Candida and raw foods

[mazal]

Please tell me if I write something that is not allowed. Also english is not my native language, so I might not write perfect. Thank you.

Hello I am a 23 year old female. I am not completely raw (more like "70%"), but I wish to be full raw. I am about 99% vegan (I love honey!).
I have recently found out that all my health problems could be because of candida overgrowth.

I've been reading some posts in this forum, and seems people get a diagnosis from doctors for this? On other sites I've read doctors do not believe in candida overgrowth.

I first found a mainstream diet for candida, and I thought this was the only way to treat it! I was so depressed and crying a lot, having all things I love taken away from me, fruits, nuts, seeds, because they have sugar and mold which will feed the candida.

Luckily I found some saying they had treated their candida overgrowth, just with having a raw food diet! It now makes a lot of sense to me, instead of these sad mainstream candida diets.

I have been to so many doctors over the past 10 years and done so many tests, but often they do not find anything. Which made me so frustrated since I know there are so many things wrong with me, and the doctors treat me like I imagine things.

My diseases and health problems:
- Hypotyreosis. Diagnosed when I was 14, doctor said then I probably had it since i was 11-12 years old. I take medication for it.
- Gilberts Syndrome. Diagnosed when I was 20. No medication.
- Low potassium levels. Doctors don't bother to find the cause. I take medication for it.
- Asthma. I have had since age 15, diagnosed at aged 20. Recently stopped taking medication for it because of steroids.
- Brain fog, dizzyness, concentration problem, major headaches, "thick, foggy" feeling inside of head.
- Constant phlegm/mucus in my throat for 3 years. Doctors blame asthma, but I feel it's something else. I have a really hard time because of it.
- Fatigue. People tell me to "exercise more", but it doesn't help. I am so so tired all all the time.
- Rosacea. Used to treat with chemical creams, but I have stopped it and found washing face with sodium bicarbonate helps(!).
- Chronic acne (13 years now).
- Onycholysis (detachment of nail from nail bed). Doctors only say to treat it with cortisone. Nothing helps.
- Constant nausea everyday for 4 years. Makes my life really hard.
- Food intolerances (gluten and soy). Tests don't show anything, but everytime I eat something with it I get really sick and throw up.
- White thick layer on tongue since forever. Bad breath.
- Constant yeast infections.

So this is why I suspect candida overgrowth.

I started doing a cleanse before, with lemon water, and it was horrible, I got really really sick. I now know it is because of toxins the candida release(?).

I wish to have some advice from people who have been able to treat this. It would be really helpful for me.

- How did you do to treat it? Did you just have a regular raw food diet, or did you minimize your fruit/nut intake?
Did you take some supplements as well, probiotics etc? Which?

I've read something about studies say it's only when sugary foods (fruits, etc) ferment in the stomach that candida can feed on it, so you should not mix sugar and fat. This makes sense to me.

- How long should you wait inbetween eating fruits and nuts(oil also?)? Several hours or days?
This means also you can not eat salad with red bell pepper and olive oil, because it's sugar and fat? and also not make tacos with sundried tomato and walnuts, because it's also sugar and fat?
Should I treat tomato as a fruit ( I know it actually is one) because it's higher in sugar than green vegetables, and eat in moderation?

- I wish to do a really good, but safe cleanse. I'm worried since I've read about people dying from doing a cleanse. Any advice?
With lemon water didn't work very well, also I became very constipated because of candida toxins (I guess).

- Is it possible to be raw even when taking mainstream medications? I want to quit them, but I'm also worried. Mostly about my thyroid medicine, since I feel it will be bad if I quit it.

- I weigh about 90 lbs. What can I do to not drop so much weight if I should not eat so much nuts and seeds? I desperately want to gain weight.


I hope I didn't do anything wrong in this entry, and sorry it became so long.
Thank you so much for reading.

[Non]

I believe.. the best diet for candida overgrowth on raw would be the Rainbow Greens diet by Gabriel Cousens.

It is basically high in greens, nuts and seeds, moderate on fruit. It's a 3 phase diet that, one stays in each for at least 3 months, max is 6 months.

This is the phase chart with the foods allowed in each stage:
http://www.cultureoflifestore.com/images/gabrec/RainbowGreenPhaseChart.pdf

Some might say that 'as long as it's raw it's good.' or.. that a high fruit diet is best. My experience is only with the above diet, not any other. I don't know if a high fruit diet is any good but some people seem to prefer it.

I just think it's impossible to do high fruit and get adequate supply of micronutrients. It also requires that one have less fats. Nuts and seeds have valuable micronutrients you cant find in fruits.

I must also add that on the Rainbow Greens diet, it is recommended that at least 1-2lb of greens are consumed. That also makes it easier such that fruits and nuts aren't done in excess.

As for protein, anywhere from 25-50g of protein a day is enough. it really is... because it's raw, and if it's from nuts/seeds then it shd be germinated. Really.

Also, make sure you acheive an intake ratio of omega 3s to 6 1:4 to 1:1. Best are from flax or chia seeds. Recommended dose from the book Rainbow Greens is 2-3 tblsp of flax twice a day. You can also replace that with chia seeds. Even better of course if sprouted.

Regards

[SunshineMN]

I agree with Non. Try the Rainbow Green diet. Dr. Gabriel's book and videos are very good and inspirational.

