Candida Diet: The Only Guide You Need

This guide lays out the essential fundamentals of Candida diet: a low-glycemic and healthy program that emphasizes eating foods that nourish you – not the yeast.

Thousands of people know first hand how hard it is to get rid of Candida and yeast infections. Fortunately, you have a lot of power over your health, happiness and beauty – and it all starts with your mouth.

Your diet is one of the factors that decide who wins the constant battle for supremacy in your gut. Imagine you’re a weapons dealer who takes sides with every meal. Friendly bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacteria that keep all the bad guys in check thrive on fiber. Candida albicans, on the other hand, loves refined sugar. Whose side are you on?

If you’re like most Americans, you eat food that is over-processed, low in fiber and high in refined sugar. Unfortunately, this type of diet makes an excellent environment for the proliferation of Candida albicans and other potentially pathogenic bacteria in the intestines.

Foods to Avoid

By decreasing the amount of sugary and processed foods you eat, you give the body the chance to heal and repair naturally. Here’s a list of foods to avoid (mostly empty calorie fillers) on the Candida diet:

• White sugar
• White flour
• White bread
• Candy
• Doughnuts
• Muffins
• Cookies
• White pretzels
• Crackers
• Artificial sweeteners
• Processed starches
• Glutinous foods
• Dried & canned fruit
• Aged cheese
• Alcohol
• Soda
• Energy Drinks
• Concentrated fruit juices
• Additives & preservatives

Sugar and artificial stuff wreak havoc on your weight, mood and blood sugar levels, which negatively impacts your healing. It’s also important to realize that simple carbohydrates like potatoes, white bread and pasta are basically sugar in disguise. In all cases moderation is key.

If you do any reading on the Internet, you will probably find plenty of conflicting advice. What works for one, may not work for another. Use your own judgment and listen to your body. If you have any concerns, check with your doctor.

Foods to Eat

Your body isn’t a garbage can and that’s why you need to fill your fridge and cabinets with high-quality food. Don’t be afraid to take the responsibility for your dietary choices and let your grocery store be your new pharmacy. Here’s a short shopping list that will help you better navigate the grocery store.

• Vegetables: cucumbers, broccoli, kale, spinach, onions, garlic, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, carrots, turnips, sweet potatoes – the list goes on.
• Fruit: low-glycemic choices are best – grapefruit, apples, avocados, tomatoes, grapes, pears, lemons, limes, strawberries, blueberries.
• Nuts & seeds: almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, flaxseed, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds.
• Gluten-free grains and pastas: rice, millet, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, teff.
• Beans & legumes: black beans, white beans, chickpeas, adzuki, lentils.
• Animal products: organic meat, fish and eggs & high-quality dairy products with no added sugar.
• Naturally fermented foods: raw sauerkraut, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar, miso, tempeh, nutritional yeast (don’t be scared to try this one).
• Drinks: purified water with lemon, herbal teas, green tea, lapacho tea, kombucha, coconut water, moderate amounts of wine.
• Sweeteners: stevia, xylitol, yacon syrup, agave syrup.

In reality, as restrictive as the Candida diet is, your nutritional plan should be balanced and healthy. This is where people tend to make a lot of mistakes. Eat enough calories (but not too many), drink plenty of pure water and choose a wide variety of foods to prevent new food allergies from developing. Talk with a holistic-minded doctor or naturopath to make sure you’re getting what you need. You can also read about possible harmful side effects of the Candida diet.

How to Balance Your Body’s pH

In order to combat Candida infection, we need to combine the latest reliable science with smart nutrition and positive lifestyle changes. This is why you need to learn about the importance of balancing your body’s pH.

Your body is designed to operate within a narrow pH range. pH stands for “potential of hydrogen” and it is a measurement of hydrogen ions that tells you how alkaline or acid a substance is.

It’s measured on a scale from 0 to 14; 0 to 7 is acidic, 7.0 is neutral and 7 to 14 is alkaline.

Many experts believe that acidic condition provides a breeding ground for bad guys such as yeast and fungi. Alkaline environment, on the other hand, keeps these critters in check.

