Sample Diet Plan

Think of this Diet Plan as the End Result. That of which you want to transition toward. 

Weekdays:

Mornings: Prepare 1 cup of Whole Grains in a rice cooker while you get ready for work. Choose from Quinoa, Oats, Brown Rice, Millet, Buckwheat, or Amaranth and combine with Cinnamon, Cardamom, Ginger, and Nut Meg. Alternatively, Popped Quinoa and Amaranth are good substitutes for cereal and go well with milk. 

Commute:  Eat one large or two small pieces of fruit with your breakfast or as a snack on the subway, in the car, on the train, or as a mid-morning snack at work. Experiment with different kinds of fruit.

Lunch: Bringing your own lunch to work will reduce the temptation to go out or order delivery. Pack steamed veggies like kale, broccoli, collard greens, or green beans in a tupperware container. Some rice cookers double as a vegetable steamer, which is very helpful to expedite your morning routine. Also try packing a small salad with olive oil and raw and unfiltered apple cider vinegar, baby carrots, nuts and seeds,a boiled egg, plain yogurt, and the any leftover whole grains or fruit from breakfast. Great additions like avocado, grapes, and cucumber are quick and easy choices.

After Work Snack:  Try having a snack right after work to curb hunger while you are cooking dinner. This can be the remainder of your lunch or more steamed veggies, a salad, or a piece of fruit if you are craving sugar or refined carbs. This is a good time to work in your daily bowl of yogurt with some flax seed if you didn't get a chance to eat it at lunch.

Dinner: This can be any meat combined with a vegetable, potato, salad, or rice. Home made Chili is a tasty dinner option, as is Stir Fry, Taco Salad or Burritos made with Ezekiel Tortillas. Salmon and Summer Salad's are great choices in good weather, while home made Soup

is a great choice in winter. Anything that can be cooked in slow cooker works well. Try to experiment adding different kinds of Veggies and Spices to all of your dishes.

Tea Time: Even if you're American, try incorporating caffeine-free green tea in the early evening an hour or so after dinner, or any other time throughout the day. 

Keep in mind that this diet plan replaces refined carbohydrates with complex carbohydrates, which is the key to overcoming Candida and many other disease states. It also adds foods to boost immunity and general health. Unlike Candida diet plans, it does not cut out fruit or whole grains, so is therefore more sustainable over the long-term.  

Candida Symptoms and Cures

Since the beginning of my blog, I have focused mainly on  Candida Trigger Foods like Refined Carbohydrates, Fast Food, Pre-Packaged foods, and Foods High in Sugar, and how to transition away from these foods.

For this post, I want to shed light on some possible signs and symptoms of a Candida Infection that can be the underlying cause of your sugar and refined carbohydrate cravings. 

All of these "Cures" are more effective with a transition towards a diet high in Whole Grains (Quinoa, Oatmeal, Amaranth, Millet, Buckwheat, and Brown Rice), fruits and vegetables, Organic Meats and Dairy, Nuts, Legumes (Beans and Lentils), Oils (Olive and Coconut), and Teas (Any Herbal Tea).

Here is a List of the Following Symptoms and how to Treat them:

White Tongue: A white or yellow film on your tongue that appears worse upon waking. 
Cure:  Eat Plain Yogurt regularly that is high in Probiotic CFU's.  Eating yogurt, rather than taking supplements, is necessary to directly target the Candida in your mouth and throat.  When switching from a diet high in refined carbohydrates to one that is full of whole foods, the film will become thicker as yeast cells die and are flushed from the body through mucous membranes.


Itchy Ears: When your Ear Canals Itch, become Inflamed, and Produce a yellow fluid that has an Odor.
Cure #1: Eat Plain Yogurt regularly as Detailed Above. Introducing Probiotics into your mouth and throat directly will allow good bacteria to multiply in your Eustachian Tubes and then into your Ear Canal.
Cure #2: Mix a mild white vinegar solution (1 parts Vinegar to 3 parts water) and wet the tip of a Q-tip and apply to your ear canal.  Try a pre-made vinegar spray that you can also use to clean with.

