Making the choice to follow an anti-Candida diet

I've started a diet. But wait, it's okay! It's not a weight loss diet (although I'd be dishonest to say that wouldn't be an added bonus!) - I've made the choice to improve my health (and admittedly, it isn't a diet I'd willingly put myself through unless I thought it could really help).

I'm not sure I've ever committed to a diet for purely health reasons, though I've been suffering on and off for a number of years with the probable symptoms of Canidida overgrowth (you know, that yukky yeast that causes thrush, but in advanced states in the body, it causes a whole host of other problems, such as sinusitis, which I get LOTS).

I haven't had the strength to deal with it before because the diet is so stringent (have a read of this article 'Tips for an Anti-Candida Diet' and you will see!) and I never thought I'd keep it up. Ironically though, the last few months of not dieting have helped me be in a much stronger position to try and manage this.

How, you may ask? Because I feel more able to actually make choices around what I eat and don't eat, and I have lost a lot of the diet mentality that I used to have, so I'm not entering into this already with 'deprivation' in mind. Nor am I entering into this feeling that food is the be all and end all, leading me to 'miss' so much of it.

This diet is what I would like to do in order to try and rid myself of some of the health problems I've been having over the last few years, and there is no reason I cannot put into practice some of the principles of Beyond Chocolate and intuitive eating.

I have to say though - I feel bloody exhausted! I'm on day three of a strict five day plan (it gets a little less strict afterwards, but it's not as strict as the 'Tips for an Anti-Candida Diet' ) and in order to starve off the yeast, the diet is very low in carbohydrates with no sugar at all. Apparently, you can have your strongest food cravings at this 'die-off' time (the yeast crying out to be fed!) but I've had only minor ones, and again, I think what I've learned in terms of intuitive eating (making choices) has been key in managing them.

I've been able to check my thoughts over the food, and can remind myself that if I give in to a sugar craving, I'll be back where I started and the yeast problems will continue. This is about my health, not the food connected with weight, and that is the difference.

Comments

[lisa jane]

I cant imagine how I would go on a estrictive health mandated diet.I am lucky to have remained pretty healthy thus far.But i hear people talking about intolerance to this and that and I know that I would be a terrible patient because I love food so much :)

I understand where you are at feeling a little more prepared to tackle a diet.I feel that way too.Of course there is no good excuse for me to go on one and I certainly dont intend to go on one to lose weight.But I get what you mean anyway.I feel strong and capable now with regards to my eating.

Maybe you could tackle this with a 90% success rate in mind,leaving you with a margin of error to relieve pressure.Im sure it would still help?

keep me posted,I hope u do ok :)

[Andrea Wren]

Hi Lisa! Yes, the 'margin' is a good idea - there are some things that I'm really not sure I could give up (or should I say, want to give up) for the rest of my days - wine being one of them (though it is a yeast and sugar feeding ground for Candida!).

I've done okay (ish) so far but did have a few glasses of wine at a arty last night. However, I didn't have as much as I usually would and I haven't had any for a while, so am not beating myself up about it. I made a choice!

It will be a case of trail and error, I suppose, and I'm treating this in a Beyond Chocolate way - that is, like an experiment to see if my health can really improve from a restricted sugar/yeast/refined carbohydrate diet.

I may not need to be a strict as other people need to be, also, but we shall see!

[Carrie Smith]

Hi

Hope you can continue to follow the Anti-Candida plan. Stick with it, it definitely gets easier. After a while you don't even want to eat what everyone else is eating.

I've been on it since last Christmas. It was hard at first but I have to say that I've never felt better. Thrush is finally going yippee! I don't get dizzy spells, aches and pains inability to concentrate and all the other niggly problems I had. I have a flat stomach and weigh the same as I did as a teenager! I'm now 31. My cellulite has virtually disappeared and I no longer get depressed.

Plus it has forced me to be very healthy in my food choices. I eat so much more raw fruit and veg, pulses and nuts.

I recently ate some things that I haven't for a long time and boy did I feel ill. So this is definitely a permanent thing for me. Plus I don't want to put the weight back on.

[Candida Treatments]

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