Are you battling fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, or any of the other countless symptoms of Candida overgrowth that simply won’t go away?

I see patients every day who’ve dealt with these symptoms over and over again, who continue to test positive for Candida even after starving themselves on strict Candida diets, completing multiple online programs, and spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars on supplements that simply just didn’t work.

They get to the point where they start to believe there are no real solutions. Many even begin to fear they’re stuck with these symptoms for the rest of their lives, but that is simply not the case!

If you’re frustrated with Candida that just won’t go away, what you need is to know WHY you aren’t getting better and how to beat this Candida crisis and start seeing results, especially with all of the time and effort you’ve put into the problem.

So let’s help you get that. Let’s talk about what really causes Candida overgrowth, why it won’t go away, and how to finally destroy it.

WHAT IS CANDIDA?

Candida is an opportunistic fungal organism that typically lives in your gut, and all people have it to some extent or another. When your immune system is strong and hardy, Candida stays under the thumb of your immune system and it doesn’t cause problems.

But when the immune system is weakened for one reason or another, Candida has the opportunity to flourish and wreak havoc on almost all aspects of your body, causing symptoms such as:

• Joint pain
• Fatigue
• Brain fog
• Headaches
• Digestive issues
• Skin rashes
• Acne
• Recurring yeast infections
• Weakened immune system

Most Candida treatment protocols include severely limiting carbohydrates and sugars (which feed Candida) and taking an antimicrobial supplement or antifungal pharmaceutical to kill off the overgrown Candida.

And these do play a role in combating Candida! It’s why at GrassRoots Functional Medicine we develop a personalized dietary program for each of our Candida patients and start them on an herbal supplement called Candicide.

However, the fix to getting Candida back under control doesn’t lie in antimicrobial herbs or pharmaceuticals alone. In isolation they’re really just band-aids.

To truly solve Candida for good, we need to detect and resolve what’s suppressing your immune system to begin with, so that we can stop the cycle and prevent the Candida from coming back all over again.

7 REASONS WHY YOUR CANDIDA WON’T GO AWAY

So let’s go over seven factors that can suppress your immune system and leave you vulnerable to recurring Candida overgrowth.

1. LOW STOMACH ACID

People develop low stomach acid for various reasons, PPI (proton-pump inhibitor) use for acid reflux, autoimmune disease, dysbiosis, Hashimoto’s or hypothyroidism, and other lifestyle factors.

However, maintaining the right acidity in your digestive tract is key for neutralizing bugs and pathogenic organisms, and allowing you to break down your food properly so that it’s not sitting in your stomach undigested, feeding Candida and disrupting your flora. Low stomach acid also causes problems with leaky gut, which helps the Candida escape your intestines and become a systemic problem.

Fast action tip: if you have low stomach acid, you can take an HCL supplement before meals to help you optimally digest and absorb your food!

2. CHRONIC STRESS

This is a big one because whether it’s emotional, physical, or mental, when your body is under stress your immune system is suppressed, and this allows Candida to flourish.

3. LOW BENEFICIAL FLORA

This is actually a huge problem for most people, and one of the major reasons that antimicrobials and low-carb diets alone don’t clear Candida long-term. Your immune system needs enough good bacteria, or probiotics, to mount a defense against the Candida overgrowth when it’s active and to keep it in line once you’ve treated it.

Those strict Candida diets that help in the short-term become problematic if you do them for months on end because you’re starving the good guys that are going to get you out of the woods long-term when it comes to Candida. So you want to focus on optimizing the diversity in your diet and avoiding frequent antibiotics to give the good flora the fuel it needs to thrive, along with taking a high-quality probiotic.

4. CONSTIPATION

Constipation is another big problem for a lot of people. To put it plainly, most people don’t poop like they should! You want to have 1 to 2 regular bowel movements a day. When you’re not moving your bowels the food that feeds Candida sits in your stomach for longer, and you reabsorb toxins, which sets the stage for gut dysbiosis and Candida overgrowth.

5. TOXIC EXPOSURES

This can be from mold, herbicides, pesticides, chemicals in your cleaning or personal care products, and other sources because unfortunately, there are a lot of toxins in our modern environment. Exposure to toxins stresses your immune system and can even damage tissues, setting the stage for immune dysfunction and leaving room for Candida and other opportunistic bugs to become problematic.

6. STEALTH INFECTIONS

I see this a lot in my patients, especially in New England but also in Texas where people have chronic Lyme and co-infections such as bartonella, mycoplasma, chlamydia pneumoniae, or other bugs that get overlooked by your conventional doctor and tax the immune system. This takes your immune system’s attention off of fighting back the Candida population in your gut as it focuses on these chronic infections, and leaves you vulnerable for other opportunists to grow.

7. HORMONE IMBALANCE

I specifically see this as a big issue with women dealing with estrogen dominance who aren’t detoxifying or breaking down their estrogen appropriately because Candida thrives in a high-estrogen state.

If you have problems with breast tenderness, headaches, bloating, gas, or fluid retention around the start of your cycle those are signs of estrogen dominance and it needs to be addressed and balanced out before you’re going to be able to get rid of your Candida.

If you’re facing any of these seven underlying issues and they aren’t properly being addressed,  your immune system will never bounce back and be strong enough to keep Candida or other opportunistic bugs under control.

There are no shortcuts to stopping Candida overgrowth. The longer you spend trying all of the quick fix solutions that just leave you tired and frustrated with no real progress, the harder it will be to truly resolve the problem for good.

It’s time to stop struggling and get real solutions!

I’ve helped people around the world beat Candida and regain their health who have been to multiple doctors, been failed by various programs, and taken almost every medication or supplement under the sun in a desperate attempt to feel better.

I want to help you get some real answers too. By digging deeper to find the root cause of your suppressed immune system, we can develop a comprehensive approach to finally putting an end to your Candida suffering.

If you’re ready to get your Candida back in check, check out our Adaptation Program and book your free discovery call to find out if it’s the right fit for you.

About the Author: Dr. Seth Osgood is a Doctor of Nursing Practice, Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner and Institute of Functional Medicine (IFM) Certified Practitioner. Dr. Osgood received his post-graduate training in Functional Medicine through the IFM and from working with Dr. Amy Myers. He has helped people from around the world improve their health utilizing a Functional Medicine approach.

Want to work with Dr. Osgood? Become a patient in our West Lebanon, New Hampshire Functional Medicine clinic, our Burlington, Vermont Functional Medicine clinic, or our Austin, Texas Functional Medicine clinic!