Candida Diet Update October 2013

Repercussions from eating tons of sweet stuff in Germany

Just when I was completely symptom free I decided to visit my family in Germany, who are known for their sweet tooth and delight in offering me their culinary exploits (uh-oh!)

So I went from eating a refined sugar free candida diet to a completely “normal” diet rich in carbs, fruit and and meat.

While I was there I immensely enjoyed eating “all the wrong foods”, and hey I was symptom free so I could eat what I want, right?!

I did in fact eat what I wanted which was awesome.

The last few times when I had been to Germany  I had gone through to a lot of trouble to cook myself candida diet friendly foods (think brown rice rather than white toast or fish rather than cured pork…). Needless to say that I hadn’t eaten any desserts generally or if I had, then small amounts and I had made them separately with no sugar or a bit of agave. I had also eaten no fruit except perhaps a slice of green apple.

Biggest Change: I ate Foods with Sugar, Wheaty bread (gluten), processed cake and sweet fruit daily

• It was the first time that I had white sugar in food since starting on the diet and also ate shop bought fruity cakes, sugary fatty cream and dairy, and low and behold my first bit of cheese since starting on the candida diet. I had some cooked cheese, it’s called ‘Kochkaese’ in German.
• I also ate tons of fruit.I ate at least one peach (my was that delicious!) and a couple of plums per day and the odd banana as well.

• Novel was also for me to eat late night snacks again during tv breaks (yes, I watched tv there – I have no tv at home in Cornwall I let you know, don’t judge me ? I ate cooked puddings (with dairy and sugar in it).

• Another big change apart from buying cake in a shop rather than baking my own unsweetened was that for the first time in years I ate bread from the baker aka bread with yeast in it, rather than baking my own without yeast and I had no problems eating that. (Most days I made my own though. I just wanted to test how it agreed with me).

• I also started eating the salad with the vinegary dressing my mum made, rather than making my own without vinegar or with apple cider vinegar.

What I typically ate this month:

Breakfast:

During the week I ate home made soda bread with Quark (sour dairy spread) and black berry jam (once again sugar!) or porridge (with gluten! whereas in England I eat gluten free).

At the weekend I also ate sandwiches with fatty but delicious pork salami and a boiled egg.

Lunch:

Soup with egg and bone marrow dumplings and beef (non organic).

… and beef roulades with dumplings (potato, yeast and white flour) and red stewed cabbage (with jam).

Desserts:

Yes, I ate my first dessert in donkeys’ years – at home I don’t ever (to avoid overloading on sweet stuff so I don’t risk a candida relapse). And these ones even had sugar, dairy and cream in it, ouch.

Dinner:

Fish (in a white bread crumb batter – novel for me to eat that, I normally avoid anything processed), roast chicken or scrambled eggs

Fine green beans salad (with vinegar and a pinch of sugar)

What I snacked on:

Shop bough cakes like this big inviting cheesecake above.

As if that wasn’t enough I made my own muffins, because I wanted to introduce my parents to beetroot muffins (had to sneak some agave in to make it palatable for them of course).

And not to forget my daily dose of sweet fruit.

 What I drunk:

In Germany you drink sparkling (carbonated) water rather than still, which is completely the opposite in the UK. So I drunk lots of sparkling water, dandelion tea and the odd cup of real coffee with dairy milk (naughty!)

I have to say though that I noticed no side effects from drinking coffee. I used to be totally hyper and trembling. Non of that this time.

Lifestyle/ Activities:

I did my best not to get out of shape while I was in Germany with all the eating going on. So I walked a lot, followed a yoga dvd and did star jumps and gymnastic every day and went swimming and to a sauna one day.

Health Issues this month:

• In Germany I had two short episodes of thrush. One after I spent the day in a damp swimsuit in a hot spa place, eating fruit and ice cream and drinking caffee latte. The next was a few days after my return.