Soak your nuts to make them more digestible. Sprout seeds and grow microgreens if you can. There are some excellent threads on sprouting on this forum. Microgreens (sunflower, chia, pea, etc.) are less time consuming to grow than sprouts and add very fresh living foods to your diet.

Try making your own salad dressings with coconut, olive or sesame oil, apple cider vinegar and herbs or blend cashews and add filtered water and herbs. Use sea salt instead of table salt. There are quite a few raw salad dressing recipes floating around here and other raw places on the internet.

Visit here often for moral support and to get answers. People here are very friendly and helpful. :)

PS. You may want to try a juice feast as well. It gives your body a break from digesting yet you can get plenty of nutrition! We have a great fasting thread and forum as well with lots of support.

[fastfreedom]

I've never had an issue with candida, so I can't actually speak from experience.

What I've learned is that candida is something natural which lives in check in the human body until homeostasis gets out of balance, and then it proliferates quickly to get rid of the excess which caused it to grow to such high levels.

I've heard of doing fasts, or eating greens, avoiding fruits, herbs, zappers, and all manner of stuff like that which is supposed to get rid of candida. And it seems that all of those things take enormous amounts of time to see any results. Sometimes up to a years length, and many times it just comes back because they don't realise a few basic facts.

What I've learned is that it's not the fruit causing the candida bloom, but it's actually the fat blocking the receptor sites, "doors", into the cells and then the fruit sugar has no way to enter the cell so it just floats around in the bloodstream and then candida needs to quickly increase its numbers to diminish the amount of sugar floating around in the blood. But if you remove the excess fat from the diet then candida goes away in a matter of a few days, basically long enough for the fats clogging the receptor sites in the cells of the body to go away.....which is only a few days.

Here's Doug Graham explaining this a little bit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNGPA_1Y2Xk

Non mentioned about having an opinion that one couldn't get the necessary micronutrients by eating high fruit.... But this just doesn't seem to be the case, typically with high fruit you still eat greens and you still eat nuts, but only in moderate amounts. It appears that people acutually thrive on this way of eating, and you can find blood tests of people that have been eating high fruit, as per the suggestions of Doug Graham, for over a decade and they have amazing blood test results. So you don't need to assume if it's good or bad, you can actually get verifiable data proving how effective it is.

Another benefit of high fruit is that it will really allow your body to unload lots of toxins. Check out Robert Morse on youtube for information about this. It has also been my experience for this to be true. I think raw plant eating is great to get rid of toxins, but I figured out that I could get my body to produce mucus by eating too much fats,"oils/seeds/nuts/avocado/coconut", which to me means that my body is creating mucus to try and neutralize toxins. I think eating plants is the best, but in my experience there does seem to be some things which need to be eaten only moderately and some things that can be eaten in great quantities. This has been my experience anyhow.

You'll probably get as many answers to your issue as there are people and this is basically my opinions on the subject from what I've learned and experienced......nothing more.

[mazal]

Non, SunshineMN, fastfreedom, thank you so much for your replies! It really made my day getting so much helpful information. :)
I am going for vacation in another country in a week, so that pdf-chart is really helpful for me. Thank you!

It is confusing to me there are so many different answers to this, but fastfreedom, what you say is really interesting. I do have a high fat intake (nuts/olive oil). If I don't eat it I get cravings, so it's obvious something is not right. I've read people saying they only eat like 2 nuts a day!
Even if it will be hard, I must try to reduce my fat intake. I have weighed about the same low weight for about 10 years, so it's obvious it doesn't do anything for me, it's only an "addiction".

Many thanks again!

[Non]

Hm, interesting.

I've also read that candida overgrowth is caused mainly from too much starches either by themselves or with excess fats, not just "high fat". Which means that one can even have a diet of high fat with lots of fruit, but preferably not at the same time. Even with starches just, not that the same time. There are instances when fruits can stimulate the digestion of fats also...

I guess that's also why people prefer greens with fats. And anyway it seems like starches are devoid of micronutrients so they wouldn't really require mixing with fats to absorb all the nutrients from them.

I find fruits to be way too expensive anyways so I couldn't really do a high fruit diet.

[MysticTree]

I'd like to see people actually being properly diagnosed with Candida over growth. If Candida is really responsible then great but what needs addressing is the cause of the imbalance because if this condition is as prevalent as those who mostly self diagnose claim it to be then the underlying cause and the treatment of that is the most important thing.

If these symptoms which are pretty wide ranging and could be indicative of other conditions are nothing to do with Candida then the causes here need to be dealt with.

I am highly sceptical of the whole Candida epidemic.

[jurence]

@ the OP
Candida overgrowth has more to do with body pH more than anything. You probably got really sick from the 'lemon cleanse' due to the fact that when candida is killed, it releases toxins which can be very hard for your body to tolerate. These sort of things should be eased in to..

I remember doing a yeast cleanse about six months back. I got so terribly sick after day 2 that I had to stop going to school for four days.

Don't sweat the small stuff -- spacing out your fruits/nuts/oils perfectly is not going to fix the issue.

Have you been on antibiotics since you started going raw? It can be harder to get the healthy bacteria back quickly if you're avoiding cultures (usually found naturally in dairy). Have you looked into probiotics?

