(19:56):
Is it my motility?
I have a free quiz, it's called,why Am I Bloated?
Even if you're not bloated, youcan benefit from this quiz'cause
it will ask you questions aboutyour root causes.
But this will help you whittledown what one of the major root
causes that has been unaddressedcould possibly be for you.
And the nice part is after youtake the quiz totally free, you
(20:16):
will get a video that walks youthrough what it means.
How to address it.
Some resources, some differentpodcast episodes that I've done
and other resources as well.
So if you don't know your rootcauses or are curious, you know,
maybe things have changed overthe years.
I think the quiz is a greatplace to start.
So I.
This is kind of a shorterepisode, but I hope that you
(20:37):
enjoyed it.
I hope that this helps maybeclear up a little bit of
confusion about Candida andpossibly why what you've done in
the past hasn't worked.
So would love to hear anyfeedback, and I will see you
next week on the next episode ofthe Love Your Gut podcast.
Thanks for tuning in.
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