Think I May Try Candida Diet

[HS7474]

I just ran across issues with "candida" and people trying the diet. I'm more than willing to give it ashot since my symptoms fit pretty well. However, much of the information I've run across seems to be very conflicting. Does anyone, who has had success with this, have a food list that they used to achieve success?

I'm particularly interested in brown rice, carrots, and processed cheese. Thanks!

[Skylark]

Diet alone won't fix candida overgrowth. Nature abhors a vacuum and as soon as you go back to your normal diet it will regrow unless you rebalance your gut with probiotic foods and supplements.

By the way, do you have clear signs of candida like recurring vaginal yeast or thrush? So-called candida symptoms can be caused by a lot of other things like hypothyroidsim and food intolerances.

If you do have clear candida issues, start by going off sugar and starch, then gradually add probiotics and yeast-killing foods. Don't go too fast or you can get die-off symptoms which are no fun. Your "food list" is meats, poultry, eggs, seafood, non-starchy vegetables and leafy greens, hard low-lactose cheese, seeds, and nuts, plus live-bacteria probiotic foods. You can bake with flax meal, coconut flour, or almond meal. No fruits, grains, flours, starches, starchy vegetables like potatoes or parsnips, or any kind of sugar or sweetener. Beans are iffy - stick to low starch things like green beans. Obviously nothing with yeast like bread, beer, or wine. Artificial sweeteners won't feed the candida, but they are bad for you and will intensify the sugar cravings you'll probably experience.

You will be hungry without carbs. I'd suggest reading Cordain's paleo diet book to learn to manage a grain-free diet because you'll be pretty close to paleo. Open Original Shared Link I'd also suggest reading the GAPS diet book. Open Original Shared Link It's not specific to candida but teaches you how to rebalance intestinal bacteria.

Then gradually add probiotics and candida-killers.

Virgin, cold-pressed coconut oil is your first line of defense. Start with a teaspoon and work up to at least a couple tablespoons a day, some people say to take as much as 4 tbsp/day. You can bake or cook with it, or eat it off a spoon.

You need good probiotics and live-bacteria foods to repopulate as you kill off the candida. Any of the Bubbie's brand pickles and sauerkraut are good, plain kefir, unpasteurized kimchi, or yogurt you make yourself with a 24-hour fermentation so it's low lactose. Commercial yogurt is not usually fermented very long and the bacteria are often dead. (Dannon probiotic yogurt is NOT gluten-free.) Try your local health food store for unpasteurized lacto-fermented veggies or make your own. Open Original Shared Link has recipes. Obviously stick to bacterial ferments and avoid yeast recipes.

As far as probiotics I like Threelac but it makes some people sick. Bio-Kult is good, and I've heard people like Natren but I haven't tried it.

Garlic, cinnamon, cloves, turmeric, and oregano are all great candida killers and you should cook with them as much as possible. Zand Candida Quick Cleanse is a nice herbal if you prefer a pill.

Carrots are OK, brown rice and processed cheese are not. Processed cheese has too much lactose (not to mention all the other nasty chemicals in it). Brown rice is still a starch. Have some low-lactose natural cheddar, colby, monterey jack, or any other hard cheese instead.

The candida-fighting is a long-term thing, and you should plan to always be taking probiotics and eating probiotic foods. You may be able to introduce more sugar and starch but you can probably never go back to a typical American diet with cereal in the morning, a sandwich for lunch, and meat and potatoes for dinner.

[domesticactivist]

Great advice from Skylark!

[TeknoLen]

Great post from Skylark indeed. I am taking a daily probiotic pearl that seems to agree with me. It has a hard shell and is supposed to remain intact through the harsh acidic stomach environment until making it to the intestines where it eventually opens. My nutritionist said this results in a higher survival rate for the little good bugs. The brand I use is Integrative Therapeutics Probiotic Pearls, but there are other brands to choose from. Good luck!

[Gemini]

Carrots are OK, brown rice and processed cheese are not. Processed cheese has too much lactose (not to mention all the other nasty chemicals in it). Brown rice is still a starch. Have some low-lactose natural cheddar, colby, monterey jack, or any other hard cheese instead.

You give a lot of good advice here but as for the brown rice, I included it on my diet because I could not go completely grain free. I lose too much weight and I don't have it to lose. I found having brown rice 2-3 times per week did not make any difference to my complete recovery. As it's a whole grain rice, not quite the same as eating white rice. It is possible to recover from Candida while including a small amount of brown rice in your diet. But you are correct in that if you go back to eating like most Americans eat, the problem may come back. The standard American diet will kill you or make the aging process tough!

[Skylark]

Grain-free is tough because people tend to shy away from eating enough fat to feel full. Avocados, nuts, and natural aged cheese (if you tolerate it) are your friends!

[revenant]

Great advice from Skylark. The longest that I've lasted on a rather extreme anti-candida diet (It's called the Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine diet) is 4 days! I had such horrible die off on that diet that I couldn't walk out of weakness on day 2 and the cold sweats were unbearable o_o so don't go TOO fast, unless you want to just get it over with that is!

