Candida Diet

[confused]

Who all is doing it or going to start doing it. I need all the moral support I can get. We have talking about it in the omg thread but i know there are people that are doing it that dont look into that thread, so i thought i would start an seperate thread. i hope no one minds that i am doing this.

I will be starting jan 1st, so if anyone has any good tips please let me know.

paula

[bluejeangirl]

Who all is doing it or going to start doing it. I need all the moral support I can get. We have talking about it in the omg thread but i know there are people that are doing it that dont look into that thread, so i thought i would start an seperate thread. i hope no one minds that i am doing this.

I will be starting jan 1st, so if anyone has any good tips please let me know.

paula

I'm going to be doing it. I know in the oxalate thread it gets mentioned alot. We can post our progress on there if there isn't alot of interest on its own. I do think though that many people would benefit from this diet. There would be alot to discuss since there are so many opinions on what diet to follow. So anyone else?

Gail

[confused]

I will check out that thread. It would be nice to have an thread all by itself tho but if no one would be responding it would be useless.

I know every website i check out is different and im getting so confused. I guess it will be an trial and error tho til i find out what works best for me, but it would be nice to see how others are doing.

i rather hear from real live people then studies on others that i have no idea who they are.

paula

[dlp252]

Yep, I stated mine the day after Christmas. I've been a very bad girl and really need to get serious, so I couldn't wait even until I went grocery shopping. So far so good! My hardest time is at work...for a couple of reasons. First, I'm usually just bored, lol, and when I'm bored I want to eat, and usually want to eat sweets. Secondly, this office is full of sweets, lol.

[Flor]

Oh good for you guys! I'm glad you started this thread!

For me, I think the candida diet is my Final Frontier! (at least I hope so!).

My gut journey started two years ago, eliminating in this order: dairy, gluten, soy, beef/pork, nightshade vegetables, high oxalate foods, and most recently corn. I've read some that corn is often a problem for leaky guts. I also stay away from most prepared foods, things with more than two or three ingredients tend to cause problems.

I started on the yeast-free diet just after Christmas as well. I've posted a lot on the Oxalates thread and on the yahoo trying-low-oxalates group -- I'm pretty sure that the LOD helped me BUT that it worsened my candida symptoms, at least in the short term. Many people say that the LOD itself addressed their yeast issues, but after five months on the LOD, I haven't found that to be the case yet.

I know I have long-term candida issues (chronic vag yeast infections in my twenties, chronic athlete's foot/nail fungus, a couple of yeast-infected hair follicles, yeast infected milk ducts while I was nursing and still left on my nipples). I'm 43, by the way (as of today!).

I have never managed to stop eating sugar, ever. So now I am about day five of no sugar, very little carb, one serving of fruit, no alcohol, no fermented stuff, no mushrooms. I am on the fence about the cheese question. I have been eating some goat and sheep cheese. There's some indication from the stuff I've looked at that the cheese prohibition may be unnecessary.

Here's what I'm doing besides the diet -- it'd be great if we could compare notes, yes?

Solaray's "yeast cleanse" 6 tablets

Black walnut (in pill form)

GSE

fresh lemon juice in water several times a day

Threelac (I had been doing VSL3 but am trying threelac now because so many people say it's helped specifically with candida)

Milk Thistle seed to support liver cleansing

Red Clover tea to support liver (two times/day)

White rice had been the only grain I was eating on low oxalate diet, but it just feels too yeasty, so I am doing it occasionally only. Am eating oatmeal with flax seed for fiber (keeping things moving seems crucial). I add a tiny bit of honey to plain yoghurt, but that's the only sweetener. I've read that stevia is okay, but I haven't tried it.

I've stopped eating rice cakes or rice pasta. My biggest indulgence is the occasional Van's gluten free waffle with butter.

For my overall gut problems I take a bunch of other supplements:

Flax seed oil

Fish oil

Biotin, zinc, Bs, CoQ10, Vit E, calicium citrate

Arginine, glutamine, N-acetyl glucosamine, MSM

Multi-vit (BlueBonnet)

I haven't experienced any "yeast dumping" symptoms, but the gas/bloating/pain/diarrhea that had gotten worse over the holidays is already better. The chronic joint pain I have in my hips and fingers has gotten better in recent months I think from eliminating beef and corn. But in the last few days, it's gotten even better.

