CANDIDA DIET

THE CANDIDA DIET

CANDIDA DIET PREPARATION: 1 week – 6 weeks

PHASE 1: Detox – 1 week fast
PHASE 2: Diet & Kill Candida with Antifungals – Avoid sugar & yeast    – 2 weeks strict diet
PHASE 3: Strengthen Immune System & Friendly Bacteria – 4 weeks – several months/ years
PHASE 4: Transition to Normal Diet – Re-introduce some yeasty foods – 1 year

What is the Candida Diet for?

Unlike most diets the candida diet is geared to help you recover from illness rather than lose weight, although that is an added bonus.

Your immune system can only operate properly when the right balance of friendly organisms is present in your guts.

If there are too many of the bad guys your body’s defences go down and you become ill. Classic example: You catch a cold.

The Candida Diet is a strict diet for re-balancing your digestive system.

If your immune system continues to be compromised then you tend to develop chronic illnesses and your overall health deteriorates.

You might develop food intolerances and/ or other allergy symptoms.

Unfortunately your body can’t re-establish the required healthy balance on its own. It needs your help.

The Candida Diet is specifically designed to aid you with this.

Why Is There Conflicting Information On Different Sites About The Candida Diet?

You might have already noticed that there are a few different Candida Diet websites out there.

All with a slightly different take on what you are allowed to eat, what supplements to take and when.

Don’t let this confuse you.

Each “Candida Diet” was written by a different person, generally a former candida sufferer.

As they all have experienced unique symptoms and followed different life-styles they are bound to believe different things.

You only need to ask your friends what the best way is to lose weight and you probably get 3 conflicting opinions back.

Some might swear lots of exercise did it for them. Others might claim you need to starve yourself and then you might hear that Weightwatchers, the Atkins Diet, Paleo or whatever the latest trendy diet happens to be, is the only way to lose weight…

Now with candida causing such a multitude of diseases and complications no 2 candida sufferers’ experiences are ever the same. Naturally everyone’s ideas what constitutes the ideal candida diet will differ, too.

You might encounter some Candida Diet thought leaders who perhaps favour a predominantly vegetarian diet, others might be passionate meat eaters and others again favour an approach that encompasses every vitamin and remedy under the sun to nuke the yeast overgrowth.

What I am getting at is, don’t search for “The Perfect Candida Diet” – it doesn’t exist.

• Just look at a few candida diet advocates, compare their different diet guidelines and look at their motives for adopting this approach.
• Then simply ask yourself “Is there any evidence that this approach will lead to success? And does this candida diet fit in with my beliefs and life-style?”
• If you can answer these questions with yes, then you are onto a winner.
• If you only like aspects of a candida diet, but don’t approve of others then by all means develop your own “Candida Diet”. That’s basically what I have done myself. And this worked well for me.

So, I hope this has clarified a few things. Now read on to find out a bit more about the general Candida Diet aspects that everyone agrees on:

The Candida Diet’s purpose is twofold:

1. To kill the excess baddies that have made you ill through fast, strict diet and special medication – antifungals.
2. To encourage the growth of friendly organisms by boosting your immune system and taking probiotics.

Who is the Candida Diet for?

1. The candida diet is for people who have a candida infection and wish to get rid off their candida symptoms.
2. The diet is for people who are ill a lot.
3. The candida diet is also for people who suffer from food intolerances.
4. And it’s for people who have hayfever and/ or other allergies.

Is the Candida Diet for You?

If you can agree to one or more of the following statements then the candida diet is for you. Do you want to….?

• Find out what food doesn’t agree with you
• Have less headaches and fewer colds
• Get rid off your hay fever & dust mite allergy
• Heal skin inflammations/ ecczema
  
• Alleviate any digestive complaints
• Cure cystitis and thrush
• Lose a few pounds and feel energetic

The candida diet can do all those things for you.

Do I need to have a Candida problem to start the Candida Diet?

No, you don’t need to have ALL the problems listed above to benefit from the candida diet.

In fact even if you don’t think you have Candida but you just want to boost your immune system and get into better shape then the Candida diet can benefit you.

• It’s a diet high in nutrition and wholesome goodness.
• A diet high in protein and veg but low in carbs (carbohydrates=sugar, bread, cakes).
• In other words a diet that makes you slim and toned.

The candida diet will work just in those areas in your body where your immune system is weak and could do with a bit of help.

Therefore what exact shape the candida diet takes is individually different depending on your constitution to begin of the diet.

Never the less the candida diet is first and foremost for people who suffer from Candida as these poor people can’t recover if they don’t follow the Candida Diet.

However, as most people aren’t actually aware they have this condition the candida diet is also very well suited as a diet to generally boost your immune system after you’ve been ill.

A Word of Warning About the Candida Diet

The Candida Diet is not for the faint hearted.

You need to become very disciplined and prepared to put your life on the back-burner for how ever long your recovery takes.

Your whole life must be centred around health and healing.

This is not a “lose 5 kilos in a fortnight” kind of affair, where you just nibble a few salad leaves and 2 weeks later magically appear 3 dress sizes smaller.

This is a seriously hard endeavour. Think army boot camp and you’re half-way there.

You’ll sweat blood and tears. And you’ll be forced to change habits that have defined you as a person over the years.

But its not all bad. You can use the Candida Diet as a catalyst for what you really want in life.

The Candida Diet gives you the opportunity to re-evaluate who you surround yourself with and what you spend your time doing.

Are these people and things that do you good? Or do they cause you stress that is constantly undermining your immune system?

Hand on heart. Think about it.

What are the Core Rules of the Candida Diet?

CANDIDA DIET FOOD PYRAMID

Food related rules of the candida diet:

• No sugar, white pasta, pizza or bread
• No cake, bagels, chocolates or puddings
• No fruit, dried fruit, juices, coke or alcohol
• No cheese, sauces, milk

• Eat light and early
• Eat a lot of greens
• Eat some protein
• Eat minimal carbs

If you are curious what exactly you can eat on the candida diet check out this candida diet food list as well as this list of foods to avoid.

Life-style rules of the candida diet:

• Relax more
• Reduce stress
• Do things that make you happy
• Go to bed early

• Drink more water
• Get some fresh air
• Get movement (at least 15 mins brisk walk twice a day)

JUST TO RECAP: Breakdown of the individual Phases of the Candida Diet

• Preparation (1 week – 6 weeks)
• Phase 1: Detox (1 week fast)
• Phase 2: Diet & Kill Candida with Antifungals – Avoid sugar & yeast (2 weeks strict diet)
• Phase 3: Strengthen Immune System & Friendly Bacteria (4 weeks +)
• Transition to Normal Diet (Re-introduce some yeasty food) (1 year)

PHASE 1 OF THE CANDIDA DIET – CANDIDA CLEANSE

The first phase clears your system of toxins and waste products that were a strain on your immune system. Read more about it here.

PHASE 2 OF THE CANDIDA DIET – STRICT ELIMINATION DIET

The second phase of the candida diet encompasses an elimination diet that takes the burden of your digestive system. This will allow your body to heal. This is where lots of Candida gets killed!

• During this phase your diet should consist mainly of vegetable soups, light fish, egg and chicken dishes. Always accompanied with fresh salads and organic steamed vegetables.
• If only this part of the candida diet wasn’t so strict. Imagine, even vegetables like carrots and potatoes and all grains and beans are off the books for you during this time.
• As a rule of thumb – the greener the better. So stick to leek, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage & kale. Sadly, you’re also not allowed to eat bread yet.
• To kill as much Candida as possible you need to start taking antifungal supplements now.

TOP CANDIDA DIET TIP: If you are very ill to start with try a gentle antifungal like Caprylic Acid first.

• Strong antifungals like Olive leaf capsules can cause severe die off reactions, making you even more ill.
• Your body can only get rid off a small amount of Candida toxins each day.

WARNING! You cannot speed the process up by taking more antifungal medication!

The dead Candida toxins would only be rushing through your blood stream making you feel nauseous and headachy – causing you harsh die-off symptoms.

I know how hard it is to control the urge to take strong antifungals to nuke the yeasty armada. Don’t do it!
Start slowly and work your way up to a higher dosage as you’re getting better.

PHASE 3 OF THE CANDIDA DIET – DIET & IMMUNE SUPPORT

The third phase is all about re-building your immune system. You’ll still have to follow the general candida diet rules, but it’s not quite as strict. You can eat all the foods on the candida diet food list.

• Now you can also start taking probiotic supplements (friendly microbes that live in your intestines – keeping the naturally remaining Candida in check).
• You can slowly introduce yeast-free bread and small amounts of different grains and potatoes back into your diet. Even a bowl of wholewheat pasta can pop up in your menu again – if combined with a green salad.
• Lentil, bean and veggy dishes should be staple items on your diet during this phase.

How long does the Candida Diet take?

People tend to ask how long the candida diet takes. And the answer is always the same even if you don’t like to hear it.

It’s different for everyone, and it depends on how long you’ve had the candidiasis infection and how vigilant you stick to the candida diet.

For most people this third phase of the Candida Diet takes between 2 months and 1 year.

That might sound like a long time but you need to differentiate between three things here.

• There’s the time it will take you to feel full of energy and happy again.
• There’s the time it will take you to get rid off the candida symptoms itself so you don’t feel ill any more.
• And then there’s the time it will take you to get used to a health conscious lifestyle so you don’t get a relapse after the Candida Diet.

You can expect to feel energetic and happy again after just a few weeks on the candida diet. This is truly amazing, because only then you’ll fully see how ill you’ve actually really been – without even realising.

“It’s shocking how you can get used to feeling low and think it’s normal”

You will very quickly get rid off a lot of your symptoms in the first few months into the Candida Diet.

If you have a stubborn systemic case of Candida then it will take a few more months to eliminate the rest of the Candida that is hiding somewhere in your body.

DANGER ZONE! By this point the hard earned new balance of healthy microbes in your intestines has not been established long enough to prevent a relapse – if you were to go back to your old diet.

Only if you stick to the Candida Diet for some more time you will ensure that your immune system is growing strong enough to keep Candida in check for the rest of your life.

How do you know when phase 3 of the Candida Diet is coming to an end?

• You’ll know –  The tell-tale sign you are looking for is being able to take a high dosis of antifungals and not to experience any candida symptoms. It’s as simple as that.

As long as you are experiencing symptoms whilst taking antifungals you need to carry on with the Candida Diet.

• You’ll also notice that you’ll be able to tolerate sweeter foods, bigger carb portions and small amounts of previously offending foods without getting an onset of new candida symptoms. This is another encouraging sign that the Candida Diet is nearing it’s end.

But as I said earlier this is the danger zone, where you will be tempted to take risks by eating sugary foods (thinking that you can get away with it…)

So you might be symptom-free yet you still shouldn’t gorge yourself on pizzas and gateaux cakes. Quite a sad outlook on the diet, isn’t it? Enough for anyone to feel misarable…

You are probably still hoping you can whiz through the Candida Diet and then carry on as before, aren’t you? I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that.

“Going back to the diet that made you ill in the first place and expecting a different outcome is madness.”

It has taken you years to get to this state. How can you realistically expect your body to heal in just a few weeks?

Allow yourself a generous grace period where you experiment with what foods agree best with you and what amounts. Finetune the diet until you find a balance that you can maintain easily – even permanently.

If at this stage in the Candida Diet you re-introduce too many things that are forbidden then you’ll be experiencing the usual Candida symptoms.

You can of course live with them. But if you want to get rid of them for good you need to make tabula rasa.

In with the old – out with the new. In ALL aspects of your life!

PHASE 4 OF THE CANDIDA DIET – MAINTENANCE

The fourth phase of the Candida diet is just a maintenance phase. You’ll still stick to the list of foods to avoid – simply to avoid a relapse. But you don’t need to take any more supplements.

• It takes time for your body to get used to the newly restored balance in your digestive system. This might take a few months, possibly a year.
• In phase 4 you can finally have the occasional “off-day”. So enjoy your family get togethers and holidays where you may indulge in a few chocolates and things. But just make sure not to fall back into old eating habits.

READ ON TO FIND OUT HOW TO GET STARTED WITH THE CANDIDA DIET:

Get your health checked before the candida diet

• It’s best to consult with a doctor to double-check that you are in a fit state to embark on such a strict health program as the Candida Diet.

If you don’t do this you risk becoming very, very ill and slowing down your overall recovery.

I learned this the hard way because I didn’t get a health check before I started on the Candida Diet and promptly developed a severe case of eczema. Simply because my liver was overburdened with the candida toxins in my blood stream.

• Checking how depleted your mineral and vitamin levels are is also a very good idea. This enables you to take the correct dose of supplements later on in the diet, rather than tapping in the dark.

How to Prepare Yourself for The Candida Diet:

As the Candida Diet is a serious undertaking you’d feel utterly miserable if you launched yourself into it without easing yourself into it first.

I recommend you take 4-6 weeks where you slowly get used to some of the candida diet foods and where you start the detox process.

Key things for you to bear in mind during this preparation phase are these:

1. Eliminate everything from your diet that you suspect doesn’t agree with you.
2. Reduce sugar, coffee and fast food intake as much as possible.
3. Introduce one day in the week where you eat only light vegetable meals and soups or wholemeal rice with a bit of vegetable oil. You want to slowly prepare your body for the candida diet, particularly for the fast. This works best if you get into detox mode gradually.

TOP CANDIDA DIET PREP TIP:

• Cook double the amounts for freezing. This will make your life easier on those days where you don’t feel like cooking.

You’ll be really grateful when you can quickly defrost lots of small portions of stews, roast chicken, fish, mild vegetable stir-frys and bean dishes before you start with the candida diet.

You’ll have enough else on your plates than having to cook full on meals.

Aim for preparing and freezing 1-2 meals per week. That should set you up with a nice selection of back up food to eat when the actual candida diet has started.

What next? What’s the first step to kick-start your Candida Diet?

That’s pretty much it. You’re ready to roll now. Head on over to the Candida diet food list page and make a list of the things you’re allowed to eat.

From then on it’s all about finding recipes with those ingredients that you love eating. Here are some candida diet recipes to get you started.

I’ll be posting a few more of my favourite recipes and tips here on my blog from time to time. You really don’t want to miss them

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Health Disclaimer!

The info on this page is based on my personal experience with Candida – I am not a health care professional. So please take care when following any of my diet suggestions. And if in doubt, seek qualified advice from other sources before embarking on the Candida Diet.