Alex

[Non]

I thought candida flourishes in alkaline pH not acid pH.

[Anais]

I have the same candida issue and am studying my options. I have read a lot about Dr. D's 80-10-10 and was even doing it for some time. I think at that time I really didn't have any candida issues and I felt good, but I couldn't maintain this diet in a busy life with a job and family. As soon as I started eating some cooked food again I felt bad and candida problems started. Dr. D is probably right in that high fat doesn't go with fruit. I have since then talked to other nutritionists and one of them pointed out that we need to eat protein - and more than what we get from fruit or greens - otherwise we will be aging very fast. I then saw recent pictures of Dr. D and actually thought that he doesn't like he's thriving on this diet. He looks incredibly old. Why is that? Maybe he should eat more protein?

[SunshineMN]

I'm beginning to think raw fermented foods are more important than we think. I'm planning on getting a perfect pickler or two and start fermenting all kinds of veggies. I also really want to try water kefir but I'm going to wait until it's not quite so hot out to order some of those. I believe my system has been quite screwed up since I was a kid. I took a lot of antibiotics as a kid because I always had problems with my tonsils and lots of earaches (I even broke my eardrum once because it was so badly infected).

[Non]

I think, fermented foods are great.

I also think combining whole foods properly is something to think about. I don't usually have oils. Oil should be 110% raw and if coming from nut or seed should be sprouted too.

Though I don't really agree with what most people think as regards food combinations. Just see what feels right, collect info, trial and error. Eventually you'll get there.

For example.. one thing people have said is that fruits and fats don't combine.. so then what about the fat soluble vitamins from carb rich sources, how do they absorb? That's a question to consider.

[Living Food]

I'd like to see people actually being properly diagnosed with Candida over growth.

Ain't gonna happen...I'd like to see people being properly diagnosed with cooked food + (pharmaceutical) drug use as the cause of most illnesses, but that ain't gonna happen either. Candida is great (for pharmaceutical companies) because it mimics so many other symptoms that there's loads of possibilities for putting people suffering from it on loads of drugs, which do so much damage that it necessitates more drugs, etc. There's never going to be a miracle drug that cures cancer, either - they're both major cash cows. Of course, because there are so many symptoms many doctors are skeptical that it exists (like you), and you aren't going to test for something you don't believe in.

The reason it is so prevalent is because candida albicans (the main culprit) is pleomorphic organism whihc normally exists in the human body, even when we are healthy. It's a part of our digestive system. When our bodies are out of balance, however, it can run amok and cause all kinds of trouble, growing "tentacles" that can actually burrow through the walls of your digestive tract and cause leaky gut. The fungus itself produces dozens of different toxins as byproducts and can migrate to different areas of your body. The immune system frequently lets it be because it seems to have trouble recognizing the candida as an enemy since it normally exists symbiotically with us.

That's just an overview, but I figure most people here are at least somewhat familiar with it. More indpth information can be found here (http://www.life-enthusiast.com/index/Concerns/Candida/Candida_Indepth_Review).

Candida overgrowth is almost always caused by antibiotic use, because it seems to have some sort of natural resistance that allows it to survive and colonize the digestive tract to replace all of the dead bacteria that normally lives there. Even one "treatment" of antibiotics can be enough - it doesn't help that most antibiotics are actually powerful fungal toxins, which seem to help promote the growth of fungi like candida.

And the reason that it's so hard to treat? The same reason that all chronic, "incurable" health conditions seem to be so hard to treat - the "patient" isn't healthy. Treat your health holistically and maximize it in every area and you cannot get sick - period. Very few people in this world are truly healthy, though, which is why so many people are sick. The good news is that all you have to do is take steps to return your body to balance and you can cure just about anything.

[Charybdisjim]

All those symptoms and separate diagnosis together sound like they describe an autoimmune disorder rather than a bunch of individual problems which one might coincidentally have at the same time. In fact since they pretty much all can be explained by several common auto-immune or immunodeficiency conditions I'm somewhat shocked that your doctors haven't suggested it might be one of those rather than treating each symptom piece-meal. Thrush is more often associated with immunodeficiency but has also be associated with untreated cases of some autoimmune disorders as well - possibly due to their effect on the flora population inside your body.

http://womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/autoimmune-diseases.cfm

Some autoimmune diseases (particularly those involving and related to gluten intolerance) can be well managed with certain raw food diets. I would suggest possibly giving your doctor the bullet point list of symptoms and conditions and suggesting "might this perhaps all be one autoimmune disorder" and having them maybe run a test or two to narrow it down to find out. Some autoimmune disorders may best be treated by medication, so it might be good to know. Some others though, particularly crohn's and celiac I beleive, can sometimes be managed by diet with far fewer symptoms and side effects than medication. Since you are currently experiencing what sounds like thrush, medication might solve many other symptoms but would actually make infections like that more frequent and worse in some cases. So yeah, trying the low fruit diets mentioned above may be a better first alternative to medication; still might be a good idea to rule out lupus or other less diet-controllable conditions first.

[MysticTree]

Living foods, I don't think there is this Candida epidemic so many people are so fixated on. It never gets reported as something present at autopsy except sometimes maybe with AIDS deaths. It is a condition entirely bigged up by sellers of probiotic supplements. If it were such a problem as self diagnosis suggests then mainstream medicine would be trying make money out of it.

