If you have a candida infection, then changing your diet to starve the candida and suppress the infection makes good sense. But what do anti candida diets entail?
Firstly, lets consider what a person suffering with candida is faced with.
Candida is yeast, which is thought to exist naturally in everybody's gastrointestinal (GI) tract and when kept in check forms a natural part of the gut flora, along with dozens of other species of organisms.
However, if it is allowed to overgrow then there can be serious complications ranging from stomach cramps, bloating and constipation/ diarrhea to more complex symptoms if the condition is allowed to become systemic.
An overgrowth will happen chiefly due to three reasons:
1. A weak immune system, often due to illness, medication or stress.
2. A less than healthy level of friendly bacteria, which can be caused by certain medications like antibiotics
3. A diet rich in sugar, which is the main food source for candida yeast.
So, an anti candida diet needs to address these issues as much as possible to bring the body back into balance.
If a doctor diagnoses a person with a candida infection, they will normally be prescribed an anti fungal treatment, be instructed to make changes to their diet and potentially make changes to some factors in your lifestyle, which could be causing stress.
Sometimes, additional supplementation is also recommended as a candida infection can impact the amount of nutrients that are absorbed by the body, and so further weakening the immune system.
An anti candida diet is necessarily strict on what cannot be consumed, restricting the following foods:
Foods that contain sugar, including refined sugars. This includes foods like syrups, many sauces and honey, brown and white sugar. There has been debate as to whether fruit should also be excluded from an anti candida diet due to their high fructose content (fruit sugar). As there are many health benefits associated with fresh fruit it is generally suggested that fruit is restricted initially and then reintroduced slowly once the diet has been followed strictly for a while.
Foods that contain yeast are also restricted. This would include the majority of baked goods including most breads, muffins and pastries
Foods that contain mould or fungus are excluded from the diet, which includes mushrooms and cheese.
Also, foods that are fermented like vinegar and pickles are restricted.
It is recommended that processed foods are reduced or eliminated from the diet, as there can be many hidden ingredients in them, and they are normally not as nutritionally rich as fresh foods.
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Before starting a candida diet, ensure that you have discussed the matter with your doctor to ensure that it supplies you with all the necessary nutritional content.
Many anti Candida diets also emphasize the use of supplements especially those, which contain probiotics. These probiotics, also known as friendly bacteria, help to suppress the growth of Candida in the body and not only can they be found as supplements but also in natural yogurt.
Anti candida diets serve a number of purposes, to starve the candida yeast, to promote a health gut flora and to help boost the immune system by eating more nutritionally rich foods. However, before embarking on a diet to suppress candida make sure you discuss your approach with your doctor or dietician.