anyone know anything about that anti-candida diet?

[Cappuccino]

I want to know what I can and can't eat

and for how long

I have a rudimentary list but if I can pick someone's brains that would be great

am trying to get rid of thrush but found out after a week of detox that I am not supposed to be having bananas even

any help much appreciated

also how long does it take to work? (please don't see 'at least until the end of July' because I wanna go on holiday and not eat cabbage and rye bread)

www.amazon.co.uk/Erica-Whites-Beat-Candida-Cookbook/dp/0722538561/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/026-4639198-8741253?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181042027&sr=8-1

Sorry I'm a bit pants at links (newbie) but I have this book,tis really informative and pretty easy to follow..if I get bouts I always go back to it....cutting out wheat really helped me.I've strayed though back to the dark side though-oh well.

Cappy you say you know what not to eat but if you are eating bananas then you are presumably eating other fruit too? It really needs to be a total exclusion diet of any sugars, therefore no fruit at all.

My case was different, I had chronic candidiasis and had lost so much weight I was down to six stone. IIRC (and it was over fifteen years ago!) I was on the total exclusion part of the diet for 12 weeks before I could eat any fruit. I was also taking masses of supplements too.

I used to eat soda bread rather than rye bread and made it myself (don't have a recipe any more though). I also used to drink goats milk rather than cow's milk (not sure why I didn't have soya milk, can't remember if that's excluded too!)

Not sure if that's of any help but feel free to pick my brains, more might come back to me.

why no rye bread? I am eating rye bread

what about lemons? do tomatoes count as a fruit?

no I was not eating any other fruit but the detox I was on said bananas were fine

have ordered book

Got to go to nursery but I will dig out book and post a list of "can't haves" for you laters

you are a lovely lady

I think rye bread is fine Capp, just that I preferred the taste of soda bread so I mentioned it as an alternative!

Bananas are very sweet, I would have thought they would interfere with the process myself. I know when I did the exclusion bit tomatoes were also counted as fruit and therefore I couldn't have them, but as I said I was pretty ill ... took me the best part of a year to recover (never been ill since though!)

Cappuccino - Speaking from experience of years of undiagnosed candida 'overgrowth' ... I used John Briffa's "Ultimate Health" as a guide, sorry too much to type out for you. he suggests couple of months of diet restriction to notice a difference - probably depends how severe your symptoms. Personally I didn't stick to it rigidly but avoided 'normal'bread (I like sourdough rye bread fortunately and can get it from health food shop, also some supemarkets, mushrooms, dried fruits, grapes, coffee. I supplemented with milk thistle 'tablets' (still do, also help with pms) and take probiotic whenever symptoms recur. Usually notice if I've had lots of bread eg on holiday, start feeling bloated and itchy, so reduce yeasty foods and add probiotic. Personally it's made a massive difference to me not using tampons any more so mild symptoms never get to full blown thrush anymore. Yuk, too much information ! It's a miserable condition but might be fairly easily sorted out with a few diet and lifestyle changes - very very good luck.

PS - John Briffa has tomatoes on his "eat freely" list, and re bananas / other fruit, says "one or two pieces of fruit a day are generally very well tolerated". But not grapes. HTH

Sugar,yeast
Refined grains,
Malted products,
Anything fermented,
Cows milk,
Fresh fruit *lemon juice is acceptable
Dried fruit
Nuts
Smoked or cured fish or meat
Mushroms,
Tea/coffee/fizzy drinks
Artifical sweetners
Preservatives,
Hot spices and curries

ARE A NO-NO....

oh god no nuts now

tbh I don't mind cutting anything out except booze

thanks everyone

miaow that sounds like a mare - and here I am whining about a little bit of thrush!

lucz thanks for the list - v handy list (esp nuts as was having those) and the lemon info - have ordered the book so will keep referring to your list till it comes - thanks as your book looks far scarier than some of the others I found on Amazon

tomps thanks also for info esp tampons that is useful actually

I'm really really hoping that this isn't a long term thing - I do miss alcohol even though I rarely drink more than 2 or three glasses of wine, I do like one to unwind with on a night

you need to avoid anything with yeasts or sugar in. Also, you may be allergic to other things eg moulds, so have to avoid them too. Peanuts have mould on them, so I guess that is where the avoiding nuts comes from. I only avoided peanuts, other nuts were ok.
Would recommend getting allergy tests done if you havent already.

