Candida albicans is a troublesome yeast that can grow on the skin, in any body cavity, within cells, between cells, or free in intracellular spaces or in the intestine. It grows best when fed simple sugars. These sugars can come either directly from sugars or from breakdown of starches. In overcoming yeast, the following dietary suggestions have been found to be helpful because they offer adequate beneficial nutrients and not the simple sugars that foster Candida growth.
PRELIMINARY CANDIDA DIET
Foods to Eliminate
No wheat or oats or products made from wheat or oats.
No Sweets: Including:
sugar, honey, maple syrup.
No raw fruit or fruit juices. However, fresh fruit like pears
or apples may be cooked with organic apple juice and thickened
with kuzu, an arrowroot- thickener and sweetened with rice syrup
or rice malt.
No yeasted foods including: bread, alcohol. Sourdough
rye or spelt bread is used instead.
No moulds No peanuts, mushrooms or dried fruit,
i.e. raisins. No vinegar, no beer or wine.
No fermented foods such as: beer, alcohol,
vinegar, sauerkraut, tamari, tempeh, amasake, mirin, new or light
colored miso is too yeasty. Old or dark hacho miso may be used.
Umeboshi paste, pickles, vinegar and ume extract can be beneficial.
No cows milk products i.e. milk, yogurt, kefir
and cheese. Butter may be used by some people
as may goat milk and goat milk cheeses.
Beneficial Foods:
Try to obtain organic produce. Use chlorine-free water
i.e. spring or filtered water for drinking and cooking.
Grains: depending on other factors it is usually safe to include
millet, quinoa, buckwheat, and teff.
Rye, brown rice and barley while sometimes safe,may cause some
people problems.
Most vegetables, raw and cooked, are beneficial, depending on other health conditions you may have, there may be a few restrictions. Use garlic in food preparation.,
Protein may be obtained from organically farmed fish or some deep ocean wild caught fish, organic meats - beef, lamb turkey and chicken, seeds, nuts, beans and bean products like tofu. Some beans may create intestinal gas. Low carbohydrate beans like the adzuki bean are a good source of protein but have little gas forming potential. Fish and organic free range chicken as well as eggs, lamb and organic lamb and beef be used some people.
Beneficial Supplements
Digestive enzymes may play an important role. In many people with Candida, the gut may have become leaky (see Leaky Gut). In this situation digestive enzymes may aid in a more rapid return to health.
Acidophilus, usually three in the morning.
Bifidus, usually three in the evening .
WGP betaglucan ™ (always taken on an empty stomach and usually once daily. If your Candida symptoms are severe, after a few days, increasing to twice daily may be of benefit.)
Yeasts do not grow well in the presence of minerals such as those found naturally in AFA Algae so it may be beneficial to take these supplements later during therapy for Candida. .
Many practitioners advocate approaches to treatment which involve attempting to kill Candida and parasites using drugs or strong herbs. In my experience, these treatments can be problematic. Nystatin is relatively safe and can be very useful when there is an oral growth of yeast, as often occurs in the ill, elderly, immune compromised, people on inhaled steroids for asthma or post antibiotic. Diflucan, commonly used to treat vaginal Candida, may also be temporarily of benefit. One problem with these treatments is that while most of the Candida will die, some will remain alive. These cells can then grow and spread and will be tougher to deal with later.
Herbs can also be useful however, in order to be strong enough to kill yeast, they may also be harmful to the intestine. They should only be used with the supervision of an experienced health practitioner. Daily garlic helps reduce yeast growth.
The best approach is to deprive Candida of it's nutrient sources and to strengthen the immunity of the intestine.
Please remember that Candida can go into hiding in the body so that later, if you begin to eat larger amounts of sweets, dairy, alcohol or wheat even after being rigorous for several months, the Candida may return. A moderate diet will help to keep you healthy.
Please consider taking daily WGP Betaglucan ™ and probiotics even when you are feeling better.
