The Candida Treatment: The Diet

By this point, I highly suspect my physical symptoms indicate a chronic candida infection. Before beginning the full treatment protocol, there is another opportunity to confirm the diagnosis. If I follow the Candida diet guidelines, and find the symptoms subside, I will conclude that an overgrowth of candida is inhibiting my body's normal functions.

I dislike 'diets'. In my experience, when a person is energetically balanced, they crave wholesome food and are repulsed by foods that are unhealthy. The cravings that indicate my own lack of balance is due to an increase in appetite, especially chips, coffee, and cheese  (Kerry Gold Dubliner, yum!).  I like sugar and bread, but the cravings are moderate. Food, however, nags at my mind even when I should not be hungry. Bad sign. A couple years ago, when I was on a raw food regiment, I never thought of food between meals, was completely satisfied by reasonable portions, and would turn down sweets because they were unappealing. So, yes, something is wrong, but it could be a Spleen Qi (acupuncture-speak), for example.

Interestingly, an overgrowth of candida causes nutritional deficiencies, including B6, magnesium, abnormal metabolism of essential fatty acids (which may be why I crave cheese), iron, vitamin A, and zinc. So, if you have a vitamin deficiency, just taking a vitamin pill may not be the best answer. You have to ask yourself, why am I not absorbing vitamins from food? Could it be......candida???

So, given this and all the other symptoms, I'm going with the yeast invasion. On to the diet.

As you may have guessed, Candida Related Complex (CRC) pretty much means the colon is polluted and the person is not absorbing nutrients very well. Since I will be taxing myself with a colon cleanse and a fungicide (more on that in the next blog entry), I will need extra nutritional support, also known as a healthy diet. I already eat well, just too much, so the diet will eliminate some options rather than add new foods. For the 3 months in Phase I, here is what I will absolutely avoid:

• Candida loves sugar, so NO sugar, in all forms, including no very ripe fruit. I may choose to avoid all fruit for first 3 months. No artificial sweeteners, either. I never use them, but was surprised to learn that even NutraSweet feeds candida. Stevia or vegetable glycerin are okay as a sugar substitute. Oh, a squeeze of lemon is okay. Gee, thanks. I will also avoid high sugar veggies such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and beets.
• No grains or glutinous foods. (Anything made with wheat, rye, oats or barley, e.g. white bread, rye bread, pasta. Spelt products, Corn and corn byproducts (which are full of mold!), and no
  rice. This is mostly to give my immune system a break.
• No alcohol, or any beverage containing sugar.
• NO CHEESE! Ack! In fact, no dairy, except ghee, butter, kefir and probiotic yogurt.
• No cured or processed meat, and no meat that is not organic. (Stay clear of synthetic hormones and chemicals)
• No fish or shellfish except for wild salmon and sardines. Too many heavy metals and toxins.
• No hydrogenated fats (peanut butter, baked goods, margarine, etc). All the cooking oils have lots of mold. I can have flaxseed oil, Omega-3, fish oil, and olive oil.)
• No food with additives and preservatives. They disrupt the friendly bacteria and allow the Candida yeast to flourish.
• No Cashews, Peanuts, or Pistachios. They harbor a lot of mold. 
• No mushrooms. They can cause inflammation if my body has an overgrowth of Candida. Medicinal mushrooms, Reishi and Maitake, are okay.
• No food containing yeast, including no Brewer's and nutritional yeast. This means, in general, no baked goods.
• No vinegar, which generally includes catchup, mustard, mayonnaise, canned sauces, most salad dressing, pickles, sauerkraut, etc. Those sauces have a lot of sugar. Vinegar is not allowed  because it is made in a yeast culture. It therefore depletes stomach  acid and can cause inflammation in the guts. Unfiltered apple cider vinegar is okay because it combats Candida overgrowth.
• NO coffee and no black tea. Ack again! Caffeine causes blood sugar to rise. Candida loves sugar.

 This was going to be a short post.In summary, I'm avoiding sugar and mold. I should have just listed what I could eat:

• Vegetable and legumes not listed in the foods to avoid section. Lemon juice is okay.
• Some nuts, including pecans and walnuts, but not if they are moldy. Almond butter is okay.
• Seeds. 
• Gluten-free grains such as quinoa, buckwheat, and amaranth. 
• Organic butter, olive oil
• Organic, unprocessed meat
• Plain, unsweetened yogurt.

Since I'm trying to strengthen the immune system, I'll probably eat my veggies lightly cooked, or raw. I'll pull out some of the raw food recipes and include some in the blog entries going forward. While I know I felt great on a squeaky clean diet, my goal for this endeavor is to eliminate the chronic conditions that I believe are due to candida invasion of organs and tissues. For that, I will need a fungicide and colon cleanse, which I'll write about in a day or two.

I'm wondering, at this point, if I'm going to get a little grumpy until I adjust to the diet. Also, I'm going out of town for a couple days. However, I'm dealing with biochemistry, so the diet will be useless unless I maintain it.