[Harmony_me]

I've been away from this forum for a while, but I'm reviving my raw food lifestyle so I'm back! I have struggled with candida for my entire life. I was on antibiotics for 8 months before the age of 3 due to constant ear infections. As a result, I lived an entire childhood with candida problems. I've been a very sickly adult because of it, the almost permanent fungal network in my body causing me severe sinusitis which the medical community treated with........got a guess?.......antibiotics. (Mainstream medicine treats EVERYTHING with antibiotics - they could not POSSIBLY admit that candida is a problem, or the link to antibiotic use and candida would be revealed!!!!! MysticTreee is right that mainstream medicine IS all about money. They create the problem with one med and treat it will another, but won't admit their part in the creation) After years of this, I realized that the antibiotics (AND mainstream doctors) were not doing anything to make me feel better and a lot to make me feel worse. I found a book called "The PH Miracle Diet" and it changed my life. I became a vegetarian and have remained so. From there, I went 100% raw. My energy improved dramatically. I was sick less (before the diet, I spent about 8 weeks a year NOT sick - that is NOT an exaggeration!). However, I still battled "low-energy" (I still didn't have the energy to get through a day without needing to rest for a couple of hours halfway through) and diagnosed myself with chronic fatigue, as people like a name for what you have. I also still got sick with "sinus infections" (what I really had was a massive inflammation of my sinuses which resulted in extreme pain and migraine).

For those of you who maintain 80-100% raw lifestyle and also have children and a husband who do NOT follow this lifestyle, you know how difficult it is and how much dedication is required to stick with it. Full meal prep for the others AND for me for every meal. I loved how I felt and how I looked, but was SO upset when I got sick - it didn't seem fair! So after 1 year 70% raw and 2 years at 100%, I scaled back, but have always remained vegetarian and eaten a fair amount of raw fruits and vegetables.

In the intervening years, I have relied on Caprylic Acid (recommended on the PH Miracle Diet) to control any Candida symptoms that caught my attention (ie: there was obviously a bigger problem lurking, but when it bloomed, I'd notice symptoms). I've done MANY candida cleanses - they REDUCE but do not REMOVE - at least for me. I believe if your body has this tendency, you will ALWAYS be dealing with it - especially if you've had it ALL your life like me. I have NEVER been able to do a fast or anything other than a mild cleanse - the die off reactions of the candida are massive. The last time I tried (after being on a very strict raw diet for 3 months), I almost went into kidney failure.

I've explained all this because in hindsight, I believe people like me simply cannot consume fruits (except for the low-sugar types) AT ALL on raw. Raw is life-changing, but I believe I would have to be on it for potentially YEARS without fruit before I could again eat it. I believe that I continued to have sinus problems while 100% raw because I used fruits and things like agave syrup. This fed the candida and when I overconsumed, the candida bloomed. I was STILL 100% raw.

Also, I tried Dr. D's 80-10-10 diet for 6 months in those intervening years and I did not feel good on it at all. My candida problems got worse instead of better. Because of that, I believe the sugar/fat debate about what causes candida is more complicated than simply eating one and not the other. From my experience, sugar MUST be eliminated. Of course, I mainly consume olive oil and healthy fats, so maybe those are not usable by candida?

There is ample research that suggests candida/fungus is at the root of ALL disease. By maintaining an alkaline system, the candida has more trouble growing/living. However, it has been documented that the candida will set itself up in a certain area of the body (for me- my sinuses) and build a protective cell wall around their environment, which keeps it acidic despite the overall PH of the main body. Cancer does the same thing. Only by maintaining a good PH, eliminating all "food" (sugar) AND launching attacks, can the candida be weakened.

Finally, certain signs and symptoms that mazal mentions (I'm quoting her):

- Asthma. I have had since age 15, diagnosed at aged 20. Recently stopped taking medication for it because of steroids.
- Brain fog, dizzyness, concentration problem, major headaches, "thick, foggy" feeling inside of head.
- Constant phlegm/mucus in my throat for 3 years. Doctors blame asthma, but I feel it's something else. I have a really hard time because of it.
- Fatigue. People tell me to "exercise more", but it doesn't help. I am so so tired all all the time.
- Rosacea. Used to treat with chemical creams, but I have stopped it and found washing face with sodium bicarbonate helps(!).
- Chronic acne (13 years now).
- Onycholysis (detachment of nail from nail bed). Doctors only say to treat it with cortisone. Nothing helps.
- Constant nausea everyday for 4 years. Makes my life really hard.
- Food intolerances (gluten and soy). Tests don't show anything, but everytime I eat something with it I get really sick and throw up.
- White thick layer on tongue since forever. Bad breath.
- Constant yeast infections.

These are CLASSIC signs of a massive yeast overgrowth. MysticTree - I'm sorry to hear that you are skeptical about the whole candida issue. There are really NO diet changes that a person could make because they suspect candida that aren't also healthy - so why bother being skeptical? I do agree that people LOVE to diagnose themselves with something that explains their lack of health, as I've done it myself. Unfortunately, people also are guilty of imagining themselves to be victims of an illness simply by suggestion. But as long as they don't use it as an EXCUSE and instead use it to motivate themselves toward a healthier lifestyle, I think it can serve a positive purpose. MysticTree - when you refer to what is reported as present at autopsy - what does that mean? Are these public autopsy reports? Little is revealed here in US when someone dies - even if they DID have candida or massive parasites (which are discovered more often than you'd like to think). The "public" information is simply cause of death and contributing physical factors like heart disease.

