Why did you have to change your diet? Did a doctor suggest this? What's a "sugar detox?"

A few years ago I had to change my diet to something similar. I am not going to lie it was really tough. It was depressing. There are resourced out there, there are several good books on candida, that you can find on amazon. You are basically on a low carb diet so that is what I would search for, and then make any necessary changes.

don't forget beans- I made chickpeas from dry yesterday; they are so much better than from the can

also: you can make non-dairy cheddar cheese that's really good: see 101 cookbooks.

we love that recipe- my husband (who eats real cheese) loves it too; we're having it tomorrow for dinner.

lots of ethnic foods are high in veggies- mexican: rice, beans, veggies, tofu sour cream, guacamole--Yum!

good luck!l

Candida is the name of a type of yeast is the point of this diet to restrict things that allow for the growth of yeast?

The candida diet is pretty similar to low-carbing, which I do for diabetes. Dana Carpender has a series of low-carb cookbooks that actually have some really good recipes in them - sometimes she relies too much on things like artificial sweeteners, but I tend to leave these out and the recipes turn out well anyway.

Good luck to you on your diet! I've been sugar-free for over 5 years and it's made a dramatic difference in my health (including resolving many of the issues that the candida diet is often recommended for).

i was on sort of low carb diet back in the day; I would never touch sweets and only eat 1 slice of bread (whole grain only) the most everyday. Although I was able to be lean, but I found myself depriving myself from great food. Another drawback was that once my body had adapted low carb and "clean" diet, it could absorb any extra sugar or fat immediately if I were to have them slightly more than I usually had. I'd gain 2 lbs on any given night if I were to add an extra bowl of rice on top of my veggies and chicken breast. In addition, when I went out with my friends, people always looked at me awkwardly because I wouldn't touch even a glass of wine (expensive wine that we had for our table). Anyways...my point is that, unless you have medical issue, why go on a diet? Just eat normally with proper portion and make sure you exercise frequently. I guarantee you'd look just as beautiful if not better. Trust me...I have crashed very hard after dieting for triathlon races. and I am NEVER EVER doing that again. I am drinking beer on the weekend and eating tons of pasta and Italian bread, and gourmet fried rice, and I still consider myself healthy! good luck, hope you will succeed in planning your meals.

test

what about eggs? baked with herbs, soft boiled on seed crackers (mary's gone crackers are awesome), scrambled with chèvre.

curried lentils? make a huge batch on monday and have them as a side or over salads all week.

lettuce wraps? you can stuff pretty much anything into a nice leaf of bib - salmon with lemon, dill and a smear of chèvre or dijon, deli cold cuts with thinly sliced bell peppers, chicken with oregano and goat's milk yogurt tzatziki

SWEET! Sorry about the above post but I have been getting errors for like 2 months, and needed to make sure I could comment! I FINALLY just opened a new account, so I guess it works... yay! Okay, anyway...

I have been following the Primal Blueprint since the beginning of the year, and its very similar to the Candida diet. I make small concessions for carbs though I try to stay under 80g a day. Ive been big on curries and roasts lately.

Breakfast for me is egg whites (no yolks, Im allergic) with salsa or mexican spices and a little cheese, some long fermented strained yogurt (longer fermentation decreases the lactose and straining it reduces it even further), and tea. If I can throw some meat in, even better!

Lunch I will have Some stir fried veg and some meat, or a big salad with some meat on it, or some soup (I make big pots of soup often).

Dinner will be some meat and veg. A good curry made with coconut milk is always tasty! Last night I had zucchini pancakes (made with egg whites and coconut flour) and roast chicken (with herbs de provence) and some berries (or mousse) for dessert. A few nights ago I made duck with blueberry sauce.

Snacks are nuts or veg or fruit or even kippers! Lol.

You should check out marksdailyapple(dot)com its the PB thing, but there are a lot of good ideas! If you needmore ideas I am happy to help and you can leave your email and Ill send you some ideas!

One mega-plus of this is tat I am eating less calories b/c I stay full longer... awesome. :)

I was on the candida cleanse earlier this year to help get myself back on top of things and although tough it does help a great deal and I found the best thing was knowing about Xylitol, it's a corn husk and/or berry derived sugar which is safe for diabetics and those doing a candida cleanse because it is a sugar alcohol and your body doesn't absorb it and it tastes better than sugar... nothing synthetic and gross like Splenda and Steevia etc.

