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Could you Follow the Candida Diet, Heal your Health Issues and Find Sugar Free Recipes that You & Your Family Like?

I’m sure you can – Why not give it a go alongside me? Ok, I might have a bit of a head start as I’ve already got 96% of my candida symptoms under control.

But I can share with you what I’ve learned and SHOW YOU HOW I got better. Enter your email to get weekly updates and my Candida Survival Guide.

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{ 83 comments… read them below or add one }

Eva October 21, 2012 at 15:56

Hello! I love your web, thank you so much for sharing all your knowledge with us. I’ve got chemical sensitivities and lots of digestive issues. I want to give your candida diet a go, so far it’s one of the best protocols I’ve have read. But I have to be careful, as I struggle with everything I try. Last week I introduced apple cider vinegar, and a week after I’ve had to stop it. You mention that I’ve upper cider vinegar upset our stomach (in my case my liver, stomach and bowels) we may try heal these problems first with other natural approaches. Can you please tell me what supplements I should take to deal with my stomach first? I’m so lost, I’ve tried lots of things, but everything irritates my digestive tract.
Thank you very much for your help
Eva, from Spain.

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Sandra October 23, 2012 at 18:00

Hi Eva,
thanks so much for your lovely message – it’s great to meet you :-)
Yes, taking things slowly is a good idea. During the day drink lots of filtered water and also nettle tea, dandelion or ginger tea (from ginger root freshly boiled). This helps to flush your liver and kidneys. You could also try milkthistle tincture as a liver tonic to help with digestion or Swedish Bitter drops right before/ after your meals.

It’s best to eat small portions. Eat lots of vegetables, soups, grilled or steamed chicken and plenty of fish.
It’s often the way we prepare food and not the food itself that is the problem. Avoid eating fried and very creamy or hot/ spicy foods. Don’t eat too many raw vegetables either – even that can be hard to digest.

Drink plenty of chamomile flowers tea – that’s very soothing for the tummy. Avoid wheat, dairy and possibly oats. In fact eat as little grains as possible. Well cooked brown rice with coconut oil and cinnamon is best in my opinion. Eat light and mild and make a point of going for brisk walks and to relax (watching tv, browsing the net, speaking to a friend on the phone doesn’t count ;-) I am talking lying down or sitting with eyes closed in the nature or quietly or with calming music or meditating – deep rest is what is needed).

You can also drink aloe vera juice – that helps heal your tummy and digestive system but is rather costly. If you try this go for top quality. Cheaper products often have citric acid in it or have less active ingredients in it which is not good, less effective and tastes vile.

Another great remedy to soothe the lining of the stomache and intestines is slippery elm powder. This really helps. But you need to be aware that this would be just a temporary fix. Your symptoms will only disappear once you have the candida problem under control and balanced the acidity levels in your system.

If I were you I would not spend money on lots of supplements right now. I’d put my main focus on eating light, drinking healing teas and making time to relax. That should already make a big difference to how you feel.

Keep in touch :-) All my best, Sandra

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Margaret January 14, 2013 at 14:03

How can I purchase your books?

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Sandra January 14, 2013 at 15:08

Hello Margaret, thanks for getting in touch.
I feel enormously flattered that you presume I had books to sell. As it stands I haven’t – yet ;-)
I do plan on publishing an e-book with all my recipes and my experience on the candida diet around March/ April this year though. In the meantime I’m afraid there’s only my blog content for you to peruse :-)
In an ideal world what would you hope to see in the book?

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John Harris February 20, 2013 at 17:36

Hi Sandra.
Wonderful work you’re doing !
A couple of quick questions.
I seem to be ok with almond butter but would you say cashew butter is best avoided ?
Have you any experience of the Lactofree range of products ?
Wishing you continued success.
John

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Sandra February 20, 2013 at 21:02

Hi John.

Good to hear from you!

Are you making the nut butter fresh? I must say I haven’t tried cashew butter, but pretty much every other (bought) nut butter under the sun. Almond butter agrees best with me.

I love eating cashew nuts. But again, I do seem to get the odd symptom when I eat a lot of them. Based on that and the fact that cashew nuts are acidic, whereas almonds are alkaline, which is better for you, I’d opt for almond butter if you plan to eat it regularly.

But a little bit of cashew butter should be ok. Some vegan friends of mine (who are also on the candida diet) make a lovely cashew butter/cream filling for cakes, which seems to work for them.

Haven’t tried lactofree products, except almond milk (might have been a different brand). Just make sure that they don’t add sweeteners (like apple juice or agave nectar) and you’re good to go.

Thanks so much for getting in touch :)

All my best,
San

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Edie Winters March 17, 2013 at 12:15

Last weekend my husband treated me with your sweet lamb bolognese dish! What a sweetie!
In any case, it was scrumptious! We thoroughly enjoyed it. We Americans pay double the price of beef for lamb, however my husband is so resourceful that he’s found ways to find it marked down. We used ‘ground’ lamb. So, sometimes lamb is hard to find here in Oklahoma, USA, but not impossible. And when we are able to find it, it’s tasty.
Thanks for this wonderful recipe. Even though I’m healed of the candida condition today, we’re still enjoying the recipes :) Thanks!

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Sandra March 20, 2013 at 15:30

Oh wonderful, I’m glad to hear it, Edie :-)

We eat quite a bit of lamb here in the UK, so I guess it must be more affordable here compared with the US. I definitely noticed that it was more expensive over in Germany the last time I visited.
I also really like lamb in a “Moroccan” stew with carrots, apricots, cinnamon, potatoes and dumplings (all things that you can now fully enjoy, yay!)

All my best & Keep in touch!

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Jim Cain July 26, 2013 at 14:10

Hi, there. I learn a lot from the blog and the new additions. I signed up to receive emails from you thinking I would receive your book advertised on the home page. I thought it said that if I sign up for the emails I would receive the book. Was I mistaken? I haven’t received it.

If I am mistaken, I’m okay with that. It won’t be the first time. :-)

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Erin September 4, 2013 at 01:40

Sandra, I’ve nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award because I think you’re fantastic and very talented! If you’d like to accept please see this post.

http://siftstirandsavour.com/2013/09/03/the-versatile-blogger-award/

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Sandra September 4, 2013 at 08:55

Oh wow, thanks so much Erin, that’s super!

You just made my day — it’s one of those days where I was actually asking myself why I’m doing all of this…

Well, thanks to your kind nomination has given me the motivation to keep going. Thanks for that :)

You’re a star!

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Angela Knight September 15, 2013 at 19:14

Hi,
been on a leaky gut /candida journey for a couple of months now. sooo much to learn, it can be overwhelming.. anyway, how useful do you think it is to do ph tests ? thanks Angela

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Sandra September 16, 2013 at 15:28

Hi Angela, good question. It makes sense to do ph tests. I did some myself and found it very interesting. On the flipside I don’t really think it’s necessary because you know anyway that the ph in certain areas in your body is out of whack because you’ll experience symptoms there.

