trying to get the candida to vamoose while vegan
So as I touched upon in my last post – it’s not the moon’s fault…. my weird “funk” at the moment can be most likely (as diagnosed by Dr.Lou.reads.lots.of.health.books MD) be attributed to a candida overgrowth.
Yummy.
My eczema has flared up, my memory is ridiculously bad at times, I feel the “brain fog”, and there are other unpleasant symptoms which I am also experiencing.
Reflecting on my diet of the past few months – it’s excellent. Excellent for 2 reasons:
1) Vegan, whole foods with appropriate supplementation.
2)Excellent candida yeast-inducing food.
Apparently I’m doing this to myself – the candida loves my diet almost as much as me.
If you are unsure about candida (join the club) it basically feeds on sugar and starchy carbs. Sugar is sugar whether it be from a banana or the sugar-bowl to candida, and the fact that I eat a LOT of fruit is not helping my cause. When I say a LOT of fruit, I mean a LOT – on a daily basis I will munch my way through at least 2 apples, 1 banana, 1 pear, 6ish medjool dates, a handful of raisins (and no I did not get a stomach ache, nor am I a caterpillar). Add to the argument that my love for starchy carbs in the form of sweet potato, carrots and pumpkin is sort of kind of out of control. Don’t get me started on the amount of high carb beans and pulses I go through.
It is a sad day indeed, but I have decided to cut out ALL sugar/fruit to try and get my skin under control. Pleasepleaseplease work as I am getting married in OH 3 weeks and would rather not have a delicious red oozy rash seeping out from the armholes of my dress. Yummy.
Avocado, stevia, lucuma and cacao Pudding.
Here’s MY plan to beat the nasties…. oh yes I’m going to struggle – this is the problem with a VEGAN anti-candida eating plan…. the annoying question of ‘where DO you get your protein from!?’ actually rings true this time. Luckily I can keep my calories up with good fats (which are an additional source of protein) – I may just have to rely on protein powder for a few weeks and see if this can help me rid myself of the yeastie-beasties.
Lots of:
- Leafy Greens
- Broccoli/Cauli etc
- Capsicums, cucumber, green beans, zuccinni, beets etc.
- Sauerkraut
- Kimchi
- Almonds (milk, butter, etc)
- Sesame seeds (tahnini)
- Coconut (oil, butter, milk, cream)
- Chia Seeds
- Sunflower seeds
- Dandelion/Chicory root blend “coffee”
- Walnuts
- Garlic
- Avocado
- RAW sprouted brown rice protein powder
- Herb teas (nettle, chamomile, Pau D’arco, neem, echinacea, )
So much herbal tea.
- Miso
- Tempeh
- Tofu
- Quinoa
- Buckwheat
- Amaranth
- Rice milk
Avoid:
- Fruit (all forms)
- All forms of sugar
- Starchy carbs (potato, sweet potato etc)
- Kombucha
- Pulses/beans (apart from small amounts of soy)
I am also cutting back my coffee to 1 (!) in the morning. You do not want to find out what happens if I were to ban it completely. I will use stevia to sweeten.
Here are some of my notes/thoughts:
I’m on DAY 2…. and I admit, I’m struggling a little – thoughts: Cutting out my mid-day coffee has had an effect on me BIG time- headachey, fuzzy feeling space cadet. I’m missing my sweets. I love vegetables, don’t get me wrong, but they BORE me compared to fruit…. I miss my legumes and bean sludge. I’m having fresh veggie juices, but I’m finding it hard to get FULL.
Coconut has been my saviour…. a smoothie of full fat coconut milk, cacao, stevia and protein powder was delicious. Coconut flour makes a great voluminous “cereal” with buckwheat groats and flax seed. Coconut butter drizzled on chia seed pudding.
Emotional…. feel overwhelmed easily. Head foggy. A teething toddler up half the night screaming doesn’t help!. Constantly hungry. Drinking LOTS of dandelion/chicory “coffee: instead of the real stuff. Tis good.
I think I’m going through a mini-detox. Hopefully I’ll come out on top.
Anyone else had experience with getting rid of candida?
35 Responses to “trying to get the candida to vamoose while vegan”
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Vegan. Stay at home Mum of Misty. Yoga teacher in training. Passionate about REAL food - creating it, eating it, sharing it. I can never stick to a recipe.