Increased Sweating: Sweat that has an odor and stains the underarms of your White T-shirts Yellow.
Cure #1: Replace sugary drinks with water and Eat plenty of Chlorophyll-containing Green Vegetables (Spinach, Kale, Broccoli, Cilantro, Parsley, Collard Greens). Chlorophyll tablets are a quick solution, but not a long-term solution.
Cure#2:  Increase sweating through exercise, sauna’s, and warm baths. Drink plenty of water. If you are embarrassed by the smell of your sweat, try exercising in nature. Not only is there hardly anyone around, but you get a good dose of fresh air. Try to go without deodorant while  exercising or sweating to help eliminate many of the toxins.

Severe Dandruff: A condition that can cause severe dandruff is called Seborrheic Dermatitis.  Dandruff is an inflammation of the skin that creates flaking and  redness of the scalp caused by a fungus like Candida that is called Malasseizia (1).
Cure #1:  Fill a new plastic condiment bottle with an equal parts Apple Cider Vinegar and water mixture and apply directly to the scalp while showering. Let sit and rinse. You can also apply it before you shower and let it soak in to the scalp. Apple Cider Vinegar is beneficial here because it is great for your hair and makes it shine.
Cure#2: Boil Fennel Seeds in a sauce pan to create a dark tea and then allow to cool. Strain the seeds and add the solution to a condiment bottle. Apply the solution to your scalp in the shower before you shampoo. (Other antifungal teas like Pau d’Arco are just as effective.
Cure #3: Melt and cool Coconut Oil, apply to the scalp and then shampoo. It is best to do this on the weekend because it will make your hair a little bit oily for a day or so.
Cure #4: Dandruff Shampoos containing Zinc Oxide or Selenium Sulfide as well as zinc and selenium supplements.
Cure #5: 
Foods high in Zinc: Lamb, Beef, Scallops, Sesame Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Oats, Yogurt and Turkey.
Foods high in Selenium: Brazil Nuts, Sunflower Seeds, Fish, Shellfish, Meat, Eggs, Whole Grains and Onions.

Skin Rashes: Rashes on the Skin or around Mucous Membranes that Itch and Burn.
Cure #1: Soak the affected area or apply equal parts white vinegar and water solution, you can also try a baking soda and water solution.
Cure #2: Keep the affected area clean, cool and dry. Fungus loves moisture and warmth, robbing it of its needs helps eliminate it. Not covering the rash and exposing it to sunlight helps too.

Athlete’s Foot and Yellow Toenails:  Inflammation, Itching and Burning of the Feet.
Cure #1: Soak your feet in a bowl of vinegar water with one part vinegar and one part water. You can also try Baking Soda solution instead.
Cure #2: Apply liquified and cooled coconut oil to your feet and cover with cotton socks.
Cure #3: Expose your feet to the sun.
Cure #4: Go barefoot as often as possible.

Digestive Problems: Constipation, Dehydration, Blood in Stool, Pain and Bloating.
Cure #1: Eat plenty of plain yogurt and drink plenty of water.
Cure#2: Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables to help with digestion
Cure#3: Ingest Plenty of Spices and Natural Antifungals: Cayenne Pepper, Garlic, Onion, Oregano Oil, Capryllic Acid, Pau D'Arco, Black Walnut, Cinnamon, Nut Meg, Worm Wood.    

Yeast Infections of the Reproductive Organs: General itching, pain and redness; cottage cheese-like  and odorless discharge; and a pH that is normal or acidic.
Cure #1: Add a generous amount of White Vinegar to your Bath Water, or apply one parts vinegar and 2 parts water solution to the affected area.
Cure #2: Inserting Acidophilus Capsules (supplements) to the affected area introduces probiotics directly to the source.

1) http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dandruff/DS00456/DSECTION=causes

Homemade Pico de Gallo instead of Salsa in a Jar

When I first started avoiding pre-packaged foods, I found obstacles trying to find alternatives to the foods I loved.  One of those foods was Salsa.  It wasn't until a friend handed me her recipe for Pico De Gallo that I found hope.

Pico De Gallo:

Mix together

1/2 onion diced

1-2 Peppers of any color Diced

4-5 Fresh Tomatoes Diced
3 Cloves Garlic Minced
1/2 of a bundle of Cilantro (remove the leaves and chop them up finely or use a food processor)
Squeeze of Lime Juice from 1/2 of a lime
Pinch of Salt

This recipe is a very quick and cheap alternative to Salsa, and utilizes uncooked raw foods. The ingredients, like onions and garlic, have natural antifungal properties specific for Candida.  Fresh squeezed lime juice (and lemon juice) balances blood sugar and Cilantro is packed full of vitamins and antioxidants to boost immunity (1).