For YEARS, I was told that my constant sickness was a cry for attention and that my exhaustion was "all in my head". I was told by my well educated friends that "if I really didn't want to get sick - I wouldn't" and that I must make myself sick so "I can have a day off". These philosophies may indeed apply to some people, but they certainly did not apply to me. Every moment of being sick was depressing to me and there was nothing I wouldn't have done to stop it. How I've lived my life since finding some answers is a testament to that.

So - lets be supportive of those who self-diagnose and simply support them in the pursuit of a healthier life.

[MysticTree]

I'd be interested to read this research you talk of. Where is it? Why is it not more widely known about?

[Harmony_me]

Hi MysticTree,

I'd be happy to help shed a bit more light on this topic! Personally I believe that society (at least in US, but most likely Britain as well) is fed a LOT of propaganda about health, diet, illness, and medicine. It is said that there is no cure for cancer, but I have personally spoken with people who have had their cancer "disappear" by changing their lifestyle and their diet. In every instance, the "mainstream" doctors of these people did not believe that their lifestyle and diet changes had ANYTHING to do with their recovery - they were just "lucky". Here is US - doctors receive the equivalent of about 20 hours of nutrition education. They give a great deal of advice on diet, but are no more trained to do so than the Health Ed. teacher at school, although people look to their doctors like they have ALL the answers about health (no fingers pointing here - I was guilty of this myself!!!). Traditional medical training can be summed up very simply: Diagnose the problem from a list of "medically determined" illnesses, prescribe one or more pills to treat the problem, and if there is no improvement, cut the problem out (if possible).

Why is there not more information widely known about candida, its causes, and its treatment? Because illness CREATION is more profitable than a cure. Over 160,000 people a year in US die of complications from diabetes, another "incurable" disease. In 2007 (5 years ago and the most current year information is available), over $174,000 was spent in medical costs treating diabetes. That's some SERIOUS money-making going on! To "cure" diabetes would mean losing all that profit. The same issue exists around the "cure" for cancer.

Did you know that many natural supplements are more effective in alleviating symptoms or illness, but little research is done on them because they cannot be patented, and therefore little profit can me made from them? When you begin to look at every statement made by anyone (including you and me) and examine it for MOTIVE, you will discover truth. The medical community does not WANT us to find links to illness in what they do. They do not WANT us to find inexpensive, natural cures. There is no money in it. Why is the Raw Food Lifestyle not massively researched if it has helped so many people? Again - there is no FUNDING for research because there is no MONEY in proving the theory.

Here's another example: Although many people are negatively impacted by parasites, most doctors would never diagnose that as the root of their problem. From Innvista.com....... "Another grave concern is that the majority of western doctors have never seen a parasite infection, nor are they taught to do so. Since parasitology courses center around tropical diseases, it gives the appearance that parasitic infections happens only in foreign countries. Even if identified, only a few physicians know what the treatment should be, and then only with toxic pharmaceuticals." Again, those darn toxic pills to fix the problem......If doctors can't even diagnose parasites, how could they possibly diagnose candida, a microscopic problem that LOVES an acidic environment created by pharmaceuticals?

Anyway, here's a few sources of reading material regarding candida research........

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0970341806/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

http://www.amazon.com/Yeast-Connection-Medical-Breakthrough/dp/0394747003/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343073147&sr=1-4&keywords=candida+book

http://www.amazon.com/Candida-Albicans-Cellular-Molecular-Biology/dp/3642752551/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343073214&sr=1-6&keywords=fungus+candida+disease+book

http://www.amazon.com/Yeast-Syndrome-Identify-Yeast-Related-Illness/dp/0553277510/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343073214&sr=1-7&keywords=fungus+candida+disease+book

In addition, Gabriel Cousens discusses candida in his books. I have them all but I believe the main discussion is in this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Rainbow-Live-Food-Cuisine-Gabriel-Cousens/dp/1556434650/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343073313&sr=1-1&keywords=book+gabriel+cousens

I'm a research fanatic and NEVER believe just one source, so I guess we're a lot alike! One thing I finally have realized in all the research I've done is this: every one of us is truly individual. One size does NOT fit all. If something works for you, it may not work for the next person. We ALL have to be dedicated to doing our OWN research and experiment on ourselves. Only then will we find what works!

Again, let's support each other on our journey. Many hands make light work :-)

[MysticTree]

I'll look into the books but I wanted research not books. Scientific studies not opinion.

The rest of your post comes across as quite patronising. I'm not stupid or green behind the ears and I do know that pharmacuticals is about making money and nutrition needs more respect.

[PansyLo]

^ I'm in agreement with you.

I'm not saying that it's not a real thing but people are quick to self diagnose it. Everyone seems to think they have it! All the symptoms for Candida seem to be vague and common problems of poor diet.

That said most peoples recommended treatment for Candida is a good detox and raw diet. So... it's not really doing anyone any harm to be self treating. Let people do it if it puts their mind at rest, they're probably going to eliminate whatever is actually wrong with them through nutritious real food.

