confusion regarding low sugar (fruit) diet

[pinkrosebud]

O.K., this is kind of long. I am looking for thoughts and advice. I have been raw on and off for about 3 years. I recently went to a nutritional therapist who is well versed in raw foods. I did this for the experience and to see if she could help with minor ailments. She did a food analysis on me and found that my major problem is sugar handling, taxed adrenal glands and over worked pancreas. Basically, she told me what I already know: “you eat too much sugar, and need to cut it out.” I do not eat any refined sugars, only fruits (including dates), raw honey, agave (now I am questioning this product) stevia and occasionally xylitol. She told me to cut everything sweet out including fruit and stevia. The first two days I did, but noticed my fat intake skyrocketing, along with a raging yeast infection beginning. I started combining raw foods and some “body ecology diet” principals. My skin continued to break out but not in my usual two or three cyst type zits, more just little detox bumps everywhere on my face. The third and fourth days I had low glycemic fruit in the morning only and used stevia, yeast infection continued. Today is one week and I have officially gained 2.5 pounds, continue to have a yeast infection and my fat intake is still high, not as high as the first couple days but still more than when I am eating fruit whenever I want. I guess I am confused because some people say fat is to blame for yeast and inflammation and others say sugar and fruit are to blame for yeast and inflammation. I do always get a very mild yeast infection right before my monthly period but it goes away within two days and the symptoms are so minute that I don’t really notice it. But with cutting out sugar and upping my fat the yeast infection is ferocious and the weight gain is very concerning as well. I am trying to lose about 15 lbs. and right now I am going in the wrong direction and really restricting my food choices. Perhaps I am just going through detox and need to wait it out. Any thoughts on sugar handling, yeast infections and high fat vs. high fruit diet?
Also, any thoughts on stevia inducing sugar cravings or spiking the adrenals? I have noticed since reintroducing stevia into my diet (remember I only took two days off!) my sugar cravings seem stronger, maybe I should cut this out.

[Aleesha Sattva]

My suggestion... order and read Alissa's book (http://www.alissacohen.com/shop/Books-p-1-c-2.html) and allow raw live foods to heal your body.

I don't believe in limiting... I also don't believe in overindulgence... just to make that clear as well. But a well-balanced 100% raw diet will heal you.

We promote and support Alissa Cohen's philosophy of raw foods... which is to eat them, enjoy them, make it a joy-filled experience for yourself and allow your body to heal and cleanse naturally.

I suggest joining the 30 day challenge (which you can start any time)... :) Welcome!!!

[Bananna]

What are your minor ailments? Were you on a high fruit diet or now, exercising?

[pinkrosebud]

I have Alissa's book and follow her phylosophy. I was just interested in people's opinions and expereinces.

[RawSar]

Is there another way around it? Meaning continue eating the fruit but still treating your ailments? How long have you been eating lots of fruit? Are you 100% raw vegan? have you given the fruit enough of a chance to help your ailments?
I would suggest sticking to what makes you feel good and finding another way around. Maybe share what your concerns are and hopefully someone can give you some better suggestions/opinions.

We can't talk about high fat/low fat or high fruit/low fruit ?

[rawstrength]

From her post it seems clear to me that she has been trying raw for 3 years, MUCH more than 30 days, and the raw diet isn't working for her. Alissa recommends going raw, eating whatever raw vegan foods you want, and then adjusting the diet as needed. You seem to sense that sugar does not work well for your body, so CUT IT OUT. Since fat and carbohydrate are the only real sources of calories, then obviously cutting out fruit is going to up your fat percentage, and that's just fine. There are many healthy cultures of primitive people around the world that eat fat as the main source of calories, where fat can make up to 75% of the diet. Fat eaten does not equal fat gained.

The yeast infection and weight gain are both really good signs that your body is on track to healing. You probably have an overgrowth of candida yeast in your system, because you don't handle sugar well and because you get frequent yeast infections. Now that you cut out sugar, you are starving the yeast and the yeast is dying. See, when yeast die, your symptoms of candida worse, called the Herxheimer reaction (http://overcomingcandida.com/herxheimer.htm).

In addition to cutting out sugar, I would recommend getting on fermented food, like saur kraut, using some herbal anti-fungals like pao d'arco tea, and eating as much coconut and coconut oil as you can. Substitute coconut flakes in all your recipes that call for nuts and use coconut oil instead of olive oil.

[pinkrosebud]

Oh my gosh Rawstrength, THANK YOU! I have absolutely done raw for ages straight with very few "mess ups" but I was still having acne, weight and yeast issues. Thank you for your words of wisdom. I actually just opened my first batch of cultured veggies and they are divine. Also, I didn't know about the coconut but I love it. Thanks again.

[Dimond]

Suggestions:
For sugar issues definitely cut out honey and xylitol & use stevia only if it's positively raw. Use little dried fruit until the problem is resolved.

Fermented food is not always the best and sometimes you can have digestive issues with it. Better off with a good quality probiotic formula.

Many find high fat is the issue with candida/yeast. For me it was sugar, but it resolved itself with raw, probiotics and agave.

