Everywhere I look, the information about what you can and cannot eat on the Candida diet is confusing. One organization will say no dairy and no potatoes...and then proceed to provide you recipes that call for potatoes, sour cream cheese, etc. One says no nuts or seeds and then has recipes, three of which contain almonds. You get the idea. The conclusion I've come to is this: use the information that makes sense. No nuts or seeds? That makes no sense. No peanuts, cashews, or pistachios? Now that makes sense since those are the nuts usually contaminated with mold. Using the common sense approach to things, we're creating a diet heavy in things that fight candida, lower in the "grey area" foods, and altogether without things that feed candida. The end results are:
No sugar. This, as the main fuel for candida, is enemy #1. No honey, agave, corn starch, carob powder, mannitol, crystalline, succanat, sorghum, syrup, glucose, fructose, dextrose, sucralose, aspartame.... Natural and Artificial sweeteners are No, No, NO! The only sweetener approved for use is Stevia, and that should be used as sparingly as possible. Stevia is not technically a sugar, it is an herbal extract. However, it is usually combined with lactose to achieve powdered form, and this adds it back to the naughty list. Keep it's use limited.
Fruit has to go. Even though the sugars may be as God intended, they still feed candida. The exceptions? Apples, cranberries, lemons and limes. These are great if you don't overdo it. Tomatoes, though thought of more often as a veg, are high fiber, low sugar and perfect for this diet. Fruit juice, however, is never okay. The closest we will get will be lemon or lime water, sweetened with a bit of Stevia if need be.
No pork or farmed fish. Animal protein is a big part of the candida cleanse diet no matter who you ask, but it should be grass fed beef, free range poultry, and wild caught seafood. Lamb is also your friend. Due to farming practices, pork and farmed fish both contain mold (not to mention feces!) and should therefore be avoided. Get your bacon fix before you begin the cleanse. (Turkey bacon contains two kinds of sugar.)
No peanuts, pistachios or cashews. As stated above, these products have mold contamination. Say goodbye to PB&J's and hello to apple slices with raw almond butter. Any nuts or seeds you choose to consume must be RAW.
No Gluten. This means no wheat, kamut, spelt, triticale, rye, barley, oats....check ANY grain before you use it, and be sure to read labels carefully as triticale and wheat are hidden in many processed foods! Brown rice flour (white rice flour has simple carbs!) and garbanzo bean flour are your new best friends. Quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat and millet and brown rice are gluten free and safe to use. Keep in mind, though, that every grain, like sugar, has a glycemic index and feeds Candida while creating insulin resistance in your cells. Use grains somewhat sparingly.
You need FIBER! Any cleanse is going to pull the toxins out of your body and dump them into your system. You need to make sure that your body flushes the candida and it's toxic little friends out before they can be re-absorbed. Your fresh (or maybe sometimes lightly roasted with a little olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt and cracked pepper...) vegetables are key in this particular battle. Your best high fiber anti-candida vegetables are: asparagus, arugala, bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, endive, garlic (you want lots of garlic!!), lettuce, turnips and watercress. (We plan on eating a lot of stir-fry, with Bragg Liquid Aminos as our seasoning.)
WATER, WATER, WATER! The prevailing school of thought on this makes sense: flush the candida out!! You need to drink half of you body weight in ounces every day. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, your daily intake of water must equal at least 100 ounces. (I use a BPA free 24 oz. water bottle that marks each ounce on the side to track my intake accurately.)
No stimulants. This one kills me. No coffee, black tea, or caffeinated drinks. Peppermint tea (wonderful iced!), chammomile tea and pao d'arco tea are encouraged. (In my humble opinion....pao d'arco is great for candida cleansing but if you choose to take it, do so in capsule form. Nature's Sunshine makes a very potent one. The tea is vile.)
Eggs! Eat lots of them! Buy organic or free range eggs, as these contain the nutrients you need whereas your general supermarket variety does not.
No Soy. Ever. If you eat soy products, do a little more research.
(www.mercola.com is a good place to start. Type soy in the search bar.)
Dairy is another no-no. Milk sugars work against you. Certain cheeses contain mold. Swiss, colby, mozzarella, provolone and sharp white cheddar are okay. just make sure they're from cows not treated with growth hormones. (Funny, artificial growth hormones aren't approved on the diet, no matter who you ask.) Organic nonfat Greek yogurt is great, and can be used to substitute for sour cream in a number of recipes.
No mushrooms. They're a fungus. 'Nuff said.
No vinegar. This includes mayonnaise, hot sauce, worcestershire sauce, horseradish spreads, green olives, some mustards, pickles....check your labels. Some seem to say that Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar is beneficial...but our jury is still out on that one. Can anyone shed a little light on whether this is okay or not? In the mean time, we continue to research the subject.
No alcohol. Alcohol feeds candida.
No high starch vegetables. (In you search for things candida diet worthy, always avoid the word starch!) This rules out Corn, potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, parsnips and the like. Carrots are a bit of a grey area, so keep their use fairly limited.
No yeast.
No refined foods. The preservatives and chemicals alongside the lack of nutrition on most of these foods will do nothing but work against you. If it comes in a box, don't buy it. This diet will require cooking real foods.
I know the list could go on forever, but these strike me as the main points with which to outline this diet. As we learn more, some details may change but, for now, our recipes will be based on these criteria.
Tomorrow the diet begins, so now I'm going to have a cup of black tea with milk in it, eat some fruit and fix a high starch dinner with some hot sauce on it. Then we'll need to finish off the Julie's ice cream sandwiches in the freezer...... So, until tomorrow!
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