I was on the anti candida diet for 5 years before it went away.

try kefir

good god five years?

I was 17 when I got it, it wasnt diagnosed until I was 22 (university was fucked).

I also developed other allergies, which lasted for several years.
you may well be luckier. My doctor admitted that he had no idea why the candida was out of control, there was no obvious reason, so he thought it was best just to starve it and wait until my body readjusted itself naturally.
I took mineral supplements, in case it was mineral deficiency that was causing it, but they were just a shot in the dark, really, dont think they necessarily did anything.

The only consolation is that you do get your life back eventually.

i was told to stay on the anti candida diet for life but here i am eating chocolate..... it does entail a complete change of habits and ruins your social life but it will make a big difference to your health if you stick to it, you just have to decide how bothered you are about feeling better or worse in the long run. Have you been told to take the caprylic acid too? if so you really want to do full-on anti candida diet for at least 3 or 4 months first or you'll get quite nasty 'die-off'. I had the Erica White book too.

thanks everyone for their help

I do think that compared to a lot of you I have nothing to complain about with a little bit of thrush - I went on some website or other with a whole load of symptoms to check on and I only had thrush, none of the others, except of course being tired but I have got kids

I have ordered the book and decided to go on it till my holiday at the end of July and then maybe go get some swabs done to see if it has gone if it feels ok (I do have some pills from the GP as well)

but we only have one smegging week in a cottage I am not eating soya porridge and oatcakes all week for that!

thanks all again

I wouldnt go through the pain of the anti candida diet unless you are really sure that you have a candida overgrowth in your gut!

The sugar free part is to starve the candida in your gut. Dont feed it sugar, and there wont be so much of it.

The yeast free part, is for when you have developed an allergic reaction to yeast, due to having so much of it swilling around inside you. So you have to avoid eating it, to avoid the allergic reaction symptoms.

If your problem is persistent thrush, then this may not be the right approach. My knowledge runs out there, though, Im afraid!

oooh nighty this is interesting

it was my doctor who suggested not eating yeasty and sugary things and taking probiotics so I thought it fitted

tbh as I haven't been able to kick this thrush and it has recurred every few months over the past year - finally refusing to budge at all - I thought I'd give it a go since he mentioned it

I'm not actually fnding it too much of a bind and it's good to get rid of my sugar addiction cos I did have too much of it - a lot of which I wasn't actually enjoying, just habit - I'm getting into some much better habits which I'm hoping I'll keep whatever happens

but if I'm honest I'm attracted to the 'you can have a normal life' bit afterwards - at the moment if I have more than 2 glasses of wine my thrush is dreadful - I don't do this often but wanted to not have to watch my diet for the rest of my life. If I can't ever have more than 2, then fair enough - but I don't want to get to the point where I can't have one, because I do like one most nights

goodness, that is beyond what I know about. Not sure why the thrush should flare up, related to eating yeast/sugar. I'd be interested to know, though, if you do find out more. Hope someone else can add something more useful.

It relates to your menstrual cycle - something to do with hormones no doubt. I came off the pill as that is also something that can cause the candida to become out of control.

Have you taken any Diflucan (or Boots' own cheaper alternative)? Will get rid of it - also try taking acidophilus. Don't take Yakult/Actimel as a probiotic because they also contain sugar.

Try cutting down on all processed/simple carbohydrates.

Hope you get some relief soon! Know only too well what it's like!

if you do the anticandida diet strictly and then stray from the path the effects will seem worse, its like smudging a perfectly clean surface - you notice the smudge more than if it was just another smudge on a mucky surface - iyswim. have to go and eat, back later...

what i meant was that your body will react worse to the wrong fods once you've rid it of candida. while you have candida your body is on red alert all the time dealing with the effects of candida. sorry, not very coherent but hope you swim

Feel free to tell I to shut up,but has hubby used the canesten cream too? I'm sure dh passed it to and fro to me (He had no symptoms either)I personaly made sure he used the cream.....it all helps kill the sodding thrush off.
Wish you loads of luck Capp and a lovely hol