Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Intolerances in Candida Foods - Suggestions for Fasting


A friend asked me about intolerances in candida foods. Basically, she is a 49 years old female in perimenopause with no recent history of "standard" causes. Two years ago, she decided to get healthy and for three months she avoided caffeine, sugar, wheat, dairy, alcohol, and she drank lots of water. Then, she slowly went back to old eating habits. In January, she developed apparent diverticulitis due to wheat sensitivity.

After going wheat free most of her symptoms disappeared, as long as she avoided wheat. However, her bowels continued to be somewhat irregular and flatulence continued to be a problem. In the past 6 months, the irregularity has increased and become insistent, explosive, and often diarrhea. She mentioned to me that occasionally she would cheat and has a wheat tortilla or once she had pasta with no ill effect, but the one time she ate a donut, she got sick. I said it is yeast infections and she did some research.

She has been on a form of the diet for over 6 weeks now and most of her candida problems have cleared up. Her doctor (MD and Homeopath) agrees with her self diagnosis and gave her a script for Nystatin. She had already been taking probiotics and flax seed oil for some time.

Three days ago, she cheated and made wheat free cookies (with her daughter) and ate some! Yesterday, she tasted some brunschawger and today she ate some bacon. This afternoon, she had the first pain in her gut in over two weeks and wonders which one caused it. She would like to know if sushi rice can make us sick. White rice seems not to bother her, but the sushi rice (with vinegar and sugar) does.

Some people can tolerate corn and potatoes, but it might depend on what you eat with them. The carbs can become fermented in your stomach and convert to sugar internally if you are mixing them with the wrong substances. The addition of the vinegar and sugar is clearly what causes the reaction to sushi rice.

If you are going to try a fast, try it with water and fresh lemon juice, some healthy celery, parsley mixes, or some "Perfect Food" so that you are not losing more of your nutrients. Also, most doctors agree that after omitting the food for two months, you may be able to tolerate a moderate serving every four days. I'm not sure if I believe this, especially with regards to sugar and carbs. It may come down to the extent of the yeast problem for those two.

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