Candida Overgrowth. There’s no doubt about it, it sucks. Dealing with candida overgrowth will over take your mind as you scour the internet for answers and deal with chronic brain fog, will overtake your wallet as you dish out $ for supplements and cleanses hoping for some relief, and will over take you physically as you deal with fatigue, fungal infections, IBS and whatever unlucky way candida overgrowth is manifesting in you.

And I can tell you all that from experience because I battled candida overgrowth on and off for over a decade of my life – that was until I finally found a low-fat whole food plant-based lifestyle (WFPB), healed my gut and kept my candida overgrowth away. 

This was a long journey- before my WFPB lifestyle I tried a million different things that did not work for me, but along the way candida taught me these 10 very amazing things.

1. taught me to pay attention to my health

Candida overgrowth robbed me of my overall health. I felt like crap everyday and I envied the people around me who seemed fine. I mean why weren’t all my friends brain foggy 24/7, falling asleep in class, having yeast infections more often than not? Why was my hair thin, why did I always have skin infections, why why why?

I was at my worst at around 22 years old. My symptoms were so bad that I realized my candida overgrowth was overtaking my life (and my IBS, cause I had that too but they seem to be interconnected). That’s when I realized my health was important and I needed to make a change. Had this never happened I could have gone on living my unhealthy lifestyle and ended up with something  much worse than candida – like diabetes, heart disease, infertility or who knows what else!

2. Learned Alternative Doctors Existed

When I hit 15 years old I first learned about candida overgrowth. My dad had brought me to a naturopath. Before this I had no idea there were alternatives to regular doctors. I had been in and out of regular doctors my whole life for IBS, ear infections, sinus infections , UTI’s you name it. I always seemed to have something wrong with me.

This opened my eyes to the fact that there were alternative methods to healing besides popping prescriptions. I was 15 at the time so I didn’t take much notice of it, but when I hit that 22 years old and candida overgrowth was ruining me I started reaching out to naturopaths and exploring different alternatives to healing – there are so many! Naturopaths, Chinese medicine doctors, nutritionists, reiki healers, and more! 

3. Realized food can work for you or against you

Trying to heal candida overgrowth brought me on a journey where I tried a zillion types of diets, anti-candida diet, paleo, low-fodmap, elimination diet, you named it – i tried it. I did notice improvement whenever I started one of these diets so I could clearly see that food impacted me. Before exploring this at 22 I had no idea. I thought that people could just eat whatever they want and be fine. The fact of the matter is what we eat either helps us or harms us! If my parents had known this, and known about the healing power of eating plant-based I could have grown up without all these health problems! What I would have done to not have had IBS growing up and be sick all the time.

Luckily now I know, and I get to teach you all about the power of food too!

4. Started to Detox my Beauty Routine

Who would have thought that all the products we put on our face and skin, or use to clean our house could be high in crappy chemicals? Not me. However, on my journey to heal my candida overgrowth I realized that my liver was over taxed. It had to deal with detoxifying not only everything I ate but everything I breathe and put on my skin. I learned that tons of our household products are filled with nasties that are ruining our health and so I started to use clean no-tox products. I started putting everything in EWG’s Toxins Counter to figure out if it was safe or not and within time I’d replaced all my makeup, skin care and household cleaners with clean products. I found this the most fun and easy part of fighting candida overgrowth. Buying new healthy products is so much easier than overhauling your diet and drinking habits.

5. Gave me the desire to give up drinking

I was a big drinker, a social drinker, a binge drinker. I never thought much of it because all my friends drank. Then I learned that drinking was like beyond bad for you and apparently increases your candida overgrowth! This was the time that I decided one day I would be a non-drinker. It took me four years before I finally became this but I did! I just celebrated my 1 year of sobriety!

The coolest thing about eating a WFPB diet though was that I was STILL ABLE TO DRINK and get rid of all my candida overgrowth symptoms. WOOT WOOT, I was finally able to have a night out with a couple cocktails and not wake up with a yeast infection – this was not possible on the anti-candida diet. Before WFPB I was unable to drink without having huge symptom flare-ups. So from my experience quitting drinking was not necessary to heal myself although I’m sure in any case no alcohol in your body will always get you to your goal faster – no matter what the goal is. 

6. Put me on a Wholefood Plant-based Diet

This one is obvious. I’m a huge lover the whole food plant-based diet. Would I have tried it if I didn’t have candida overgrowth and wasn’t trying every diet change under the sun to heal myself? Probably not. I use to have zero will power and wanted to eat every piece of food I could get my hands on. Did I ever think I could cut out all animal products? Did I want to? No, but i’m sure glad I did because my health, mindset, and values totally changed for the better once I did. Plus I found the love of my life at a vegan festival – had I never had candida overgrowth I would not be plant-based and I would not have gone to that festival and I would not have met the love of my life! It hurts to even think about.

7. Made me learn to cook

I could not cook worth a damn before. When I tried the anti-candida diets I would cook the grossest plainest meals – but that is also the first time I started to cook – before anti-candida diet I lived off the cafeteria and takeout. Eventually, I made a new friend who was plant-based and that’s when I upped my cooking skills fell in love with cooking. I think it has to do with all the beautiful colors and not having to worry about cross-contamination or under-cooking meat. I started with smoothie bowls and once I mastered those I went on to buddha bowls and more. I praise smoothie bowls as the gateway to a healthy plant-based life and even made a free e-book to get you started – you can download that here and start to fall in love with cooking too!

8. Saving me Money in the Long Run

At first candida overgrowth cost me an arm and a leg with all the appointments with natural doctors, supplements, and cleanses but candida overgrowth also led me to the plant-based diet. This plant-based diet saved me oodles because not only did my candida disappear but so did all the other symptoms that came with it. I never get sick any more, I don’t have to buy prescriptions for ear infections, sinus infections, or yeast infections. I don’t have to buy cleanses or digestive enzymes so I save SO much money that way. Plus, plant-based food is so much cheaper than regular food – if you don’t buy the junky plant-based food that is!

9. Helping me shape a happy future for my future kids (and yours too)

Chances are that on a regular diet my future kids would have health/gut problems like me. Now I know how to feed them in order for them to flourish so that unlike me, they don’t’ have to grow up with constant stomach pain, constant sickness, and so tired and brain foggy they feel like they’re stoned 24/7. They will be given the foods they need to nourish their body and help them live a care-free stomachache-free life like kids should have!

10. Made me super sympathetic to those around me

Candida overgrowth taught me what it’s like to feel like crap and be a nuisance to others. I know what it’s like to have something wrong with you that’s not dire but is enough to make every single day suck. Now I can relate to those people, I understand their pain and their journey and how hard it is to make a change when you feel like nothing is ever going to work. If you feel like this, just know that there is hope, and you have to keep on trying to figure out how to fix your own health because once you figure it out the journey will be worth it no matter how long it takes! The key is to learn how to cook plant-based, and once you’ve built up enough confidence in the kitchen you can make the full switch and finally live out a healthy happy life!


If you want a little guideline on how I used a plant-based diet to heal myself you can check out this free guide here! And remember, babysteps work- you don’t have to change overnight!