10 Keys to Conquer Candida

Hey guys, Dr. Josh Axe and Jordan Rubin here, so pumped to bring you today's episode on the 10 ways to start destroying Candida in your body. I know that Candida is something that there are a lot of people struggling with today.

Absolutely. Years ago, probably about 20, and I may be dating myself, there were major books called The Yeast Connection, The Yeast Cure, and back then I worked in a health food store and I got to tell you, at least 50% of people thought or actually did have Candida.

Right.

But keep this in mind, Candida is a fungi and it's actually beneficial or benign, but when it gets out of control, the Candida overgrowth or what people call Candida overgrowth syndrome can cause a litany of conditions. In fact, almost everything known to man was blamed on Candida several years ago. So we're going to talk about the truth, separate it from the myths, and how you can balance your gut Yeah, Jordan, it's exciting.

You know, there are so many people out there today that are struggling with Candida. Some people don't even know it. If you have a white coating on your tongue, that's a big warning sign you have Candida. If you get chronic UTIs or different types of infections, if you struggle with fatigue, even issues like brain fog, leaky gut syndrome, so many of these conditions are linked to or tied to having Candida or yeast overgrowth in your body. in your body, which we'll get into here today as well. So we're going to be talking about how to overcome Candida, a problem, Jordan, that millions of people are struggling with today. So let's go ahead and jump on in and start talking about ways to combat Candida.

Absolutely. But let me make it very clear, this affects children.

Oh, yeah.

This affects the elderly. We're talking about skin conditions. We're talking about brain conditions. We're talking about gut conditions. Gas, bloating almost always comes with Candida.

Oh, yeah.

Candida is opportunistic, and if your gut's imbalanced, Candida will thrive. If you've got leaky gut, Candida will thrive. If you've got a habit of using antibiotics, even one dose of antibiotics in your life sets you up for yeast infection. If you were born via C-section, if you have been on corticosteroids, If you've been on oral contraceptives, if you consume conventional animal foods. You know who— which population is really prone to candidiasis? Swimmers.

Oh, yeah.

If you swim in a chlorinated pool, it imbalances your gut and your skin microflora, which means that you are subjected to Candida. But here's the good news, the 10 Keys to Conquer Candida Overgrowth can help you with Joint pain, can help you with your brain, your heart, your skin, your immune system. It's all in one.

Yeah.

So this is not simply someone who's been diagnosed with Candida overgrowth. This is for anyone and everyone, but if you're someone who can't get better, allergies, runny nose, indigestion, if you look up a list of symptoms that Candida causes, and there's 3 great articles on draxe.com that give that list. You're going to find almost every symptom known to man. So let's get started. Let's conquer Candida.

So Jordan, I can start off here talking about how to do a bone broth cleanse. This is something I know that we've worked with patients and clients on, on naturally cleansing their body. You know, Jordan, there's something to say about doing specifically a broth cleanse because a lot of times when people hear the word cleanse, what they'll tend to do is something like a vegetable juice cleanse.

Absolutely.

Which unfortunately, a lot of times People are doing certain vegetables and even fruits that have a lot of sugar.

Absolutely.

And the great thing about broth is it's sugar-free, it's high in amino acids, it is great for also balancing your pH. Jordan, I'd love to hear you talk about this. A lot of times when people talk about alkaline foods or foods that, you know, or foods in general that are alkaline, you see a lot of fruits and vegetables, but bone broth is alkaline as well, right? It is.

And I don't want to get into Acid-alkaline, we should do a program on that though because—

Yeah, absolutely.

The acid-alkaline myth, there are some truths, there are some myths. But here's what you do with a broth cleanse, you starve the yeast. So what I'm talking about is a 3-day cleanse where you only consume bone broth. Now you can do it with homemade bone broth and I would actually recommend, Josh, not even eating the meat and the veggies. I mean, I would do, especially if you're If you're a little bit overweight or average weight, you can afford to lose a few pounds, do a straight broth cleanse, warm is best. You can have it from broth that you make with veggies or you can use a bone broth powder. You can make it yourself, you can buy it. 3 days of bone broth and I believe that you will lower the amount of total organisms in your gut and then you can begin to take on the yeast.

Yeah.

and repopulate the gut with these other 9 keys. So, a 3-day bone broth cleanse, people say they have less joint pain, they have a clearer head, their skin is clearer, they have less inflammation in general, the Candida levels go down because yeast thrives on sugar and starch that turns into sugar, and this is basically a starch-free diet.

