Candida Diet

The Candida diet is a pre-formed menu in many ways and individualized to some extent.

For most people it usually feels rigid and difficult to follow, as it is a drastic change from the standard American menu.  It takes a great deal of determination and self-discipline to adhere to.  However, once you begin to see changes in your symptoms and experience relief, you'll become more motivated and it won't be quite as difficult.

As your taste buds become accustomed to healthier food and your blood sugar begins to stabilize over time, your cravings for the really bad food will diminish.  In time you train your body, learn new eating behaviors and see the Candida diet in a new light. Eventually you'll begin to see that part of loving yourself is not doing something destructive. 

The purpose of the Candida diet is to deprive the Candida yeast of its food sources. Candida thrives on sugar and carbohydrates.  When it doesn't have food, it can't proliferate.  But this is easier said than done because the candida makes you crave the foods that it wants.  These cravings are usually very intense and can be completely overpowering.  

It is very common for individuals following the Candida diet to cheat from time to time or even fall of the Candida wagon completely.  This is just part of the process and requires that you be loving and forgiving of yourself when it occurs and start over again. You may find some of these holistic diet tips to be helpful.

Certain individualized factors must be taken into consideration when designing your Candida diet, however the basics must be incorporated as strictly as possible.

The Number One Enemy

The worse thing you can give your body in regard to the Candida Diet and in regard to health in general is sugar.   It weakens the immune system and gives yeast a spectacular feast.

Sugar is Candida's favorite food. If you remove nothing else from your diet, it must be sugar.

You may think that you don't eat much sugar, but you eat sugar unknowingly many times a day, because sugar is added to almost every food on the market in the traditional store and is even common place in the health food stores.  The health food stores usually carry items that contain organic sugar, but sugar is sugar when it comes to Candida and immune function.

To remove sugar from your diet you must read labels very carefully.  All forms of sugar should be removed from the diet.

Forms of Sugar

-Beet Sugar
-Maple Sugar
-Date Sugar
-Organic Cane Syrup
-Organic Cane Juice
-Organic Cane Sugar
-Dextrose
-Maltose
-Lactose
-Maltodextrin
-Fructose
-High Fructose Corn Syrup
-Brown Sugar
-Powdered Sugar
-Honey -Molasses

Now granted, if you really must eat sugar, organic sugar is definitely a better choice, because it doesn't have pesticides in it and it hasn't been stripped of its nutritional value, unlike refined white sugar.  But in regard to Candida, sugar is sugar.  It doesn't distinguish between organic or inorganic.  It will be quite happy to eat either one of them and proliferate equally.

The Candida Diet Basics

These Candida diet basics are essential to be successful in reducing or eliminating symptoms.

-No sugar
-No alcohol
-No wheat
-No yeast
-No caffeine -No preservatives and additives
-No refined and processed foods
-No moldy foods
-No dairy (except yogurt and butter)
  Cheese and milk contain lactose (milk sugar) which the yeast will feed on.
  (some people can do small amounts of cottage cheese)
-Low in Carbohydrates


Foods to Eat

-Low Carbs
-High in Protein and Vegetables
-Small amounts of complex carbohydrates

The basic and most successful anti Candida diet should consist of meat, low carbohydrate vegetables, a very small amount of complex carbohydrates.  It may also contain yogurt and eggs.

Meats to Include

-buffalo (is lower in fat and cholesterol than chicken or turkey)
-chicken
-beef
-turkey
-lamb
-ostrich
-fish.( be careful because fish is contaminated with mercury and other pollutants)
-No processed meats like lunch meat, spam, etc.

Low Carb Vegetables to Include

-cabbage
-kale
-lettuce
-cucumbers
-zucchinis
-cauliflower
-green beans
-spinach
-any green leafy vegetable is low in carbohydrates
-onions
-garlic
-green peppers
-avocados (are excellent because they are also very good for stabilizing -blood sugar)

High Carb Foods to Avoid or Eat Sparingly

-potatoes
-carrots
-sweet potatoes
-yams
-corn
-beans
-winter squash

Grains

For most people, grains should be avoided or eaten in very small amounts when following the Candida diet as they are highly allergenic and high in carbohydrates.  Some people do fairly well with grains, while others can't eat any at all.

-rice
-wheat
-oats
-barley
-spelt
-rye

Alternate Grains
-Kamut
-Quinoa


Dairy and Eggs

-Yogurt is good because it contains healthy bacteria.

