How To Test For Candida + Exactly What To Do If You Have It

Then one day she casually mentioned that she craved fruit. For the last seven months, Margaret had been following Weight Watchers, a popular weight-loss program that assigns zero points for fruit. In other words, she could eat all the fruit she wanted and often did. That excess sugar—yes, even in Weight Watchers–approved fresh fruit—fed Margaret’s yeast overgrowth, which caused her to crave more sugar.

Candida overgrowth and the toxins secreted by this excess yeast wreak havoc throughout your body, leading to a host of seemingly unrelated symptoms and conditions. Among them include fatigue, mental fog, anxiety, mood swings, muscle and joint pain, itching, histamine intolerance, and rashes. Many patients like Margaret also experience bloating, sugar cravings (for any type of sugar, whether starchy carbs or "healthy" foods like fruit), and abdominal pain.

Many candidiasis symptoms overlap with other common health problems, making it difficult to diagnose based on symptoms alone. So while none are perfect, I utilize a few tests to diagnose yeast overgrowth and rule out other culprits when symptoms are too vague or could be caused by more than one source:

I often do stool testing on my patients via microscopy and culture. Specialty labs can analyze stool for yeast overgrowth.

Just like for food sensitivities, a practitioner can test for IgG, IgM, and IgA antibodies to Candida. Candida immune complexes, which are basically antibody molecules stuck together by Candida antigens or proteins, may also be detected.

This is done by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and is a very sensitive test for the presence of up to five different species of Candida in the bloodstream. While some practitioners use it for candidiasis, this test also shows promise in detecting other overgrowth in yeast dysbiosis.

This test uses DNA amplification to identify microorganisms in your gut, including Candida and anaerobic bacteria previously very difficult to isolate.

Like I said, none of these tests are perfect. I normally decide which one(s) to use based on the specific circumstances and the individual patient's symptoms.

Just like no test proves comprehensive, eliminating candidiasis will also differ for every patient. Here are the strategies that work well for many patients:

If you have any form of yeast overgrowth, I recommend eliminating sugar—including "healthy" sugars like honey and fruit sugar—for six months or possibly longer. Margaret loved fruit, so I had her switch to low-sugar ones like berries or avocado with no more than two servings daily.

Caprylic acid is one of three fatty acids in coconut oil (capric acid and lauric acid are the other two). It has antifungal properties that help kill off excess Candida. Don’t believe the recent American Heart Association hype: A few tablespoons of extra-virgin organic coconut oil daily is perfectly healthy. Margaret loved cooked vegetables in coconut oil so she did that regularly, and to get its therapeutic benefits I also had her take caprylic acid as a supplement.

The nutrients I used to treat Margaret’s candidiasis included oregano oil, Berberine, garlic (I use Allimax Pro, a highly concentrated garlic extract with potent anti-yeast activity), and digestive enzymes. I recommend working with a trained practitioner to monitor efficacy and dosing of these and other nutrients.

Like many patients, I immediately saw the impact stress had on Margaret’s gut health. Chronic stress elevates cortisol—a hormone that dampens your immune response while spiking blood sugar and inflammation—and creates the perfect storm for Candida to flourish. Margaret learned to prioritize stress management once she saw the wide-ranging problems it created.

Alcohol and stress are among the culprits that compromise liver health, contributing to Candida’s health effects by inhibiting your detoxification abilities and zapping your immune system. All together, that creates fertile ground for Candida overgrowth. I asked Margaret to give up red wine for a month ("It’s only a month!" I assured her), and eventually she did a medically supervised detoxification plan to rejuvenate her liver.

You’ll want to foster more good gut bugs and fewer bad bugs with a professional-quality prebiotic-probiotic blend, along with lots of fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi. Patients also love my coconut water kefir (check out the recipe below). I highly recommend working with a practitioner to determine the right time to repopulate. But remember to go slow. Adding fermented foods too soon in the treatment plan can actually cause uncomfortable die-off symptoms.

Even the healthiest foods can contribute to Candida overgrowth. Here are a few to keep an eye on. For more ways to boost your gut health, check out my recipe for a coconut water kefir below:

Ingredients

*Water kefir grains can be found in natural-food stores or online. With proper care, the culture can be used indefinitely to create probiotic-rich kefir. Your grains will not grow as quickly in coconut water as they will in a nice bath of nutrient-rich sugar. Refresh and reactivate the kefir grains in sugar water (¼ cup sugar in 4 cups water) for 24 to 48 hours between batches. The sugar water will keep the grains healthy long-term.