Yeah.

So, a 3-day broth cleanse is paramount if you have serious yeast issues and can't overcome The brain fog, the joint pain, the gut issues, all, everything in between, skin problems, all can be linked to an overgrowth of the yeast Candida albicans.

And Jordan, Shannon asks, she says, my son has autism. He is 7 years old and we're trying to figure out what to do with his gut. She's wondering anything specific for kids with autism. And I'll tell you, Jordan could tell you that autism and Candida or gut issues Are linked all the time.

Almost always. In fact, if you do a comprehensive digestive stool analysis or even some blood antibody testing, you'll find in nearly every case of autism that there is an overgrowth of yeast and an imbalance of the gut. So stay tuned, you're going to learn some great keys to transform your son's gut, and I believe some of the challenges that come along with autism will respond extremely well. But I got to tell you. If there's one element that I recommend for kids with autism that also have yeast overgrowth, it is bone broth. And if you can get your child to consume a lot of it, even if it's not a bone broth cleanse because they need some calories, you're going to see some good results.

Awesome stuff, guys. All right, let's jump in here to number 2, a low-starch diet full of warming foods. Jordan, talk about starch and I'll talk a little bit about the warming foods.

Absolutely. We talk about Candida yeast. Thriving on sugar, and that's just a fact. If you look at simple biology, yeast metabolize sugars. Starches turn into sugars, and even worse, starches— and I'm talking about grains, potatoes, corn, table sugar or sucrose, even maple syrup— oftentimes goes through your gut and is undigested and is left to be fermented or putrefied by yeast in your colon. So, if you want to grow yeast, the best way to do it is consume a lot of starch. I believe it's even worse than sugar. So, I believe that fruit is not nearly as big of an issue as consuming grains for Candida overgrowth.

Yeah.

And so, we want to go on a low-starch diet. You want to consume low-starch vegetables, less sweet fruits, and you want to make sure to consume healthy animal foods, proteins, and fats. And if you're someone who's on a plant-based diet, it's a little more difficult, but make sure to get coconut, chia, flax, etc. And keep in mind, these 10 keys to conquer Candida, they're not everything you need to do. There are some other great keys that we have left out and we'll follow up on a future program, but all 10 of these will make a difference in your health. We absolutely believe it. So make sure to So you really need to consume low-starch foods and eliminate most of the starch on your diet if you want to eliminate Candida.

Yeah, absolutely. And Jordan, I know you and I have both spent some time in studying Chinese medicine over the years, and one of the things we put up here is warming foods. You know, within Chinese medicine, they really believe and know that certain things cause Candida buildup in the body, and that's too much—

Damp heat.

Dampness and damp heat within the body. And think about this. You know, Jordan, I know that you lived in Florida. I lived there for a period of time. And the worst area of the country for mold or one of the worst areas is Florida in the U.S.

Yes.

And think about where mold grows, like in the corner of a damp basement. Think about your body in the same way. If your body becomes too damp, so there's— you can be too dry or too damp, too hot or too cold. If that happens where your body gets too damp, that's going to cause fungus. Fungus and yeast buildup, mold within your body, we got to change the internal environment. We do that by drying the body with certain types of foods and warming the body. Now, some warming foods that are fantastic, meat tends to be more warming but especially lamb. Lamb, venison, and bison, grass-fed beef, these are more warming foods. Certain herbs are warming to the body, cinnamon for instance, garlic, onion, clove. Rosemary even, these things are warming to the body. And one of the best is actually ginger. Ginger has been used for a long time within Chinese medicine to naturally warm the body. And then, Jordan, the foods that really dry the body of dampness are, again, we touched on some warming foods, it's also, you and I both know, it's foods that are bitter in nature.

Or astringent, think about it, astringent.

So some great things here, think about just doing your green leafy vegetables, things like spinach, especially chard and kale. These things are more bitter in nature, romaine lettuce, but doing a lot of green leafy vegetables, bitter herbs. In fact, an essential oil is, you know, like orange peel, things like that. But things that are astringent and bitter are very drying to the body, the dampness. So when you're consuming a diet, the ideal meal is like a big bowl of bone broth soup with some ginger and turmeric in it.

And some cooked greens because raw can be cooling because when we talk about thermal nature of foods, raw can be cooling. Eating those greens cooked with a nice bowl of broth like a pho type of a dish can be awesome with some spices. That would be the ultimate destroyer of dampness.

But what are your thoughts on black seed oil?