I read all this stuff before Christmas about how leaky gut can be caused by the candida fungus actually growing into your intestines and perforating it. It scared me! I know in my case that a lot of my problem was antibiotic and viral damage and huge stress and exhaustion during and after pregnancy in 2003/4. So candida overgrowth is an obvious one for me. AND it seems like I get better every time I eliminate a food group but then I get worse again, so something is stopping my damaged gut from healing... and my best guess at this point is that it's candida, or at least in part.

I look forward to hearing what you all doing!

Florence

[dlp252]

Happy Birthday Florence!!!

I haven't gone super strict YET, but I've cut out all obvious sugars. For sweetener I am using stevia. Up until the day after Christmas I was using a lot of agave nectar, which is supposed to be low glycemic, but the amounts I was using probably negated that. I was also eating quite a bit of chocolate.

In addition to candida, I have mold toxicity...the mold automatically predisposes me to bacterial issues, so I really need to be careful with molds, fermentation, yeast, etc. If THAT wasn't enough I have lyme disease, lol

So, since the day after Christmas, I cut out all obvious sugar. What I am still eating that will be cut out soon: some pre-cooked bacon I buy at Whole Foods...it lists sugar, so that will have to go. The other thing I'm still eating is a low glycemic nutrition bar I get from my doctor. He seems to think it is low enough so as not to cause problems with the candida, but I'm not so sure.

Other than that, I eat eggs for mid-morning snack.

Ground beef and broccoli for lunch.

Either beef or chicken or turkey and green veggies for dinner.

Right before I go to bed I eat the nutrition bar with some cashew butter or macadamia nut butter on it. I'm doing this as an experiment for one of my doctors, lol. I may switch to a small apple with the nut butter though. Eventually I'll need to cut out the nut butters too because of the mold issue, but I just can't do it now.

I take a TON of supplements for all my issues...I've lost track what is specifically for what, lol.

I know the Pao D'Arco tea is for the candida.

I take Caprylic Acid for the other bacterial dybsiosis I have...I had a Doctor's Data test which showed that Caprylic Acid was effective against ALL my bacterial stuff. I need to switch soon to Oregano Oil...that also tested well for the bacterial stuff.

I'm taking two herbal drops called Banderol and Cumanda...I rotate those every two weeks. I think both of those are helpful against the bacterial stuff.

For the last year, all of my doctors have been working on getting my system functions back to where they should be. My adrenals are shot, and there are some other issues as well, so the doctors really wanted to make sure I could handle all the treatments. We've been supplementing minerals/vitamins, adrenals, etc.

[Flor]

Donna,

I noticed just today that I can actually SMELL the mold in the cashew butter I have. I eat the occasional few nuts, but I can't tolerate the nut butters or very many nuts.

This could be pure delusion, but I feel like stopping sugar has sharpened my senses, nose and eyes. Things feel a little clearer. Anyway, I'd never noticed that smell before in the nut butter. Same with dried fruit. I'm starting to wonder if apples are problematic for me. Definitely can't do grapes, but they're getting out of season now anyway and you can see the mold on them.

Are you getting grass-fed beef? I gather there's aspergillus mold issues with the other kind? I guess it's the lectins or something in beef that inflame my joints.

I've read good stuff about oregano oil. Maybe I'll try that next.

Are you taking any kind of probiotic? Have you tried Threelac?

Florence

[Nooner]

Happy New Year! And happy belated birthday, Florence!

I'm joining you all with the anti-candida diet, or at least trying to. Not sure if I actually have a yeast overgrowth, but I just feel better when I treat myself for one.

I'm gluten, soy, nightshade, poultry, legume, brassica (broccoli, cabbage, et al), coconut, brown rice, sunflower, artificial sweetener, natural/artificial flavoring free. Most veggies bother me except squashes, onion, garlic, carrots. Most fruits bother me, with the exception of canned pears (no sugar added), grapes, raisins, and bananas (only occaisionally). I went Low Oxalate in September and feel it has cleared up a lot of my issues. I've been sugar and carb lite since November (except for the holidays, lol!) and it also really seems to help.

