Candida Diet Tips

Yeast, or Candida Albicans, is naturally occurring flora in the digestive system, but when there is too much, the overgrowth is linked to many illnesses. A way to relieve symptoms caused by excess yeast is to eliminate processed sugar and yeast-loving foods from the diet. A candida diet can be challenging, but a little extra know-how can help you eat better and feel better, too.

Avoid Certain Foods

The candida diet is like most eating plans in that it focuses on eliminating specific items. The foods to avoid for this diet are the ones that feed the flora, or candida, in the digestive tract including sweet, like cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, honey, and even artificial sweeteners like aspartame or Spenda.
Candida also flourishes when fed yeast-containing foods, like breads made from wheat, beer and wine, gluten-containing foods, and some vinegars.

Tips for Eating the Right Foods

Success with a candida diet comes with a little patience and eating only foods that are permitted. The first phase of the diet lasts about three months and is the time when you eliminate certain things.
It's helpful to realize that the first few days of a candida diet actually can make you feel worse. As the candida start to starve and die off, they release toxins and some people actually have flu-like symptoms and headaches. While unpleasant, this feeling goes away quickly and shows that the diet is working.
Another helpful aspect of the candida diet is that portion control and ounce limits are not imposed. A good tip is to fill up on the allowed foods, which include rice, vegetables, nuts, corn, beef, chicken, seafood, sometimes fruits, hard cheeses, oatmeal, yogurt, popcorn, rice and corn flour products.
Be sure to read labels because many processed foods contain hidden items that can sabotage the candida diet.
Some forms of the candida diet severely restrict the food choices down to basics, including no fruit, for the first 8 to 12 weeks and then slowly adds in low-sugar fruits like blueberries and honeydew melon. Others allow fruits to be included in moderation throughout the diet. Check with your health care provider to see which version is recommended for you.
Whichever type you follow, a good tip is to observe your body and see if there are any signs that the candida overgrowth may be returning. If you start to feel bloated, your skin breaks out, you become more irritable, experience insomnia or are craving sugar, candida overgrowth may be returning. This is easy to fix by going back to a stricter form of the diet and following it for a few weeks or months.

Other Tips for Success

In addition to eating only certain foods, some people find it helpful to speed up the process of eliminating yeast by taking a prescription like Nystatin that helps kill off yeast. Natural supplements that contain burberry or Castor Bean Oil, like SF 722, also kill fungus (candida).
Drinking lots of water is important when following a candida diet because it flushes out toxins produced by yeast die-off.
Replace sugary drinks with herbal teas which also flush toxins and help satisfy the urge to drink sodas or other sweet beverages.
Another important factor for candida diets is to supplement with probiotics, which fight off yeast and improve the health of the digestive system.