I think black seed oil or black cumin seed is really beneficial, but it's not the miracle cure of everything. Black cumin, just like black sesame, they're wonderful. And in fact, black cumin seed or black seed does have that astringent property, and so If you get a hold of black cumin, black cumin oil, or cumin in general, cumin is a great herb and it is antifungal. So we love black cumin, we just don't believe that it is the cure-all of everything under the sun. It's part of a good program.

Yeah, and I would say maybe an idea is that use cumin powder in general, add it to burger meat or lamb or things like that, start doing some—

That's a good one with lamb.

Some Middle Eastern dishes, I think that's very, very drying. Going to be great for the body there. So Jordan, talk to us about the benefits and how to use coconut oil.

Coconut oil is rich in 3 fatty acids. One is antiviral, 2 are antifungal. So we've got lauric acid which converts to monolaurin, that's antiviral. Lauric acid actually destroys lipid-enveloped viruses. Here's what's great about that.

Amazing.

Antifungal medicines can actually work to get rid of fungus.

Yeah.

But then you've got various bacterium that will grow. It's all a balance. Bacteria, yeast or other fungi, parasites, and virus. They all work in cycles. So if you kill one of them, you're not going to get the full benefits. Everything here is going to work just as well if you've got viral issues or bacterial. You don't have to guess. That's why when people have viral pneumonia and take an antibiotic, they made a major boo-boo.

Yeah.

Because then the virus doesn't get destroyed and bacteria grows. All that to say, that I believe that everything here has a multi-pronged effect. So coconut oil has lauric acid for viruses, caprylic and capric acid for fungi. Back in the day, caprylic acid was one of the major anti-Candida natural remedies. You get it in coconut oil, plus it's a good source of energy that feeds you and not the yeast. Many people with yeast overgrowth struggle to gain weight, or you could struggle to lose weight.

Yeah.

It just messes with your metabolism. Even diabetes, particularly if you've got insulin-dependent diabetes, your blood sugar fluctuates, you have Candida overgrowth. So coconut oil, 1 to 4 tablespoons a day in food, in just desserts or certainly low-sugar desserts, in your mouth off the spoon is all really, really good. And if you're someone that who can't even digest Virtually anything, you can actually rub coconut oil on your skin and get some of those benefits. Coconut oil is highly antifungal. Check out the benefits of caprylic and capric acid. They are medium-chain fatty acids that destroys fungi.

Yeah, I love the idea, Jordan. Coconut oil, great oil to add in, especially if you're doing any type of cooking there on a regular basis. Jordan, so one of the questions here from somebody was, what are your thoughts on not just coconut oil But coconut kefir was one of the questions here.

That's a great question. Coconut kefir, particularly, I'm assuming made with coconut water, can be good, but this is just a personal opinion. When you're dealing with yeast overgrowth, fermented beverages such as dairy kefir, coconut kefir, kombucha can exacerbate things in the beginning. I would go with the broth cleanse, a low-starch and warming diet, and coconut oil. get some of the levels down, I do think coconut kefir can be good, but it also can cause gas and bloating in a gut that's very compromised. So I would rather consume coconut meat, coconut cream, or even more so coconut oil because there's no fiber, there's no carbohydrate that really blows up the gut. When you've got a lot of yeast, they are opportunistic. And I'm already thinking of things that we left off here to benefit, which we'll go with.

Yeah.

But I think coconut kefir Is best for people that are mild in their yeast overgrowth.

Yeah, I agree. A question here from Kat, she says, what about coconut sugar? You know, if you have Candida, we really don't recommend doing coconut sugar. It's going to be something that will absolutely feed yeast in your body.

And it doesn't have coconut in it. We're talking about the fat. So coconut kefir made with coconut water has no coconut oil, doesn't have the fats, neither does coconut sugar. So both of those I would leave out. In your conquering Candida program in the short term.

In fact, a good alternative here, if you do need something that's naturally very sweet, is Manuka honey, I think is your best option. Even with that, you want to be careful, maybe a teaspoon to a tablespoon max. But I think Manuka honey, because of its antimicrobial benefits, is going to be a much better alternative than doing an actual coconut sugar there as well.

Absolutely.

So let's talk about— Jordan, I'm going to talk a minute about fermented vegetables and then pass it off to you. Fermented vegetables, you know, a lot of times people think about probiotics, but it's not just the probiotics, it's the pH of the food itself. We all know that apple cider vinegar can be so beneficial. We know that sauerkraut and kimchi and kvass and other fermented vegetables are fantastic. I personally really like them because they're high in organic acids, which are great for the body.