I still eat white rice, but I've cut way back. Same with corn.

I'm taking probiotics, biotin and capryllic acid for the yeast (or whatever it is!). The capryllic acid doesn't seem to be working anymore, so I just started alternating oil of oregano. I can't take Threelac because it contains canola oil (brassica) so I've ordered Therelac and will start that this week.

Other supplements are Caltrate, Magnesium, L Glutamine, Vit E, Cranberry extract (for UTI's), a multi vitamin, and Vit D.

Sugar is by far the hardest thing I've ever tried to give up. I'm glad you started this thread, I can definitely use the support, as well as any ideas anyone has.

~Li

[dlp252]

Welcome Nooner!

Florence,

Yeah, I have raw cashews...I should switch to those to eat with the bar...that seemed to work just as well and would probably have a lot less mold.

I don't think you're delusional, lol...sugar feeds the bacteria/yeast so cutting down starves a few of them out, which helps all bodily functions. I don't eat much fruit anymore and when I do I tend to go for the low sugar/low mold stuff, so haven't had grapes or dried fruit in a long time. I tend to buy frozen organic peaches...in the summer I whirl a few of them up frozen in a smoothie made with egg white protein and stevia.

My beef isn't grass fed, but it is antibiotic/hormone free...I buy it at whole foods. I WOULD buy the grass fed, but they don't have a 9% fat ground beef, only 16%. I guess I could buy that and just eat LESS, lol.

I am currently NOT on a probiotic which will make ALL my doctors unhappy, lol. I ran out and just haven't bought any more. I should probably order the VSL#3 or the Theralac, I haven't tried those nor Threelac. I was taking one called HLC that I get from my doctor's office, which seemed to sit well with me.

[confused]

Welcome florence and nooner,

I need to look into the probotics you are all are talking about. im always so scared to take anything but i know i cant get better on diet alone.

Im not starting til tommorow cause hubby wanted a big new years dinner and i want to start exercising the dayi start the diet and there was no way my body was getting up at 5 am today lol.

Can everyone post what their typical day of eating is, so i can get some ideas.

thanks

paula

[dlp252]

Paula, here's a typical weekday when I'm working:

5:00 a.m. (home), a few slices of the pre-cooked bacon (this will have to change soon though)

8:20 a.m. (work), 2 Xlarge hard boiled eggs

11:00 a.m. (work), 7 oz of ground beef and about 1/3 to 1/2 bag of broccoli

3:00-4:00 p.m. (home), steak, chicken or turkey and lots of sauteed green beans or other green veggie (sometimes I have peas if I'm having chicken--peas are higher in starch though)

8:30 p.m. (home, about 30 minutes before bed), a nutrition bar with some nut butter on it (usually cashew or macadamia nut) This snack will be changing to something more anti-candida as soon as I can figure out something

Here's a typical day at home (like weekend or holidays):

6:00-6:30 a.m., 2 Xlarge eggs and a breakfast meat...my whole foods carries a turkey sausage that would work for the candida diet, but they've been out of it forever now, so that's why I'm doing the bacon, but the bacon has sugar in it soI need to stop

11:00 a.m., ground beef patty and some kind of veggie

3:00 p.m., same dinner as weekdays, or sometimes I'll have something special like duck

8:30 p.m., same snack and same bedtime, lol.

My diet is pretty boring, lol.

[confused]

That does sound bad at all. What brand is that rurky sausage? Would ham be allowed or does it have to much starch? So pretty much what i have to do is eat stuff with no sugar. What do u drink? Can i only have water? Would flavored water not work. Can i still have lemon water or is that too much sugar? I usually dont snack at night so i think im ok, or is best to have something before bed?

paula

[dlp252]

Paula,

I drink mostly water--lots of it. I drink hot water when I'm cold and cold water when I'm hot, lol. I also drink the Pao D'Arco tea, but only once or twice a day. Sometimes, I'll have a little coconut milk and make myself a little "hot chocolate" with it, but I limit that because the chocolate (unsweetened cocoa powder) isn't good for me (I tested badly for chocolates of all kinds, lol).

