has anyone ever....

[ilovedaisies]

Has anyone ever done the candida cleanse/diet while 100% raw?

What did you eat?

How bad was your candida?

How long were you on the diet?

thanks!

ilovedaisies

[firefaery]

The raw diet really becomes an anti-candida diet with some minor tweaks. We did a gut healing program that combats yeast and other pathogens more quickly and effectively than any other than I have done. I had horrible systemic yeast. Die off was wretched, but as long as I was faithful I had no issues. I'm back on it now after a couple of months of bad eating. Just finishing die off. Ick.
On this diet (there is a book, but I'm not sure I'm allowed to post it? I'm new here.) you are allowed fruits, almost all veggies (no potatoes, corn-not a veggie anyway), nuts. most beans and seeds. The only sweetener you are allowed to use is honey-so if you are a strict ethical vegan it may not help. It is based on the premise that fructose doesn't stick around long enough to feed the yeast as it is a monosaccharide-it is immediately absorbed. Disaccharides (sugar, maple syrup, starchy veggies) have to be broken down and therefore provide parasites, yeast and other bacteria to grow and thrive. We ate quite well and kicked the yeast. We did it for about three months, but if your only problem is yeast and you do other beneficial things (probiotics, enzymes etc.) you could lessen the time.

[ilovedaisies]

Thanks for the info! What about fats? Is this that diet where you can eat fruit but not fat? What about coconuts? I am 2 weeks no fruit and am so wanting to eat other stuff, but my health comes first.

What kind of die off symptoms did you have? Were you tested afterward to show that you really did balance out the candida in your body?

Thank you for the information!

ilove daisies

[Sharon in Colorado]

From: http://www.vegsource.com/talk/raw/messages/99922073.html

To not get yeast infections, healthful living is imperative. This includes
following a lowfat raw vegan diet. After all, yeast infections are not separate
from the rest of your health. There are no conditions for which healthful
living is contraindicated.

Yeast's growth, like that of all other life-forms, is limited by the food supply.
Sugar is a must in our blood, or we die. Yeast lives on sugar. It is normal to
have yeast in our blood.
When blood fat levels rise, so does blood sugar. This creates the possibility
for a virtually unlimited food source for the yeast-sustained elevated blood
sugar-hence a bloom of the yeast. Normally, when a yeast bloom occurs,
they consume all the excess sugar and quickly die off for lack of food. But
with higher fat consumption levels, hence higher blood fat, sugar is
abnormally delayed in the blood. It can get in, but cannot get out, essentially.
A candida bloom is the result.
It doesn't matter how much sugar you eat, for everything we eat is converted
to sugar if it is to be used as fuel. It matters how much fat you consume.
Hope this helps.
Dr.D

Q. I have a yeast infection and have read that i should avoid fruit because the sugar "feeds" the yeast.
A. My answer to the candida question? Do not consume sugars at the same
meal with fats. No nuts and dried fruits. No bread and butter. No oils in candy
desserts. No milk in your chocolate. Raw fooders suffer candida, like everyone
else, because of this combination of foods, primarily. When you eat fruit,
make a meal of it. If you want avo, nuts or seeds, eat em with tons of veggies,
not with dates.
In health,
Dr. D

Sustained high blood sugar can result in a bloom of candida. Simply eating
fats and sugars at separate meals is all that is required to rectify this
problem, as sugars only 'build up' in the bloodstream in the presence of fat.

Do not mix fats with your sweets and you should not have a problem. IT IS
THAT SIMPLE.
Dr D

Q. How do you respond to someone saying they can't eat raw fruit because
they have Candida?
A. Fruit didn't cause the problem and fruit is not the current problem. The
problem is 'sustained elevated blood sugar'. They must lower blood sugar
before raising it again by eating. They must make it easy for sugar to exit the
blood stream, which it can only do in the absence of fat. I tell candida
sufferers to get the fat out of their diet for a while.

In 20 years of private practice I have talked to hundreds of women who have
had this experience. This has been my advice: A short water fast. Usually 36
hours is enough, sometimes it takes 48. That simple.
Dr D

In the presence of fat, it requires extra insulin for sugar to exit the
bloodstream. Elevated sugar in the blood will result in a bloom of yeast.
However, there is always sugar in the blood, at a relatively stable level,
regardless of dietary choices. So the 'sugar is the enemy' concept simply does
not hold water.
Regarding bananas, all foods are hybrids. Bananas hybridized naturally, by
nature, long before we ever got a hold of them. They are as sweet as ever. I
have personally tasted seeded wild bananas, they are as sweet as any others.
Trust yourself.
Regarding microbes: I don't agree that the body only has them if they are
beneficial to the body, but you are close. Microbes only exist where
conditions are favorable for them.

The body must go through its own transitions, anatomically and
physiologically as it adapts to a new dietary and lifestyle regimen. Yeast
infections can be a part of that transition, especially if a person is eating a
mixed diet of raw and cooked. Any grains make it especially problematic,
imo. So, while the blood sugar metabolic problems may have overtly
disappeared, the propensity for these problems will probably be with you for
many years. Hence it is easy to overload on sugar, resulting in spikes in blood
sugar that often lead to infections. Remember that over 90% of Americans
have sugar metabolic problems and we can easily see why candida is so big
these days.
A simplified diet for a week or so is usually enough to beat the candida. A
week of melons, or bananas or whatever will often do the job. No need to
give up fruit. Often, simply being vigorously active (to lower blood sugar)
before meals will be enough so that when the fruit is eaten it just brings
blood sugar back up to normal rather than overflowing.
Dr. D

Candida results from a condition of sustained elevated blood sugar levels.
This can happen from chronic overeating, from impaired pancreas function,
from adrenal exhaustion, or, most likely, from the overconsumption of fats.
8/1/1 reduces the likelihood of overconsumption of fat but does not address
the other issues. These must be corrected as part of a healthful living
program.
Dr D

[Sunshine9]

Check out Gabriel Cousens "Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine." He covers a low-glycemic plan of eating that will clear up candida very quickly if faithful to it. The book is also full of recipes from Tree of Life to offer variety while you are on your cleanse. He also suggests many more reasons for your health to cut back on the sweet fruit than simply candida.

[Shivananda]

Just a reminder here that yeast infections and candida do not just affect women. Although they are less common in men, they are also less obvious and are harder to diagnose when they do occur. I remember once being cured of a previously undiagnosed/misdiagnosed 5 year long chronic yeast infection by being prescribed a single capsule of Diflucan... which the package helpfully described as "for your vaginal yeast infection." :eek:

Sometimes yeast overrun mimics other health issues, such as herpes infections. That's what happened to me. I was treated with many different medications for herpes II for 5 years with no noticeable effect or improvement. Then a top expert finally realized what was really happening, and a week later my ordeal was over and all my symptoms gone, apparently for good.

But it did provide an early warning sign of something else... that I was beginning to develop diabetes. The excess sugar in my system was providing a climate in which yeast could run riot. So this is something to check out if you are bothered by frequent yeast infections, and not all doctors will remember to do that.