Yes.

You know, Jordan, I know that I read in one of your books, you had a great chapter in your most recent Maker's Diet where you wrote about The power of sour and getting more sour. Most of us, it's all about sweet and salty. We're missing that bitter taste. We're missing that sour taste. So, Jordan, how do organic acids work in the body in really helping eliminate Candida and some of the other things in fermented vegetables?

Absolutely. Organic acids actually can destroy yeast through creating an inhospitable environment. You know, we talk about acid-alkaline, yeast actually thrive In a colon that has a higher pH. You need to lower your colonic pH by boosting your probiotics and they will create short-chain fatty acids. So medium-chain fatty acids are great for destroying Candida. Short-chain fatty acids lower the colonic pH. We're talking about butter and ghee, by the way. Butter and ghee can actually be anti-yeast. Again, we only have 10 keys, lost room for some of—

I know.

The really great things that we want to add as well, but you want to make sure that your colonic pH is lower. Organic acids do it. So when you get organic acids, and the best way if you've got yeast overgrowth is through fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut, kimchi is really awesome if you can tolerate it, that will help clear the path, lower the pH in your colon, which makes yeast levels automatically drop.

Yeah, Jordan, you know, I saw a great new product. I'm trying to remember the company now, and they have these gut shots.

Have you seen those gut shots?

Farmhouse Cultures.

Farmhouse Cultures.

Check it out, Farmhouse Cultures. They have a great new product. They have great sauerkraut. In fact, Chelsea loves— they have a dill—

Pickle.

The dill pickle sauerkraut, which is so good. But I had one of their beet gut shots. It was beet and sauerkraut juice this weekend in a health food store in Florida. Absolutely awesome. So check it out.

And they have kimchi too, which is smoking. So you do an ounce or 2 of that, really, really— it is way better in my opinion than Coconut kefir because it's not sweet at all and it's got lots of organic acids. It cuts to the chase.

You know, Jordan, one of the surprising things too, a lot of times when people have acid reflux, they tend to think they have too much acid built up in their body. That's what their doctor will tell them. You know, I've read plenty of times in different articles about that it's probably more due to low stomach acid or your own body not producing enough acid itself. So a lot of times we think, oh, I've got too much acid in my body. A lot of times we don't have enough. Because we're not getting enough of these fermented vegetables in our diet as we're talking about here.

Yeah, bitter and sour is the key. If you see me smiling, there's one, I keep thinking of great tips that we forgot. Manuka honey is one, and your fingers are yellow. So what have you been doing today?

Well, so before this, we're getting ready for our— we're actually putting the finishing touches on the essential oil book we're writing.

Essential Oils: Ancient Medicine for the Modern World.

So I just came from that photo shoot and I was— Working with the turmeric. And so now I've got turmeric, you can probably see my thumbs, they're all orange here.

I hoped that was it at least.

So there you go. Yeah, so that's what it is. So number 5.

This is one of your favorites. I'm going to get started really and talk about thyme and I'm going to let you talk about pau d'arco which you love. But thyme is similar to oregano, similar to marjoram. They have thymol and they have other Carvacrol is another. These, I would say they're tannins, right? Or they're polyphenols, they're terpenes, they're something.

They're terpenes.

Okay, excuse me, they're terpenes. Thymol, carvacrol, and others destroy yeast. So thyme is on your side when it comes to fighting Candida. I just had to do that.

I know, you had to.

Thyme, we're going to talk about oregano a little later, but thyme is an amazing herb. Take it in a supplement form, make a tea out of it, or season with it. Think about it. When you cook your warming foods, your lamb, right? Your bitter greens, your bone broth, put thyme in there. We're going to talk about garlic later. Those absolutely work wonderful. The essential oil or the fraction of thyme that you can get from consuming it destroys yeast and it destroys the byproducts yeast create to cause you problems.

Yeah, I'd love to give everybody a cooking tip here. I have, Jordan, anytime we have people over for dinner, we get the comment whether I'm making some sort of chicken dish or Italian dish or someone else, somebody says, wow, this— I get a lot of compliments, hey, this food tastes really good. The key is use a lot of herbs.

Yes.

Be generous. I think a lot of times people, even in most recipes today, people sort of skimp on the herbs. Anytime I'm eating anything, I mean, I'm loading up on the basil, the rosemary, the thyme, the turmeric, the ginger, going overboard. Good for everything. With herbs, if you go to some of the healthiest places in the world or the places that really understand natural medicine like China and India and different areas in the Middle East, I mean, when you walk into their houses, it is like you're walking into an herb garden. I mean, it is so—

Absolutely.

We're missing that in America today. We're not using herbs enough and I really think our health is suffering because of it.

It's true.

And so Jordan talked about thyme. I want to talk about pau d'arco. This is an herb that's used in Chinese medicine, and this herb is known to be drying and cooling, and that's why it's typically the number one herb prescribed for yeast overgrowth in the body in Chinese medicine. What I recommend is getting it in a tea form or finding it as part of some sort of like a Candida supplement. So you can take it in supplement form.

Yeah.

But also, you can buy Pau d'Arco tea, drink 2 glasses a day. It's very, very effective. In fact, I believe probably the most effective herb in fighting Candida and seeing results really, really fast there. And I also like mixing Candida or Pau d'Arco and ginger tea in combination. All right, let's jump in here. We're going to talk about number 6 here.

I mean, there are so many essential oils that are antimicrobial, antifungal. But I think we picked the top 2. One of them is for systemic candidiasis and that's oregano essential oil.

Yeah.

I recommend if you've got Candida or if you've got a bacterial infection or viral, consume a glass, and I would put water and/or juice, and keep in mind it's going to be a little hot, 2 to 3 drops of oregano essential oil 2 to 3 times a day. And you can consume it in 2 ounces or 6 ounces of water. Make sure to mix it because the oil will tend to settle and it will burn your skin.

Yeah.

Consuming oregano oil can help destroy Candida. It is probably the best remedy that I know of, but when you consume oregano essential oil, make sure to consume a product that is certified organic. More importantly, labeled as a dietary supplement. If you have an essential oil that is a topical oil, I don't know that it's Meant to be used for consumption. So look for a dietary supplement, 2 to 3 drops, 3 times a day. It really can wreak havoc and disrupt the life cycle of Candida.

Yeah, and let me say this as well. If you are doing a Candida cleanse and part of it you're doing oregano oil, you know, we would recommend probably about 10 to 14 days max, not being on it too long. We know that if you're doing this, you know, these oils are powerful, so using them more than 2 weeks internally. If we're talking about oregano and clove, it could start to not be beneficial for your body. So we recommend just doing it for a period of time.

And then taking some time off.

And then taking some time off and doing it in a cycle. But oregano and clove are so powerful. We know that oregano has carvacrol. We talked about that earlier with thyme, Jordan, which has some of the most beneficial antifungal and antibacterial nature, even antiviral. It's really powerful. And then clove has a really unique compound called eugenol, which is also why it's so good for the gums. There are studies on it for gum disease, studies on it showing it kills off fungus and Candida in the body. So these are top of the 2 essential oils to use on a regular basis. And if you have any type of a thrush issue, you're getting that white coating on your tongue, I'd recommend doing coconut oil clove pulling.

Absolutely. And even with myrrh, you can add myrrh too, but what Josh is talking about is oil pulling, which we both do regularly. Clove is great for oral thrush, which is one of the signs of Candida. If you're dealing with cancer treatment, AIDS, etc., a lot of times immune suppression will give you oral thrush, the thick coating on your tongue. When I was dealing with Crohn's colitis, my tongue was all different colors. It wasn't just white.

Yeah.

And so, doing a mouthwash or oil pulling with, let's call it, 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, and you can even start with a teaspoon because your saliva makes it grow. Add 1 to 2 drops of clove. You can add myrrh as well. You basically work the oil in your mouth. You swish it, work it through your teeth. Make sure to spit it out when you're done because it will draw toxins. You do not want to swallow that. You know what else is really great? A little bit of Manuka honey is awesome for that. You can even gargle as well.

Oh, yeah.

So, if you did want to gargle, because some people— I had thrush so bad, it was in my throat.

Oh, wow.

