Candida

Diet tips for Candida

• Increase water intake to flush the kidneys and bowels of wastes and acidity. Introduce herbal teas to increase your water intake and cleanse the digestion. Teas such as Peppermint, Ginger, Echinacea, Lemongrass and Fennel are ideal
• Begin each day with a small glass of warm water with 1/2 lemon squeezed into it. Lemon cleanses the bowels, switches on the liver and also helps to alkalise the blood
• Increase the amount of garlic in your diet as garlic and onions as they are antimicrobial due to the sulphur content. Also include ginger and chilli in the diet as these are beneficial to encourage digestion and cleansing and fight the infection
• Have a vegetable juice each day such as carrot, celery, ginger and beetroot
• Include more bitter foods in your diet such as lemon juice, radicchio, rocket, endive and beetroot leaves
• Eliminate simple sugars from your diet such as sugar, honey, cakes, breads, chocolate, biscuits and bakery type foods
• Eliminate fermented foods from your diet such as mushrooms, vinegar, apple cider vinegar, alcohol, wine, bread and yeasts
• Yoghurt containing live probiotics such as acidophilus and bifidus is also a valuable addition to the diet
• A diet free of yeast and sugar will help your body to fight Candida infection. Avoid bread, alcohol, mushrooms and yeast spreads, as well as sugar in any form. (Hint – when checking ingredient lists, words ending in -ose, such as maltose, lactose and glucose, generally refer to forms of sugar).

Weed, seed and feed to eliminate Candida.

To address Candida successfully, you need to adhere to a number of steps simultaneously in order to make sure the candida has no way of surviving.

1.  Weed – Starving it: Avoid sugar, yeast, mushrooms, alcohol, vinegar, wheat, white flour products.  Sugar is the fuel source of the yeast, namely foods rich in sugar and refined carbohydrates including concentrated sugars, soft drinks, cordials, alcohol, sweets, most fruits (except pawpaw, pears and apples), dried fruits, white flour products and yeast-containing products. These burden the immune system which is overburdened and struggling to overcome the yeast infection, they also feed the bacteria.  Replace these with whole foods that are rich in complex carbohydrates and micronutrients including vegetables, well cooked legumes, whole nuts and seeds and protein such as deep-sea fish and antibiotic-free meats. Sweet feeds yeast and bitter is best are two catch phrases to remember when considering what to eat.

2.  Seed – Killing it:  Using anti-microbial herbs and foods such as garlic, onions, thyme, golden seal, wormwood, dandelion, andrographis, rhubarb and pau d’arco either in the diet or as a supplement.  Most of these herbs are anti-parasitic, anti-infective and protect the liver.

3.  Feed: Reintroducing beneficial gut flora such as taking an Acidophilius supplement such as the Ethical Nutrients Inner Health Plus.   Improve the immune system by eating large amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, fish, bitter foods, lemon juice, vegetable juices: supplements such as echinacea, olive Leaf, Vitamin C, garlic. Restore or Reinoculate normal bacterial flora by taking Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacteria bifidus (usually taken twice daily with meals). Restore or Repair normal gastrointestinal membrane integrity and heal leaky gut syndrome with glutamine rich foods such as pawpaw, celery, spinach, dandelion greens, lettuce, parsley, Brussels sprouts and carrots.