Yup, I had all sorts of weirdo intestinal stuff after clobbering my system with antibiotics for about 6 weeks before they figured out I had glandular fever. My symptoms were crushing depression, bad skin, achey joints and my first and only bout of the most fun thing ever: thrush. I got rid of it all by living on broth for two weeks. Every morning I’d throw veges and meat (including the bones, which have awesome minerals and MSM in them) into the crock pot and that was me for the day. The final kick in the pants for it was six days on the diet.net elimination diet. Then probiotics, MSM. n-acetyl-d-glucosamine (gut healing nutrients). You could do it by adding oily fish to your diet rather than the meat if you think you could handle it for a few weeks. Herbal tea: pau d’arco. It’s a candida killer. The other thing you really need to be getting into is vitamin D, which helps to regulate the inflammation response that is causing your eczema. The good thing with gut healing is that the villi are the fastest replacing cells in the body and you can get an amazing improvement in 6-10 days if you do it right.
Oh SWEET, thanks for that info, Sara (you’re amazing!) I had never had thrush until I got pregnant and my immune system got SLAMMED and I started getting as these infections all over my body (so bad I had to have a few cut out) so yes, of course I had to go on anti biotics (while pregnant, arrrrrrgh!) and I haven’t been quite “right” ever since.
Yes yes, pau d’arco is brilliant, I’ve been drinking it daily…. Will get onto some Vit D + pro biotics tomorrow…. you’re comment has made me feel HEAPS better, thank you
Dude, I actually just reached the same conclusion about myself- I have been having skin issues, serious brain fog and lack of energy (as I’ve discussed on my blog). Not to mention an inability to absorb nutrients lol. I also eat a diet that is great food for that candida- kombucha, fruit, etc. I just decided yesterday I was going to tackle it head on and cut out all the foods you listed. Oh timing! This is actually perfect though- someone to keep me on track and accountable!
I’m also trying to do proper food combining for the first time ever to see if that helps.
Dude – I was actually thinking of you, and mulling it over that it may be YOUR problem too! Yay, at least we can support each other through this tedious little diet-tweak (boo I MISS FRUIT!!)
Wow, food combining AS WELL!? I’m impressed…. but wow is that super hard with all the diet restrictions?
It could definitely be tricky- day one and I’m struggling! I might take a step back and just sort out the candida issues first then go from there! I spent today with so little energy so I don’t want to repeat it lol
I hear you on missing fruit- my normal breakfast is a green smoothie, and I often have one for a snack as well! Thank goodness for stevia though.
Yay for being anti-candida buddies
Man I am having MEGA sweetie cravings, hurrah for stevia for sure. Coconut flour is my saviour too… that’s my “cereal” mixed with protein powder, cacao and lucuma at the moment. I’ve been making little “chocolates” – almond butter, coconut oil, stevia, cacao and then chilled in the fridge until they set…. apparently coconut oil is a great anti-fungal so I’m eating heaps!
Get some Pau D’arco tea into you!
Just ordered some along with some lucuma powder to replenish my stock! I have a feeling I’m gonna need it over the next few weeks! I just made some dinner with lots of veggie sauteed in coconut oil. I have a feeling I’ll be upping my intake of healthy fats to help me feel satisfied without the sweet.
I am a fat-eating-beast at the moment…. MAN it’s SO much harder to feel satisfied. Fingers crossed we both have success, huh? x
Seriously. I’m definitely keeping my fingers crossed for you- your wedding is so soon! All that fat you’re eating should help your skin and hair either way
Oh gosh, what a leap to take – but it sounds like you have been dealing with a lot of hassle and I can appreciate anything would be worth trying when you’re stuck with symptoms like those you list! I do live somewhat in fear of one day being told I need to reduce fruit for candida reasons. I can’t imagine living without it (but I appreciate that’s unhelpful to say right now) – but am sure you will adjust and I’ll look forward to seeing your new dishes.
Also, thanks so much for your kind offer re. Whittakers coconut chocolate. I wasn’t thinking when I wrote that as I have actually eaten their coconut chocolate (duh!), but I think I had dark chocolate in mind and of course their coconut one is milk. But thank you, that was really kind of you
I love fruit. Oh so much. It’s so sad, but this must be done – for my own good
Hey, maybe we should organise an inter-state foodie swap at some stage? I bet Perth has some brilliant products not available here and vice versa – Yummo
lots of kimichi, no sugar indeed, and maybe coconut kefir. That helps! sad about the tempeh but i will be back. later..
Yes yes, I need to get some new kefir grains (killed the last lot) to get making me some pro biotics! Boo, it sucks, but fingers crossed I get rid of the beastie!
oh, poor lou! I’m sorry that you’re not feeling 100% and I hope these dietary changes help! I’m doing the no-fruit thing, too, and finding a new love for avocado! (while keeping up with my current crush on all things coconut).
I mixed some coconut flakes with coconut milk and I think I groaned! I look forward to savory recipes!