And it is all over the place. Lavender is also great for Candida. So many oils are, but oregano internally, clove for the mouth, and many other things. And let me just mention this because we are on the subject of honey. If you are somebody who has vaginal thrush, and obviously we're a couple of guys, we don't recognize what that's like, but it is so common. I remember when I was a kid, we would watch TV and then the yeast infection commercials would come on and we'd be embarrassed, you know, when our Yeah. You know, family was around, especially our mom, but this is a huge issue. I think probably 80% of women will have at least one vaginal yeast infection during their life. And old naturopathic remedies call for using a douche or some type of vaginal application of coconut oil and honey, but particularly Manuka honey. I know that sounds strange, but check it out. It is very, very effective. So oral thrush. Clove, coconut oil, even a little tea tree oil is amazing, myrrh, swish it around up to 20 minutes and then spit it out. And if you're dealing with vaginal yeast infections, topical application of coconut oil, manuka honey can be really, really good. If you are dealing with mood swings, brain fog, skin issues, rhinitis or allergies, if you've got gut issues, gas, bloating, indigestion, Yeast is involved. If you've got bad breath, body odor, joint stiffness and pain, heavy metal poisoning, there's an underlying issue of your gut and Candida is almost always involved. You need to be on essential oils internally and topically. Look for certified organic oils that are labeled as dietary supplements. I wouldn't be without them. There's so many good ones, these are the top.

Yeah, let's jump into number 7 here, Jordan. I'll talk about garlic and you can jump into the spices. I want to talk about the spices category here as well. You know, garlic is antifungal, it's antibacterial, it's antiviral as well. Garlic is one of nature's superfoods, Jordan. I was reading a study here just a few weeks ago and they were talking about the top, in terms of research studies, the herbs and spices which had the most anti-cancer studies. And what I found on there that turmeric was number 1, but I believe that garlic was number 2 on that list.

It's a powerhouse and it's fallen out of favor a little bit. It's great for the heart. It's great for the immune system. It is really great for so many things, but it is primarily antimicrobial.

Yeah.

And so, if you are able to consume more garlic, it works raw or cooked. Raw can be harsh for somebody with a gut that is sensitive. But if you're going to make a warming broth, you're going to put in the turmeric, the ginger, the bitter greens, you got that bone broth base, adding some garlic, I used to add 4 to 8 cloves of garlic to My bone broth recipe along with turmeric and ginger. Garlic is amazing. Garlic tea is really, really good. Garlic ginger tea is even better. Garlic ginger pau d'arco tea might be the best of all.

And how about this, juicing some garlic into a— That is powerful. Into a sauerkraut shot. There you go. All right, so we've got garlic here and just one of the compounds in there, it's called allicin, actually has very, very powerful antibacterial properties. This is a really strong sulfur-containing food, which is great for your health as well.

You know, now I've got to digest all this, pun intended. But so what we're talking about is make a ferment— I'm going to back up so you can see. So you're going to make fermented veggies, add a little bit of garlic, or you can buy fermented veggies with garlic and ginger. Farmhouse has garlic in some of theirs, so do other brands that are by you. Look for fermented veggies with garlic, make garlic tea with the other herbs that we have here, so Pau d'Arco, thyme. oregano, ginger, and last but not least, you want to put it in your broth. So that's a lot of ways to get garlic. Garlic is one of the best anti-Candida spices known to man. And in general, essential oils are great for fungus.

Oh, yeah.

Spices are great for fungus, and herbs are great for fungus. We consume, in my opinion, the least herbs and spices per capita of any civilized Culture, we depend on medicine, we depend on sanitation, but native cultures don't have sanitation, they don't have medicine, they have spices and herbs, and they have oils.

Absolutely. Jordan, let's talk about fermented silver.

Now, this is something that is really, really amazing because we've all heard of colloidal silver, right? Colloidal silver is said to destroy fungi on contact, but here's my issue with silver. When I get a cold or my kids do, we give colloidal silver.

Yeah.

But I don't absolutely know that it works. I just do it because I feel good and it's easy. What kid won't take colloidal silver? It's a liquid, it tastes like nothing. I believe on contact, if you gargle, if you swish, it's really good. I have no real proof that colloidal silver works systemically the way that I hope it does. And this is not a criticism as much as it's an observation. So, I have actually found a form of fermented silver that allows it to be consumed as you would a supplement or food, and I believe that that releases in the bloodstream. The silver ions supposedly can destroy bacteria and yeast. Now, this is very, very new and it's emerging, but if you can find a product that has fermented silver in it, I believe that it's going to go a long way to balancing your gut.

Jordan, a few questions here. One is, where can I buy fermented silver?

If you will check out the draxe.com site, look it up, I think you will find some good information on how to find products that contain fermented silver, brand new stuff.

Another question here from Jessica, she says, can colloidal silver be toxic or cause heavy metal toxicity?

It's a great question. If you consume a lot of silver, particularly with a high Part per million, and I'm talking about several bottles a day, there is a condition, I want to say it's called argyria, it's something like that.