Personally, I have huge candida flares from brown rice. If I were you I'd eliminate all grains and sugars to start. Eventually, you may have to remove carrots, as they are really starchy. But for now they are fine, transition into it, best of luck let us know how it goes

[Gemini]

Great advice from Skylark. The longest that I've lasted on a rather extreme anti-candida diet (It's called the Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine diet) is 4 days! I had such horrible die off on that diet that I couldn't walk out of weakness on day 2 and the cold sweats were unbearable o_o so don't go TOO fast, unless you want to just get it over with that is!

Personally, I have huge candida flares from brown rice. If I were you I'd eliminate all grains and sugars to start. Eventually, you may have to remove carrots, as they are really starchy. But for now they are fine, transition into it, best of luck let us know how it goes

I think the difference with eating brown rice vs. white rice is your body has to work harder to burn off the starch in complex carbs. Some people can have brown rice or some complex carbs while combating candida for this reason...there isn't the big spike with your blood sugar that occurs with refined carbs. However, some people cannot tolerate grains well and anything will spike their blood sugar and that's the culprit in making a candida problem worse. I never gave up carrots because when your diet is limited this much, giving up any vegetables in the raw doesn't seem wise to me.

Die off will be difficult for anyone and that's where using anti-fungals comes into play. They really do work well at beating back the effects of die off when it happens. Once that phase is over with, it gets much easier.

[Skylark]

I don't think blood sugar has much to do with candida. How could it? The candida is in the intestines, not the blood. All the stuff I've read on Candida says that it is able use any kind of sugar or starch you eat pretty effectively. Agreed that refined sugar seems worse, but I don't think most folks can kill candida eating starches like brown rice.

As for anti-fungals, for me they have strongly intensified die-off, not decreased it. Going onto coconut oil recently wasn't any fun. After all, anti-fungals are directly killing the yeast. You may get through the die-off faster on an anti-fungal if that's what you meant.

[leehua]

Anyone who has candida, do you notice inflammation on the side of your nose? Mine turns red and flaky and has a burning sensation. My dermatologist pointed out that it wasn't acne ( I don't really ever get pimples so it makes sense) but rather a yeast overgrowth. I also have recurring symptoms of yeast infections and bacterial vaginosis. I'm going to assume that they are all connected and that I may have a candida problem. Can anyone else relate?

[ndw3363]

leehua - I'm going through that right now. So annoying. The left side of my nose (it's always only the left...weird) is raw and peeling. I've had problems with reoccuring YI since January of 2008. As if being gluten-free isn't hard enough, my body wants me to be free of all grains too. I seem to rebel when I'm PMSing - those darn Against the Grain baguettes are so delicious and somehow just jump into my cart. The more carbs I eat, the worse I feel. I've never been a huge sugar addict, but please don't make me give up all carbs. I'm going to try to be as good as possible for awhile. I feel like crap all the time now, and that just makes me want to eat worse things. Apparently, since my body hates grains, it kicks my butt when I rebel. The depression is the worst part because it just feeds the rebellion. I've never been able to truly do the candida diet...I just didn't have enough SAFE foods to eat. I don't have any more pounds to loose, so I need every calorie I can find. I've eaten so many almonds I just might turn into one! :-)

[domesticactivist]

I used to have a spot like that on my chest from yeast. The GAPS diet is good for clearing candida.

[Roda]

Anyone have any luck with getting rid of the yeast and able to reintroduce some grains and fruit back into their diet?

I've been contemplating that I may have an bowel yeast overgrowth. My main symptom is a skin yeast infection around the perineum and external vaginal area. Originally I thought I had a vaginal yeast infection and kept going to the gyn and they told me I did not have a yeast infection(looked under the microscope from a swab taken, but not from the skin) that I had contact dermatitis. Was prescribed a steroid/antifungal cream and it would go away, but would resurface months later. I finaly had it one day and broke down and bought otc yeast meds and it cleard it up. Now my gyn will prescribe me diflucan when it flares. So far this year I've had two flares. Sometimes I can go months and months without the symptoms. This recurring infection has been plaguing me for a couple of years now.

The other thing that got me thinking recently is that I've been having issues with bad swelling from fluid retention in my legs for over 6 months now. I do have a lot of spider veins and vericose veins waiting to happen. I've been wearing compression stockings to work and it has helped tremendously, but I don't dare work without them now. I jokingly said to my husband that now that the fluid is being forced out of my legs it is going somewhere else. Not so funny now.

Newest development is extremely sore and swollen breasts since Dec. and there is no relief. Now I know hormones can play a big role and I also have fibrocystic breasts. I'm 39 so who knows, perimenopause could be starting also. But here is the kicker...I've noticed the last few days after I get up from sleeping, either at night or in the morning after work, that the selling and soreness in the breasts is gone! It does eventually come back as the day progresses. By night time they are swollen and painful again. I know this will help the leg circulation, but I don't get the other. It really sounds crazy, but it's true. I've never had thrush, but my youngest son did when he was a baby and gave me a yeast infection while breastfeeding.