A few days of olive leaf capsules, strong probiotic, no sugar diet and yoghurt tampon sorted that out. But it was frustrating to see how quickly candida comes back when you slip with the diet. I had not even realized, had I not started to take antifungals again after my return.

• I sweated a lot – curious! Also had jittery hands and legs sometimes – worrying (thyroid?) and dark circles under my eyes. Might of course have to do with the fact that I mysteriously lost 3-4 kg of weight! How did that happen, without me noticing?! Shows how much stress I had the past few months.

• I quickly caught a cold after my return – defenses down from the sugar fest. Luckily I know what to do about that these days ?

• About a week after my return my skin went mental. The skin behind my knees that had started to itch again last month turned into full blown eczema, which thanks to my rubbing and eating the wrong foods blossomed into big areas that covered my legs and elbows.

You’d think that I remembered how to heal it quickly considering that I cleared all my eczema up successfully only a year ago. But I didn’t. I overestimated my healing ability and I ate acidic foods that made my condition worse (eggs, yoghurt meat – the candida diet staples all of a sudden didn’t agree with me). Then I had the glorious idea to bake a bread  from sprouted wheat, which really hurt me.

It’s hard to get your head around the fact that your body cannot take foods that you used to be able to eat before. I noticed an unpleasant sensation in my lower abdomen, which I believe is a sign of leaky gut again, which makes complete sense, considering the eczema symptoms. So I went out and financially ruined myself on Leaky Gut remedies in the hope to heal this quickly.

• 3 weeks of thrush followed, having to resort to Oil of Oregano drops to get the Candida roots out, eek! I cannot even eat butternut squash any more, which I previously tolerated fine. Now it straight away triggers thrush symptoms.

• M whole life has been thrown upside down. I have to constantly moisturize and bandage my legs, which makes it impossible to take showers.

• I wake up in the middle of the night, and generally feel touchy, because I am of course worried that I have to start all over again with the diet, feeling massively guilty for having caused this myself.

I took my liberties food wise.  No wonder I had a relapse (you can read more about what caused it here). All my own fault.

Consequences of my sugar binge:

The heartbreaking realization hit me: Even if I got back to how I felt a month ago, it would still take me a few months to be brave enough for some food experiments with yeasty bread, cheese and fruit. And then I’d have to wait another year until I can come off the Candida Diet. Oh dear, I can feel a massive weight on my shoulders now! And there I was planning a painting class in Tuscany next year in September – me in Italy eating Pizza, pasta and ice cream with this? Fat chance!

And to add insult to injury I had booked a holiday with all inclusive foods which will start in a week’s time. Not enough time to even heal my legs, let alone have Candida fully under control to be lighthearted. How am I going to be able to resist all the Candida foods there?! Free cakes, coffees and ice cream all day long. God knows what the breakfast will be like. Probably white toast with jam, sloppy eggs and milk, glutenous cereal and sweetened dairy yoghurt. Naturally, I’m consumed with fear and royally gutted that the expensive holiday that was meant to consolidate my newly found health could quickly turn into a hazardous affair…

What Supplements I took:

• multi vit, evening primrose & fish oil

• Should probably mention what I didn’t take that I used to take: chlorella, spirulina or leaky gut supplements, no antifungals and only normal probiotics, not high strength as before

To recap what I learned/ How this Applies to You:

If you are symptom free you might get away with eating a bit of fruit here or there, but you can’t eat foods with refined sugar on a regular basis without risking a relapse.

Sometimes the symptoms start delayed, so not when you indulge on the sweet foods, but a few days later when you cut the sugar out and take antifungals. Then it all comes to the surface.

The hardest part is ‘not’ eating any more fruit and sweetened puddings or cakes, especially when you are feeling well.

When you have deprived yourself nice foods for years, then it’s all too tempting to make unwise food choices to make up for lost time…

At the beginning of the diet I felt ill, so I had a constant reminder and motivation not to eat sweet stuff. But once you feel good, you have to tell yourself that you won’t feel good much longer if you eat sweet foods… It might all make rational sense, but it’s hard to do in the real world.

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