Candida Overgrowth: The Role and Possible Dangers of Antifungals

coconut oilIt’s so easy to overemphasize the use of antifungals in a treatment for a Candida overgrowth in the human body, when in reality; although I imagine that the length of a treatment would be much longer without them, it’s still quite possible to bring a Candida infestation under control completely without antifungals.

Most people who start a Candida diet do so with the idea of “I’m going to kill all the Candida I can kill and as soon as possible.” This is probably the very reason that the role of antifungals appears to be so huge.

When you finally decide to start your Candida treatment and diet, your goal is not to kill as many of the Candida you can as soon as possible. The reason that this is not your goal is simple, and it’s called Herxheimer Reaction better known among Candida sufferers as “die-off” symptoms.

A Negative Reaction

Many sufferers see the die-off symptoms as a positive sign that something good is taking place in their body, when in fact the opposite is true. Creating enough die-off toxins to cause you to experience the strong headaches, the flu-like symptoms of aches and pains, and to experience the foggy-brain effect and dizziness, or in other words, to literally make you ill is not at all a positive action for your body and your health to endure.

The reason that you should not attempt to kill as many Candida as possible immediately upon starting your treatment is this; if you’re experiencing extremely strong die-off symptoms this is a negative situation for your body, organs, and general health because the die-off symptoms are created by toxins which are literally poisoning your body. So when you’re experiencing severe die-off symptoms, you have literally poisoned your body with a toxic substance.

Another mistake many sufferers make is using pure antifungals for long periods of time or for several months after starting their treatment. In fact, antifungals should only be used no longer than three months at the most and preferably for only one month. At that point you could stop taking the antifungals and concentrate on reestablishing the flora in the intestines with probiotics, kefir and plenty of good daily prebiotics (food for the bacteria).

Pure Antifungals

At this point some of you are no doubt wondering what I’m referring to when I use the term “pure antifungals.” Pure antifungals are those substances which present no other purpose in your treatment but to destroy the Candida. It’s true that some of these are in our Candida treatment, but these should be used for no longer than four weeks at the most. At that point the other antifungals could be continued, and I’ll get to the ‘other’ antifungals in a few minutes, but first I want to explain which substances are considered ‘pure’ antifungals.

Oil of Oregano is considered to be purely antifungal because it’s so powerful and its biological makeup is such that it is not only going to destroy the Candida and other pathogens in your body, but it’s also going to destroy some of the beneficial bacteria which you are already in short supply of (otherwise you would not be suffering from a Candida overgrowth). The only reason you would take oil of oregano for over 5 weeks is if your Candida symptoms grow worse during the first four or five week period. And the only reason your Candida symptoms would grow a lot worse after you’ve passed the five week point in your treatment is because you’ve given the Candida albicans a form of food that will sustain the population and allow them to multiply. This of course would mean that the size of the infestation has increased, but this will not happen as long as you are following the strict diet. If you’re strictly following the diet provided by this website, then you are not feeding the Candida, and therefore the size of the infestation should not increase. This does not mean that some of your symptoms will not grow worse or that you can contract a few new symptoms when the Candida first begins to die. The reason the symptoms may initially seem to be worse is because of the healing that will going on inside your body as the Candida are starting to die by the thousands. But this ‘healing crisis’ is necessary and happens with nearly every severe illness.

Oil of Oregano should be in a liquid form, and it should be the highest quality oil. A brand manufactured by North American Herb & Spice called Oreganol P73 Oil of Oregano is one of if not the highest quality oil you will find. Because of this, the taste is too strong to take alone, and in fact, you should never take the drops alone. You should either mix the drops in a glass of water, or you can put the drops into an empty capsule which is the safest way to take oregano oil. Empty capsules can be purchased from your local pharmacy or online at Amazon.

Oil of Oregano Dosage
Start with two drops taken morning and evening, for three days.
Then go up to four drops for three more days.
Then raise it to six drops a day.
Continue raising the dosage in this manner until you reach the amount you wish to take. This can be between 8 and 18 drops a day depending on your size and need and of course your die-off reaction. Remember to alternate the oil every 10 to 14 days with another pure antifungal form. If at any time while you’re taking the oregano oil your die-off symptoms become too apparent, you should reduce the amount immediately.

Caprylic Acid Capsules: Start slowly and work your way up to 2000-3000 mg daily, take with meals and alternate every 10 to 14 days with another antifungal.

