THE ANTI-CANDIDA DIET - WHAT TO EAT AND WHAT TO AVOID
Are you suffering from candida overgrowth? The anti-candida diet can significantly reduce your symptoms and rid your body of candida fungal infection. It is a low carb anti-inflammatory diet to heal the gut and nourish the body. Read on to learn about the what foods you should avoid and which foods you can eat on an anti-candida diet.
Clearing the body of Candida overgrowth can be a challenging process. It requires a combination of dietary and lifestyle changes not only to eliminate the current infection, but also to prevent its reoccurrence and to maintain a healthy gut.
Candida is a naturally occurring yeast in the body that feeds on sugar. A typical western diet is commonly high in sugars, providing the fuel for candida to grow out of control. When candida growth exceeds the body’s ability to balance with good gut bacteria, it damages the intestinal lining causing Leaky Gut, and triggers the body’s inflammatory and auto-immune responses. In addition, the candida cells themselves release toxins into our bodies, all resulting in a cacophony of different candida overgrowth symptoms. You can learn more about candida overgrowth symptoms in my previous blog post here.
In order to prevent further growth, an anti-candida diet is needed to starve the candida cells, heal the gut, and restore balance in the body.
STEP 1 – ELIMINATE HARMFUL FOODS
An Anti-Candida Diet is predominantly a low carb diet to remove the sugar (glucose) that candida thrives on. In addition, it is an anti-inflammatory diet eliminating foods that triggers the inflammatory and immune responses.
FOODS TO AVOID INCLUDE:
Sugar in all its forms including natural sugars like honey, agave, high sugared fruits and fruit juices
Foods high in carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread and starchy vegetables like potatoes
Foods containing gluten and grains including all wheat, oats, rice, and corn
Dairy in particular from cows, although grass-fed butter, kefir & probiotic yoghurt can be beneficial
Foods containing yeast often found in breads, stock cubes, beer
Fungi/mushrooms
Mould on blemished foods and mould matured cheese
Peanut, cashews and pistachios have a high mould content
Soy and soy products including tofu, soya milk, soy beans, soy sauce, and miso
Legumes and pulses such as peas, lentils, chickpeas, and beans
Alcohol
Caffeine (coffee & black tea)
At first glance this elimination list seems daunting and leaves you wondering what on Earth is left that you CAN eat. But while it seems extreme, note that as your body heals you can reintroduce some of these foods. Some foods however you may want to avoid or reduce in the long term such as gluten, to help protect your gut health & immune system.
STEP 2 – EAT FOODS TO NOURISH AND HEAL
While Step 1 of the anti-candida diet sounds like doom and gloom with such a long list of foods to be removed from your diet, the list of foods you CAN eat is HUGE! There are so many foods you can and should eat to nourish and heal the body.
An anti-candida diet is a low carb anti-inflammatory diet which really means it’s a diet of clean unprocessed foods with plenty of good protein, healthy fats, and veggies, and all the nutrients that come from them.
FOODS TO EAT INCLUDE:
ALL meat ideally organic
ALL fish ideally wild caught
Eggs from happy hens
ALL above ground grown vegetables (except legumes). Dark green leafy veg are high in micronutrients and low in carbs, colourful veg are packed with anti-oxidants
Small amounts of low starchy vegetables such as squash & carrot
Pseudo grains such as buckwheat and quinoa
Nuts and seeds including butters - except peanut, cashews & pistachios (due to their mould content)
Healthy fats from olive oil, coconut oil, sesame oil, flaxseed oil
Small amounts of dairy - grass-fed butter, kefir, probiotic yoghurt, and goat and sheep dairy can be eaten in later stages of the diet
Beverages – water, green and herbal teas, small amount of matcha, unsweetened almond milk
Sweeteners to replace sugar include stevia, xylitol & erithytol.
Include anti-fungal and gut healing foods such as garlic, oregano, cinnamon, apple cider vinegar, pau d’arco tea, and bone broth
One of the hardest things about such a diet can be dealing with cravings for banned foods, whether you have a sweet tooth for all things sugary or cake and desserts, or you’re a carb fiend and love your bread, rice and potatoes, or you miss texture that you can only get with certain foods like crunchy crisps; food swaps and candida diet hacks are your saviours here.
Here are some great food substitutes to help you round out your meals and satisfy your tastebuds:
Starting an anti-candida diet can be a drastic change to your regular diet and eating habits, and can be overwhelming to begin with. It’s a big challenge that requires forethought, preparation, and more home cooking than you might be used to. You may feel terrible to begin with for many reasons:
the psychological effects of living and eating with restrictions can be hard to manage. Craving foods that you miss, not being able to eat out as freely as you might like, the extra work needed to prepare gut friendly meals, can all take its toll on your mental health.
your body will need some time to adapt to a low carb diet, transitioning from using carbs as its main source of fuel to fat-derived ketones. In particular if your brain is used to having a high and constant supply of carbs to function, you may feel the effects of it until it adapts to using fewer carbs and more ketones.
with reduced sugar intake the candida cells starve and eventually die, releasing all their toxins into your system. You may see an increase in candida symptoms when this happens. This is known as Candida Die Off.
As challenging as this will be, in the long term it will be worth it. The new changes will become routine, helping you to build a sustainably healthier diet, and as your body heals you can slowly reintroduce some foods back into your diet. I would however suggest that sugar and gluten be limited to help maintain a healthy gut system and prevent re-occurrence.
The anti-candida diet sounds like a huge restrictive diet but basing your meals around having a hearty portion of protein, plenty of vegetables, and lots of healthy fats, will not only help your body fight Candida and rid yourself of your symptoms, but in general the clean unprocessed food will nourish the body, giving it the nutrients it needs to improve and maintain good health.