Yes, it's argyria.

Yeah, something. It's basically a graying of the skin. Somebody did that once, I think they had bottles a day of colloidal silver, and the challenge is it's irreversible. So that got out there and it created a big issue against colloidal silver in general.

So think about this, this person was drinking a liter. That's how much, a liter of colloidal silver a day. We're talking about a teaspoon or tablespoon a day, not liters.

But I don't believe the fermented silver is going to cause problems. You still want to keep the dose, the daily dose between 50 and 150 micrograms of silver. So you've got to do some mathematic little calculation there. But I think colloidal silver is good topically and orally, but fermented silver, I believe, would be better systemically. Silver kills germs.

I mean, Jordan, fermented silver is what I personally use. I believe it's even better than colloidal silver. Again, I think colloidal silver can be great, there are uses for that, but again, fermented silver, my absolute favorite. I've had a lot of patients use that over the years and I absolutely— I'm sorry, not over the years, really more recently several patients start using it. All right, Jordan, let's talk about mushrooms. So can fungi fight fungi?

Absolutely. And this is a big, big misconception. The old Candida diet said no vinegar. And they said no mushrooms. Number one, apple cider vinegar and coconut vinegar can be really good if you have Candida.

Yeah.

Now, white vinegar and distilled vinegar, even balsamic, uh-uh, that I think can cause issues. But I believe good quality real food vinegar can help fight fungi. But you know what really fights it? Fungi. Now, let me just explain to you, fungi is a kingdom. At the way bottom is Candida, a single-celled organism that is not very developed. On top are polycellular fungi that we call mushrooms, and they fight Candida by boosting your immune system. My favorite is turkey tail mushroom known as Tremetes versicolor. It creates immune-boosting compounds that have been used as adjuvant therapies for cancer. They've been used in other major conditions such as chronic fatigue, fighting Epstein-Barr. And it fights fungi. In fact, I believe reishi, chaga, and turkey tail all fight Candida. So if you want Candida relief, mushrooms are great. And guess what I'm going to say? Go back to the bone broth, the warming foods, because in Chinese medicine—

Yeah.

You fight fungi with fungi. So you can consume turkey tail mushroom. It's a medicinal, so do it in a tea. Do it in a recipe like a soup. It's not as much of a culinary mushroom as it is a medicinal, or you can take it in supplement form. And in Josh's book, Eat Dirt, he talks about these 7 secrets to healthy soil, and it includes a lot of this.

Yeah.

So what we're talking about is the right minerals, particularly silver. We're talking about getting fungi, bacteria, and even next we're going to talk about Yeast versus yeast, which is even crazier.

There we go. Jordan, we got a question here from Margaret about beta-glucan.

Beta-glucan also can help fight yeast. What's great about turkey tail mushroom, it has beta-glucan naturally occurring in it. But beta-glucan stimulates the macrophages of your immune system, which can help engulf either Candida or the toxins it creates because Candida is not the issue. When Candida grows It creates toxins and it almost embeds in your gut and also creates permeability. So a lot of people believe leaky gut has yeast involved. They put in sort of stakes into your gut driving bigger holes.

Yeah, absolutely. Let's jump into the last one here, Jordan. Yeast fighting yeast and soil-based organisms to clear Candida out of the body.

The 10th recommendation is really number 1, and if you're fighting Candida, and you are not using probiotics, you're missing the boat. But if you're using probiotics and they don't have SBOs, you're missing the ocean.

Yeah.

Folks, I had the worst case of candida that anyone had ever seen, whether it was in the gut, 4+ for a CDSA. I had high titers. The way to overcome candida more than anything is to get soil-based organisms in your body. They go in, they last for several days, they create compounds and enzymes that destroy yeast. They create a zone of inhibition, if you will. Regular probiotics, lactobacilli work a little bit, SBOs work a lot.

Yeah.

Soil-based organisms destroy single-celled fungi in the root system of plants and they'll do that in your body as well. In fact, if you're going to be taking a probiotic for anything, but especially to balance Candida levels in your body, SBOs are critical soil-based organisms, great research by Dr. Simon Cutting out of the UK talking about the compounds that the Bacillus genus or Bacillus species of probiotics can do. So they create a zone of inhibition that cause yeast to not enter. So they begin to balance your gut. And then, this is really interesting, Saccharomyces boulardii is known around the world as the yeast versus yeast.

Yeah.

Saccharomyces boulardii creates lactic acid. And other organic acids that destroy yeast. Remember we talked about organic acids?

