Anti-Candida Diet

[Boulardii]

Hello.

I am trying this diet out, and I thought I'd come on here to see if anyone else is doing it and wants to share the experience.

I have suffered from yeast infections on and off for most of my adult life. I have sought help from the GP who have frankly been pretty useless. Eventually I have been given fluconazole on a repeat prescription. After 4 months, this has stopped working, so I am looking at alternatives beyond the NHS.

I have found various websites which are more or less informative. unfortunately, most of them are selling supplements to help fight candida, so I'm not entirely convinced by them. However I do believe that there is science behind the principles.

www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/guide/what-is-candidiasis-yeast-infection#2-6

www.mygenefood.com/which-probiotic-strains-get-rid-of-candida/
www.thecandidadiet.com/anti-candida-diet/

If you look at the links, you can see there is a massive gap between what the medics say and what the sellers of supplements say.

This is why I wanted to put personal experience on a neutral platform, so successes and failures can be shared, and the information could be used to make informed decisions.

If anyone has any experience to add, please do so, and any links which bridge the gap would be so helpful!

Thanks.

[Boulardii]

I started with reducing my alcohol intake, reducing refined sugar in diet. Then I progressed to no alcohol, and lower carbs in diet. Then I started taking probiotics.

The reason behind the gradual approach is that if you start with drastic diet changes, probiotics and anti-fungals all at the same time, you can get a reaction due to the toxins released by all the yeast dying off at once. This can make you feel really unwell. The supplement people recommend taking a liver herb like milk thistle to support your liver in dealing with the toxins. (Herxheimer reaction)

[Boulardii]

The theory is that yeasts feed off sugars, and yeasty foods like bread and mushrooms. So no more marmite on toast! Refined carbs are out, so it is a low-carb diet, just with a few other things going on. To be honest, with a family to cook for, I am really just reducing the refined carbs, as growing kids need them. I am eating lots of nuts for a snack, and I am eating most fruits (just not huge quantities)


I am overweight, and have tried various methods of weight loss over the past few years. I find it really hard to 'just eat less' as I am very hungry, and get headaches if I skip meals or eat late. I have the habit of eating to stave off a headache (it doesn't work). I have quit drinking in the past, which has made no difference, and I have also upped my exercise drastically over a 9 month period. This also made no difference and my weight has continually crept up. (Although I am fitter)


The list of ailments the 'supplement people' claim can be caused by a candida overgrowth problem include headaches, fatigue and difficulty in losing weight. (Amongst 10's of other health problems)

So, this is week 3, and I am planning to introduce anti-fungal supplements this week and hopefully I will have less headaches than last week!

Most of my excess weight is around my tummy, and I am definitely less bloated already. My jeans are starting to feel a bit looser which is great. I'm not sure If I have lost any actual weight yet. I will weigh myself some time this week.

[Boulardii]

Right, I haven’t got round to weighing my set, but I am definitely a lot less bloated round the tummy. I’ve introduced an antifungal, and my headaches have been less.
I’m completely off refined sugar which felt impossible a few weeks ago, but is actually no hardship now. I had a drink on a special occasion, but not since, despite being surrounded by regular drinkers. So I just wanted to say, if anyone reads this, it might seem really impossible to follow this diet, but I thought i’d Never be able to stick to it and I’m not doing too badly.

[Boulardii]

Self, not set.

[Boulardii]

Hhmmm. I’ve just re- read the instructional, and apparently it’s supposed to be a much stricter low carb diet than I had realised. No grains at all, no pulses or legumes no dairy either. This is simply not compatible with feeding a family (some of whom are vegetarian) so I will have to do my best and that will have to be good enough. Maybe I will go and find a different website which says something else! They all seem to vary!

[Boulardii]

Well I weighed myself and have lost more than 4lb in three weeks. Bearing in mind this is not a strict low carb diet, I am not doing Ketosis and I have eaten as much as I ever did, and not gone hungry, I am quite impressed.

In terms of yeast infections it’s too early to say how much it is helping, but I definitely feel better about my guts.

[NearlySchoolTimeAgain]

The Harcombe diet is anti-Candida. From persistent thrush I’ve felt much better since following a LCHF diet.

However I haven’t followed it to the letter - e.g. still eating mushrooms.

[Boulardii]

Hi nearly!
Thanks for posting!

I will look into the harcombe diet. Glad to hear it has helped you.

I am definitely getting less headaches now, so am feeling some of those were due to my body being locked in a sugar spikes and dips cycle.

Am finding the no alcohol difficult to keep up, I definitely want a couple of glasses one evening a week. 🍷

[Boulardii]

Hi again,
Well I’m pleased to say I have lost half a stone in a month without calorie counting or going hungry. I feel less hungry, and can skip a meal without getting a headache.

I’d like to know if the Harcombe Diet club is worth subscribing to, it looks good, but obviously it would be great to have a recommendation before forking out for it.

[oreosoreosoreos]

I followed the body ecology diet, which is a very strict anti-Candida. Only lasted 3 weeks and then had to re-introduce some foods as I'd lost too much weight (I'm 5 foot 8 and tipped under 8 stone). I'm in the uk, so didn't use their supplements, but found equivalent ones.

I've done no yeast/ sugar periodically for years, so have quite a lot of will power around it, but for me it was absolutely hellish! I just couldn't eat enough of the allowed foods to keep me going, and felt awful the whole time I was on it.

I definitely feel better when I eat low sugar and yeast (makes a massive difference to how bloated I get), but I think my body functions better with carbs!

I had initially put the Candida down to years of having to take antibiotics daily for recurrent cystitis- and I do think that it did mess up my gut biome as I've had thrush at least a few times each year since then, but I was finding that I was getting it more and more.