I think lemon water would be just fine. I stay away from prepared beverages mostly because of the processing and chemicals, but if you can find a nice natural flavored water (as long as it doesn't have sugar in it), that might work. I stay away from artificial sweeteners for mostly the same reason...chemicals and most of them are made with maltrodextrin or dextrose which is a sugar. So currently the only sweetener I use is stevia.

I'd be careful of ham...if it's smoked you may run into a little problem, but if it doesn't have sugar or isn't highly processed it's probably okay...I just wouldn't eat a ton of it.

The turkey sausage just has turkey in it, which is why I like it so much. I think they use some spice, but it doesn't have gluten and it doesn't have sugar. I can't remember the name of it though. It's in a white box and they have two versions...patties and links. I've only seen it at Whole Foods, but I don't think it's one of their brands.

The only reason I have a snack so close to bed is because I was having symptoms of low blood sugar in the middle of the night. My doctor wanted me to see if snacking before bed would help that.

[confusedks]

Paula, I don't really have ideas for food since I am always out of food ideas, but I found a site with tons of recipes that may be helpful to anyone on a Candida diet. The site isn't specifically for candida, but a lot of the stuff would be suitable for a candida diet.

Look through, but remember not everything is allowed. Open Original Shared Link

[Flor]

Hi you all!

I'm grateful for this thread. I agree that the candida diet is the hardest of all. Life without sugar and alcohol is pretty tough. I was never a big drinker, but the occasional glass of red wine did wonders for me. And let's don't even talk about chocolate and cookies -- which used to be my main afternoon survival mechanism.

Thank you for the birthday wishes! I'm determined to be able to eat birthday cake again some day!

For now, it's just about saying no. I managed to go to a mexican restaurant with son and husband today and for the first time not eat a single tortilla chip.

I wanted to pass along I just picked up a book on sale and B&N called "Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Cookbook." It turns out it's for losing weight BUT some of the recipes gave me ideas for new menu items since the prohibition on sugar and flour comes pretty close for our diets. You might pick up a copy next time you're in a bookstore.

Here's a quick sample of my food intake:

Breakfast:

Plain goat yoghurt with some flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, a few walnut pieces, sometimes sunflower seeds (I may have trouble with these too), some grated apple or sliced banana, a tiny bit of honey and cinnamon.

Lunch:

Two scrambled eggs with a little bit of soft goat cheese, salmon (if it's on hand), and peas

or leftovers from dinner the night before

Dinner:

Broiled salmon (ginger, garlic, butter, lemon), broccoli, a quarter piece of fruit

or

A chicken dish (usually with lots of garlic and onion), cauliflower or cooked mixed veggies or green beans)

or

Lamb chops with veggie

After dinner:

A bowl of oatmeal with a lot of butter in it and some flax seeds

Other snacks:

The occasional half rice cake with pumpkin seed butter and a little fruit only preserves

A half-dozen of those Hain rice/nut crackers dipped in half an avocado

A few raw cashews and handful of sunflower seeds

A slice of manchego cheese (made from sheep milk)

A couple of baby carrots in hummus

Cold chicken/apple sausage leftover from breakfast

One Van's gluten free waffle with butter

I try to drink fresh lemon juice in a half glass of water before each meal.

And a couple cups of red clover tea.

I do drink half a cup of coffee in the morning -- which is a new habit I'm trying out. It seems to help keep things moving and isn't causing any other trouble so far. I put a couple tablespoons of cow's milk in it -- that's the only cow dairy I have.

I'll try to think up more menu ideas later -- I know there's more I eat, but can't think what right now.

I stay entirely away from prepared meats of any kind -- lunch meat, ham, salami, etc. It smells funny to me now and doesn't sit right.

More soon!

Florence

[confused]

Thanks everyone, i decided to start today cause i got so sick yesterday and i know it wasnt gluten. I made an fruit salad and i kept tasting it everytime i stirred it cause i put jello in it and didnt want it to set. So as i was getting dinner ready aftr a couple of hours of eating the fruit salad. I doubled over in pain and it hurt so bad, i was in tears. It was like the worst gas pains i have ever felt in my life and i usually dont feel that way with gluten. So i decided today was going to be the day to starts.

SO far i have gotten up and did 45 minutes of yoga and drank a cup of warm lemon water. Once my hubby gets moving he is going to go get me some organic eggs so i can eat breakfast. And that is as far as i have planned for today. Im thinking an salad for lunch.