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Angela Knight September 15, 2013 at 19:43

This blog presents as being honest and open, so on that note, on occasions my urine smells quite different to usual, I first noticed it when I first started taking probiotics. I put it down to die-off ? Any thoughts on this ? Thankyou Angela

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Sandra September 16, 2013 at 15:25

Hi Angela, no worries, you can ask me anything :) You’re right – it’s part of die off to experience funny smelling urine and also darker colour. Make sure that you are drinking lots of water to aid the process as this can also be a sign of dehydration. Keep an eye on it though, because candida can also trigger cystitis/ bladder infections. Uva Ursi tea helps with that. In general though, it’s normal, so hang in there, it will pass.

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Terri October 6, 2013 at 19:51

Hello Sandra, I have looked for a site like yours for 2 years. I cough and spit mucous up each am and after each meal for close to 3 years now. Recently I found a np that gave be fluconazole however the symptoms moved to become thrush after I finished the meds. I am currently using nystatin in hopes it clears up. I have been on the candida diet for 6 weeks however I did cheat once. It has been so long now that it is very tiring & frustrating. I want to Thank You for all the info. as I continue the fight. I was wondering which supplements have helped you & also how often you are taking probiotics?

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Sandra October 7, 2013 at 10:35

Hello Terri, I’m glad you found me :) Thanks for your lovely comment. It’s great that you have already been following the candida diet for six weeks, that will have kick-started you immune system. The mucous coughing is a typical sign of a fungus infection. I have suffered from that badly, too. It’s very unpleasant indeed. What helped me a lot was drinking natural apple cider vinegar in water first thing in the morning and with every meal and also drinking freshly brewed ginger tea. Diet wise it made a real difference not to have cheese, milk or yoghurt. That is of course hard to do… Don’t be too hard on yourself for cheating once. It happens… Just keep doing what you are doing and you will gradually get better. Olive leaf extract and Oil of oregano have helped me the most. I rotated them every 5 days. But I also took a Wormwood and Clove complex and caprylic acid at times with good results. I take probiotics twice daily. I started not taking any but relapsed a little (more due to the sugary food choices I made…) so now I’m back on the probiotics.
All my best,
Sandra

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Jessica October 11, 2013 at 21:50

Hi! I diagnosed myself with candida. I read that if I have it, my kids inherit it from me. I have a 4 year old and a 2 1/2 month old. We started the gaps protocol and we’ve been gradually increasing our probiotics. We’re still eating fruit and honey, so I think we need to be doing an actual candida diet. Where do we start from here? Do we have to stop taking probiotics and start from the beginning? Should we keep taking them and adjust our diet a little more? If we stop taking the probiotics, should we do it gradually? I’m anxious to get rid of this candida, but I definitely want to do it the right way. Thank you very much!
Jessica

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Sandra October 14, 2013 at 19:37

Hello Jessica, don’t worry, you’ve done a fantastic start by following the GAPS diet. That’s very healthy and in some respect similar to the candida diet in the sense that meat, eggs, healthy fats and vegetables should build the base for your diet now. Fruit and honey are unfortunately not allowed. It would probably be quite difficult to not let your kids have fruit and milk (dairy) though. Maybe that is not necessary (might be worth running it past a nutritionist).

Do your kids show symptoms or are you just concerned because you have candida? If they don’t show symptoms you don’t need to worry so much. If you give them a balanced wholefoods diet, avoiding overly sweet fruit and refined sugar that goes a long way towards their health. Kid’s immune systems are actually quite strong if they are not compromised by long doses of antiobiotics…

You can either do a short fast (more info here: http://candidadietplan.com/candida-cleanse/) or you can carry on with the GAPS diet, without eating fruit and sweeteners. If it’s hard to do all at once then slowly reduce the amount of fruit and honey you consume.

After 2-7 days fluid diet/ fast the strict diet starts where you can eat meat, eggs, fish and vegetables with good quality oils and bone broth. After two weeks you can slowly start adding a bit of carbs back into your diet (almond and coconut flour foods, technically grains and wholegrain flours as well (not wheat though), but I’m guessing since you’re following GAPS you won’t be eating that. Not a problem, you’ll actually heal quicker that way.

Can you eat sweet potatoes and butternut squash? Be careful with all sweet vegetables like beetroot and carrot as well. Eat only small amounts and only several weeks into the diet when your symptoms have lowered considerably.

You’ll need to start taking antifungal supplements, too, when you start with the strict diet. You can carry on with the Probiotics. It’s good that you are taking those, the higher the better. Only during the fast (if you decide to do it) you can stop taking them as the idea is to flush everything out of your system and then start with probiotics. For those few days there’s no need to reduce the probiotics gradually, just carry on as before after the fast. Just take them several hours away from the antifungals (that also includes garlic, coffee, mint, anything pungent or hot).

The main thing is to reduce your sugar intake. You’ll feel much better when you let that go. Chin up, you’ll be fine!

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Elizabeth November 11, 2013 at 15:22

Hi. I was wondering which probiotics you use and that works best? I have tried many different probiotic capsules and pearls.

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Sandra November 18, 2013 at 16:12

Hello Elizabeth, thanks for getting in touch and sorry for the late reply – I have been on holiday and only just seen your message…
In answer to your question in my opinion the best probiotics are Custom Probiotics CP-1 from Immunecare.co.uk (78 billion CFUs, 5 strains) and Garden Of Life’s Primal Defense Ultra (15 billion CFUs, 13 strains). The first one is a UK supplement the second one you can get in the US or Uk. I saw best results with those, probably because they are quite strong. You can see an overview of the ones I know here: http://candidadietplan.com/best-probiotic-supplement/

The first year I took a really low dose of probiotics though (5 billion) – more info here http://candidadietplan.com/best-probiotic/ and here: http://candidadietplan.com/prebiotics/

All the probiotics I took were capsules.

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Annalisa Motes November 15, 2013 at 00:43

Hi Sandra. I am short on time tonight, so I didn’t get the chance to read all of the previous comments. If you’ve already covered this topic in an earlier comment, just refer me back to it. I’ve trying to stick to the Candida Diet since about July and I’ve had great success with “feeling better.” I can tell you more about that at a later time, but I had a question for you as of now. I’ve been strictly using stevia as my only sweetener, but I just recently came across a couple of other sweeteners that I can’t seem to find a whole lot of info about. I was wondering if you know anything about “Just Like Sugar,” “Sweet Perfection,” and “Oligofructose.” I was on Amazon’s site, after your Giveaway suggestions and these are some of the products the site recommended to me. What do you think? Thank you for your help! Annalisa

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Sandra November 18, 2013 at 19:49

Hi Annalisa, I don’t know sweet perfection but oligofructose is a form of fruit sugar so not good on the candida diet.

In the later stages of stage 3 I had good results from using 50%stevia and 50% xylitol. That way I couldn’t taste taste the stevia and needed less xylitol which still contains a little fruit sugar and can cause loose stools in sensitive individuals, but has a very low glycemic index.

I think that’s ok for a special occasion but not as everyday sweetener. While you are still experiencing symptoms I’d go without sweetener or use only stevia.

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Annalisa Motes November 27, 2013 at 13:33

Thank you so much for your info., Sandra! That will definitely help me with my search for sweetness. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Annalisa

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Hannah November 16, 2013 at 23:40

Hi! I just bought your book because I have had a Candida problem for as long as I can remember. My concern is that my flare ups happen most while pregnant and am currently pregnant and can’t safely do the detox process in the book, do you have any suggestions or advice for how I can get a hold if this? I have my second uti and am on antibiotics and the Candida is really bad. The Candida is causing my uti and infections as well as other problems. Thank you!

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Sandra November 18, 2013 at 15:10

Hello Hannah! Thanks so much for buying the book and getting in touch. It makes perfect sense that the candida got worse every time you were pregnant. A pregnancy throws your hormone and blood sugar levels out of kilter. And you are absolutely right that during this time detoxing wouldn’t be a good idea. Even when the baby is born you should not fast, at least not while you are breast feeding.

You just need to eat healthily and cut out sugar, but you can still eat low sugar fruit like green apples, blueberries or pears and root vegetables like sweet potatoes… They contain a lot of vitamins, minerals and fibre which is nourishing for you and the baby, considering that you need energy to produce milk.

without being a doctor myself I’m not entirely sure how I would treat thrush in this case. As gentle and natural as possible. If you clean the breastfeeding area with clean water or with apple cider vinegar diluted in water and wear light cotton clothes that should help. I could imagine that coconut oil as a moisturizer on wound areas is helpful. And I would recommend eating probiotic yoghurt and taking probiotic supplements to replenish the good micro-organisms in your gut.

The herb urva ursi is super beneficial in clearing up Uti – in fact it’s the only thing that helped me. Antibiotics only made it worse. You can buy the urva ursi as loose tea leaves and prepare them as tea that you drink or you buy the tincture that you can take as drops. All natural and well worth trying. Chamomile tea has also helped me (it’s anti inflammatory and muscle relaxing) – I drank a huge thermos flask during the day. Hope this helps you, too!

All the best for you :)

Sandra

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Elizabeth November 18, 2013 at 17:11

Hi. Thank you for your reply on Probiotics. I know you recommended the Custom one from the UK and the Garden of Life, but why not the HMF one by Genestra?On your review it said you thought that one was the best? And is it safe to take these while pregnant? I am not
Pregnant yet but hope to be soon. Thanks!

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Sandra November 18, 2013 at 17:26

The HMF were recommended to me by a reader. I haven’t tried them myself. They do sound great though. My review is quite old now. At the time I hadn’t tried Custom probiotics or Garden of Life.
I would presume that they are safe to take while pregnant. But it’s worth checking with the probiotics’ company or your doc.

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Trevor December 30, 2013 at 18:52

Hello
I have just bought your book and I am going to try your Candida diet having already tried 2 others without success. My faulure so far is partly/mostly my fault for not checking ingredience list on labels well enough. I have been looking at the safe food list. It says artichokes are allowed, would this include Jerusalem artichokes? They are a root vegetable and I have a border full of them in the garden.
Thanks,
Trevor

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Sandra January 1, 2014 at 17:27

Hi Trevor, don’t be disheartened that the diet hasn’t been successful for you so far. It often takes a few attempts to see lasting results. It is after all a very complex health problem and changing ones diet is never easy…

It is however fantastic that you are giving it another go and I am happy to support you along the way as best I can. In answer to your question jerusalem artichokes are allowed but ideally not in the first few weeks because they can cause flatulence. Sure it’s a bit of a case of trial and error – if you are used to eating them and you haven’t experienced any symptoms, then there’s no reason not to eat them. But most people initially experience excessive gas and bloating from the high amount of inulin in the jerusalem artichokes. This is also in onions and leek by the way but in smaller amounts.

Once the yeast overgrowth is reduced jerusalem artichokes are one of the best vegetables to eat because they feed the good microorganisms and re-balance your gut. So the harvest in your garden will come to good use at some point :) It’s the same with Sauerkraut and Kefir, very beneficial but best left until later in stage three of the Candida Diet when your immune system isn’t so sensitive any more.

Thanks for buying my book and for getting in touch. Wishing you a smooth start into the diet again and also into 2014. Happy new year :)

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Michelle January 21, 2014 at 20:29

Hello – I’m starting your protocol today with broth and veggie juice and I may have confused myself by reading too many candida books over the weekend. Do you allow any Amazing Grass products during any of your phases? I have loads of their Amazing Meal and their Raw Reserve on hand and would like to be able to incorporate them if they are allowed.

Thanks,
Michelle

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Sandra January 21, 2014 at 21:12

Hello Michelle – you can have them pretty much all the time (unless they have caffeine or chocolate in them…) Since you are cleansing a lot of the goodness will be flushed out though (in terms of probiotics). I would personally have anything with protein powder only from stage two onwards (unless you have work commitments and need the energy). Any green superfoods are great all the time. It’s fab that you’re giving the cleanse a go :) Wishing you a smooth start. All my best, Sandra

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Michelle January 28, 2014 at 02:30

Oops – I do have lots of their chocolate flavored things as well. Is the reasoning that chocolate releases stored sugars as caffeine does? Seems less harmful than a bowl of rice in terms of carbs but maybe there is something I’m not understanding. Along those lines, is there a carb amount I’m trying to stick to for each phase? I made 3 days on the broth and green juices then binged major on oat cakes I had on hand for my son. Starting again but only did a 2 day cleanse this time. Thanks for responding!

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Sandra January 28, 2014 at 11:23

Yes, and chocolate plays havoc with your biological clock, hormones, mood… you name it. You are inevitably craving sweeter things when you consume chocolate. Chocolate also contains sugar which is readily available in the blood stream where it feeds Candida.

Brown rice on the other hand is a complex wholegrain so the sugar in it is not that straight forward to get it – it only gets broken down into sugar during digestion, so your blood sugar levels stay level and there is less opportunity to feed Candida.

Sure, the idea is not to stuff yourself on rice either ;-) but it is damage minimization.

If you can go without any carbs – perfect. But most people need a little carb fix to make it through the diet and brown rice when eaten in a small portion, chewed well, does just that.

In phase one I would eat brown rice only as a last resort (think spoons rather than bowls, maximum one small bowl (preferably with cinnamon and coconut oil which have antifungal properties as well); in phase two I’d have one bowl if any; in phase 3 you should be able to eat two small bowls. But see how you feel – everyone is different. I would only have a second bowl when you notice that you don’t react sensitive to carbs – you’ll be eating starchy veg and bread by that time as well, so you want to keep the overall amount of carbs down.

To give you an idea in phase three I would eat a bowl of wholegrain cereal for breakfast or cabbage stir fry with one slice of yeast free bread, for lunch chicken salad or lentil stew with one slice of bread and for dinner fish with vegetables. There is no exact science to it though. If you exercise or have a lot of stress, you need more calories and burn it off quicker. Then you can most likely have two slices of bread or two bowls of whole grains as a side without any problems. But that does depend on how ill you are and where in your body the Candida resides. You really need to experiment.

But regardless what stage you are in – the less carbs you eat -the quicker you’ll heal. So don’t eat carbs with every meal from stage three onwards just because you can. Eating fish and vegetables or white meat/ eggs with vegetables is safe and best. When you do eat carbs try to have gluten free stuff.