I used to buy Blue Corn Tortilla Chips to go with my homemade Pico, but have discovered recently that Cucumber slices are a great atlernative for dipping. 

1) http://www.livestrong.com/article/464325-what-are-the-benefits-of-parsley-cilantro/

Alternatives to Soda

If you crave Soda, know that like Ice Cream and Candy, it is one of the substances that is contributing to your Candida and fueling  your sugar cravings.  Studies also indicate that consuming soda, or any sugary drink for that matter, increases your risk of diabetes by 26% (1).  When considering Candida, it is helpful to also consider risk factors for diabetes, because both conditions are associated with spikes in blood sugar, either by feeding your Candida or promoting insulin resistance.

To address your Soda consumption, think about the context in which you drink Soda.  Do you buy soda in the can, in the bottle, or drink it as a beverage at restaurants? Do you crave Soda because of the caffeine, the sugar, or the carbonation?

If you have intense cravings for other sugary substances (candy and ice cream), it is probably a safe bet to assume that you crave soda for the sugar content.  Switching to a diet soda will not alleviate this problem because Candida feeds off artificial sweeteners just as effectively (2) and diet soda carries a similar risk for diabetes (3).  With this data, it is helpful to view all soda as the same substance.

In my experience, I know that if I bring Soda into the house in the form of cans, I will drink it.  I do so because it is convenient to grab a new can of soda when I crave sugar.  Part of the process of getting away from Soda is to trade cans of soda for a 2-Liter Bottle, because not only is it not as convenient, but after a couple of days open in the refrigerator it loses the carbonation and taste and is thrown out. 

Another way is to only buy a can of soda during a sugar craving and not purchase it as part of your grocery routine.   If you feel the need to buy a sugary drink at the grocery store, check labels and try to buy Orange Juice that is as close to fresh-squeezed as possible.  One form of juice you can use to transition away from soda is Naked Fruit Juice.  

Make Coffee without the Coffee-Maker

If you find you crave caffeine after trading Soda for Fruit Juice, switch to Coffee.  Many Candida diets do not recommend drinking coffee because there is speculation that the beans harbor mold.  Your coffee maker also harbors mold.  If you want to avoid the mold from your coffee maker, buy an electric coffee grinder, a French Press, and a tea kettle.  My boyfriend makes coffee every morning using this method.  It is cost effective because the coffee grinder also doubles as a flax seed grinder.

If you have a routine of drinking soda at restaurants, try ordering an unsweetened iced tea, an ice water with lemon, or a coffee.  Even an Arnold Palmer (Ice Tea and lemonade), especially that which is light on the lemonade, is an effective method to break the Soda habit.  Subway, for instance,  offers Green Tea with or without sugar.  Choose the sugary green tea when coming off of Soda and work towards the sugarless by mixing the two together in different ratios until you can transition to the sugarless.

When taking Soda and eventually bottled juice out of your diet, it is important to make sure that you are drinking plenty of water.  If you don't like the taste of tap water, filter it yourself or buy bottled.  Most grocery stores have a reverse osmosis water dispenser that filters out the chlorine and minerals and at the cost of about $0.30 per gallon.  Save your water jugs or buy glass ones online, clean them out with a vinegar spray and reuse them to buy water that is similar to bottled for a third of the price.

Lemon Balm Tea

Last but not least, herbal teas are a great additive to a healthy diet and are great substitutes for soda and juice.  Buy herbs from a health food store and make your own teas, or buy tea in a box, especially green tea.  When you go to a coffee shop, try ordering tea lattés or signature teas.  Avoid tea that is concentrated or that which is found in a bottle.  You can make your own ice tea by steeping tea bags in a quart-sized kettle, allowing the tea to cool, and then transferring it to a pitcher in the fridge.  Keep ice on hand and a variety of citrus fruits and cherries to add to your ice tea throughout the day. 