Try it! It's found a health food stores and it just tastes a little richer than regular sugar almost malty...everyone I've lent it to LOVES it and they use it all throughout Europe so it's known to be the healthiest alternative to white sugar. I would often make hot cocoa using cocoa and Xylitol and skim milk, tastes great and fools you into thinking you can have your cake and eat it too!

One warning about Xylitol, and any other sweetener ending in -ol (maltitol, lactitol) - they can cause extreme gastric distress is some individuals.

Gosh I know how tough these restrictive diets can be. I'm a dietitian and counsel people on this sort of diet all the time.

What I suggest to patients is first, shift your thinking. Don't think about what you can't have -- instead, make a list of all the things you can have. Shifting your thoughts to a more optimistic outlook is very helpful for people.

The candida diet is basically a paleolithic diet (what our hunter gatherer ancestors ate before we started farming). I would suggest getting some books on that subject as they will be very helpful. The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain is a great place to start (and, it has lots of recipes).

(The paleolithic diet, btw, I consider to be the healthiest eating pattern. So good for you for doing it.)

Eggs are a great idea! Frittatas are your friend.

Another tip: don't let yourself get hungry. Once you get hungry, your blood sugar drops and your brain can't deal which makes "what to eat?" all the more difficult. I also suggest sitting down over the weekend and planning out your meals for the whole week. Getting organized with what you're eating will take the strain out of the day-to-day.

One commenter suggested beans. Be careful with beans. Although they are a terrific food, they are high in carbohydrates which feed yeast.

@reggiesoang: she never said she was doing this diet for vanity reasons; you shouldn't jump to that conclusion. There are many medical reasons to go on a candida diet. For example, anyone on long term antibiotics (such as for Lyme disease) would benefit from this. As for your experiences: there are w likely reasons for why you'd immediately gain 2 lbs after eating extra rice or wine. First, after eating such low carbs you were probably gaining a little weight from replenishing your glycogen stores (stored carbohydrate). Glycogen can hold 3 times it's weight in water. So, 1 cup of rice also adds 3 cups of water; this works out to about 2 lbs body weight. Also, food intolerances/allergies can cause a lot of water-weight gain too. When you'd drink wine and swell up the next day, that was most likely a yeast allergy. If eating bread or pasta did the same thing, that could very well be a hidden wheat or gluten allergy. Although I agree with you that life is too short not to eat good food, you most certainly were healthier when you were eating the restrictive diet than eating pizza and beer 30% of the time (2 d/week).

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. I am the person who requested your thoughts.

For the record, it was definitely NOT a weight issue. I'm 5'6 and weighed 120-122 before this diet. Now I'm at 115 and honestly, am a bit thinner than I'd like to be. This may sound obnoxious, but it's meant in all honesty. I lose weight with stress or anxiety but am blessed with a great metabolism. I'm over 40, so this is clearly genetic. I do exercise but not nearly as much as one might think.

I'm from NY, come from an ethnic background and am a HUGE foodie. But several people's counts, I was consuming about 3,500 calories a day so you can imagine that I basically ate whatever I wanted. I can tell you that I didn't drink soda, don't eat things like chips and junk food, NEVER eat fast food (ok, In and Out Burger 3x a year), and never used artificial sweeteners. I did eat a ton of bread, cheese, pasta, potatoes... big filling food. I do have a sweet tooth and did have dessert everyday, twice a day and consumed about a pint or two of Haagen Dazs each week. I know, it's hard to imagine that I didn't gain weight, and I wasn't exercising everyday. I ate everything from meat to chicken to fish (though I don't like cooking fish -- I'd eat it if I went out) and while I ate veggies and salads, they were a small part of my regular diet. I know I must embrace them now, but they do not satiate me the way my mac and cheese did... or the way my meat lasagnas did.. and I ate a whole lot of that.

I always loved eggs so I still eat them -- only now I make 4 at a time and throw them over rice so that I can keep some calories going. But I am a little sick of eating eggs every morning. I used to have 2 breakfasts a day -- eggs and then something like waffles. Now, I am trying to deal with yogurt and granola. It's o-kay, but not the same for me. I'm all about delicious food and I'm not satiated.