Bare in mind though that me and lots of my readers ate cooked brown rice or quinoa and experienced no problems with it. You’ll still killing more Candida from taking antibiotics than you could possible encourage to grow from eating brown rice, don’t worry.

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Jasmin January 24, 2014 at 19:03

Hiya Sandra , I think I have got systemic candida overgrowth because I feel tired and fatigue all the time, got joint and body pain ,all the time , chronic constipation , gum and mouth problem like inflammation in between the cheek and gums . Cold hands and feet ,bloaty and gassey all the time , inflammation from mouth to all down my digestive track , for the last 6 years. I had a sweet tooth from childhood up until 2007 when I became very ill with these symptoms which crept up one day and is still suffering with these symptoms even know . Don’t know where to start from and what supplement to take and for how long .please help

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Sandra January 27, 2014 at 18:09

Hi Jasmin,

you poor thing! Judging from what you are saying you indeed have a systemic case of Candida but I think you’ll recover fairly quickly – in a matter of months rather than years and you’ll feel lots better even sooner than that. Here’s how to get started:

Useful Info about the Candida Cleanse/ Fasting before you start the diet.
Info about the Candida diet in general including how long it will take.
List what foods you can eat
Candida Diet Recipes
What natural medication you can take to kill Candida.
What probiotics will help you restore your gut health.
What home remedies might help you feel better.

Hope you’ll get better soon. All my best,
Sandra

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Jasmin January 27, 2014 at 23:07

Hi Sandra , thanks for the response to my e-mail. I just wanted to clarify with you about something’s.
1) what stage do I take the milk thistle from and for how long or is it when I have the die off symptom.
2) do I rotate the antifungal supplement every week for how long , as you mentioned in your book that you took olive leaf extract for a year.
3) do I start with low strength probiotic first and move on up .
4) is colostrum safe as I read on Google that it can lower your blood pressure etc . Confused if I should take them as I have got ibs problem but definitely will try the l- glutimine and slippery elm for my inflamed digestive tract . How long should you take to see the response or to heal the gut and which form is better powder or tab , which one did you take.?
5) is xiyatol and stevia ok on the diet as sugar substitute , if yes then from what stage onward.
Hope hear from you soon. Take care !!

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Sandra January 28, 2014 at 12:07

Being no doctor and in no way qualified to give you advice on this I can only tell you what I might do in your situation. But my health conditions were different from yours so I might mislead you. Please bare that in mind.

1) I personally would take milk thistle only whenever I do a fast or drink alcohol to support my liver. So I’d take it during stage 1.

2) If you decide to take strong antifungals like olive leaf and oil of oregano I’d take one of those for a week then the other one for a week and so on.

If you start with a gentle antifungal (caprylic acid) I’d start on the lowest dosage and take it until you have no symptoms any more when taking three doses of the maximum strength 3 x per day per day. Then move onto the stronger ones above.

3) I would start the antifungals with stage 2. I’d start the probiotics two weeks after that. I would get Garden of Life’s Primal Defense probios right from the start. They are quite strong yet effective. It might very well be that a doctor would prescribe you stronger ones. I just don’t know. I took weak ones for a long time and I could imagine that taking stronger ones would have sped up my healing. Just take one in the morning for the first few days and see how you feel. If you experience a lot of die off and feel unwell then you can always take less antifungals until your body is accustomed to the probiotics…

4) I wouldn’t take stuff to heal your gut until way into stage 3 because everytime you take antifungals it rips little holes into your gut where the yeast lived, so you’d patch one up and another one pops up. Fine if you have a lot of money. If not just be aware it can take months until the Candida levels are so low that you can heal for gut. I took the powder and thought that was good (l-glutamin and slippery elm). I sometimes took cocolstrum but was suspicious because I thought that it had milk sugar in it. When I did take it I felt better for it. I believe that when your Candida levels are low it takes only 1-2 weeks to heal the gut.

5) don’t know the first one, stevia is technically ok all the time. I personally would keep it to a minimum though and only from stage 3 because I believe that all sweeteners interfere with your blood sugar levels and cravings in some way.

Hope this helps. Wishing you a smooth start into the diet :) Keep in touch

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Sunshine January 27, 2014 at 16:42

Hi there,
I have a question. I just seen a homeopathic dr. and she put me on this list all at once and after reading your trials, Sandra, I need a little real direction before taking them all at once.
Natures Sunshine:
Ultimate Greenzone – ph alk balancing
Pau D’Arco 500mg capsules
Evening Primrose caps 500mg, with 300mg linoleic acid, GLA 40mg
Colostrum caps 350mg
Probiotic Eleven caps
then because I’m trying to get pregnant:
Natures Sunshine:
Maca caps 300mg
Pure Herbs:
Crampbark & False Unicorn (20 drops)

what is your best advice on this???
Seems to be overload?
I only started Greenzone and Crampbark & False Unicorn so far.

Help! Thanks
Sunshine

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Sandra January 27, 2014 at 16:55

Hi Sunshine :) Do you feel very ill? Are you going to do a fast and then the Candida diet or just taking the supplements? What’s your plan? I understand that you think it’s a lot of stuff to take. That’s totally normal though. All the pills your doc prescribed are good and you could take it all.

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angela knight January 28, 2014 at 10:18

Hope U don’t mind me “piping up ” . Lots of January Candida diets going on .
I found the beginning really hard and overwhelming. After reading lots in the subject, I chose to stick to one web site, Sandras being the one, as lots of different ideas just created confusion. I still get overwhelmed at times , but feeling so many benefits. Eg flexible and pain free joints, acne gone, pmt minimal, bloating gone, clearer thinking, more energy, stable blood sugars, regular toilet habits, feel lighter (coz I am :-) ) . What I am saying is “its worth it ” and you can feel better and not resigned to feeling under par for the rest of your life! :-)

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Sandra January 28, 2014 at 11:03

Gosh you are SO lovely :)
I wish I could hug you!

Thanks for being so supportive and sticking with it. Imagine how you’ll feel when you’re 100% well ALL the time even when eating things that you you can now only dream of… It will happen… and it will be totally awesome!!! Keep at it – you’re making great progress.

Btw – I’m looking into adding a forum onto my website so you can exchange experiences with every one.

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angela knight January 28, 2014 at 11:15

:-) have a healthy happy day , virtual hugs all round x

Sunshine January 28, 2014 at 16:55

Hi Sandra,

I just am getting over the H1N1 sickness and it affected my mitral valve a little bit and it’s acting up now for two weeks since getting sick. I know I have candida, I did the biofeedback a few months ago and had 6 different types show up on my scan. I have felt very tired and sinus issues. Kidneys, bladder, all that is good. My progesterone is low, only found out because I am trying to get pregnant and it hasn’t happened. So that’s why I went to this homeopatic dr. The reg doctors want to do all kinds of different things, that mask the problem and have side effects. Eeek! Like Clomid for increasing progesterone. I am wanting a more natural approach to getting rid of the candida, and becoming healthy, diet changes have been a process even before I found your website!