-Cheese or cottage cheese may be eaten once in a while.
-Eggs are a good protein and no carbs.

Beans

Beans are a good source of protein, however they are also high in carbohydrates, so should be eliminated  or reduced for most people.  Some people do okay on them while others can't eat them at all. 

-lima
-pinto
-navy
-split pea
-black,etc.



Nuts

Some people can include nuts, while other's can't. Nuts are very good for you, so if you can include them in your diet, you should. However in the beginning phase of the Candida diet they are best avoided or reduced.

Nuts are moldy.  Some of them are also high carbohydrate.

Cashews are high in carbohydrates.

Macadamia, Almond, Walnut, Peanut, Hazelnut are lower in carbohydrates.


Fruits

Most people need to cut down on fruit intake drastically while following the Candida diet.  This is because fruit is high in natural sugar.  Some fruits are higher in sugar than others. 

Some people can eat fruit freely and other people can't eat it at all.  On the other hand, some people can only eat fruit that is lower in sugar.


Fruit High in Sugar
-Oranges (very moldy as well)
-Bananas
-Dates

Fruit Medium level of sugar
-Apples
-Apricots
-Peaches
-Melons (also very moldy)


Fruit Low in sugar
-Strawberries
-Blueberries
-Raspberries
-Blackberries
-Pears


Special Occasions and Treats

* Please keep in mind that sweets should be extremely limited.

I've found that it's much easier to stay on the Candida diet if you allow yourself treats from time to time, so you don't feel deprived.  I allow myself to have something sweet, yet healthy about once a week.

There may also be special occasions and holidays when you would like to indulge in something tasty and delicious.
 
More than likely you will experience cravings from time to time that are uncontrollable and you must have something sweet.

For any of these occurrences it's best to indulge in healthy sweets that aren't damaging to the immune system and won't make the Candida proliferate to the same extent as sugar.

Make your own dessert or buy some at the health food store that are sweetened with these sugar alternatives:

  -fruit juice sweetened
  -barley malt
  -maple syrup
  -rice syryp
  -agave
  -stevia

All of these alternatives are a whole food, rather than a simple sugar, so they will contain nutritional value and will break down in the body slower than simple sugars. They also won't skyrocket the blood sugar levels.

Stevia is a fantastic herbal sweetener.  It does not feed the Candida and it does not upset the blood sugar.  However Stevia can be difficult to use and takes a little getting used to.

Agave is another good source that is fairly new on the market.  I've just started learning about it in the last couple years.  It will feed Candida, but it is much less offensive.  It also does not give you the spike in blood sugar that refined sweeteners do.  I actually find agave to be better for the blood sugar than any of the other alternative sweeteners.

Candida Diet Phases

There are 3 phases in the Candida diet. We'll call them, Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced.

Beginning
In the beginning phase you must be much stricter with adherence and your choices will be more limited.

Intermediate
In time, you'll see some improvement in your symptoms and as that happens you can bring back more complex carbohydrates and fruit etc.  You can be less strict with adherence.

Advanced
If you've made a lot of progress in reducing Candida symptoms, then you may move into a Candida diet that consists of more complex carbohydrates and even less strict guidelines.

It's also common for individuals to alternate back and forth between phases.  For example:  You may have reached a point where your symptoms are really under control and you have a lot more food choices and can tolerate quite a bit of carbohydrate and then a set back occurs and you have to go back to the beginning phase again for a period of time. 

A setback can occur in response to stress, hormones, you've overdone the sweets on a holiday, you've had the flu or some other illness, you've had to take an antibiotic.


The Candida diet can be very challenging to live with, there's no way to candy coat it.  Pun intended.
It also takes time for your body to adjust.  Initially you will feel tired and hungry as you adjust to the lower level of carbohydrates and your Candida screams for you to feed it.

If you need support, guidance or education in setting up your diet, you may find a phone consultation with Cynthia to be very helpful.

Keep in mind that the anti Candida diet is only one aspect of treatment. It's also important to take antifungals and a variety of other steps to enhance effectiveness of the diet. It's vital that your treatment approach be comprehensive or progress in reducing overgrowth will be hindered. You can get all the facts you need about Candida and guidance on which way to go in this great little Ebook, "Candida Secrets." It's a quick and easy to read and will put you on the right track from the beginning.

When starting out on the Candida diet remember it's usually a process that takes time to incorporate fully.  Be kind to yourself, don't beat yourself up if you give in.  Forgive and start over.  If it feels too overwhelming, begin with baby steps and work your way up to bigger steps.









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