[MysticTree]

^ I'm in agreement with you.

I'm not saying that it's not a real thing but people are quick to self diagnose it. Everyone seems to think they have it! All the symptoms for Candida seem to be vague and common problems of poor diet.

That said most peoples recommended treatment for Candida is a good detox and raw diet. So... it's not really doing anyone any harm to be self treating. Let people do it if it puts their mind at rest, they're probably going to eliminate whatever is actually wrong with them through nutritious real food.

No harm in changing ones diet but it seems that so many people don't want to leave the disease model behind.

[mazal]

Hello again.

Since my initial post I had a couple of days when I was full raw and no fruits (except lemon and lime, and tomato). It was hard (since I love fruits so much), but I felt alot better! I could feel my mucus in my throat getting less(?). It didn't dissappear, just became a bit less.

Then after those days I ate a banana. Almost instantly my inner ears started itching A LOT.
I have had this problem many times before, but this was the first time I could actually link it to eating "sugar".
Some months ago I brought it up with my skin doctor, who looked at my ears and said maybe I just had dry skin or eczema (skin problems that I have on the rest of my body).
On my next appointment with him I'm going to ask him to check my ears for fungus.

I was also away for about a week on a trip. During this trip I ate a lot of things I shouldn't have; potatoes, raisins, watermelon, cherries, peaches, raspberries, blueberries, and a box of Tic Tac (the small pill-shaped candy).

Of these things I had the worst reaction to the Tic Tac.
Not long after eating my throat started clogging up with mucus.

The raisins, fruit and berries gave me itchy ears, and also sometimes my vision got blurred (not all of my vision, just in the corners of my eyes if that makes sense).

I am now back home again, and even if I experienced these things, I am glad I got to eat some fruit again. Almost like a farewell trip kind of.
I now feel very motivated to stay raw with no fruit (just lemon, lime, tomato).

I feel very certain I have some kind of fungus/yeast problem, candida or not. And I am pretty sure I have this because I have an acidic body (ph level measured in saliva). Why I have an acidic body I do not know, I have been vegan/vegetarian since 1999 and always been eating lots of fruit and vegetables.
Someone mentioned autoimmune diseases, and I think that could be a key. Since I feel my health problems started when I was around 11, it's also the time my doctor said my thyroid would have stopped working properly.

How confusing all this is!

[mazal]

Candida overgrowth is almost always caused by antibiotic use, because it seems to have some sort of natural resistance that allows it to survive and colonize the digestive tract to replace all of the dead bacteria that normally lives there. Even one "treatment" of antibiotics can be enough - it doesn't help that most antibiotics are actually powerful fungal toxins, which seem to help promote the growth of fungi like candida.

Oh does this mean you can "cure" candida with probiotics?
I used to take antibiotics for years (Tetracyclines). I don't think they started the problem, since I had problems long before, but they probably made it a lot worse.

I started with probiotics yesterday, and I already feel dizzy and "foggy". At least now I know it's in a "good" way, and not in a "I'm feeding the candida with sugar"-way.

[mazal]

All those symptoms and separate diagnosis together sound like they describe an autoimmune disorder rather than a bunch of individual problems which one might coincidentally have at the same time. In fact since they pretty much all can be explained by several common auto-immune or immunodeficiency conditions I'm somewhat shocked that your doctors haven't suggested it might be one of those rather than treating each symptom piece-meal. Thrush is more often associated with immunodeficiency but has also be associated with untreated cases of some autoimmune disorders as well - possibly due to their effect on the flora population inside your body.

http://womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/autoimmune-diseases.cfm

Some autoimmune diseases (particularly those involving and related to gluten intolerance) can be well managed with certain raw food diets. I would suggest possibly giving your doctor the bullet point list of symptoms and conditions and suggesting "might this perhaps all be one autoimmune disorder" and having them maybe run a test or two to narrow it down to find out. Some autoimmune disorders may best be treated by medication, so it might be good to know. Some others though, particularly crohn's and celiac I beleive, can sometimes be managed by diet with far fewer symptoms and side effects than medication. Since you are currently experiencing what sounds like thrush, medication might solve many other symptoms but would actually make infections like that more frequent and worse in some cases. So yeah, trying the low fruit diets mentioned above may be a better first alternative to medication; still might be a good idea to rule out lupus or other less diet-controllable conditions first.

Thanks to your post I've started looking into autoimmune thyroid diseases, since I already now I have a thyroid that is not working as it should. It could very well be something bigger than just hypothyroidism.
I'm going to bring it up with my doctor next time. Thank you!

[mazal]

Harmony_me, I feel so sorry for you, having to have this all your life!
I can relate so much to your post.

How is your diet now, do you eat some fruits? How do they make you feel?

What you write about your sinuses, seems just like my throat problem. I probably have the same things in my lungs (= asthma), my asthma medications never helped me, so I recently stopped taking them, and there is no difference. So just for the best to try having as few medications as possible.

I've only done one cleanse, which I just drank lots of lemon water and ate some green leafy things, and I got SO sick. It was scary.
Really feels like you are dying, and with what you write about almost having kidney failure, it doesn't seem very unlikely.

Thank you for your post! It's been very helpful for me.

[Harmony_me]

Hi Mystic Tree,

Seems we've gotten off on the wrong foot here!