I started making my our sourdough breads gluten free, I didn’t realize the chocolate I needed to cut out until I’ve read your stuff! Yikes. I need help and am a beginner. Can I do something while I’m pregnant (hopefully will be soon) to start doing this the right way? I am open to suggestions on what to do first. I have the supplements and will start them all since you said it’s safe/normal.

I want the best for my body and was so encouraged reading your blog. No wonder you have so many followers. ;) You are doing ministry right here to reach a lot of people. Thank you for your efforts.
Sunshine

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Sandra February 4, 2014 at 14:49

Hello sunshine, you are lovely ;-)
Thank you for your support.
My advice would be not to try and get pregnant while you are cleansing. The candida cleanse will be quite strenuous on your system and bring old illnesses and toxins up inside your body, cause anxiety… you don’t want your baby to be affected by that. If you decide to have the baby first and then try and get rid off the Candida that’s fine. Just bear in mind that babies easily get a yeast imbalance themselves if their mother at birth had this issue. Breast feeding again is such an issue. If on the other hand you were truly well when you get pregnant then the baby would have a much much stronger immune system.

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Amy March 12, 2014 at 22:33

Have you ever hear of this diet helping someone who has seizures? I know for certain this is my issue and I just dont know where to start, with all the diets available, its hard to identify which to follow and what to do along the way.

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Sandra March 13, 2014 at 20:30

No, I’m sorry I haven’t. I totally understand your confusion though. It is difficult to know what to do when there are conflicting bits of information everywhere. A good starting point is a holistic approach that looks at your body as a whole to see where the root cause for your problems lie. I hope you’ll find a specialist who can help you. It makes such a difference not to have to go the healing journey alone… All my best, Sandra

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Amy March 13, 2014 at 20:17

How do I get the Ebook emailed to me as the website states?

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Sandra March 13, 2014 at 20:25

Hi Amy, thanks for your interest in the book. You can get it on Amazon here.

Or did you mean the candida food lists? They would be emailed to you automatically the moment you subscribe to my newsletter and click the link in the email that would have been sent to you in due course.

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Julia March 17, 2014 at 15:39

I’m so glad I came across you site, I have gone thru phase 1 week and a half preparing and 7 day fasting.I started phase 2 this is the 5th day in. I’m wondering if I am taking all the stuff I need to and at the right time.
I start the morning off with 1 teaspoon psyllium Husk and 1 Tablespoon bentonite one hr later I eat some veg. and a cup of dandelion and burdock roots tea. I then take 1 NOW NAC (selenium & molybdenum & n-acetyl cysteie) and I’m up to 2 NOW Candidia support (capry lic acid, pau D’Arco, black walnut, oregano oil powder, plus others. One hr before lunch I take 1 tea of fiber. With lunch I take my vitamin. A multi, 2 super omega 3-6-9, 2 balanced B-stress (b&c is 1000%) I op not too take a D because I get a lot of sun. I eat Sm. piece of chicken breast and veggies. Plain to work in fish. In the middle of lunch and supper on empty stomach I take two cascara sagrada. For supper I eat more Veggies and have a glass of my root tea.I take 2 more NOW candida support, 1 NOW NAC, 2 omega 3-6-9. I work 3-11 at night when I get off I drink 1 teaspoon fiber and and a tablespoon dentonite. I can not drink a whole tablespoon of psyllium at a time. Am I doing this right. It seems like I’m always popping some pill. I’m having a hard time keeping up with it all.Do I have to keep the fiber a hour away from food? Thank you so much for any tips you can give me.

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Sandra March 17, 2014 at 16:11

Hi Julia, nice to meet you and well done for starting the Candida diet in such a well prepared manner!

You’re well on your way now. Yes it can seem crazy how many pills one has to take. I sometimes lost track of mine… Your treatment plan looks good to me. I cannot really speak for NOW tablets as I didn’t take those. The ingredients are really good to beat Candida though, so I think that’s ok.

The only thing I’d worry about is that you drink a lot of water when you take the cascara and the bentonite and fiber. I just know that you are not meant to take them within an hour of food for best results and not to take them within 2 hours of medications or supplements as it might reduce their effectiveness. I would have thought that you can stop taking those meds now anyway since you are in phase 2 now. Just take them when you are doing another fast…

Hope you are feeling ok so far. All my best, Sandra

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Julia March 18, 2014 at 18:02

Yes I’m drinking a lot of water. I have now stopped the fiber,bentonite,and cascara. Thank you for the input. I felt a little ruff the first three days of the cleanse. But I’m feeling much better. I have a lot more energy, the rash around my ankles and below my breast is gone. A my tongue looks nice and pink now. I only have one more rash and it seams to be getting better. Make a lot of trips to the bathroom at night so I need to cut down my water intake at night and cutting out the fiber I can do that again thank you for your help.

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Julia March 20, 2014 at 16:01

Since my last post I have had to add back the cascara I think I will slowly come of that. My last rash has got worse. I add 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and water first thing in the morning I’m Going to gradually in cress. Can I just take a shot of apple cider vinegar and then drink the water? Don’t want to prolong the taste just want to get it over with. Thanks again for any input you can give me.

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Sandra March 20, 2014 at 20:27

Good decision – the last thing you want now is constipation, especially if you have a skin rash. That’s a sign that your liver is overburdened. If you take a shot of acv then I’d drink some water before and after. Take care, Sandra

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angela knight March 21, 2014 at 06:41

Please enlighten me, what is cascara ? thanks x

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Sandra March 23, 2014 at 18:13

It’s a natural laxative made from some type of bark – works well. I just don’t know what the implications are of taking it for a prolonged period. I only took it for a couple of days. I think barberry capsules are a safer equally as effective gentler alternative that actually tone the digestive system so it starts to work better. Also good for recurring bladder infections.

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Julia March 24, 2014 at 14:53

Sandra, thank you for you incite on cascara. I didn’t take any yesterday and things just didn’t move right today. so I think I will try barberry.

joanne March 24, 2014 at 13:45

Hi, I have been looking through your website and rather than fill me with dread like the other sites I have been trailing through it has actually given me hope.
I wonder if I can run a few things by you.
Firstly I am pretty sure I have candida as I have a lot of the symptoms although I have not been diagnosed as my doctor does not really know much about it.
Secondly I have not done the cleanse but gone straight onto a diet.This is simply because I have to go to work and also have 2 young children so I need to eat.
My average daily food consists of 2 scrambled eggs for breakfast with a fried tomato, a chicken salad for lunch and meat and vegetables for tea. With each meal I take “total candida defense” which I purchased off amazon and then before bed I take a probiotic. Throughout the day I drink bottled water and in a morning I have hot water with some lemon juice squeezed in. Do you think I am doing anything wrong? Also I cannot afford to buy organic so whatever I buy is just normal stuff.
I guess my questions to you are, am I getting all the right nutrients I need from this diet? Am I taking the relevant supplements to help kill off and get rid of the toxins? Does it matter that I am not eating organic? I am not really feeling a die off, just symptoms I would normally feel so I am concerned I am doing something wrong? I have been dying for something sweet but I am going to try and hang out as long as I can…..
I hope you can answer my questions, I know you must be busy.
Thanks
Joanne

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Sandra March 24, 2014 at 19:59

Hi Joanne, your diet looks great. You will certainly kill tons of Candida by doing this – even if it doesn’t feel like it now. Not sure how strong the total Candida pills defense pills are. If you have had Candida for a few years I would recommend taking oil of oregano drops to kill the spores. Probiotics are good, the higher the CFO amount the better. 20-50 billion is good. You can take lower ones to begin, that’s fine. Just bear in mind that if you don’t find yourself getting better, it might be an idea to take higher probios to boost your immune system. If money is an issue I would focus on getting the Candida overgrowth down with diet and antifungals first (grapefruitseed extract is one of the most affordable antifungals btw) and then take decent probiotics, otherwise you might just prolong the course of treatment and still end up paying the same amount.

It’s always a good idea to a good multi vit and mineral complex and fish oil capsules. Vitamin C and magnesium are also beneficial and perhaps Chlorella/ Spirulina and flax oil. I wouldn’t worry about that too much though. If you are feeling fine, then having to remember tons of vits would only stress you more, not to mention the costs.

See if you can do a deal with a local farmer or grab some last minute at a farmer’s market, you can often get amazing value, you’d be surprised. Perhaps just at the weekend as a treat.

Well done for not giving into sweets – that’s awesome! Keep it up!

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joanne March 25, 2014 at 11:08

Thanks for your reply. There is 5mg of oregano in my tablet that I take so do you still recommend oregano drops? It also contains 10mg of the grapefruit which you recommended. I am presuming my tablets contain whatever is needed been as they are called “total candida defence”… My probiotic is 20 billion so hopefully that is sufficient. Am I doing myself an injustice not using organic food or am I just prolonging things? I do get really really hungry on a night to the point my belly is really rumbling and I struggle to know what to eat so I just go without. I keep reading that it may be ok to eat rice cakes or natural yogurt… I have both in my cupboards but won’t eat either in case it sets me back?? Not sure what to do about snacks because I feel I need something otherwise I might give in and have something really unhealthy. Also I had some food intolerance testing done last year and the list was massive, including gluten, garlic, potatoes, basil, leeks etc etc… Basically garlic is good to use when cooking, so far I have avoided it but I don’t know what to do now I am doing the candida diet? Should I still avoid it been as it was on my food intolerance list or will killing off the candida make me be able to tolerate it again?
Sorry for all the questions.
Regards
Joanne

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Rebecca Fell March 25, 2014 at 20:03

Hello

I am on phase 2 and sticking with it but feel rough! Trying to stay flushed with herbal teas. Can I ask is there any alcohol that is a low offender? I usually drink white wine – I could add water or vodca and slimline – my husband works hard and likes to have a drink on a Friday but I don’t want to put my hard work at risk. I would rather go without!!

Loved Thai curry, coconut rice, green goddess and cleansing veg soup!

Thanks
Rebecca

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Sandra March 26, 2014 at 15:28

Hi Rebecca,

so glad you decided to give the diet a go and super happy that you liked the That curry… :)

It’s tricky with the alcohol. I have written a blog post about it: http://candidadietplan.com/best-alcohol-for-candida-diet/
If you can avoid drinking it, do it! If you can’t then vodka lemon or white wine are options, but even they feed Candida.
Be strong – have the wine in a few weeks when you’re through with the diet. Just have a sip of your partner’s for now ;-)

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Rebecca Fell March 26, 2014 at 15:57

Thanks for getting back – I won’t be touching alcohol for a good fewchores I was thinking more in the future – I found that page this morning – your website is amazing!!!

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Sandra March 26, 2014 at 16:38

:-) You’re sweet, thanks so much! Hope you’ll feel better soon!

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Rebecca Fell March 31, 2014 at 13:07

Hello

The diet is going really well I am so glad I found your book and website. I finally think I will be free after years. I messaged you last week about low carb alcohol…… I was perfectly happy in the pub with sparkling water and lemon! I just wanted to ask what is it that is bad about organic brown rice cakes? You mention to eat them occasionally – I used to have 4 every morning for breakfast and now wonder if I have done myself harm candida wise. My rash is going and my stomach although still bloated every time I eat feels much better and my mood is a lot brighter!

Rebecca

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Sandra April 3, 2014 at 19:30

Oh wow I’m so pleased you’re starting to feel better. It’s awfully nice of you to give me feedback – much appreciated! I hope the last symptoms will be gone soon. Very cool that you resisted the alcohol. Keep doing what you’re doing :)

Re brown rice cakes – don’t worry too much about them. I ate tons of them, also corn cakes, and I still got better.

That said I did have moments where I felt it caused small set backs. I think apart from all the carbs it’s also highly processed (Have you seen how it’s made? I think it’s made like pop corn the kernels get heated so much that they burst). My theory is that it just uses up a lot of nutrients in the body to be able to digest it, almost like very burnt food and therefore depending on if you’re running low on vitamins and minerals anyway, it can have a negative knock on effect on your Candida symptoms… I definitely noticed that I never experienced any set backs from eating wholegrain rice, only ever from rice cakes… so the past few months I have been sticking to soaked and cooked whole grains, and it is making a difference.

Hang in there, you’re making fantastic progress :)

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angela knight April 3, 2014 at 20:20

I had a bowl of rice crispies last night, felt ill, migraine, stomach ache etc. Why is this when I eat rice and rice cakes, thought It would of been ok ??? Puzzled :/

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Sandra April 3, 2014 at 20:53

So it’s only when you eat rice, not when you eat other grains? What about millet, quinoa or oats? It does sound as if you still have a yeast imbalance, but it could of course be a grain intolerance or heavy metal poisoning? Does this happen when you eat other things at all? Does it happen any time of day or just in the evening? Did you eat a lot of acidic foods (meat, coconut oil, eggs, nuts, oily sauces, fried foods…?) It happened to me a lot when I still had massive
leaky gut issues. Do you think you might have that? Any other allergy symptoms? I’d definitely try not eating carbs at night for the time being, just things like chicken and veg stir fry or grilled fish and veg…

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Terri March 31, 2014 at 20:43

Sandra, I have had a reoccurring issue and was wondering if it is the cause of sugar and if it is happenning to anyone else? The middle of the inside of my cheeks have a white line that swells up. They seem to get worse when I eat anything with sugar or carbs. It must be inflammation as the severity seems to fluctuate by week. It also could be a food allergy ? Any suggections? Thanks for what you do!!

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Sandra April 3, 2014 at 21:23

Interesting, I have had similar occurrences. At first I thought I had accidentally bitten the inside of my cheek while I was asleep. But it didn’t fully heal and I did end up biting it when eating… I also had a blister type thing that kept appearing when I ate hot things just on my gum, bizarre. Candida can cause all sorts of mouth ulcers and mouth sores. I think basically until the imbalance is corrected in your system and your mucous membranes have become more robust and your immune system more resilient you’ll be prone to inflammations and infections. Make sure you get your stress levels right down, take a good vitamin and mineral complex, especially zinc and Vit B and C and fish oil, eating lots of fish and veggies and avoid sugar, coffee, red meat and very spicy foods and lemon which could aggravate it. I think it would also be beneficial to start oil pulling and regularly rinse your mouth out with sage tea. Hope the issue will disappear soon. All my best, Sandra

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Trevor April 11, 2014 at 07:22

Hello Sandra
I am on the 2nd month of stage 4 but a recipe I used on stage 3 was Coconut Flour Muffins with a variation. Instead of honey I used 1/2 cup of almond milk or rice milk to give the muffins moisture. I found them a nice way to take caprylic acid. The recipe comes from the coconutmama.com website. Here’s the recipe:
◾3/4 cup of coconut flour – where to buy coconut flour
◾1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
◾1/4 teaspoon of sea salt – where to buy salt
◾6 eggs
◾1/2 cup of coconut oil, melted – where to buy coconut oil
◾1/2 cup of almond milk instead of 1/2 cup of raw honey – where to buy natural sweeteners
◾1 teaspoon of vanilla

!. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, mix all dry ingredients together and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, beat eggs and mix in melted coconut oil, honey and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Let sit for 3-5 minutes or until coconut flour has absorbed the liquid.

3. Scoop batter into prepared muffin pan. Fill each muffin tin 3/4 full of batter.

4. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let muffins cool before serving. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.
Thanks for all your help in getting me through. The energy I now have is amazing.
Kind regards
Trevor

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Sandra April 14, 2014 at 19:03

Brilliant, thanks Trevor. That’s very kind of you :)

I think I saw this recipe and have made it myself – very nice indeed… and just like you I omitted the honey in favor of rice milk. I then went and ruined it by adding raisins, mind you ;-) there was no need for that extra sugar kick!

Also tasted lovely with a custard-style sauce made from maize meal, hot rice milk and vanilla.

Once again, thanks for sharing and for your feedback. I am glad you have more energy from following the diet. It has been the same for me, too. Hence I would not go back to my old lifestyle and way of eating – that would no doubt make me feel tired and sad…

Wishing you continued success and best health.

Kind regards,
Sandra

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Jasmin April 23, 2014 at 14:16

Hiya Sandra,
How have you been , I hear you are publishing a new cook book . I was wondering where can I get a hold of one and is it out yet.
Eagerly waiting for it .

I wanted to ask you :
1) can I have millet chappatis and brown rice in every meal as I come from an Asian background. ( not used to steamed veggies)

2) what are the general protocols supplement you take first on stage 2 when you find out that you have candida and for how long. And can you tell me what you took for feeling fatigue all the time.

3) what can I do to increase my water intake as iam not good with normal water . ( don’t like the taste of it and not used to it) .

4) having trouble with constipation and very sharp painful abdominal pain espically going to the bathroom ( seen mucus like white fluffy things with my stools. What can I take to be regular as iam already taking magnesium with calcium and vit d tablet.

5) have you seen any nutrionlist or doc for your candida or supplements or you are taking it by your own accord .

Thanks a lot , hope to hear from you soon.

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Sandra April 23, 2014 at 18:23

Thanks Jasmin :)
1) Initially I would not eat any grains for 2 weeks, then only once a day for 1-2 weeks, then twice for 1-2 weeks and then with every meal if it agrees with you.

2) There’s no general protocol, you need to decide for yourself or work with a holistic doctor what you should be taking. Caprylic acid is good and mild. Oil of oregano is excellent but strong. Here’s some inspiration and info what I took: http://candidadietplan.com/candida-faq/home-remedies/antifungal/

3) Put a slice of lemon in or a dash of natural apple cider vinegar, also helps to alkalize your body which aids healing.

4) I know some people who took cascara tablets to be regular. You could try vitamin c powder. How much magnesium are you taking though? Perhaps you’re not taking enough? You can also use the spray that gets through your skin rather than your stomach not to aggravate your painful belly.

5) I saw a nutritionist, but they didn’t know what they were doing so I figured I wouldn’t be much worse of taking it by my own accord, so that’s what I’ve been doing. I don’t recommend that though. It’s always best to work with a specialist (can save you a lot of pain and heartache…)

Hope you’ll feel better soon!

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Jasmin April 24, 2014 at 14:47

Hiya Sandra,
Thanks for replying to my e-mail so fast, you are like a god send to me and I appreciate your knowledge and hard work your doing to help people like us with candida.
As I mentioned in my previous email when is your new cookbook coming out for us to buy . Eager to buy it .

I wanted to ask you that you mentioned a website called candidahub.com which is very useful for candida sufferers, would you able to give me the link or tell me how you go to Vicki frost website as I tried to google it but it doesn’t recognise it and doesn’t let me log in.
I would be great full if you would share the link as she also combated her candida like you .

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Angel May 1, 2014 at 13:13

Hi, I have just been diagnosed with Candida, only I have also taken up training for a triathlon. Please could you recommed how to incresase my stamina. Sports people are telling me to increase my sugar and carbohydrates, both of which the candida diet does not agree with.

Thanks

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Sandra May 5, 2014 at 17:53

Hello Angel :)
well done for doing a triathlon — Candida gets killed a lot quicker when you’re physically active.
But like you say it is a bit of a balancing act to get the right nutrition without taking in too many carbs.
I have had best success with supplementing with Spirulina, Barley grass and Chlorella — I just add them to green smoothies with coconut or mix them in with water. I also drink a lot of apple cider vinegar in water and bone broth to replace electrolytes and minerals and take magnesium to prevent leg cramps. It’s a good idea to add protein powder in some way to prevent muscle loss as the diet is so strict. I found Colostrum, gelatin and glutamin very helpful for a speedier muscle regeneration after exercise. To be honest though I think it is very hard to follow the diet and be competitive at sports. In my opinion you’d get better results if you either do the diet and don’t follow a hardcore training or if you eat a more varied diet than the Candida diet allows for, you focus on the triathlon and then afterwards you focus on the diet and killing Candida. All my best

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Jayelle May 2, 2014 at 21:12

I’ve got your book and I’m getting ready to start the plan! I’ve been struggling with allergies / leaky gut / arthritis for about 30 years!

In preparation for the first stage I’ve reduced my coffee to 3/4 cup (from 3 cups!), cut out all sweeteners / fruits / starchy vegetables / alcohol and am drinking lots of water with a pinch of sea salt for minerals! Because of my allergies I don’t eat wheat, corn, eggs, dairy or citrus, because of my leaky gut I avoid all grains, most cooking oils and legumes and because of my arthritis I avoid nightshades… Doesn’t leave much, but it’s okay if I can improve my health! The problem at the moment is I’m having terrible leg cramps that wake me up a couple of times a night! Any advice???