Oh, yeah.

Consuming organic acids, consuming compounds in herbs and oils destroy yeast. And the one thing I also want to add to this mix, so we got SBOs and Saccharomyces boulardii, the enzyme cellulase can help break down the cell wall of yeast. We left that off along with Manuka honey and ginger. you want to get to the bottom of yeast. It's not a surface thing, it's a long-term— I've taken them for 20 years. Soil-based organisms and Saccharomyces boulardii need to be in your probiotic. And I believe when you're dealing with yeast overgrowth, double, triple, or quadruple the probiotic dose.

Absolutely.

Most people don't get results because they don't consume enough. You know what else is good about Sac boulardii? When SBOs get in there, they can cause a stirring up of yeast, so can oregano oil. And if you've heard of a die-off or a Herxheimer reaction, that means that as the yeast die, they create their last-ditch effort to hurt you with various compounds, and you reabsorb them and feel yucky, you know, feeling worse before better. Saccharomyces boulardii helps clean that up.

Yeah.

You want to get rid of the yeast toxins as well, there's another beneficial Tip, if you are having die-off, I don't know if anyone asked and said, I was on a candida diet, I starved them, I killed them, and then I felt worse, consuming a clay, a bentonite or montmorillonite clay that's in a dietary supplement form, also flax and chia seed, they can help capture the toxins and move them out of your body.

Yeah, it's a great idea, Jordan. You know, a lot of times I hear from people that again, As you're doing a candida cleanse, you'll notice some of these reactions, as Jordan's saying. Getting a little bit of clay in there, getting some flax in there as part of a bone broth smoothie. I love doing some flax and bone broth powder in there to really bind to things, it's so important. All right, let me see here some questions here. Jason says, what about charcoal?

Charcoal can be okay. I like clay a little bit better. You know what else I like is shilajit or humate. Charcoal can definitely help consume smaller amounts of it because it can tamper with mineral absorption. And when you have Candida, you already have an issue metabolizing certain vitamins because the Candida eats first. That's the problem. It's parasitic in nature, so the Candida will eat the best of your nutrients before you get them. And so it's really, really important to stop them in their tracks, starve them, kill them, And all of these keys will help your overall body. And so, as Josh is reading some of your questions and comments, I want to make sure you understand that if you're dealing with skin issues, if you have gut issues, if you have brain issues, if you've got immune system issues, you're likely dealing with Candida overgrowth. And I believe that so many people suffer and they go to diagnostic test after diagnostic test, Doctor after doctor, and even antifungals work for a little while and cause a rebound effect. If you've got toenail fungus, it's internal. If you've got a skin fungus, even ringworm, other fungal issues that are on the skin, if you've got acne, yeast is involved. You need to follow these 10 keys to conquer Candida once and for all, and you're going to get so many benefits because we're not simply destroying things, we're building your body as well.

Yeah, great question here from Alexandre. He says, how do you know if the Candida is killed? You know, I'll tell you a couple of ways to tell. One is really looking at your tongue. This has been used in Chinese medicine for a long time. If there's a white coating, especially in the middle of your tongue, if there's a coating on there, you know, once that is gone and your tongue starts turning more of a pink color, that's one big way. Another way is really looking at your bowel movements. I mean, if you're having healthy, well-formed bowel movements. That's another thing if those are irregular. So, if your bowels get really healthy, your bowel movements, if you have more of a pink layer on your tongue rather than any type of a whiteness or a white coating, that's the biggest sign that you're starting to overcome Candida.

Skin, energy levels, and really whatever challenge you're dealing with, if that gets better. But really, to me, post-meal gas and bloating are one of the biggest triggers to both Candida and small intestine issues. Bowel overgrowth, which is called SIBO or SIBO. Both of those go hand in hand. Remember, Candida is not the cause of all your issues, but it's likely an accomplice. And everything we're doing here is going to reduce your load of bad bacteria, virus, and even parasites. You're going to get great benefits and you're going to— antioxidants are going to be boosted. So if you don't have Candida and you follow these 10 keys to conquer Candida, you're going to get better in so many ways.

Yeah.

And guess what? You never needed to know if it was yeast or not.

Hi, Dr. Axe here. I want to say thanks so much for checking out this YouTube video and also don't forget to subscribe if you want to get more great content on things like herbs, essential oils, natural remedies, and how to use food as medicine. Also, check out more of our content on my YouTube channel. Thanks for watching.