Candida Which Foods To Avoid

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Here’s what one of readers, Patricia wrote: ‘I've been diagnosed with Candida it’s made me very depressed and I don't feel human. I think it's because I've had a lot of antibiotics over a small space of time and a sweet tooth so all of that will have to change if I want my life back.’

Candida: A quick re-cap

Candida ferments sugary foods in your stomach to produce carbon dioxide, which causes bloating and flatulence. It also produces alcohol and other chemicals that irritate the lining of the stomach, causing painful spasms and making it less able to assimilate food, leading to constipation or diarrhoea. These effects make Candida a major cause (although not the only one) of irritable bowel syndrome. And as it spreads through your body, Candida also produces increasing quantities of toxic by-products, which can cause a host of physical and mental symptoms.

If many of the symptoms and factors listed below apply to you, it is likely that you're suffering from Candida:

· Bloating and discomfort, especially after meals.

· Griping pains in your lower abdomen.

· Constipation or diarrhoea.

· Fatigue or muscle weakness.

· Muscle or joint pains, or arthritis.

· 'Brain fog', feelings of unreality or memory loss.

· Thrush, athlete's foot, ringworm or fungal infection of your nails.

· Urinary tract infection or vaginal discharge.

· Depression or tearfulness.

· 'Low' immune system and frequent infections.

· Sensitivities to foods, tobacco smoke, chemical odours or perfume.

· Cravings for sugar, bread or alcohol.

· Symptoms worse on damp, muggy days or in damp, mouldy places.

The first step in healing this condition is to get diagnosed. This is easier said than done since many mainstream doctors don’t recognise Candida as a serious and debilitating disease and often write its symptoms off as thrush or urinary track infection. But thankfully, there are doctors out there that will hear your plight and that will work with you to put your life back together. Your job is to find one that will listen to.

The next step is to look at your diet and isolate any foods you may be sensitive to. In his book, The Yeast Connection, Dr. William Cook provides a list of foods to avoid completely. These are:

· Sugar: Refined sugar is thought to encourage the growth of Candida yeast. Foods containing refined sugar include: white sugar, brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, maple sugar, molasses, date sugar, turbinado, raw sugar, demerara, amasake, rice syrup, sorghum. Read labels carefully because there may be hidden forms of sugar. When reading the label, words to watch out for include sucrose, fructose, maltose, lactose, glycogen, glucose, mannitol, sorbitol, galactose, monosaccharides, polysaccharides.

· Fruit: Fruit contain natural sugars that are thought to support the growth of yeast. Fruit that are typically eliminated include fresh, frozen, canned, and dried fruit and juice.

· Yeast: Foods that contain yeast are typically eliminated. Yeast-containing foods include: Baker's yeast, Brewer's yeast, and any other types of nutritional yeast. Baked goods raised with yeast such as breads, rolls, crackers, bagels, pastries, and muffins should also not be eaten.

· Foods containing gluten: Gluten-containing foods include wheat, barley, and rye. This includes products made with these ingredients such as bread and pasta.

· Vinegar: Includes all types of vinegar, such as white vinegar, red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar, and balsamic vinegar, and any food made with vinegage, such as mayonnaise, commercial salad dressing, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, steak sauce, BBQ sauce, shrimp sauce, soy sauce, mustard, pickles, pickled vegetables, green olives, relishes, horseradish, mincemeat, and chili sauce.

· Mushrooms: Mushrooms are typically not allowed on Candida diets.

· Peanuts, Peanut Butter, and Pistachios: Peanuts, peanut butter, and pistachios are thought to have mould contamination, which is why they typically aren't allowed on Candida diets.

· Alcohol: Alcoholic beverages are believed to encourage the growth of yeast. All forms of alcohol are typically eliminated, such as red wine, white wine, beer, whiskey, brandy, gin, scotch, any fermented liquor, vodka, rum, and all liqueurs.

· Coffee, black tea, cider, root beer: Includes regular coffee, instant coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and all types of black tea (including "fruit flavoured" black tea). Cider, root beer, and other fermented beverages are also typically eliminated.

· Aged, mouldy and processed cheeses: Roquefort and other aged, mouldy or blue cheeses should be avoided at all cost and so are processed cheese such as cheese slices, cream cheese and cheese sticks.

· Processed, dried, smoked, and pickled meats: This includes smoked salmon, pickled herring, sausages, bacon, hot dogs, pastrami, bologna, sandwich meats, salami, corned beef, pickled tongue, and kolbassa.

· Packaged, processed, and refined foods: Canned, bottled, packaged, boxed, and other processed foods containing yeast, refined sugar, refined flour, chemicals, preservatives, or food colouring.

Of course, it is extremely disheartening to read through a list of foods to avoid only to realise that almost all the ‘good stuff’ is bad for you. Keep in mind that the above list is only a guideline and by working with your doctor or natural health practitioner, you can do a food sensitivity test and carefully work on a food-elimination diet.

In next week’s follow-up alert, I will look at which foods to incorporate in your diet for this condition. In the meantime, your comments and suggestions are as always most welcome which in turn can help us and the rest of the daily health community understand this condition better.

Related Reading:

Candida: How To Cure Your Symptoms:
Candida Albicans: New Natural Remedy To Help Beat Candida Revealed:

Candida: Diet Advice To Eliminate Symptoms Without Drugs:

‘Candida: How To Cure Your Symptoms’ published online 01/08/01, thehealthierlife.co.uk

‘Candida Diet’ by Cathy Wong, published online028/12/07, altmedicine.about.com