1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2963518/

2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6481700

3) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19151203

The Truth about Bread

If you have Candida, you probably have intense cravings for refined carbohydrates.  Refined Carbohydrates are anything with added sugar or corn syrup, and any grain that has been processed and stripped of its nutritional value.  Table sugar also makes the list, as do candy bars, granola bars, ice cream, pretzels, potato chips, canned fruit, pastries, and most cereals (1).  It is unfortunate too, that bread is also on that list, especially white bread.

White flour and rice should always be the first culprits to go when transitioning away from bread.  I will admit that I do indulge in bread from time-to-time and it has posed as one my greatest challenges.  However, I will share with you some great ways that are helping me transition away from it for good.

On my post on Breakfast, I suggested indulging in Whole Grains for Breakfast to combat carbohydrate cravings throughout the day.  Eating a bowl of brown rice, quinoa, oats, millet, buckwheat or amaranth in the morning will balance your blood sugar and reduce your sandwich cravings at lunchtime.

Another way to transition away from bread is by experimenting with different brands.  Trade your white bread for breads with labels that tout whole wheat or whole grain.  Become an avid reader of bread labels.  Look for hidden corn syrup, sugars, and white flour.  When in doubt, buy a particular brand of bread and don’t throw away the package—Google the ingredient’s list.

If your cravings are anything like mine were, than you know that even when you don’t bring bread into the house, you still crave that Subway Sandwich.  Even though Subway is definitely better for you than Mcdonald’s, intense cravings for sandwiches are going to be an issue that will need to be addressed.

The bread I found most helpful to steer clear of Subway and sandwiches is Ezekiel Bread.  It is a sprouted bread made from whole grains rather than flour, so it has more fiber, and digests slowly to prevent spikes in blood sugar (2).  Because of this, it is said to have a low glycemic index.

The Ezekiel brand offers more than just bread, marketing bagels and tortillas using the same methods.  Look for it at your local grocer or health food store in the freezer section.  I notice that it is cheaper at my local grocer.  A word of note, it is a little bit more expensive than other breads, but you will find that it may greatly reduce your breads cravings, as it did mine, and you will alternately find yourself reaching for whole grains, nuts, lentils, and beans to satisfy your carbohydrate cravings.

1)http://www.livestrong.com/article/28412-list-refined-carbs/
2)http://www.foodforlife.com/about_us/diabetic-friendly

America's Love of Fast Food

If you have health problems and you eat fast food frequently, you have identified the main problem.  In my post on Cooking, I explained how cooking whole foods was the solution to poor health brought on by America's obsession with pre-packaged meals. The same could be said for poor health brought on by America's obsession with Fast Food. Here could be some reasons why we indulge in Fast Food, and how to counter them.

Fast Food is Bad:
I'm probably stating the obvious here, but french fries, deep fat fried mystery meat, and sugary drinks cause inflammation and intense cravings. Fast food is not a good "cheat" for Candida, nor for anyone wanting to overcome any kind of disease state. With that being said, I also want to admit that in the past Mcdonalds' was one of my favorite restaurants, and there was more to the allure than the tasty deep fat fried junk.

But They offer Wifi: 
Because I am Generation Y, Mcdonalds has appealed to my Generation for a number of reasons. One is they offer free wifi. In the time before I had internet, I was almost completely reliant on Mcdonalds to check my email, pay bills, and surf. Out of obligation and respect, I always bought something, either a sugary coffee or lunch, and I paid for it with my health.

The solution to my need for internet was moving in with my IT boyfriend and enjoying his elaborate internet network at home. Some of you, however, may not have that option. So my first recommendation is to find other places with free internet. Check your college, local library, and coffee shops for wifi options. Make a habit of eating a healthy breakfast or lunch at home before you go out to any of these establishments. If you choose coffee shops, look for locally owned coffee shops. They often have healthier low-sugar coffee and tea options, fresh fruit and vegetable juices, and are more welcoming of wifi campers than chain coffee shops. If you do end up in a bind where the only place that is open is Mcdonalds, or you go there on a whim, try to keep it healthy by ordering a black coffee or sugarless tea.

And You're a News Junkie:
I have always been a news junkie, and Mcdonald's appealed to me because I could watch Fox, and sometimes CNN, depending on the location. My advice to anyone who does that is to either break down and buy cable, or to search for news on the internet. All the media outlets offer highlights, articles, and news clips on their websites for free and many others offer subscriptions to news channels at reduced rates.Unsurprisingly, youtube is also another great place to scavange news. Many gyms also offer television with subtitles, so you can catch up while you are on the eliptical.