My doctor found I had issues with yeast (rye bread was an easy substitute -- no sugar and acceptable apparently on the yeast scale) -- then told me I was having digestive issues (yes, I love beans and overloaded on them to substitute for that 'substantial' food feeling). I now have to pull back. I can't do too much dairy either. So I try and do the yogurts every other day (I use Fage 2% which is Greek plain yogurt with less sugar than most) and 100% sugar free granola.

I went to a nutritionist to help but that was marginally helpful. She told me to 'moderate' and I am already --- but I can't find foods that I really love.

Do you have cookbooks you swear by? Are there recipes for veggies that are easy and delicious (I work 12 hour days and love cooking but these days don't have much time). I honestly do not like having salad at lunch. I do it, but don't like it. If I throw veggies on it, I am still unsatiated from a flavor perspective.

I cannot stomach soy. Period. So it's not an option.

And after all this, I am also to be 'watchful' of too much wheat.

So, this may sound ridiculous to you, but food was one of the big loves of my life. People came to me to find out where to eat, what to eat, etc. Now I am left paralyzed because I actually have anxiety when it's time to eat. I know I won't really LOVE anything. I make sure I go out once a week and just eat something great, so that I have one day a week I can have great tasting food.

But if I want my body healthy, I have to try to figure out how to do this in a more mindful manner. Recipes help. Cookbooks help. Any advice to this end helps.

Thanks to everyone who has already contributed.

a great vegetarian cookbook:

vegetarian cooking for everyone.
by deborah madison's

also: veganomicon
by isa chandra moskowitz and terry hope romero's

good luck!

@cascata - Thanks for posting your details. You are very blessed indeed to have such a great metabolism. I'm jealous. :)

At 5'6" your "ideal" body weight is 117 - 143 lbs. So, at 115 you're doing ok and obviously a few extra pounds would be better.

I can see being hungry is you were used to eating 3500 kcal/day. Yikes. It sounds like you were definitely on a pro-candida diet.

A few ideas:

* I would ask your dr if you can do a course of antifungals like fluconzole (30 - 60 days) to wipe out the yeast, and then go back to a moderate carb (40% CHO) diet to prevent recurrence. (Rather than trying to get rid of the yeast simply through diet which is making your life a living hell)

* eat lots of protein -- protein is satiating to the appetite; carbs and fat aren't. To make yourself feel more full, eat lots of protein (meat, eggs). Try to get 15-20g protein with each meal, 10-15 g with each snack (if possible). 3 T almond butter has about 14 g protein; 1.5 oz cheese has about 7 g; 1 egg has 7 g

* you mentioned having trouble with dairy; usually this is caused by the high amount of casein protein in cow's milk. Goat milk is very low in casein, so give that a try. The 2% Fage is an excellent source of protein (17g/container); if it doesn't give you problems stick with it.

* eat a lot of fiber which is filling; fruits, vegetables and beans are good sources; avocados have a ridiculous amount so have lots!

* if beans are giving you a problem: rinse canned beans before using; if using dried, throw out the soaking water before cooking. Beans contain an indigestible carbohydrate which the bacteria in your gut LOVE, which causes some GI compliants. Rinsing the beans helps reduce this.

* probiotics -- take lots if you aren't already to replenish the good bacteria in your gut which will help keep the yeast population down. Yogurt is not enough, you need as supplement. Get one that's enteric coated. I like Natrol BioBeads. Take FIVE (5) of them a day (do NOT take with antibiotics). VitaminShoppe.com has a great price.

* eat a meat vegetables diet; think like a caveman. The protein will fill you up.

* maybe mac cheese with low carb pasta would work? (although, good luck finding one that isn't filled with soy)

* how about broccoli or cauliflower and cheese? Maybe that would have the richness you're looking for.

* toss roasted or cooked vegetables with butter and grated parm

* fat will help add calories. Go to town with butter, olive oil and coconut oil

Here are some books I like:

* The Moosewood Daily Special -- vegetarian, but easily adapted to use meat; this book is soups and salads, and the recipes are terrific

* Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without by Mollie Katzen -- an inspired collection of vegetable dishes

* Grain-Free Gourmet by Jodi Bager -- lots of recipe alternatives for grain-based foods like muffins, etc. This will have some good resources.