I just made a pretty good lunch bowl…. cauli flower rice, wakame, cucumber, a little grilled tofu in a tahini/ginger/apple cider vinegar dressing…. oh yeah with a MONSTER avocado ( amazing avos!) I have ALWAYS been such a fruit-muncher, so my body is actually going through a sort of withdrawal I think – argh. Fingers crossed this works! x
Good luck my darling! And kudos for having the courage to post that photo right after talking about red seepage. That’s why I luvs ya.
I actually generally prefer munching on veggies to fruit, but dear heavens I would fail at life without sugar. (I’m totally eating a block of chocolate in my hotel room right now, but hey! It’s raw chocolate! With hemp, chia, and flax seeds!)
Wedding soon squee!
A life without sugar sucks. BIG time. Oh my sweet medjool babies I miss you so. Hopefully once I can get these yeastie beasties under control we wil be reunited.
I want raw chocolate.
I have just gotten rid of candida that I had for years and not been diagnosed until I went to a naturopath (didn’t have thrush, but other symptoms). What worked for me was going off the sugar/fruit and then adding in loads of probiotics, garlic tablets, fresh garlic, vitamin c and lots and lots of coconut oil (has caprylic acid which is a natural way to kill off candida). Hope you get better soon. It’s such a pain to have!
Welcome, Sonia! (LOVE your blog by the way) – thanks so much for those tips… it’s a bit of a struggle for me at the moment as I am SUCH a fruit-munching-beast so it’s like I’m having withdrawals from fruit (!) Good idea on the garlic tablets – I’ve been eating as much fresh garlic as I can handle but tablets are a good idea to supplement. I am eating SO much coconut oil (good thing it’s delicious, huh?)
I know exactly how you feel. I lived on fruit and green smoothies!! It was the hardest thing to not eat. Looking forward to following your blog. Just came across you yesterday via something somebody shared on Facebook!
Glad you found me…. I’ve been following your blog for a little while, and I just love it. Nice to “meet” like-minded Mamas, huh?
I just went and got some garlic tablets/ pro biotics/Pau D’arco tea…. I’m determined to beat this thing!
Oh, no fruit? *whimper* I’d do anything to get rid of eczema, but wow you’re a strong woman for trying this! You can totally do it.
I totally can’t, I’d give up after about 10 minutes. I really don’t want to sound like I’m selling you anything but MooGoo MSM Soothing cream (it’s vegan) is my saviour in the skin department. Well, that and total suds avoidance. Good luck with the diet regimen! And may you get your fruit back soon!
Tell me about it…. my body is having serious withdrawals as it is used to SO much fruit and now I am denying it, sigh. Fingers crossed!
I will totally check out the MooGoo (I think I’ve seen it) – sounds fantastic and I love the name
I am hoping and praying I will be in fruity heaven again soon.
Best of luck – what a challenge! No doubt you are up to it and will come out the other side feeling and looking better and probably with some great recipes and ideas to share. I’m a fruit junkie myself, way out of balance to my veggie intake.
Ah, yes it is a great challenge indeed. The things we do for health, huh? Self inflicted mind, you – I’ve been a fruit munching beast (at least 5 pieces of fresh everyday not to mention all the dried fruit I scoff) so I have basically been feeding this horrible nasty yeastie business. BOO.
I am totally up for the challenge, and although I’m struggling a little at the moment, I’m sure I am going to learn a whole lot in the process…. thinking positive!
oh no! Certainly the challenge will be worth it when you come out the other side feeling & looking better. So, is the skin rash the tell-tell sign of candida? Sending positive vibes your way.
There are heaps of symptoms for candida…. bad skin, sugar cravings, memory loss, brain “fog”, fatigue…. just to name a few! It’s really hard to diagnose…. but I reckon it’s my problem for sure. Thanks for the vibes…. I need them
x
Oh my gosh! We are the same wave-length, lady! I’ve been thinking about doing this for a month now! I bought Natalia Rose’s “Detox for Women” book, which is an anti-candida program…I think I’m starting in September! Good luck! I’ll look forward to reading more about how it goes!
It seems to be a rather common complaint in women from the response I’ve gotten. Evil yeast.
It’s tough – but I sure do hope it is worth my while
I’m starting to believe that candida exists in epic proportions among women (and men, too, but not as much). What you describe sounds almost exactly like my situation when I started the anti-candida diet 3 years ago. It IS a difficult diet, but it does get easier, and rashes DO clear up (well, most of the time, anyway.
). Good luck with it and hang in there! Your pudding looks scrumptious. 
Thanks Ricki! (and welcome!) Your support is SO appreciated…. I totally agree that candida is a VERY common complaint – the response I’ve had when explaining what I am doing has been huge so many – ‘Wow! I have those symptoms!’…. scary, huh?