I received a question from Mark about the Candida Diet and the antifungal Xtralac. Here’s what Mark had to say:

Hello Cynthia, I have severe Candida and need a little help with my diet.

Can I eat:

Tomatoes?

Chick peas?

Kidney beans?

Buckwheat flour?

And what can I eat for breakfast because I am a little stuck at the moment.  I eat gluten free rice flake porridge, but I don’t suppose that’s allowed.

I just started taking an anti-fungal called xtralac. Its like Threelac to kill the Candida and its so strong. Now I have a real tightness in my chest, breathing difficulties, extreme fatigue and I get out of breath easy. I have also lost more weight since taking it but not sure why though.

Any help would be great.

Kind Regards Mark

Hi Mark,

You’re not alone; many people struggle with the Candida diet.

Tomatoes - Tomatoes are high in acid and this tends to aggravate Candida. Most people usually have to avoid tomatoes, particularly in the early phases of the diet. Once some progress is made in reducing yeast overgrowth, you may be able to bring them back in.

Chick Peas and Kidney Beans - Some people do okay on beans (chick peas are a bean) and other people don’t. Each person has to gauge it for themselves on how they feel when they eat them. If symptoms develop when eaten then they need to be avoided. Any bean is a good source of protein and full of nutrients, so they are a really health food. The problem with beans in relation to Candida is that they are very high in carbohydrates. Candida will feast on them.

Buckwheat flour - This flour is better than wheat flour, so if you’re going to make something that requires flour this is a good choice. However, flour should be avoided most of the time. Flour is a refined food and can easily be eaten by yeast. Flour is also high in carbohydrates that will also feed yeast. This is especially important in the early phases of the diet. Again, after some progress is achieved in reducing overgrowth, then it may be something that can be eaten a little more often.

What can you eat for breakfast -

One of the things that must happen when following the Candida diet is that old ways of thinking must be let go of. We must let go of the standard way we are accustomed to eating.

Sitting down to big bowl of cereal is not a good choice regardless of whether it is bowl of wheaties or a bowl of rice flake porridge. The rice flake porridge is definitely a healthier choice, however it is very high in carbohydrates. This will give the yeast a very big and delicious to meal to devour and will probably incite a vast amount of Candida symptoms.

Breakfast, just like all meals on this diet, should be very low in carbohydrates. It should be high in protein and low carbohydrate vegetables.

A good breakfast for Candida might include the following:

- Eggs with green peppers. Green peppers could be replaced with spinach, hot peppers, broccoli or any other low carb vegetable you prefer. A small potato or a slice of whole grain bread.

- Baked chicken breast and green beans. 2 TBSPS of brown rice or slice of whole grain bread.

- Ground turkey with spinach. Small potatoes or 2 tbsps of brown rice.

- Ground buffalo with steamed zucchini. Small potato, brown rice or whole grain bread.

- Beef hamburgers with a salad.

In regard to the Xtralac, I don’t have personal knowledge with this particular product, however when I look over its ingredients, I see that it contains Enterococcus Faecalis, which is an opportunistic pathogen. This ingredient is also contained in Threelac. I got very sick from Threelac and I’ve talked with lots of other people who have as well. I developed a bacterial infection and my Candida flared terribly. It is my suspicion, however I don’t know for sure, that it may be this particular bacteria that makes some people sick. Regardless, for some reason, some people do okay on products like Xtralac and other people don’t. If it makes you that sick, perhaps you should reevaluate whether you should continue taking it. I wouldn’t take it with those kind of symptoms.

It is also possible that you’re symptoms are die off. In myself and the people I’ve talked to who got sick with Threelac the symptoms are different from what you describe. We had symptoms that seemed to be a bacterial infection. Your symptoms sound like they could possibly be die off, but I can’t say for sure. However it’s also important to keep this in mind. A certain degree of die off is good and acceptable, however if you become very sick or incapacitated then that isn’t good for the body. The liver can only process so many toxins at a time. It can get very overloaded with toxins during die off. When this happens, it usually best to cut back on whatever antifungal is causing the situation and go at a slower pace so the body can keep up or switch to a less potent antifungal and work your way up to a more powerful one.

If you need more help with the Candida diet or have other questions about Candida, I offer consultations by phone. You can learn more about that by looking at my Holistic Counseling page.

Additionally, I have a great little handbook called Candida Secrets that will provide you with a broad overview of all the facets related to yeast overgrowth and the best way to approach treatment. Inside this book you’ll also find a coupon for a 30% discount on my phone consultations if you still need further assistance.