I'll look into the books but I wanted research not books. Scientific studies not opinion.

The rest of your post comes across as quite patronising. I'm not stupid or green behind the ears and I do know that pharmacuticals is about making money and nutrition needs more respect.

I am certainly not trying to be patronising or come across as a "know it all". When I post or reply on a forum, althought I may be responding to earlier posts, I am generally not responding directly to you or another person. In other words, although I addressed you in the beginning of my post because you asked for information, I also try to word all my posts so that anyone reading it or jumping in might understand what I am trying to say. I have done nutritional coaching for many people and MANY have never heard of candida, probiotics, or even what an autoimmune disorder is. I try to word my posts to that level of audience, just to be sure I don't "talk over" anyone.

Please accept my apologies for any anger or disrespect you felt due to my posting. I am simply trying to assist mazal and anyone else who might read this thread.

As for published research, well I will admit that there is little available by way of the internet :-( As I mentioned, I am a research fanatic and have tried to locate verifiable research on MANY health related issues. Most is on sites that are password protected and for access only to the research facility or research students of the given university. The only research that seems to be available is through publications, like those I noted. One of those is literally a research publication of scientific studies. Publication is how they reap the financial recovery of such research. If you or others know of sources for verifiable research - I would be more than thrilled if you'd share it with me! I am like many who are on this forum and LOVE to verify information!

As for the candida, of course everyone is different, and I don't deny people over diagnose themselves with it as well as many other diseases. However, I DO feel that if someone is simply targeting a "cause" in order to formulate a natural "treatment" protocol - I see nothing wrong with it if it is a healthy approach. We each are our own laboratory and we must experiment on ourselves to know what really works. I'm sharing what works for me - and for me every piece of personally experienced evidence has pointed to candida/fungus that is sugar-fueled.

My apologies again for offending you and anyone else on the board. My motivation is only to contribute useful information

[Harmony_me]

Hi mazal,

Yes we do seem to share a lot of symptoms! No need to feel sorry for us, though, all life experiences are learning experiences which is awesome :woot: Candida is mysterious for sure! Here's some information from Wikipedia:

Candida is a genus of yeasts. Many species are harmless commensals or endosymbionts of hosts including humans, but other species, or harmless species in the wrong location, can cause disease. Candida albicans can cause infections (candidiasis or thrush) in humans and other animals, especially in immunocompromised patients.[3: Ryan KJ; Ray CG (editors) (2004). Sherris Medical Microbiology (4th ed.). McGraw Hill. ISBN 0-8385-8529-9.]

Systemic infections of the bloodstream and major organs, particularly in immunocompromised patients, affect over 90,000 people a year in the U.S., with a 40–50% mortality [7:Candidiasis in Emergency Medicine, Medscape Reference, Tarlan Hedayati, Rick Kulkarni, Updated Apr 15, 2010][8:a b c d dEnfert C; Hube B (editors) (2007). Candida: Comparative and Functional Genomics. Caister Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-904455-13-4.]

Grown in the laboratory, Candida appears as large, round, white or cream (albicans is from Latin meaning 'whitish') colonies with a yeasty odor on agar plates at room temperature.[14] C. albicans ferments glucose and maltose to acid and gas, sucrose to acid, and does not ferment lactose, which help to distinguish it from other Candida species.[15:Jawetz et al (1978), "Medical Mycology", Review of Medical Microbiology (13th ed.), pp. 276–278] For the first 6 months I was on an alkaline diet and SHOULD have been getting urine readings of 7.0 or above, I was constantly in the 5.0 - 6.0 range. THIS is why.....the fungus was creating its own acid in my system and even the diet couldn't overcome it. This is why the battle is SO difficult!

The facts really get confusing: it is doubted that the candida in our gut is the same candida that infects the rest of our body. In fact, the candida that causes thrush and yeast infections is thought to be different from the gut type, and there really is sparse evidence medically that the gut -type of candida "lives" in other areas of the body. However, through personal experimentation and reading other evidence, I believe there is a type of fungus that ails me. One can call it candida or anything else, but it responds similarly to treatments for "candida" and it blooms/wreaks havoc when fed by things that feed "candida" (When I say "candida", I'm referring to the "yeast infection" type.

As far as diet - as I mentioned I do believe that sugar, including sweet fruit, is a culprit.

I'm going to diverge for a minute: I am a specialist in coaching those affected by ADHD and I am very knowledgeable about many issues that affect those on the autism spectrum. One thing noted by many parents of autistic kids was their LOVE of milk. These kids would easily consume a gallon of milk a day. They would forgo food, and just have milk. In fact, if denied milk or told to wait until later, these kids would throw a MASSIVE fit. Just being kids, right? Milk is good for you, right? This is of course what these parents thought - and they were more than happy to provide the milk. However - look at this daily practice. The child is addicted to milk! As Chinese medicine teaches, everything must be in balance . No excess of anything! It turns out that there is a compound in milk that is not broken down properly by some austistic kids and it turns into a barbituate! These kids were drugging themselves on a seemingly harmless food, and the results were affecting their brains.