I've also been having mild digestive issues not related to gluten or my gallbladder.

So could the swelling be related to yeast or does it seem to far fetched? I still believe I could have an issue with it regardless if the swelling is related, because of the other recurring infection. I'm not opposed to taking medications for it as well as modifing my diet to some degree. What I don't want to give up forever is some of the grains like quinoa and buckwheat and fruit forever.

I've had my fair share of antibiotics in my life. Last major dose was when I had my youngest son. I had IV antibiotics because of group B strep and they said I needed them to keep the baby from contracting it. I know for a fact I have not had any antibiotics since being diagnosed with celiac, over three years ago.

[Skylark]

Yep, but I don't think my yeast was too bad. I had the recurring vaginal yeast mostly under control before with Monistat but the remaining itchiness and "something isn't quite right" feeling is gone now. Hopefully if it's killed there, it's better controlled in my bowel too. I have been on GAPS somewhat less than perfectly, ate coconut oil by the spoonful for a couple months, and have been taking 10 billion CFUs of probiotics a day plus homemade fermented veggies.

I'm eating fruit now, but still staying on GAPS so no grains, except the times I cave and have some sushi. I doubt I'll ever go back to a starchy diet. It seems to help my asthma being off grains, plus my blood sugar is more stable which is really nice. I don't feel like I'm going to keel over if I miss a meal, and I don't get sleepy after dinner.

For the breast pain, I have no clue about the yeast. It may get worse during the day because of your bra. There are a lot of lymph nodes around your breasts. Bras, especially underwires, can press on the lymph nodes under your breast and toward your armpit and keep fluid from draining properly. You might try a camisole and see if the pain is any better.

My nurse practitioner also told me to try evening primrose oil for breast tenderness and it helped a little.

[Roda]

Glad to hear that people can add things back in eventually. I'm going to see about testing next month. Would they check for that with stool testing? I've got a 6 month follow up to get my rheumatiod factor rechecked since it was slightly elevated before, so I can see about testing for yeast then.

As far as the breast pain, the bra does not affect it at all. I have been wearing a camisole type shirt at home all day and it makes no difference. The one breast hasn't been quite the same since I had contracted the yeast from breastfeeding.

[Skylark]

I think there are stool tests for yeast. I was going by the vaginal yeast becasue my understanding from the GAPS book is that vaginal flora reflects gut flora.

I don't know about the breast pain then. You could ask your doctor about trying Diflucan. You probably need something systemic. Coconut oil can't hurt and the caprylic acid may get into blood. Garlic might get through skin? Yolo might have some ideas if you PM her. I remember she was fighting yeast and she seems to know a lot about medicinal herbs.

[Roda]

Every time I went and they looked at the vaginal flora under the microscope no yeast cells were found. Now all I have to do is call and say I'm having symptoms "again" and they will call me in a RX for diflucan. It does work, but I think I need to be on it longer than taking 2 pills three days apart when it flares up.

I love coconut oil and decided to try and incoporate it more into my diet on a daily basis. Alas, my gallbladder got a little upset with me.. so going to take it slow.

[Bubba's Mom]

Every time I went and they looked at the vaginal flora under the microscope no yeast cells were found. Now all I have to do is call and say I'm having symptoms "again" and they will call me in a RX for diflucan. It does work, but I think I need to be on it longer than taking 2 pills three days apart when it flares up.

I love coconut oil and decided to try and incoporate it more into my diet on a daily basis. Alas, my gallbladder got a little upset with me.. so going to take it slow.

The coconut oil can be applied externally for that perianum itch from yeast. I took the pure food grade oil I cook with and put some in a small container to keep in the bathroom to be used as needed.

I have one of those plastic containers that film used to come in to carry some when I'll be away from home. It's instantly soothing! The carprillic acid knocks out those itchies.

In the spring/summer of 2010 I had recurring yeast infections. My Dr. gave me meds 3 times, then told me "we aren't going to treat that anymore".

I thought having a yeast overgrowth in my digestive tract too was likely? I recently started on a yeast starving diet, added 2 different probiotics, and started taking garlic tablets. They are known yeast fighters too.

It cleared up my external itching, but I had to stop the diet when I couldn't take in enough calories to maintain weight. I'm currently on antibiotics too, so I figured I'd wait until I'm done with those and start rebuilding my "good" bacteria with the probiotics? The yeast itchies are back like crazy!

[Skylark]

Coconut oil is definitely soothing externally or even internally with an applicator. Yeast doesn't like caprylic acid!

If eating the coconut oil is an issue you can buy caprylic acid supplements, or perhaps taking ox bile with it would work. I was making coconut oil/coconut flour bread. Another thing I like is Zand Candida Quick Cleanse. It's an herbal mix that has really helped me.

[ElizFost]

The coconut oil really works for candida. Once in the beginning of taking it I always experience one instance where I have some cramping followed by the need to run to the bathroom due to diahrrea. I understand this to be passing parasites.