Controlling Candida with the Right Diet

If you have been diagnosed with candida, you may have already discovered that conventional treatments aren’t very successful at healing the problem.  At best, they temporarily soothe symptoms, but the stubborn candida fungus is rarely discouraged for any length of time by prescription drugs and other traditional methods.  You can probably resign yourself to having to use these products for the rest of your life to keep your symptoms under control.

Fortunately, however, naturopathic medicine has discovered that there are better ways to treat candida.  One of the most recognized is the candida diet.  We know that candida is caused by an overgrowth of usually harmless yeast-like microorganisms in our bodies,  most commonly Candida albicans.  This overgrowth is stimulated by a weakened immune system,  an intestinal bacterial environment that is out of balance and/or  poor diet.  By following the candida diet, disregarding what has caused their problem, many candida sufferers have experienced amazing relief from their uncomfortable symptoms.   It really is your best defense against the trouble-making candida.

Yeast loves sugar and simple carbohydrates, so those are foods you will want to completely eliminate, at least temporarily, from you diet.

The candida diet does not include any refined sugars what so ever.  Sugar promotes the growth of yeast, so it’s important to eliminate it from your diet.  Refined sugar comes in many forms, including white sugar, brown sugar, honey, syrup and anything that ends in ‘ose’ like sucralose, sucrose and fructose.  Fruit and fruit juice is also a natural source of sugar and should be avoided.  Learn to check the labels on all the items you buy.

Other foods you need to avoid while on the candida diet are foods that contain yeast, like breads, pastries, bagels, baked goods, dried fruits, melons,  and peanuts. Also stay away from vinegar, or anything made from it, like salad dressings, soy sauce, steak sauce, mayonnaise, pickles, olives  and other items.  You should also eliminate mushrooms, cheeses, and glutenous foods like wheat, rye, oats and barley.   Nutritional and brewer’s yeast are acceptable because they do not colonize in the intestines.  Choose non-glutenous grains like oat bran, rice, rice bran or millet.

Do not drink beer, wine, or any other alcohol.  Fermented drinks such as root beer and cider, black tea and coffee should not be used while on the diet, even if they are decaffeinated.

Foods you should eat are vegetables, including raw garlic, foods that are rich in protein, such as beef, chicken, fish and eggs, nuts, seeds, yogurt, whey and acidophilus.  Adding green algae to your diet in the form of spirulina and chlorella is also recommended.

You should plan on following this diet for at least three months.  If you follow the diet religiously, you should begin to notice improvements within two to four weeks.  Early in the diet some people actually experience a worsening of their symptoms because the yeast is dieing off and releasing proteins and toxins.  This is a temporary situation and will improve in a short period of time.

If your symptoms have been alleviated at the end of three months on the diet,  you may gradually begin to include some of the foods you have been avoiding.  Do not overindulge, however, or you will be right back where you started.

If you desire to find a solution to your  problems caused by candida, the first thing you need to do is recognize that there are no overnight cures.  If you choose to try the candida diet, think of it as the beginning of a new and healthier way of eating, a way that will allow you a better life.  It isn’t easy at first, but normally the results are well worth the sacrifices.

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1. Which Fruits To Avoid on the Candida Diet
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3. 3 Breakfast Recipes for the Candida Diet
4. 3 Candida Diet Recipes for Vegetarians
5. Stevia Natural Sweetener to Replace Sugar on the Candida Diet