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Sandra May 3, 2014 at 19:38

Hello Jayelle – thanks so much for reading my book and getting in touch. It’s awesome you decided to give the diet a go. Hopefully you’ll be feeling much better for it very soon. It does take time to heal the leaky gut issues if you’ve had Candida for so long. But it can be done! I had all those allergies you listed there, and now I can have all of them without issues. I would recommend flax oil, ginger root tea and water with apple cider vinegar — should help your arthritis too and also taking green superfood powder to get extra minerals. You definitely want to take magnesium – that gets rid of your muscle cramps in no time. You can take it in tablet form or as a spray – both work great. All my best, Sandra

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Andrea May 13, 2014 at 20:31

Hi Sandra. I have just bought your book and read it in one evening. I have suffered what my Gp thought was IBS for years, ten or more. After watching what I eat and keeping a food diary I have realised I am allergic to malt, barley and anything made with them ie barley extract, malltodextrin etc. I went gluten free last June and felt great for about 2 months. I eat very little sugar, no processed food, cook fresh meals daily lots of fruit and veg but I am completely shattered 3weeks out of 4. I have niggling symptoms like muscle twitches in my calves and feet, tingly fingers, fatigue, low mood hormones are up and down. My age is against me, I’m 46!! Also I have found that certain chemicals make me extremely tired so have switched to fragrence free every thing from moisturiser, soap. Etc, I use coconut oil for moisturing and cooking. A recently met with a naturopathic nutritionist who suggested I take a probiotic, herbal women’s tablet, Caryphlic acid supplement and l glutamine together with yet more fruit, flaxseeds, Epsom sAlt baths and more. I felt she had the answer so started on a better diet and these supplements and my IBS flared up bad style and I was sickly for 10 days. I cut them all out and have slowly reintroduced the l glutamine but I am still not improving in the fatigue symptoms and twitchy legs. Over the years I have had recurring ear infections and probably taken antibiotics 2 times per year. I never even thought of candida till I came across a blog by someone else with such similar symptoms and that’s when I found your book. I want to do the detox but need the time and energy to cut my diet back further, I do not want to lose weight as I have already lost some due to the gluten free diet and if I lose anymore I fear I will look ill and feel drained. Do you think that I am suffering from candida and will it help if I just eat even more healthy foods and cut out milk or diary and take probiotics. I’m not sure I can face days on liquids with such little energy. Hope you can help. Xx

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Sandra May 25, 2014 at 17:04

Hi Andrea – sorry for the late reply (I’ve been in Germany to visit my parents and when I’m here in the middle of nowhere I have very little internet access so I only ust so your message).

I sincerely hope you are feeling better now, but I know from my own experience what a long drawn out process it is until you find a routine that works — especially when like you say you have followed the advice of a naturopath who might not have been an expert. It happened to me, too. Mine encouraged me to eat manuka honey and drink fresh fruit juice — needless to say that the yeasties loved it!

From what you are saying it is quite possible that you have a Candida issue. I developed a barley sensitivity and IBS too. How did you feel when you ate sugary foods? Did you experience cravings or yeast infections?

It is fantastic that you have already been eating very healthy foods and gluten free – that’s a great base to work from.

Weight loss is always an issue with this diet. If you are concerned you are getting too thin I would follow a stage 3 type diet approach where you introduce small amounts of carbs. Having green smoothies with protein powder might also be an option once a day.

I hope you like fish, especially oily fish is super beneficial in balancing your weight and preventing inflammation. With a history of IBS I would not take caprylic acid and keep coconut oil to a minimum — it’s highly acidic and often caused me lower belly pain and bloating.

I’d encourage you to make tons of bone broth, it’s so nourishing and helps repair your gut, same with gelatine which is also a great supplement alongside glutamin which you are already taking. Slippery elm powder is also very soothing.

All in all I would suggest you eat as alkaline as possible – lots of steamed and cooked vegetables with fish, taking evening primrose oil to balance hormones and flax oil. Lots of soups and broth and if it agrees with you boiled potatoes (cooled down) with different homemade spreads from pureed cooked vegetables and fish or veggies, feta, sesame seeds and flax oil.

It’s best to eat soft mild veggies like courgettes, aubergines, avocado, fennel, green peppers and not too much fried stuff – I know the veggies I mentioned are not the tastiest…. but they help to heal your inflamed gut and tide you over until you can eat grains again.

The good thing is that once you can eat some grains you can eat pancakes or wholegrain bread which will make life more bearable and also lets you gain weight should you wish to.

Antifungal wise I’d try olive leaf capsules for 1 week then switch to oil of oregano drops and keep rotating until you are symptom free and a good probiotic supplement like Garden of Life’s Primal defence would also help once you have taken the antifgungals for a couple of weeks or so to see how many die off symptoms you have.

You don’t want to make yourself ill by taking too much all at once. You have already started with quite a strict approach by the sounds of it. Oftentimes this is overwhelming for our bodies. See if you can take things a bit slower, little by little, with focus of lots of rest, good sleep, doing things that make you laugh and smile… it’s so important to be more relaxed to enable your body to heal. Diet is only a part of it…

I could imagine that it would help you overcome your fatigue if you drank freshly brewed ginger root tea or water with natural apple cider vinegar. This as well as water with a dash of lemon juice and chlorella powder and spirulina gave me energy when I felt fatigued and foggy.

Chin up and keep the good work up. You will get better! Don’t be disheartened. You’ve made a great start. Now just tweak your health routine and keep the momentum going xx

P.S.: Thanks for buying my book – much appreciated. I hope it will help you on your journey to health :)

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Julia May 14, 2014 at 05:34

Hello,

I am interested in following the Candida detox protocol with a friend of mine. However, I currently eat a high sugar breakfast to keep up my memory. I an only 32 and my memory has gotten very bad. I recently started eating a Ayurveda breakfast (half cup oatmeal, three dates, scoop protein powder, three almonds, one teaspoon honey) that has done wonders for my memory. I feel like if I follow the protocol I will have to forgo the benefits of this breakfast, which would be devastating because I am in college and studying for the GMAT this summer. I also have PCSO and non-classical CAH which cause insulin resistance and maybe that is why I started having memory trouble- because sugar(glycogen) is not getting to my brain? And the brain is a glycogen metabolizer. It needs fat to grow/sustain but sugar to function. I am at a crossroads here. If I do not stop eating my breakfast I will never get rid this candida, but if I do my memory is shot. I also take half a mg of cortisol a day for the non-classical CAH. Any suggestions on how I could still detox from candida while being able to function in school?

Thank you!

Julia

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Sandra May 25, 2014 at 17:17

Hi Julia,
interesting question – to be honest half of what you said there about the non-classical CAH… went above my head unfortunately.

But in terms of a high sugar breakfast I’d be surprised if your memory wasn’t functioning even better if you reduced your sugar intake. After all the sugar get’s burned fairly quickly. It’s the slow release energy from the oats and protein that keeps you going.

I would suggest you keep your breaky. Just start adding ground seeds like pumpkin and sunflower seeds to your breakfast and also desiccated coconut. If you lightly roast the coconut in a frying pan over a medium heat (careful not to burn it) then it gets a littler sweeter and tastier.

I would then replace the dates and honey with Xylitol sweetener and a few drops of vanilla stevia. With rice milk this should taste lovely.

Chia seeds would also make a fantastic addition to your breakfast as they contain a great combo of vitamins and minerals.

That gives you a yummy breakfast that tastes sweet and helps your memory function, but doesn’t encourage Candida like crazy. Then once your exams are done you can think about throwing a few weeks of grains free, completely sugar free living in to kill the Candida. in the meantime just eat healthy (lots of salads, soups, grilled fish and brown rice and veg, drink good water, avoid fruit, wheat, alcohol and processed foods, dairy and coffee.) Good luck with your GMAT this summer :)

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