Why do people like us LOVE fruit, LOVE sugar, and find it super hard to give up? Because there is a part of our body that NEEDS it (call it "candida" or whatever else). It literally throws a FIT when we deny giving it what it wants. That's the healing crises we feel. When I had my bad experience trying to fast, I had done everything right, was drinking lots of water, and was prepared for it to be bad. However, some of us are so toxic that we should never undertake such a move because the effects CAN be life-threatening! I did not have medical insurance at the time of my experience, and was REALLY scared. Luckily, a chiropactor friend knew how to do some things to detox my kidneys and I of course stopped the fast.

So- back to the diet issue - since becoming vegan 8 years ago and at that time cutting out all bread, I severely limit my intake of yeast products and breads in general. Finding information on the 8-1-1 diet (not to be discussed at length on this forum, but it is a fruit-based diet), I tried it as an experiment (the debate is whether oil or fruit is the culprit in these "candida" illnesses). I did not feel well on it. Contrastingly, I when I follow a no-sugar, no-fruit, no bread diet, I feel MUCH better. So for me, the sugar is the culprit I believe.

Ultimately, following a raw-food diet is best, because it replaces the grains with vegetables that I can fill up on. I have been told that with "candida", I should avoid high-sugar veggies like carrots, but I think there is only so much limiting we can do and stay healthy, so I don't limit those things, although I don't eat a pound of carrots a day, either!!! When I first went raw, I ate a small bag of baby carrots throughout the day. It kept my mouth busy, my tummy working on something, and feed the "sugar monsters" enough to avoid detox symptoms. The fiber in carrots really slows down the release of sugar, so they are definitely better than fruit, and fructose is a different sugar as well.

Finally, my current favorite drink (in addition to water) is filtered water with fresh organic lemon juice (I have a prolific lemon tree in my back yard - makes raw food prep simple!), 2 Tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar, stevia to taste, and ice as you like it. I make a very large cup of it (probably 20 ounces) and sip it throughout the day. Sometimes I feel my sinuses swelling near the end of the day, and I know I'm being too harsh on the "candida" and to back off a bit. I learned this by experience......if I don't back off, I get massive sinus swelling and a migraine that lasts a good 5 days. Instead, little by little I'm digging away at their foothold :-)

I'm glad I've helped a bit....seems I've ruffled a few feathers which was far from my intention :-( The road to recovery from a state of ill-health (whatever label you put on it!) can be long, but any road is full of interesting learning opportunities, so it can certainly be enjoyed! Good luck :-)

[Harmony_me]

I should mention that I began my fight against "candida" 16 years ago. My daughter at age three had continual ear infections and was always on antibiotics. I read that probiotics could help. I began giving them to her daily (back then probiotics for kids were probably more processed and less effective than now). Within a month, her ears cleared up. I kept her on probiotics for about a year and she NEVER got another ear infection. Whenever she got a cold, I'd do the probiotics for about two weeks just to be safe. I don't believe in becoming "dependent" on probiotics.

I wondered if probiotics could help me with my sinus problems and began taking them myself. I have never had the same improvement as her, but I now believe it's because I have a massive problem and am sending in a pea-shooter to take care of it. A naturopath once told me that I need to increase the probiotic dosage until I begin to experience loose bowels - that's when I know I've reached just a TAD above the dose I need. I've taken 10 pills of high dosage (1 a day suggested use) probiotics and never had loose bowels. Who can afford to do that daily???

Since that time, I've taken almost every herb ever mentioned in any testing for sinus problems and/or candida. I never even noticed a slight improvement, and I am not very susceptible to the placebo effect one way or the other - I'm very in tune with my body. Only after following a raw food regimen for a year did I begin to notice positive effects from other herbal remedies like caprylic acid. I believe my infestation was so bad that all the remedies I tried could not possibly be a help until my body was brought to a more balanced state of PH.

I just mention these facts to show that I've been experimenting on myself for a very long time and the things I mention are those that have been discussed as helping with "candida" and some of which have helped me.

PS: mazal you asked if probiotics can "heal" candida. I don't believe you can "heal" candida....the goal is to restore balance to your body. In my young daughter's case, it seems to have eliminated the "infection" in her ears, but she had vaginal yeast infections on and off during her childhood. When there is a sign of imbalance, I believe probiotics might help.

[SunshineMN]

Harmony, have you tried home fermented foods at all? They have way more active probiotics than you could ever get in a pill and for pennies a day. Water kefir, kumboucha, sauerkraut, almost any veggie can be pickled. I plan on doing this soon as I had lots of antibiotics since I was a child as well. I think it's one of the major things that have affected my health all my life. I need to get my gut flora healthy so the rest of me can get healthy too!

[Harmony_me]

Hi Sunshine MN,

That is a great suggestion :heart: I was 70% raw for about a year and 100% raw for two years and during that time I consumed a great deal of high quality, natural, raw fermented foods. I actually really like them, so it was a treat :-) My favorites are raw sauerkraut (which I haven't made in a couple of years now) and raw kombucha tea, which I still drink regularly. Like everything I've tried, I could not claim that it doesn't help. I can say, though, that it doesn't resolve my overgrowth. However, after more years of experimentation with diet, I now believe that I would need to follow a raw diet low in sugar (meaning few to no sweet fruits, dried fruits, agave, dates, etc). A combination of that and the fermented foods you suggest might just be the ticket!

Just to be clear, though, I do think fermented foods are fantastic and excellent for your health. Bring on the sauerkraut :throwhearts: