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. 

Finding a Palate for Plain Yogurt through Ice Cream

If you suffer from Candida, Ice Cream may be one of those foods you have trouble avoiding for a couple of reasons.  

One reason is that Ice Cream is high in Sugar and Corn Syrup, with one brand measuring 14 grams, equivalent to 1 Tablespoon of sugar, per serving size (1).  The definition of a serving size can be misleading, and it is easy to inaccurately visualize a bowl of ice cream as such.  However, if you were to measure a serving size, it would be about 1/2 of a cup, or one scoop of ice cream (2).  Because we anticipate that a serving size is more than that, we may have a habit of dishing out 3 to 4 scoops into a bowl, and then going back for seconds.  This  can easily add up to 8 Tablespoons of Sugar (about 1/2 of a cup) in your dessert alone.

A second reason Ice Cream can pose a problem for Candida sufferers is because it contains milk. Alongside Leaky Gut allergies to wheat (glutenous grains), soy, and corn, those with Candida can also be sensitive to dairy products and/or have an inability to breakdown Lactose (3).

Many Candida diets rule out all dairy products to address this potential dairy allergy, and also as a cautionary approach to the possibility of antibiotic residue that may be present in Cow's Milk (4).  For Candida, the high amounts of sugar added to ice cream, alongside possible trace amounts of antibiotics, and a potential dairy allergy is courtship for a problem food that is highly addictive.

I would recommend any Candida sufferer to try very hard to get away from Ice Cream.  To do that, like I've outlined in my previous posts, is to transition out of it. 

Take the ice cream you crave the most (Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Birthday Cake, etc), and switch it for a boring flavor like Vanilla.  Don't buy any toppings to go over it.  Be sure to only buy that flavor when cravings arise. Concentrate on only having a couple scoops at a time. If necessary, try measuring an actual serving size amount.  

The next step is to switch to frozen yogurt.  You can experiment with flavors, but try to pick a frozen yogurt that has no artificial additives and is made with milk from Cows not treated with rBST or antibiotics if possible.  A brand I used that was closest to this criteria is called Open Nature, and  is available at Safeway.

Try changing between flavors until you reach plain old boring vanilla again. You can buy bananas and Natural Peanut Butter or Almond Butter as a topping or in a smoothie.  I started out by making smoothies, and then went to toppings.  As I lost my cravings for my old peanut butter ice cream, I began mixing frozen yogurt with just plain yogurt.  After the transitional phase, I replaced frozen yogurt all together with a good quality plain yogurt. 

*A word of note for Candida Sufferers who think they may suffer from a dairy allergy: 
 If it is due to leaky gut, probiotics are necessary to heal the problem, which along with being easier to digest is why plain yogurt is a form of dairy generally allowed. It is also a great source of Calcium. However, if you find  you have side effects from eating plain yogurt, try yogurt from Goat's Milk first, and probiotic supplementation as a last option.

1) http://www.breyers.com/product/detail/113869/reeses-chocolate

2) http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/sweets/5405/2

3) http://seattletimes.com/html/health/2014442682_candida10.html

4) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/business/26milk.html?_r=0

Going Nuts over Nuts

If you find yourself craving nut mixes, trail mixes, or peanuts, try peeking at the label.  You may find a whole list of unpronounceable additives like Maltodextrin, a wheat- and barley- derived thickener, and surprising stowaways like Corn Syrup (1,2). When you see this, you know it is time to trade your beloved snack for something less processed, even if the label touts Heart Health and Nutrition.

Discovering the difference between processed nuts and real nuts may be ambiguous at first. Like rice, any additives should be regarded as a red flag.  Buy nuts separately and look for labels that list only Almonds, or only Cashews, or only Walnuts on the ingredient list.  They are generally found hiding among the nut mixes in the same aisle. Good buzzwords to look for are Raw and Whole.  

Try to avoid peanuts; they are a common allergen and susceptible to mold.  For Candida sufferers, any kind of mold hampers the immune system and helps to establish fungal colonies (3).  The same goes for peanut butter. 

If peanuts and peanut butter are foods you crave, start by buying raw peanuts and natural peanut butter. You will know the natural kind visually because the oil has a tendency to separate from the solid, so it must be stirred. The natural kind also lists only peanuts on the label (and maybe a little bit of salt).  A great brand I used to help end my cravings is Adams.

Once you are able to combat peanut cravings, trade your peanuts in for raw Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts, Pecans, Brazil Nuts, Macademia Nuts, Pistachios, and Hazlenuts (4). They are packed full of vitamins, antioxidants, and good fats; and are a great source of healthy carbohydrates for those who have cut out refined carbohydrates.

If you continue to crave nut mixes after switching to raw nuts, try making your own.  Mix varieties together in plastic baggies for quick snacks on the go.  Add sunflower and pumpkin seeds that are raw, shelled and unsalted. Seeds, like nuts, are packed full of vitamins and antioxidants, protecting against cancer and helping to manage disease states (5). I buy my seeds from Vitamin Cottage because they have a great variety and are inexpensive.

For added flavor, try adding sweet spices (ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon), or hot spices (chili powder, Cayenne) for a kick. Also feel free to add Salt if your diet permits. Sneak in some raisins if trail mix was a previous staple in your diet.  If you are concerned about the sugar, just rationalize that adding a few raisins will be significantly better for you than the whole processed trail mix Shabam. Slowly work them out over time for their natural 

counterparts: grapes.

Feel free to replace or combine grapes with any fruit. From my experience, rather than grabbing a cliff bar, trail mix, or a granola bar, I find that taking an Apple and a baggie of Almonds on hiking trips gives me needed energy and convenience without the cost to my health or my purse.  

      1)      http://www.fitsugar.com/What-Maltodextrin-293287

      2)      http://www.target.com/p/planters-nut-rition-energy-mixed-nuts-9-25-oz/-/A-12969551

      3)      http://www.candidamd.com/candida/exposures.html

      4)      http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-and-nutrition/0406/why-you-should-go-nuts-for-          nuts.aspx#/slide-1  

      5)      http://www.besthealthmag.ca/eat-well/nutrition/6-super-seeds-to-eat-every-day?slide=8&rel=1

Alternatives to Chips

If your nemesis is chips, that’s okay, there are ways around that.  Take the chips you crave the most, like Nacho Cheese Doritos, and replace them with a brand of plain potato chips that have a lower sodium content.  Essentially what you are doing is taking a snack that has an ingredient list a mile long, and transitioning to one that is shorter.  Chips are not healthy by any means, but there is a hierarchy to their nutritional value like other packaged foods.  If you like Fritos, for example, switch to white corn tortilla chips and then to blue corn tortilla chips.  Look for chips that are cooked in oils like sunflower oil instead of cottonseed oil (1). 

  

One brand of chip I like every once in a while is called Terra.   It is a brand I recently noticed at my grocery store and sports vegetable chips as its base (sweet potato, parsnip, batata, taro and yuca) and has 50mg of sodium.  I buy the original kind which I don't crave very often.

If you continue to have intense cravings for chips, even after switching to a brand like Terra, try limiting your intake (one bag per week), and making up the difference by making your own chips.

You can easily make tortilla chips in the oven by cutting up tortillas into wedges, coating them with olive oil, lining them out evenly on wax paper and baking them at 400 degrees for 7-8 minutes on each side (2).  Baking your own chips can allow you to choose how much sodium you add, if any at all.  A word of caution about sodium is that one gram is about ½ of a teaspoon (3).  If you are concerned about sodium, 50 mg of sodium, like the amount found in one serving of Terra chips, is only going to be 5% of ½ of a teaspoon.

With that being said, you may be craving chips because you are sensitive to food additives like preservatives, dyes, and artificial flavors; to the corn used to make the chip; or to whatever microbes that may be hanging along for the ride.  A way to test this theory is to see if your salt cravings follow you from one food to another.

For example, if you have intense cravings for salt in foods that you cook yourself, let’s say chili or tacos, or to salt alone, than you may be dehydrated or have a medical condition.  If you crave specific salty snack foods, even when adding salt to the foods you consume, than the problem probably rests not in the salt, but the snack food you are craving.

The end result of transitioning away from chips is to bake your own vegetable chips in the oven.  Several recipes give options on how to bake almost any root vegetable, cut up thin enough, in the oven at a low heat (250 degrees) with or without oil, salt and spices for about 2 hours. The result is a crispy chip, somewhat similar to the chips available in the Terra brand.   

1) http://www.livestrong.com/article/394685-what-are-the-healthiest-potato-chips/

2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZiwSJWeFiA

3) http://www.thekitchn.com/how-much-is-a-gram-of-sugar-really-nutrition-labels-visualized-173972 

From Popcorn to Amaranth and Quinoa

If you have intense cravings for foods like glutenous grains, wheat, corn, and soy, you may have food sensitivities or allergies. These sensitivities occur when the mucosa that lines your intestinal tract becomes permeable, allowing food molecules to enter into the blood stream to trigger an immune response (1).  This permeability is known as “Leaky Gut.”

Eating a diet high in processed foods packed with sugars, additives, and chemicals can over time create inflammation leading to this permeability. The consequences can be severe, causing autoimmune diseases (2).  Examples of autoimmune diseases are IBS, Crohn’s Disease, and Rheumatoid Arthritis.  In my experience, eating yogurt, whole foods (meat, vegetables, and fruit), and transitioning out of foods I craved not only helped to overcome Candida, but helped to reverse Leaky Gut as well.

If you have intense cravings for microwave popcorn or candied popcorn, start out by replacing it with whole kernels you have to pop yourself.  You can use a hot air popper or a sauce pan with a lid.  If you have Candida and you use the sauce pan method, layer the bottom with antifungal coconut oil and spices.  Coconut Oil is a sweet oil, so it is a great choice if you like kettle corn, and spices like Rosemary provide added flavor.

Popped Amaranth

If you still have intense cravings for popcorn after shrugging the packaged kind, try popping Amaranth or Quinoa.  These whole grains, like popcorn, are non-glutenous and, unlike popcorn, are small so they pop quickly.  Because they pop quickly, they need to be watched as not to burn. Try popping them using the saucepan method minus the oil, or using a stainless steel or ceramic skillet.

1)     http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1856434/

2)      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22109896

Using the Food Hierarchy to your Advantage

In my last post, I outlined a bullet point list of unhealthy foods that are Candida triggers, mainly packaged, canned, and bottled foods that are high in sugar and salt.  If your diet consists mostly of these foods, it is going to be next to impossible to radically change your diet by cutting out all of them at once, so you start out by identifying foods you can live without.

Take a look at your cupboard. Chances are there is an old box of instant mashed potatoes, a can of fruit, or a package of jello shoved way in the back that will exist there for eternity, until some random mood blesses you with the motivation to clean out your cupboards.  These are exactly the kind of foods you want to think about. They are the kind you can take or leave, and the kind you can live without.

Because you can live without these foods, there is no reason to ever buy them again. Maybe they were bought on a whim for a recipe.  Make a mental note to buy fresh potatoes and fruit the next time you make that recipe, or find a healthier recipe that doesn't call for processed foods.

Other foods you won’t be able to live without, and you will know these foods because they are the ones you will break down and buy at a gas station in the middle of the night.  It’s important to write them down.  Use a Post-it or piece of scratch paper and attach it to your refrigerator.  If the list is long, do not despair, you don’t even have to list all of them as long as you have something.  Just think about the list when you plan your grocery shopping and your meals.  Focus on replacing one food on the list with a healthier option.

For example, when I first started, my list looked something like this:

            Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Bread

Bakery Foods:  Cookies, Pies, Cakes

Soda

Cereal

I highlighted cereal and went from there.  I had never been a fan of the sugary kids’ cereals, but I did like Honey Nut Cheerios and Corn Flakes.  I started by exchanging my Honey Nut Cheerios for Regular Cheerios and sugar free Corn Flakes.  I bought fresh berries to go over cereal: blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries.  At the time, I used Almond Milk and Soy Milk, but if I had to do it over, I would have used either sugar free options of these milks, or just plain hormone and antibiotic free Cow's milk.  It was only when I switched to milk, that I began losing interest in Cheerios and Cereal.  I ended up giving up cereal for smoothies I blended myself with berries and vanilla yogurt.  I then went to eating plain oatmeal with fruit. After some research, I switched to steel-cut oats, and then to alternating between quinoa, millet, and buckwheat.  Amaranth is another good option.  I don’t particularly like it, but you might, so it is definitely an option to try.   

For Bakery Goods, there were not many options for substitutions, so I started baking banana bread with sugar in it.  After a while, I replaced the sugar for vanilla yogurt and apple sauce with sugar in it. I then went to plain yogurt and sugar free applesauce and added sweet spices (Cardamom, Cinnamon, and Nutmeg, Ginger) for flavor.  Now, I make a variety of breads (zucchini, pumpkin, carrot, banana) for special occasions and I don’t have intense cravings for the bakery goods available at the grocery store.

For Reese’s, I bought Andes Chocolate Mints because I did not crave them as much. Because my cravings for chocolate were so intense and I was so addicted, I did not include the Andes on my grocery list. I kept chocolate out of the house as much as possible, and bought it only when I broke down and drove to the grocery store for a single trip.  With this arrangement, and with some help from my boyfriend, I was able to combat chocolate cravings by rationalizing staying home and eating other foods, like fruit and yogurt.

I will focus on other foods I struggled with as well, which I will be detailing over the next few weeks. This post is to give you an idea about how to approach some of these problem foods, and successful ways of cutting them out of your diet and replacing them for healthy options.  

Identifying the Junk

In my last post on cooking, I pointed out that swapping pre-packaged food choices for home cooked meals helped alleviate many of my health issues.  However, even after making these choices, I still found myself craving packaged food and junk food. 

Part of my transition began with a lengthy and honest assessment of food, and coming to terms with the reality that most of the foods available at the grocery store are not healthy. I didn’t begin by eliminating these foods, but simply identifying them.  

In my opinion, unhealthy foods include the foods from the following categories:

• Bakery Foods: Donuts, Turnovers, Pies, Cakes, Cookies, Breads, Muffins, Bagels
• Deli Foods: Pasta salads, Potato salads, Fried foods, Lunch meats
• Canned Foods:  Canned soups, Canned vegetables, Canned fruits, Canned processed meats
• Drinks:  Any fruit juice in a bottle, carton, or at a fountain, including the naked juices in the refrigerator section, Soda, and canned or bottled teas and drinks.
• Frozen Foods:  Any meal or food that comes pre-packaged  including Pizza, TV dinners, French fries, Tator Tots, Stir fry, Popsicles, Ice cream, Frozen yogurt
• Snack Foods:  Jello, Pudding, Cookie dough, any dough in a can, Cookies, Apple sauce, Flavored yogurts, Trail mixes, Nut mixes,Crackers, Granola and Cereal Bars, Gummy Bears, Cereal, Popcorns, Rice mixes, Protein Powders, Diet shake mixes, Gravies, Seasoning packets, Peanut butter, Jelly
• Candy: Hard candy, Candy bars, Chocolate bars, Licorice, Mints, Chocolate
• Chips: Potato chips, Barbeque chips, Pretzels, chips made from Corn.
• White Anything:  White bread, Pasta, Tortillas and Rice are substances with a high glycemic index that spike blood sugar, or in other words, break down into sugar very quickly and create an inflammatory environment low in oxygen and hospitable to yeast, especially in diabetic patients (1).
• Breads:  All breads I’ve found are problematic in a hierarchical way, with white bread being the worst, breads from subway being next, then wheat and whole grain breads with corn syrup, multi-grain, potato bread, sourdough, and then to sprouted breads at the top as being the best.  Sprouted breads like Ezekial Bread have a lower glycemic index, so they absorb like whole grains.  
• Tortillas:  I’ve found that corn tortillas are generally bad, but affect me less than bread. They are hierarchical in the way bread is, with white being the worst, then wheat, then multi-grain, and then finally those tortillas made with sprouted grains being the best.
• Pasta: Pastas are not as bad as Bread and Tortillas. White pasta is definitely the worst, wheat and multigrain being second, whole grain pasta as third, and finally buckwheat Soba Noodles being the best.

This is a lot of information to take in. That is why it is important to simply identify these foods rather than make big changes at once.  Many of these foods may be foods that you don’t eat, or you can go without, and therefore you can cross them off.  Other foods you may crave, and are therefore your nemesis.  Those will be the foods that will need to take center stage.

1)    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24012126

Cooking for your Health

If you grew up in any decade since World War II, you found yourself in the midst of a pre-packaged and convenience food phenomenon (1).  Up to date, companies have been able to recreate stir fry, mashed potatoes, rolls, rice, macaroni and cheese, lasagna, pizza, pasta dishes, Thai dishes, Asian dishes, beef stew, chili, soup, cookies, cakes and you name it, all the while adding preservatives, salt, sugar, dyes, and a whole host of chemical flavors and food additives no one knows the origin of.  These quick and easy meals and desserts are packaged in pretty boxes and marketed with misleading advertising at discount prices.  It’s no wonder why Americans are sick.

When I first started combating poor health in my late teens, I could not tell the difference between rice mixes and regular brown rice.  It took a friend to explain to me the difference between the two, that difference between processed rice and real rice, and then pointing out the real rice hiding on the bottom shelf with the discrete label.  Now, when in doubt, I look at the label.  If the label lists rice alongside other additives, it is processed rice. If it lists rice and only rice as the ingredient, it is real rice.  Another kind of rice to avoid is Precooked, or Instant, because you want the rice to retain its natural vitamin and nutritional content by cooking it yourself in a sauce pan or rice cooker.   

For me, other alternatives to pre-packaged food were more straight forward, so I began implementing changes over time.  Instead of buying frozen lasagna or canned chili, I made it myself.  I swapped TV dinners for real dinners—buying meats to bake in the oven and vegetables to steam.  I began experimenting with various stir fry recipes. When I wanted rice with some flavor, I created a base of coconut oil, minced garlic, chopped onion, green (or any color) pepper, and spices in a skillet and added cooked rice to it.  I swapped instant mashed potatoes for real ones and hash browns for fried potatoes with the same base ingredients I used for rice.  When I wanted sweet baked goods, I began baking breads:  banana bread, pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, carrot bread.  Options for baked breads are endless, and you can add a variety of fruits, nuts, and sweet spices to them.   

The great thing about baking is you control how much sugar you add, and what kind of flour you use.  There are a variety of flours available made from a variety of whole grains (not just wheat), some of which I listed in my post about Breakfast. Instead of adding sugar for sweetness, you can try substituting vanilla or plain yogurt, or sweetened or unsweetened apple sauce.  You can experiment over time to add less and less sugar to your baked goods. You may not even notice the difference in taste of your baked goods as you begin to add less sugar.

Making these changes for me was a complex and timely process.  Not only did I have to learn to eat healthy, but I had to learn to cook.  I checked out healthy recipe books from the library, searched for recipes online, and combed the grocery store aisles for ingredients I had never heard of before. Many ingredients I also left out, especially corn starches, bouillon cubes, and broths. I bought basic cooking utensils for my kitchen, and turned my kitchen into a welcoming place that I could work out of every day. 

I do want to emphasize that I started out small. I started with cooking one meal per week, usually on a day off to put what I learned into practice.  Over time, cooking and eating well became a habit and a hobby that helped me transition out of many of my health problems.

http://academicearth.org/electives/how-the-end-of-world-war-ii-made-us-fat/  

Baby Steps

The reason why many diets don’t work is because the diet authors try to incorporate too many steps in too short of a period of time.  For example, Candida diets begin by offering you a bullet point list of foods, mainly vegetables and protein, and a list of supplements and then they send you on your way.  Diet books and programs make it seem easy to go from being a chain smoking, junk food mowing, fast food frequenting, binge drinking American to some vegetarian monk who runs triathlons in a little less than a week.  Well, I’m here to tell you from personal experience that healing your body doesn’t work that way—at least it didn’t for me.

See, I tried all those diets to get my health shifted in order and I found epic fail every time.  I’d always begin my diet when I went to the grocery store.  I’d see all the pretty colors in the produce section and I would ecstatically pile up my cart.  Now that I look back, I wonder what the cashier was thinking, probably wondering how much I would actually eat before it all went bad and created a petri dish in my refrigerator.  And she would have been right, because all of it always did go bad, every time.

See, the true way to achieve good health is to start out small.  Maybe you are a heavy smoker and you want to quit. Try cutting out one cigarette per day, and be dedicated to eliminating that one cigarette for the rest of the month.  Don’t worry about cutting out more than that. Instead, begin thinking about the reasons why you started smoking in the first place.  Chances are you smoke because it is a coping mechanism for stress.

Stress comes in a variety of packages:  work, school, family, health, breakups, relationships, infidelity, sexuality, infertility, low self confidence, cancer, death, trauma, war, money, lonliness, abuse, and the list goes on and on.  Nobody is exempt from stress, even if they pretend to be.  That’s why addiction is an ever rampant problem.  People turn to addiction in any of its forms to combat the stress from the past and the stress they face each day.

When combating poor health and addiction to substances like sugar, it is absolutely necessary to deal with things that happened in the past.  Once you begin to address your addiction, you won’t be able to use it as a crutch anymore to deal with past stress and new stress.  Bring those emotions to the foreground and identify the problem. Give the problem a name, research it on the internet, think about it, talk to loved ones about it, try to find answers, make choices.  Take some alone time to deal with it, even if it is just an hour each day.  Breathe. Go through every emotion: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.  It is only after you reach acceptance that you will be able to make positive changes in your life. 

The Healing Properties of Coconut Oil

Fat used to be the buzz word of diet plans aimed to cut calories and promote wellness.  It is by no surprise, then, that we made the simple and inaccurate connection between the fat in the foods we consumed and the weight we gained on our body.  This led to a whole strew of ad campaigns and low fat products that both cut out good fats and promoted sugar as a base product to their revolution.

The problem with cutting fat out of our diet, is that we cut out oil too, which can rob us of vital nutrients.  Coconut oil, for example, is rich in Omega-6’s, improves digestion/vitamin absorption, and contains Lauric Acid, which promotes healthy HDL cholesterol.  A surprising side effect of Coconut Oil is weight loss. Funny isn’t it? A fat that helps you burn fat—because this fat is designed to burn energy (1,2).

For Candida sufferers, Coconut Oil is another first step to combating the infection and returning to normal health. This is because Coconut Oil contains two powerful antifungals: Lauric Acid and Capryllic Acid. It’s like superman on steroids.

A study done by University College Hospital in Nigeria showed that Candida was more susceptible to Coconut Oil than Diflucan, a prescription antifungal (3). Switching to coconut oil, essentially, is like having a prescription in the cupboard.

I buy my coconut oil at my local grocer and add it to my skillet for everything I cook:  stir-fry's, ground beef for tacos and chili, frying potatoes and eggs, and sauteing meat and veggies for soups.  I also use a spoon to grease the bottom of the pan for baking food in the oven.  You can also just glob it on without smearing it, because it will melt to prevent sticking.  It has a consistency like crisco, so I use it mainly for cooking and save Olive Oil to put over salads and steamed vegetables.

1)      http://www.doctoroz.com/blog/audrey-kunin-md/going-nuts-about-coconut-oil

2)      http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/surprising-health-benefits-coconut-oil

3)      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17651080

A Bowl of Yogurt per Day

You have probably heard the old adage about an apple a day, but what about a bowl of yogurt per day? With a society addicted to broad spectrum antibiotic use and increased sugar consumption, it seems that eating yogurt regularly is needed to keep the delicate balance of our intestinal flora in check--and not just when taking antibiotics.

There is a strong correlation between Candida Infections and sugar consumption (1).  Candida Albicans is a type of yeast that is naturally occurring in the body, specifically in the GI tract, mucous membranes, and the skin.  In a balanced gut, Candida isn’t a problem, because it serves as just one microbial population that is kept in check by a healthy immune system and another population called probiotics (good bacteria). Candida doesn’t become a problem until the gut balance is highly disrupted in favor of the Candida. 

Antibiotics are one cause of this disruption because they kill our good bacteria indiscriminately--warranting the need for repopulation through yogurt or probiotic supplementation.  However, Antibiotics alone, in my experience, are not the sole cause of chronic Candida.

A diet high in refined sugar feeds the Candida and encourages its growth.  Combine that with a diet lacking vital nutrients and you have a taxed immune system and increased inflammation. This is a melting pot not only for poor health, but Candida overgrowth.  To keep both probiotic colonies and the immune system strong, it is necessary to consume yogurt each day.  However, all yogurts are not created equal. 

Some yogurts, like cereal, are high in sugar because they are flavored.  I was able to combat this problem by buying plain yogurt and flavoring it generously with the same spices I listed on my last post: Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger and Cardamom.  The reason is because these spices are sweet and have some properties specific to Candida that I will cover later. 

There are two kinds of yogurts I buy that I mix.  I prefer Greek yogurt, because it contains protein, but in reality the quality of the yogurt and the number of different strains of probiotics is key (not just Acidophilus). I buy Fage 2% Greek yogurt from my local grocer and a yogurt called Bulgarian Yogurt, made by White Mountain, which I purchase from Vitamin Cottage.  Bulgarian yogurt is a little bit more expensive, but contains 90 billion cfu (colony forming units) of probiotics per serving.  It is not as thick and creamy as Fage, so I mix the two together.  Together, these two have made a great addition to my diet and vital first steps to overcoming Candida and poor health.

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

Breakfast: The Most Important Meal of the Day

There is a general consensus that calories contribute to weight gain.  Because of this preoccupation with calories and weight, it is easy to begin seeing food, not as a palatable delicacy to fulfill our energy and nutritional needs, but as a plate of caloric units requiring moderate activity to burn off during the day.  Whether it is a slice of white bread or an apple, we’ve been trained by advertisements, diet fads, and society to avoid calories until our cravings get the better of us.

It is by no surprise, then, that many Americans skip breakfast (1).  For me, mornings were the only times when I didn’t feel hungry.  To break the cycle of not eating breakfast, I had to begin by allowing myself to eat breakfast.  At first, it seemed unnatural to eat when I wasn’t hungry.  I felt like I was committing some kind of great crime against my body, that these excess calories would somehow contribute to my health problems even further.  I had subconsciously made the false connection between calories and health.

It took some time, but I slowly began to rewire my brain to see food for what it was:  fiber, energy, minerals, vitamins, and building blocks for the complex processes of my body.  I saw food, not for a number, but as a substance to be judged on its merits.

When we think of breakfast, we may think of cereal, yet not all cereals are created equal.  In fact, many kids’ cereals contain more sugar than a sugary snack or cookie of the same serving size (2).  The solution may seem simple:  avoid cereal marketed to children.  But what about cereal’s marketed to adults?  A simple trip to the grocery store and a few glances at labels may prove that cereal marketed to adults has just as much sugar, and a whole list of unpronounceable additives, as well as added vitamins.  And why are the vitamins added? The answer is simple:  because these substances do not contain vitamins in their natural state.  A buzz word to be cautious of is fortified.

You may be thinking right now, “I’m a busy person, I don’t have time to make a 3-course breakfast.”  The reality of the situation is you don’t have to.  Many whole grains serve as a great alternative to cereal. Whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, oats, millet, amaranth, and buckwheat can be great alternatives to their sugary counterparts. 

I use a rice cooker to cook my whole grains in the morning.  Unlike a stove, you can add your desired amount of whole grain to water ratio and let it simmer in the rice cooker while you take a shower and go about your morning routine.   For some flavor:  add nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, or cardamom.  These are spices available at your grocery store.  I buy mine at Vitamin Cottage in their spice aisle, along with my whole grains. I shop for spices and whole grains exclusively at Vitamin Cottage because they are cheaper than my local grocer and there is a better variety.

Another breakfast option is a piece of fruit, or you can add some fruit to your whole grains. Don't use packaged or canned fruit, but instead add some fresh berries or cut up an apple.  For Candida and Sugar Addiction, I noticed that enjoying fruits and whole grains (good carbohydrates) helped me curb processed sugar cravings throughout the day.  



1) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/11/31-million-americans-skip_n_1005076.html
2) http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20111207/many-kids-cereals-loaded-with-sugar-report

Why this Isn't a Self-Help Site

In every library and bookstore, there is at least one aisle dedicated to Self-Improvement. Catchy titles and trendy covers jump out at unsuspecting patrons, promising quick fixes, fast results, and a one size fits all approach to their problem of choice. Problems are categorized and labeled, giving the impression that disease states, whether they be physical or mental, are all separate entities, instead of symptoms of the same problem.

This blog focuses not on quick fixes, but subtle lifestyle choices that when implemented over time may have beneficial effects on your symptom of choice. My nemesis is Sugar Addiction and Candida, but all of the information I will be presenting serves as a building block for a healthy and happy life through food, exercise, introspection, life choices and healing. 

As a disclaimer I want to iterate that I am not a doctor or healthcare professional. All of the information I will provide I have received through research, life experience, as advice from friends and coworkers, and through trial and error. I will provide citations and links to information that I will use for each post, and as always, Dear Reader, it is best to consult with a healthcare provider before undergoing a change in diet or exercise program.