But It's so Convenient and Cheap:
Because I am Gen Y, I am also on a budget, as is most of America. The allure of fast food is that it is obviously fast, and cheap too. You'd be surprised, however, that it is just as cheap to eat at home. If you cook plain oatmeal in a rice cooker and cut up an apple, you are paying about the same or less as you wouldfor a small fry and burger. Healthy snacks like nuts, fruit, simple salads, sandwiches, and yogurt are all convenient choices. Simple dinners like baked chicken breasts or fish and steamed vegetables are easy and quick. Set the timer on your oven to help you multi-task while you are baking meat. Heat up leftovers in a hurry, and pack food in a small cooler if you drive a lot. Carry a water bottle or tea/coffee thermos with you everywhere. If you do end up in a bind and need to eat fast food, pick places like Subway or Qdoba, or local sandwich/burrito shops that have healthier options. Order small servings and opt for sugarless tea instead of soda. Keep a calendar of how  often you hit up fast food and try to reduce the number over time. Sometimes awareness alone will help you transition away from it.

 #Sugar #Candida #Yeast

Curbing the Candy Cravings

If you are combating Candida and Sugar Addiction, chances are that chocolate candy bars, ice cream, and bakery goods are foods you crave the most. In my last post, I explained how to transition from your favorite ice cream to plain old vanilla, and then to frozen yogurt smoothies and mixing frozen yogurt with plain yogurt until you've combatted your ice cream cravings for good.

In this post, I want to give some suggestions for combating your candy bar addiction. Before I go into alternatives, I want to reiterate that anything you crave intensely is a food that is feeding your Candida and Sugar Addiction. I used to make excuses for allowing myself a container of ice cream, a bakery item, and a bag of candy bars every time I went to the grocery store, all the while "following"Candida diet plans. I didn't allow myself to realize that those items were the culprit that sent my health into a neverending downward spiral.

If you are suffering to the degree I was, you recognize that just having a bag of your favorite candybars will cause you to binge eat until the whole bag is gone. I used to chase my binge-eating episodes with whole bottles of acidophilus and 5-6 caprylic acid (antifungal) vitamins in a setting. By changing my shopping habits, I could have alleviated much of this struggle and saved tons of money in supplements.

For Candy Bar cravings, identify your favorite candy bar. For me it was Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, a candy that was my favorite in childhood. If your favorite candy was also a learned trait in childhood, let that part of your childhood go. Try to find candy you do not crave or even necessarily like and allow yourself that candy as the replacement.

Because my chocolate bar cravings revolved around Reese's and sometimes Butter Fingers and Hershey's, I started looking for alternatives. I tried Snickers, but then hit a brick wall when I began craving them. I then tried mint chocolate bars and started seeing results. You see, for me, it was a lot harder to polish off a bag of Ande's Mints, or York Peppermint Paddies. 
If I had it to do over again, I would have used Almond Joy's, a candy bar I am absolutely disgusted by, to transition out of candy.

Buy that candy you dislike the most. It may not even be a chocolate bar, any kind of candy will work. Allow yourself to binge on it in the throws of a full-blown sugar craving, the kind of craving you generally have at night. Don't anticipate the craving and buy this candy during your shopping, rather buy it when your cravings arise. Try to only buy a small bag or one bar. Chances are you will allow yourself a smaller portion of this kind of Candy because you don't like it. You'll be angry at first, I know I was, because what you are really craving is your favorite. Your mind is craving it and the yeast in your gut are craving it. Embrace this anger as a normal emotion and let it pass as you explain to yourself that you get this kind of candy, or nothing at all. Give yourself that choice.

After a few weeks or a month, you'll find that you will be less likely to break down and buy the kind of candy you don't like. You'll be more willing to withstand sugar cravings and reach for things like fruit, raw nuts, and a bowl of plain yogurt for night time snacks.

As of now, I only allow myself chocolate during a social event and maybe once a month to every two months. When I do indulge, I opt for dark chocolate that contains 80% cocoa and a lower sugar content.  I generally buy a very small bar on sale at the health food store. Chocolate has become a decadence rather than a craving, and one that is sustainable long-term.