SO rice cakes are allowed on this plan. But would almond butter be ok, or no cause im sure it had sugar.

Im going to have to think of some snack ideas cause ill be at hockey camp with my boys every afternnon for the next 3 days and i know i will get the munchies, maybe ill just take some nuts and water.

paula

[dlp252]

Paula, I wouldn't go overboard on the rice cakes though...can you eat brown rice? If so, you could get brown rice cakes, but I'd still limit them. I know on the anti-candida rotation diet I did, rice was limited to a 1/2 cup serving. That's not a lot, lol!

[confused]

Paula, I wouldn't go overboard on the rice cakes though...can you eat brown rice? If so, you could get brown rice cakes, but I'd still limit them. I know on the anti-candida rotation diet I did, rice was limited to a 1/2 cup serving. That's not a lot, lol!

I think i can brown rice, i never know anymore lol. But brown rice cakes do not sound very exciting I think i will not even think about rice cakes lol.

I did find an anti candida diet recipe that uses chicken broth, so it must be ok to use, so i am going to make me a batch of chicken and rice soup to have from time to time. I figured i would just use chicken broth, chicken and some veggies and i guess brown rice, i wont put alof of rice in it, so i think i will be ok.

It is always so cold here, i think the soup would be good, i cant imagine eating too many salds when it is cold out, i love salads in the summer time tho lol.

paula

[dlp252]

Yeah, chicken broth should be okay as long as it doesn't have starches added...not sure why it would, but you never know what they put in stuff anymore, lol. I've been thinking about soup too. Hum, maybe that's what I should have for dinner! Chicken soup!

I LOVE salad, but I can't have the dressing anymore because of the vinegar, so there's no point, lol. I've tried with just olive oil, and with olive oil and lemon juice, but I just can't get used to it.

[confused]

Yeah, chicken broth should be okay as long as it doesn't have starches added...not sure why it would, but you never know what they put in stuff anymore, lol. I've been thinking about soup too. Hum, maybe that's what I should have for dinner! Chicken soup!

I LOVE salad, but I can't have the dressing anymore because of the vinegar, so there's no point, lol. I've tried with just olive oil, and with olive oil and lemon juice, but I just can't get used to it.

I havent had an salad with dressing in years, but i have to have lots of variety in my salad, i cant just eant lettuce and tomato lol

paula

[confusedks]

Donna, can you try olive oil with lemon juice and some "Jane's Krazy Mixed up Salt"? it's AMAZING! I now can do it with just salt, but that has more of a dressing flavor. it's just dehydrated spices with salt...it's really good! You should be able to get it at Whole Foods, or Gelsons (do you have them up there?)

[dlp252]

Yeah, I shop at Whole Foods, so I'll look for it. I need salt anyway, lol. It DID help when I added a little garlic to the olive oil/lemon juice, so maybe the spice it just what it needs.

[confused]

Donna, can you try olive oil with lemon juice and some "Jane's Krazy Mixed up Salt"? it's AMAZING! I now can do it with just salt, but that has more of a dressing flavor. it's just dehydrated spices with salt...it's really good! You should be able to get it at Whole Foods, or Gelsons (do you have them up there?)

salt on salad, ewwwwwwwww lol

Ok i forgot how i feel when i eat just protein in the morning. my insides feel like they are on speed. I had to come lay down to try to calm my body down lol. Its about itme to eat lunch and im afraid to feel like this again lol

paula

[dlp252]

Paula, eat your protein with a little fat or maybe with some veggies. I have a hard time with veggies in the morning, but I may buy some squash and try that. I actually do okay with pureed squash, and that seems more palatable somehow.

Salt...I put it on EVERYTHING!!! I salt pizza!

[confused]

ok i will try that, thank you for the info.

I do not salt anything, i think it is cause my grandpa was so overweight and they told him no more salt and he would not listen. So when i would go up i would take all the salt out of the house and he would get so mad at me. I would give him the salt shaker empty or put fake salt in there, but he would know. I was trying to prolong his life anyway i could. Eventually his liver failed him which im sure was undiagnosed celiac disease.

paula