Although alternative medicine practitioners sometimes include conventional or natural antifungal medications in severe cases of candidiasis, diet is always an important part of healing. While the diet doesn’t get rid of yeast, it makes it harder for the unfriendly bacteria to thrive.
Traditionally, anti-Candida diets have been based on avoiding all sugar products, since yeast thrives on sugar, alcohol (composed of fermented and refined sugars), white flour, fermented and aged food products, and anything that contains yeast. Because meat, poultry, and dairy products routinely fed to conventionally reared livestock can contain trace amounts of antibiotics, consuming organic meat and poultry (without antibiotics or hormones) is recommended. It is advisable for allergy sufferers to avoid foods with yeast-stimulating molds (cheese, grapes, fermented foods and mushrooms) as well as environmental molds to which you may now be more susceptible.
The following program has been shown to be useful in treating candidiasis and is easier for patients to follow than some of the more restrictive diets.
Useful Foods – Chicken, turkey, lamb, cold-water fish such as salmon, halibut, and mackerel; all kinds of beans, lentils and dried peas; unsweetened live culture yogurt, milk substitutes such as rice milk, nut milk, and soy drinks; white potatoes, sweet potatoes; brown rice, tapioca, buckwheat, gluten-free products made from millet, corn, soy and arrowroot; unsweetened fresh or frozen fruit, canned fruit packed in water; almonds, cashews, pecans and walnuts and butter made from these nuts; pumpkin, sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and spreads made from these seeds; expeller-pressed, unrefined canola, flaxseed, and olive oils; all types of vegetables and freshly prepared vegetable juices.
Foods to avoid – beef, pork, cold cuts, frankfurters, sausage, canned meat; eggs; milk, cream, cheese, ice cream, non-dairy cream; all products made from wheat, wheat gluten, wheat flour, oats, spelt, kamut, rye, barley, amaranth, quinoa; coffee, black tea, cocoa, postum, soda, alcoholic beverages, citrus juices, sweetened fruit juices, strawberries, dried fruits, citrus fruits; Peanuts; margarine, shortening, refined oils; bottled salad dressings and spreads and spreads, butter (as far as unclarified); canned or creamed soups and vegetables; and fried foods.
Herbal Supplements – Also helpful for removing yeast is a formula called Candacin, which contains grapefruit seed extract, black walnut, goldenseal, and bearberry leaf. Chlorophyll tablets can chemically create an internal environment that is not conducive to Candida growth. The herb Pau d’Arco has also been found to be helpful in fighting Candida, as has aloe vera and biotin, a B vitamin (take with the other B complex vitamins).
Some doctors give their candidiasis patients caprylic acid, a fatty acid found in coconut oil, before relying on conventional antifungal medications. However, many alternative medicine practitioners feel that drugs like Diflucan are the best treatment for primary overgrowth. If you are taking antifungal medication, supplementation with the probiotics Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium befidum cultures is recommended.
Thanks to Daniel E Feldman