[green jeanie]

Hi Pink

for me and the yeast/bacterial type of issues it has turned out to be the fats.
for years, i was convinced it was the sugar. i began my raw journey doing no sugar, no fruit etc and consumed high quantities of fats to compensate. my symptoms got somewhat better but were generally persistent.

now i am on high fruit/greens diet and VERY low fat. essentially no nuts and some seed oils. my symptoms are much improved to totally gone and my weight has finally dropped the final notch and maintains with no effort.

one thing i have noticed for certain in the last 3-4 years, with these types of symptoms, if you are going to choose fats vs sugars or sugars vs. fats, whichever you choose..follow that plan consistently for the best results. my body just wants it simple whatever it is i am doing.

i do know that it is the years of raw that allows me to eat all this fruit and honey and maple syrup. after all the years of being so sugar sensitive i can't believe that i get to eat this way :)
but if i eat one dish with cashews my symptoms come back. if i eat one weekend of lots of fatty raw desserts, my thighs report back to me on monday.

wishing you the best. gj

[katchmoleen]

A heaping spoonful of coconut oil a day does it for me. No more yeasties. My fungal toenail is even clearing up. I eat a lower fruit moderate fat version of raw due to blood sugar issues. Due to vaginal prolapse, I am prone to yeast infections, but a bit of coconut oil inserted like a suppository clears that up in one application. It is great stuff. But watch out for the detox, oy vey.

[lane]

pinkrosebud,
i haven't posted for a very long time, but your post caught my attention- and i just want to chime in and second what rawstrength wrote. i've worked with several clients who experience the same sort of issues, and always do i suggest that they try and guide them into following the body ecology principles. body ecology is an amazing healing protocol- as most people have serious problems with fungal overgrowth. be patient, healing requires dedication and an internal "knowing" that the body can and will find balance.
cc

[Raw Angel Mom]

I limit raw honey and raw agave for me. It gives me gas. Just follow your body.

Try for a few days to eliminate only raw honey to see if you will seed different result. I wouldn't cut fruit just yet. Some people don't do good with sugar, i personally don't do good without my fruits, lol...

Do more research before cutting out anything. One thing that will make us fail or succeed is our mind. Alissa got it write by not limiting ourself You need to listen to your body and make adjustment as you go along.

For me, i need to do my fruits in the morning and green smoothie. I noticed that i do better. My body doesn't like certain nuts, so i need to change recipes to make it work for me. Check if you don't have allergies reaction with some food, it could be another good direction to go.

Research on Leaky guts (if you have that, you will have problem)
Research on liver (if you took a lot of medication for headache you will have a very stressed liver)
Fasting seems to be good to give a brake with anything to do with digestif system. You can consider to do this but please research well first.

Eliminating sugar just for a little while might be a good move for your body but just a little while. Read dr. Gabriel Cousens rainbow cuisine.

Keep in mind, that your metabolism will always adjust to your change, be careful on restricting yourself or before doing a fasting. Just research and research.

Find comfort food that work for you. Because your mind if it doesn't feel comfortable, it won't last on healthy diet. It needs to feel good.

[eatyourbroccoli]

you know, i too seemed to be having trouble with too much sugar/fruit a couple years back (while raw). i went to a naturopath who told me to cut out sugar, for awhile, to allow my adrenal glands to heal. i did this..and, because my body had difficulty digesting too much fat at the time, followed a low-fat, low sugar diet. i ate a bunch of greens, veggies, a small amount of nuts/seeds (keyword: small), and only had low-sugar fruits like green apples and some berries. i dressed my salads with olive oil..and that was really the only large amount of fat i was consuming. i was also taking low-dose DHEA, B vitamins, and a whole-food vitamin supplement.

it worked :cool:

i stuck to it for a month, and then slowly reintroduced fruits. in the end, i ended up eating fruit/smoothies in the morning, and then veggies/fats at night. this worked so well for me.

i actually came back here today because i've been suffering from what i believe to be another bought of adrenal fatigue. i've been ridiculously stressed, haven't been sticking to raw as strictly as i should..for about 6 months. i googled "adrenal fatigue diet" and your thread popped up on google (shoulda known raw was the way to go.. :o :p )

but anyway, i think i'm going to go back to the low/no-sugar thing for awhile, because it really, really did work for me last time. maybe try it for you also, temporarily, and then reintroduce other raw yummies into your diet once you feel more stable.

just wanted to share my experience, and thank you for posting this, as it spurred my memory and has reminded me where i, again, need to go from here. :)

[rawpreston]

I also believe it's the fats that are the problem, like green jeanie said. Eatyourbroccoli that seems in-line with your story too, because your problem went away when you weren't eating much fat. A low-sugar-low-fat 100% raw diet isn't really possible for an extended period, we must either get the bulk of our calories from fruit, from fat, or a mix. A low-sugar diet sounds noble and sensible but the reality is it is then typically high-fat (like 50%+ of calories). Run the numbers in cronometer/nutridiary if you wanna see. Greens and veggies cannot provide the bulk of our calories esp if we have any reasonable healthy activity level. High fat diet does not foster fitness or health, and a mixture of high-fruit and high-fat causes sugar metabolism problems, so that leaves high-fruit low-fat as the best choice. I also believe I had candida and/or adrenal issues prior to going that route.

Infos:
video1 (http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9845503DF7456783&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&v=rMjcXQyiSQw)
video2 (http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9845503DF7456783&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&v=5cDlAejxIY0)