The Anti-Candida Diet Prison

When I first discovered that I had a fungal infection my first instinct was to read everything I could on the topic and inform myself as best I could about how to best tackle the problem. Every source I found all mentioned the importance of a strict high protein and low sugar diet. Starving the fungus was the solution that everyone seemed to agree on.

I have to say from personal experience that the Anti-Candida diet is a trap and a guaranteed way to ensure that you'll never recover from a fungal infection. Anyone that recommends a Candida diet for more than 30 days doesn't know what they are talking about and is repeating dangerous advice. While cutting out high sugar or highly processed foods is an excellent idea, cutting sugar by itself is not the solution . This is because it fails to address the real problem of fungal infections which is that the fungus actually creates toxins that act as anti-enzymes. Meaning the fungus can actually sense how toxic you are and actively produces substances which are always trying to ensure that you can't digest your food or reduce your toxic state. If you don't address this you are ignoring a fundamental cause of infection and setting yourself up for failure.

On top of this, a high protein diet will cause ketosis. At first you may lose some weight and notice the fungus improving as toxic fat is reduced. All will seem wonderful. If prolonged this ketonic state will actually inflame the kidneys and this inflamed state interferes with the kidneys ability to remove the fungal toxins. After a while the lack of sugar is actually more toxic to your health because the lack of it prevents your adrenal glands from making cortisol to curb inflammation and keep your immune system in full gear.

In my experience a strict anti-candida diet in the long term actually locks you into a diseased state because the lack of sugar will over time begin to inflame your kidneys and adrenal glands. When this happens your ability to expel toxins through the kidneys decreases and gives the fungus an enormous amount of leverage. It sets the stage for fungus to keep a hold over you because your aversion to sugar then becomes a prison. I personally spent 5 years on this diet with little results. It was only when I had my enzymes in the right amounts and ate small amounts of sugar did I begin to see the infection improving. My kidneys were simply just exhausted from too much protein and recirculating toxicity.

The only way an anti-candida diet can be effective is if you have digestion perfect from the beginning with all the proper enzymes and high stomach acid. Then you rotate on and off it so than you can force the fungus to drain from the body and then safely return to small amounts of sugar in diet without feeding the fungus. It then becomes an effective tool that can be used occasionally to reduce toxic load. However, having to do this just proves that you still have other nutritional imbalances that need to be addressed that are negatively effecting natural enzyme production and the probiotic culture in your gut.

Another problem with the anti-candida high protein diet is that if you have sugar after a long period of not doing so then you may experience a herxheimer reaction that you think is worsening your condition. What may happen is that your immune system is shooting up as your deprived kidneys and adrenal glands use the sugar to heal you. A scary situation if you don't understand what is happening to you because then you start to believe you can't ever eat sugar again.

I have found that a small amount of apple sauce is a good way to ensure that you have very easy to digest sugar without going overboard. If you can't digest a small amount of apple sauce without making your infection worse then you probably have a problem with digestive enzymes, specifically amylase. I couldn't eat sugar at all without making my infection worse until I tried a few different formulas and got one that had more amylase in it. Then small amounts of sugar became my friend because it was being used by the body for stress hormones and my weakened kidneys.

What people need to focus on the most with a fungal infection is large amounts of probiotics and having the EXACT right amount of specific enzymes to ensure fermentation is reduced according to your personal needs. And this may be different for everyone since they are eating differently. However, the problem is that most over the counter enzyme formulas are not tailored to the individual and are instead providing a very standard dose of enzymes based on the companies personal conclusions as to what a standard dose should be. You have to experiment for yourself.

Most enzymes formulas provide a big dose of protease with less importance given to amylase and cellulase. I have found that while protease is the most effective enzyme in reducing a food source for fungus, Amylase may need to be supplemented separately to ensure that you are digesting carbs and not allowing the fungus to steal this fuel source from you. After ensuring that I have enough amylase in my meals I noticed that I could eat larger amounts of sugar while actually noticing the fungal infection reducing in severity. I believe this happened because the fungus actually prefers undigested and fermented sugars. Having amylase removes this fermented fuel source for fungus and instead allows your body to use the properly digested sugar. With more amylase I found I could stop worrying about sugar feeding fungus.

I recommend you buy protease, amylase, lipase, and cellulase all individually. A company called Avena Originals offers individual enzymes. Experiment by opening the capsules and sprinkling a quarter to half of the capsule on your meals. Do with this separately with each enzyme so that over a few weeks you will begin to notice the effect each one has on you and see what you may be lacking the most.

I also highly recommend a product called Candex which is a celluase based enzymes formula that is an incredibly powerful way to fight a fungal infection because it actually digests the fungus. Cellulase is an enzyme that is intended to digest fibre, and luckily the cellwall of fungus is made of fibre. When combined with probiotics you have a powerful weapon against fungus.

Another problem with the anti-candida diet that isn't addressed properly is inflammation. Fungal toxins are very irritating to tissues and organs. Inflammation can make it next to impossible to heal, especially if your liver or kidneys are inflamed. Long periods of being on a high-protein diet can aggravate the liver and kidneys. I recommend taking turmeric , bosweilla (for intestinal inflammation), bioflavonoids, quercetin, and upwards of 20 grams of vitamin C in the absorbic acid form. I've witnessed enormous improvements in allergies and my skin when using these.

Lastly, to ensure digestion is optimal I highly suggest you see a naturopath and get a food allergy test done. This is something even healthy people should get. You could literally spend the rest of your life with conditions that are being aggravated by food sensitivities and have no idea. If you can isolate food allergies you may begin to notice problems going away that you didn't even know you had because you have become so accustomed to them. If you don't address this problem you are going to have a very difficult uphill battle with Candida as the fungus will exploit the fermentation and allergic responses that are occurring because of them. And more importantly, you don't want to make dramatic changes to your diet without first knowing how your body will respond to all the new foods. Get a food allergy test done ASAP and you could potentially avoid years of wasted time.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Betaine HCL

Digestive Enzymes (May need to experiment with individual enzymes.)

Apple Sauce (2 to 4 tablespoons per meal). This supports your kidneys and adrenals.

Candex

Malic Acid - Huge amounts. Experiment for tolerance. Reduces uric acid in blood.
Molybdenum - Breaks down fungal alcohol poisons
Pantethine - Breaks down fungal alcohol poisons
Probiotics (Very strong brands are VSL and Metagenics Ultra Flora IB) It's a good idea to have these regularly throughout the day. Empty stomach may be better than with meals in my experience.

Anti-Inflammatory Cocktail - Turmeric (Buy it at bulkfood store), Bosweillia, Vitamin C Absorbic Acid, Quercetin, Bioflavonoids.

Fresh Lemon Juice - 4 to 8 lemons. This flushes your liver and kidneys of toxic buildup.
Hot & Cold Showering - 2 minutes freezing cold followed by one minute hot. This forces fresh blood to all your organs and cleans lymph system.

Food Allergy Testing - Go to naturopath and get one with at least 90 foods. Mine was from a company called US BioTek.