Help me with Candida!

[aubrel936]

I have done some research on candida and I am CERTAIN that I have this issue. I have read info in  a Michael Murray book, in Bauman College text info, and in the Paul Pitchford literature.
I have found contradicting opinions on some issues. I want to know if I can have coconut in my diet and if I can have processed alternative milk products. Also, does anyone have any idea if the cleansing products at the store work and how long I have to be on this crazy diet? Six months is going to give me a melt down! Is there another way?

[Nori]

Candida loves dampness and any dairy can make this worse. Coconut, however, has anti-microbial lauric acid, which helps reduce candida proliferation. 

The protocol for reducing/eliminating candida is 6-fold: the 4 R protocol plus 2 steps:

Remove - sugars and anything that can have mold, coat, or ferment (no refined grains, tropical and dried fruit, mushrooms, except shiitake, no dairy and gluten, both of which have "glue-like" properties than impair gut health). Some protocols are much more strict.

Repair - use skilled stress reduction, bone broths, sulfur-rich foods, L-glutamine, Larch aribinogalactan, N-acetyl glucosamine, etc.

Replace - add enzymes for promoting better digestion (stomach, pancreas and gall bladder, brush border)

Reinoculate - add probiotics at doses of 15-20 billion (per Campbell-McBride) to restore optimal gut ecology. I suggest night time dosing as the immune system is being restored, per TS Wiley, in the dark.

Defend the blood - some of the OTC cleansing products contain herbs specifically for this step.  Systemic yeast infections can be tough to conquer without such support. 

Support the immune system - again, these products usually contain some herbs to improve the body's ability to get on top of the problem.

Christopher Hobbs said that no matter what anti-fungal approach one uses (even Nystatin), it does not work without the dietary changes.  I must add: after dealing with candida, one usually is much more susceptible to reinfection for a while after.  So be careful!

But have courage!  Once one stops the sugar and 2-3 weeks have passed, usually one loses the cravings for it and maintaining the diet for a while (6-12 months) is not too difficult.  It does take commitment, though.   The higher protein and fat in the diet are key to reducing the cravings.

Good luck!

[Marlina E]

Good luck!  You will do fine once you get past the difficult first stages. One book I find very good is the Body Ecology Diet by Donna Gates.  There is a yummy buckwheat cracker recipe in there as well....mmmmnnnn.

[jodi f.]

And to add a little to this mix, Ann Boroch, a Certified Nutrition Consultant who expands upon William Crook's Candida work, says that it's absolutely necessary to remove gluten from the diet. She adds that it's better to cheat a little with sugar than with gluten. Her book is called The Candida Cure. It's fairly short and easily readable, and it has specific protocols to follow. You may find it very useful.

[arianag650]

I realize I am a little late but I wanted to throw in my two cents on this topic. When I did the candida diet two years ago I found a lot of great info on this website: http://www.healingnaturallybybee.com/candida/index.php. The protocol given is a little extreme and of course I don't agree with everything on there, but there is a lot of very helpful information! I did very well with most of the recommendations.

I've read that natural healing takes about a month for every year that a person has been unhealthy, and that for a lot of people that is since before they were born (you inherit the nutritional statuses of both parents upon conception). Or you can do it for as many months as you believe you have had years of candida overgrowth, or simply until you are feeling better.

While on my candida diet I ate plentiful amounts of coconut OIL which is rich in lauric acid (an antimicrobial medium-chain fatty acid), but not very much of the juice or meat from coconuts as they are higher in sugars, which feed candida. From what I understand it is not recommended to consume dairy or processed anything while you are struggling with candida. I also believe that positive diet (food+supplements) and lifestyle changes are the BEST way to overcome candida overgrowth - cleansing products used alone will not be helpful.

I did the candida diet for 12+ months, and at the beginning it was very difficult. Getting off sugar, starch, dairy, gluten etc. caused a lot of painful withdrawal symptoms. However, after the initial withdrawal passes, life becomes so much easier! And I found that I felt so much better on the diet that I was actually able (willing!) to stay on it strictly for a full year. Everyone is different and has different needs, but my main advice would be to stay off of sugar, gluten and dairy, and to focus on the nutrients you need and all the wonderful things they(/you) are doing for your body instead of the things you lack or the things you miss. Good luck!