The thing that's made the biggest difference for me is lube - I'm currently perimenopausal at 37, but looking back I can now see that a lot of the discomfort I used to get both during sex, and when it felt like a bout of thrush was coming on, was down to vaginal dryness.

[Boulardii]

Hi Oreos!
Thanks for posting your experiences.
I’ll have a look at the body ecology diet, it sounds interesting, but possibly not for me. One of the anti Candida diets has no grains, pluses or legumes in it. This would be unachievable for me, but I am aiming towards gluten free as my next step. The grains I eat at the moment are muesli (can’t find a gluten free one which isn’t packed with sugars) quinoa and rice. I’m going to make up my own gluten free muesli once I’ve finished the pack, and am looking for a sack of nice brown rice, as i’ve Nearly finished the sack of white basmati.

I will try doing more lube... sometimes I need it, sometimes not, but sex can definitely set things off.
It sounds like you have approached this from a health point of view, without an aim to lose weight also, is that right?

What supplements did you go with? Do you still use them ongoing? I think they have been really helpful, but I’m considering buying a box with more millions in once this lot has finished. Have you used yeast raiders from Holland and Barrett? I’m reluctant as I think the probiotic should be taken separate from antifungal, as the ant fungals are likely to have an antibiotic effect also.
I’m looking at candaway from lamberts.
Have you tried pau d’arco tea?

I’m feeling my diet efforts are definitely helping, but it’s a bit of a spectrum of how low carb do you go. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved from my starting point, but still feel daunted by some of the advice out there.

[oreosoreosoreos]

Sorry, I wanted to look up the supplements before I replied, then completely forgot!

It was a very strict regimen, with different supplements taken at different times of day to get the most benefit from them, but I can't remember the exact order now!

I started every day with apple cider vinegar (with the mother), pau d'arco, fresh lemon and cranberry extract in fizzy water (just my preference, it tasted better than in flat!)

I used the Nutri Advance Candisolve, very high probiotics (25 billion CFU's), Amazing Grass raw reserve super food green powder (more probiotics!). There was another one but I can't remember what it was now.

Daily cultures mint tea (also probiotic), and coconut based kefir (natural rhythms maybe). I put the kefir in a smoothie with the raw reserve, a load of green veg and water... most definitely an acquired taste!

If you're anywhere near London then I do find Whole Foods have a great range, and their staff are usually quite knowledgeable, but you can get most of them on amazon.

Watch out for some vitamins (and even probiotics!) having sugar in them.

It cost me a bloody fortune in supplements, I do feel like it gave my body a good 're-set', but wasn't the solution I was looking for. I was looking for health improvement rather than losing weight.

I don't personally find gluten or dairy an issue, but I do feel much better if I stay away from yeast and too much sugar. I definitely have less bloating. I find I'm fine with proper sour-dough bread, so wild-yeast doesn't seem to effect me in the same way.

[oreosoreosoreos]

Sorry, that was long!

Deffo give the lube a go - I wouldn't have said I needed it before. I started to notice though that every time I got thrush I would start to feel it in the same place, and it would spread out from there (sorry, probably TMI!)

[Boulardii]

Hi Oreos,
Thanks so much for your informative post!
That is a lot of different supplements. I need to make an order now, as I am running out of the ones I started with. I don’t think I will be able to include so many, but am planning to stick with probiotics, anti fungals, and maybe pau d’arco as well. My diet is not bad as I only drink green / herbal tea, and do lots of salads/ anti inflammatory foods.

Do you feel that you found a ‘solution’ eventually? I’m suspecting it might be quite a long process to find what will help keep me in balance.
I am looking for less thrush, more energy, less headaches and weight loss.

This diet has taught me a lot so far. I can cut refined sugar and bread completely without missing it much, but a proper low carb diet is really hard. However, reducing carbs has helped me to feel like I could attempt something like the 5:2 diet, as I’m not so hooked on carbs now, and am more aware of the effect they have on me.

Thanks for the advice about The lube, I will definitely try it.

As I haven’t eliminated either gluten or dairy yet, I ‘m not sure still if they are aggravating my system. I suspect gluten might be more of an issue, but it’s going to take some serious meal planning to find out.

Thanks again for sharing your experience

[oreosoreosoreos]

I think that was the main thing for me, it just wasn't sustainable as a long term lifestyle, whereas low-sugar and yeast is (although I do sometimes go off the rails!)

I do find that using activated charcoal helps (e.g. if I'm going out for a meal and just want to eat whatever), and sometimes when things have gradually crept back in (like on hols!) then it's useful to be very strict for a few weeks to get myself back on track, but I do feel like (touch wood) I've got it under control!

Garlic and oregano are both anti-fungals, so I incorporated a lot of both of those into my diet, and I like 100% dark chocolate for when I need a fix. There's some evidence to suggest that coconut sugar is better than regular too (as coconut is antifungal too), so sometimes I bake with that, but it's still easy to overdo it!

[oreosoreosoreos]

Also water! The biggest thing that's made a difference to my headaches and migraines is drinking a lot of water!

[Boulardii]

I am struggling to get enough water in, so I will redouble my efforts to keep on top of that. What is the activated charcoal for? I haven’t come across it on any of the sites I’ve looked on.
Thanks

[oreosoreosoreos]

The charcoal is supposed to bind to any toxins and help them out of your system.

I haven't been as good with my water either recently (I find it much easier in summer), but what works best for me is filling up my water bottles the night before and putting them in the fridge (I got some nice glass ones cheap from home sense). It makes it easy to keep track of what you've had, and I can just grab one when I'm going out.