In order for you to experience a beautiful relationship with health, your body needs to be a little on the alkaline side, with a blood pH of about 7,365. Many chronic conditions can be traced back in some way to an acidic inner terrain; and if you’re on the Standard American Diet (aptly abbreviated as SAD), your body probably suffers from ongoing acid overload.

Estimates suggest that up to 80 percent of our diet are acidic foods, while only 20 percent comes from alkaline foods like fresh vegetables. On the Candida diet, it’s usually recommended to increase your intake of alkaline foods or even flip the ratio. Take a look at the food charts below:

Alkaline foods: Vegetables (especially lettuces, kale, spinach and other leafy green veggies), beans and peas, avocados, lemons, limes, grapefruit, sweet potatoes, almonds, flaxseeds, brazil nuts, seaweed, raw tomatoes, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, wild rice, stevia (a sweetener).

Acidic foods: Heavily processed foods, white bread & pasta, animal protein (especially red meat and dairy products), white sugar, ketchup, mayonnaise, coffee (even decaf), alcohol, black tea, soda, energy drinks.

One of the best ways to monitor your pH levels is to use litmus paper strips that change color when dipped in urine. For optimum health, your urine should fall within the 6,8 to 7,5 range. Examine the acid/alkaline theory in more detail at www.acidalkalinediet.com (including detailed food charts, recipes, healthy desserts and support forum).

Eating Healthy on a Budget

You don’t have to be rich to eat healthy. Here are five simple tips that will help you and your wallet when following the Candida diet plan:

1. Watch the prices. Avoiding pre-packaged fruits and vegetables is one of the best ways to save. Washed and precut produce is always more expensive than the whole foods.
2. Go frozen. Frozen fruits and vegetables are often cheaper than fresh ones. Plus, these foods usually contain more nutrients because they’re frozen right after picking – preserving vitamins and minerals that would otherwise get lost in transit on the way to the store.

You don’t have to be rich to eat healthy.

3. Shop seasonal. Another big money saver is buying in season. Produce in season is more abundant and therefore less expensive that out-of-season produce.
4. Buy in bulk. Bought in bulk whole grains like brown rice, quinoa or barley, and beans like black-eyed peas, soybeans and black beans can cost just pennies per meal (toss them into salads, soups or burritos).
5. Visit farmers’ markets. I especially recommend shopping at the end of the market day. If you wait until the last hour or so, farmers will be most likely willing to haggle (rather than having to pack their produce up and take it back home with them)

At the first glance healthy food may seem more expensive, but as you just learned, if you choose wisely and buy in season, in bulk, and on sale, it’s very affordable.

Eating Well on the Road

You’ve heard it a million times: “You are what you eat.” While that’s correct, there’s no need to stigmatize and shatter your social life when following the Candida diet.

Don’t be afraid of eating while traveling or on the go – it’s easier than you think. These days most restaurants and even fast-food places offer tasty and healthy meals you can choose from. Plus, a good server will always treat the experience of helping you as an interesting challenge; especially if you’re pleasant and keep a sense of humour about it all.

When you’re eating out, try to choose from lean proteins (fish, chicken, beans), whole grains (brown rice, buckwheat) and fresh salads (but stay away from dressings or use them sparingly). Go for fresh fruit instead of sugary desserts.

There’s no need to stress over the idea that this is “forever”. “Such stringent measures are usually only needed for a time,” explains Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP, co-founder of Women to Women Clinic in Yarmouth. “Most patients find that once they remove the conditions that favor yeast overgrowth, they can once again enjoy these foods without going overboard.”

No diet that makes you feel deprived or socially isolated is worth it. If you don’t have any food allergies, an occasional slice of pizza or a cup of coffee with your friends won’t do you any harm. The question is, how often?

It’s OK to splurge every once in a while, as long as we keep it in a healthy range. Tiny indulgences and occasional compromises remind us that we’re human. Do what you can and know that any change is better than nothing.

Photo courtesy of little blue hen, Nick Saltmarsh, eyesore9