* The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain (mentioned in previous comment) -- this will help with the meat vegetable pattern of eating

Good luck!

Hi,

About a year ago I started a gluten free diet for similar reasons. It's great that your doctor was able to help you, as I had to figure this one out on my own. There are glutenfree forums out there that are amazingly helpful and I am sure there are ones for candida too. I find that eating spanish/mexican type foods are the easiest to handle, flavorful and relatively simple to prepare. If you can eat corn, you can do corn tortillas. Its also easy on the wallet.

Its a difficult thing to undertake but if it helps you feel good it should be worth it. Good luck.

http://www.candidayeastthrushforum.com/

Seems like it might be helpful.

Cookbooks:

"FAT" by Jennifer McLagan: has really great ideas on how to use animals fats (for your calories and to keep you full) and cook meats (also to keep you full). I love the book!

"Jaime at Home" by Jame Oliver: has some really good recipes using primaritly meats and veg.

Recipes:

Coconut flour pancakes (via cheeseslave[dot]com), these are good b/c its low carb as the coconut is mostly fiber!
3 eggs
3 tablespoons butter or coconut oil
3 tablespoons whole milk (you can use goat)
1 1/2 teaspoons rapadura (I used maple syrup once and left the sugar out once... its good either way)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Mix and cook in melted butter/ nonstick spray over medium heat just like mormal pancakes. I ssume this recipe would work to make waffles too!

Chili (from marksdailyapple[dot]com)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 onions, diced
3 pasilla peppers, seeded and diced
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
1 green pepper, diced
3 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes, crushed
1 dark beer (I used stock instead)
2-4 tablespoons canned chipotle chile, diced
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Grated queso fresco, for garnish
Cilantro leaves, for garnish
Lime wedges, for garnish
Heat a large heavy bottomed pot over medium heat; add 3 tablespoons olive oil, the onions, pasilla peppers, and red and green peppers. Cook until everything is soft and the onions are beginning to caramelize, about 10 minutes.
Pat the beef dry and season it with salt and pepper. Add it to the pot and cook, stirring frequently, until it has browned on all sides, about 10 minutes.
Add oregano, paprika, coriander, cumin, chili powder, garlic, tomatoes, beer and chipotle (add as little as one teaspoon to the whole can depending on how hot you’d like your chili).
Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the meat and shred it with a fork.
Return it to the pot, and cook for another 10 minutes, uncovered, to thicken. Right before you are ready to serve add the red wine vinegar to the pot and stir. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with the queso fresco, cilantro, and lime for garnish.

Chicken and coconut soup is super yummy! You can google it for a recipe, its pretty simple.

Salmon "sushi" rolls
I just take a mori sheet and fill it with whatever I have: Salmon or other fish, avocado, cukes, geen onions, peppers, cabbage... whatever really! Rol it up, seal with a little water on the edge and slice. Dip into whatever sauce you like. I use sesame seed oil and soy sauce but the soy is fermented... so you could just serve it with ginger or something???

Ill have more for you if you like those! Just let me know.

Tara

These are all AMAZING suggestions.

A particular callout to 'ilovebutter' who was amazing in her response to me... I have been able to use some of this information and it has really helped.

I appreciate all the recipes as well (Taratootie 42, the chili recipe looks terrific!) I am ready to get going on "planning" my foods... thanks again. Cascata :)

I've done a similar diet and know how frustrating it can be. My solution - sauce! I ate a lot of meats and veggies, but some good flavor can make a big difference. Since vinegar is off limits, I used a lot of lemon in it's place, along with the allowable spices. I'd also think about some creamy nut "cheeses" as well!

I know this is late but have you discovered rice pastas? they are really good! I am gluten intolerant and currently doing the anti-candida diet and after the first couple weeks I was so happy to eat fruit and rice pasta again. Plus, goat cheese is wonderful. Really really good! I'm also lactose intolerant and have been drinking unsweetened soy milk. I recently started getting coconut drinking milk - its really good once you try a couple glasses of it to get used to the taste. I had a gluten free pancake this morning with almond butter and washed it down with the coconut milk. Yum!

Tonight I'm making a lamb chop for dinner I've marinated. I'm going to cook coconut milk rice (substitute the milk for the water) and roast yams (might be too starchy for you right now). These are all really filling and good.

Hope you are doing great on your diet!