Candida Yeast, could you have it? PART 3

Oh my goodness, what a week! I am sorry it has taken me so long to get this post done but it is a very busy time. So today I am going to discuss how to treat candida. If you do it right, you should be able to keep the yeast under control in the future. Most people who have issues with yeast, treat it and end up in the same situation 6 months later. Treat it thoroughly and follow some easy maintenance steps and you should be able to keep it at bay. Candida treatment is a multi-faceted approach.

DIET
While you are doing a candida cleanse you need to eliminate certain foods from your diet. These specific foods feed the yeast and make them stronger, we want to make them weaker. The foods you should avoid are:

• Sugar in all its forms including honey, maple syrup, fructose, table sugar and artificial sweeteners.
• Foods with yeast such as bread and pastries.
• Alcohol, pop, coffee, fermented beverages and cider.
• Condiments and sauces containing sugar and/or vinegar such as ketchup, mayonnaise, pickles.
• All fruits, juices and dried fruits.
• Mushrooms and fermented foods such as tofu, sauerkraut (oh no what will you do!!) and soy sauce.
• Cheeses
• Roasted peanuts and other nuts that are not raw.
• Most grains, pastas, rice and starchy vegetables (potatoes, corn etc) since they all turn to sugar in our system.

You might be thinking WHAT CAN I EAT??? The answer is lots, it is just a touch boring. But remember, it is only for 15-30 days and chances are you will lose a few pounds from the diet alone. So here is what your diet should be made up of:

• WATER 8-10 glasses a day minimum.
• Fresh veggies, raw or steamed.
• Lemons, limes and cranberries. If you really miss fruit you can have ONE green apple per day.
• Fish (except shellfish)
• As close to organic or free range chicken, turkey, beef or lamb that you can get your hands on. Remember you don`t need huge portions of meat so buy the best quality you can afford.
• Free range eggs.
• Plain yogurt with live bacterial cultures.
• Raw almonds and seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, flax etc).
• Herbal teas.
• Good quality oils for dressings (flax or olive) remember no vinegar can be added so use lemon juice and garlic.

You should follow the candida diet for the duration of treatment and then I always encourage clients to continue for an additional 2 weeks after. It is best that you adopt some of these dietary rules for your everyday diet to help keep candida at bay. The most important thing is to keep away from sugar or white poison as I like to call it!

TREATMENT PROGRAM

Ok, so we have covered the diet to follow and now we will cover the program to follow. Now I am an account manager for Renew Life so I am biased towards their products and know a lot about them. That being said, I am going to mention the ones out there that I would feel comfortable recommending outside of our line and I encourage you to do your own research. Choose the product that you feel most drawn to or that you feel will work with your lifestyle the best. The first layer of treatment is using an anti-fungal formula to kill the yeast

• Renew Life Candigone: This is a 15 day program that contains all of the well researched anti-fungal agents in both tincture and pill format. It works especially well if you have used anti-yeast products before because chances are your body has developed a resistance to one or more of the anti-fungal herbs. In Candigone, they have covered all of the bases so that if your body is resistant to Caprylic Acid for example, there is something else in the formula to pick up the slack.
• Dida: Dida is a 45 day program that contains many anti-fungal herbs but in a lower concentration hence the longer course of treatment. The formula is good however it is not meant to hit things hard and heavy. It is a more relaxed approach to treatment and you continue to take the product daily after treatment to maintain results. Can be a bit expensive long term.
• Innovite Yeast Busters Kit: This is a kit of 4 different products that you take for 3-8 weeks. It contains Caproil liquid, bentonite clay, psyllium and probiotics. There is not doubt that this works, especially the first time you use it. The issue is that it is awful to take: you basically mix the clay, fiber and caproil in a jar and drink it. As it moves through your system it (in their words) scrubs candida away and soaks up the toxins to eliminate them through the colon.

Any of these 3 options are good, they will all have results just in differing time lines. If you are using any of these options I would also recommend you use a product called CandiZYME. In the States, virtually any candida program has an enzyme product included in the protocol. For some reason, there are very few of these in Canada. The reason it is so important is that Yeast Organisms have a very thick and strong cell wall, which makes them difficult to treat. Taking CandiZYME on an empty stomach before bed works to break down that cell wall so that the anti-fungal program you choose can work much more effectively. If you want to do the job fully and correctly the first time, include CandiZYME.

Also if you choose either Candigone or Dida, include a good fiber source to bind up the yeast and carry them out of your system. You can increase the fiber in your diet but without being able to have fruits and grains on the Candida diet it can be difficult to get enough. I would recommend supplementing with milled flax seed or a blend such as FibreSMART or FibreLEAN. You don`t need to add additional fiber to the Yeast Busters kit because of the psyllium.

MAINTENANCE

After you have completed treatment, you want to maintain the results and that is very easy. Every woman, let me repeat EVERY WOMAN, should be taking a daily probiotic supplement. Probiotics are good bacteria that help to maintain the balance of good to bad bacteria in the gut. This helps us to keep yeast at bay, produce b-vitamins, increases our immune system and maintains regularity (great if you are constipated). Make sure when buying a probiotic that you buy one that is protected from the Hydrochloric acid in the stomach and that it contains a blend of acidophilus strains and bifidus strains. Sounds confusing? Your health food store will be able to help you pick a great one. I recommend Florasmart, Probiotic pearls, or New Roots enteric coated probiotics. You only need to take one a day regardless of the label recommendations if it is protected, if you buy one without a protected capsule or tablet you will need to take 2-3 daily if not more.

When you cleanse Candida, you can expect to have some days where you feel pretty bad. Headaches are common as is a feeling of fatigue. This is due to the die-off of the yeast. Drink lots of water, eat lots of fiber and you should be able to persevere. Remember it is short term pain for long term gain. Feel free to pop me an email if you have any more questions.