Garlic: Eating lots of fresh garlic as an antifungal is acceptable during the first month of your treatment, and depending on your degree of die-off of course. When taking the pill form along with the raw garlic, you should be sure to purchase the pills which contain allicin. The different brands usually have close to the same amount per pill. After the first month of your treatment, I would be very care about eating a lot at one time, and you won’t need to take the pills at all. The reason for this is because garlic contains both antifungal and antibacterial properties which mean that it can also destroy some of the beneficial bacteria.

Virgin Organic Coconut Oil: (Virgin is absolutely necessary for this to work as it should) In addition to being a whole-food antifungal to which the Candida cannot adapt, coconut oil is especially beneficial in establishing a positive environment to ensure the survival of the beneficial bacteria. Plus, you don’t need to stop taking it when you stop the other antifungals as it does not destroy the beneficial bacteria you are trying to reestablish. You can, in fact you should continue to take coconut oil by the spoonful throughout your treatment as well as during your maintenance after you’ve completed the treatment and diet.

You can cook with the oil if you wish, but it would be much more potent and beneficial for your treatment to also take it raw by the spoonful in its raw form. When you first begin to take the coconut oil, start with (1) teaspoonful a day for three days. Then go up to (2) teaspoons a day for another three days, and then move up to (3) teaspoons. After this dose, continue raising the amount by one spoon every two days until you reach 15 to 18 spoonfuls a day. Please realize that the dosage information depends completely on the degree of die-off symptoms you are receiving. If at any time they begin to increase, please cut back on the amount of coconut oil you’re taking at that time.

Women can usually take as much as 12 to 15 teaspoons a day, though I’ve seen a few go up to 16 and one person as high as 18 for over a week. If you’re a male, you should be able to eventually raise the amount to between 15 to 18 teaspoons a day easily.

Do not alternate coconut oil with other antifungals as this is a whole-food antifungal which the Candida will not adapt to. In addition, it’s very beneficial for the flora which you will be trying to reestablish in your intestines.

Undecylenic Acid-CFort10
Start with one pill a day and work slowly up to six pills a day. Remain at this amount unless you have a naturopath who recommends otherwise. You do not need to alternate this with any other antifungal.

Grapefruit Seed Extract
This antifungal is not on our supplement or treatment plan, but so many people insist on using it that I wanted to make a few suggestions about it. If you decide to use grapefruit seed extract as one of your antifungals, I suggest that you take it only for a few weeks at the most. This substance is going to destroy the beneficial bacteria in your intestines, and after a few weeks, you should be concentrating on rebuilding the flora more than killing the Candida with antifungals. The antifungals are not going to heal the infestation, but the flora will.

If you insist on using grapefruit seed extract, keep in mind that a large percentage of the brands contain toxic chemicals such as benzalkonium chloride (an antimicrobial commonly used in disinfectants), benzethonium chloride, and an antibiotic called triclosan, and sometimes the preservative methylparaben. In our opinion, you’d be better off not taking any of these ingredients.

*NOTE: This is ‘grapefruit’ seed and not ‘grape seed.’ A few people have confused the two, but there’s a huge difference.

The Number of Different Antifungals:
Keep in mind that it’s not absolutely necessary for you to take all of the antifungals named, and you definitely should never take them all at one time. If you choose to take only two or three of the antifungals throughout your treatment, this shouldn’t be a problem unless your treatment period goes on for an extended period of time, then you may want to alternate a higher number of antifungals.

Always be sure to alternate oregano oil, Caprylic acid, GSE, and thyme if you take these. You do not need to alternate garlic, coconut oil or CFort10.

Whole-food Antifungals
Among the strongest and most beneficial antifungals aside from CFort10 are whole-food sources such as coconut oil, rutabaga, raw garlic, and Brussels sprouts. When taken for the first few times, any one of these, or all of them are capable of creating some rather dreadful die-off responses, so please be careful if you try any of these for the first time. Lightly steamed vegetables or juicing the vegetables are preferable to eating them raw or boiled.

NOTE: It’s of ultimate importance that you Do Not start any of these antifungal supplements “before” you’ve been taking the necessary supplements in our treatment for three whole days. You should start preparing for the treatment before starting the detox or the diet, but absolutely before any antifungals are taken. Remember, your goal is to avoid die-off toxins as much as possible.

You should know all about the die-off toxins and the possible dangerous they possess before starting an antifungal, the detox or the diet.
Everything You Need to Know About Herxheimer-Candida Die-off

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