Candida Cleanse Diet: Does It Work For Gut Health?

Have you ever heard of something called Candidiasis^[1]? It’s caused by a fungus-like organism known in full as Candida albicans. Most of the time, the organism is normal flora in the guts and intestines. Candidiasis occurs when there is an overgrowth of Candida and is treated with antifungal medications.

Candida symptoms in a person’s body include fatigue, poor memory, brain fog, and even headaches. If you are suffering from these symptoms, you need to know about the Candida gut yeast cleanse diet, gut health support, and everything about it.

Sometimes called the yeast syndrome, Candida requires several dietary changes to eliminate and cleanse it out of your body. The gut yeast diet aims to eliminate sugar, cheese, yeast, white sugar, and many other foods that cause an overgrowth of the organism.

However, it would be best to keep in mind that having Candida in your alimentary canal is normal; the problem comes in when there is an overgrowth^[2]. And a poor diet is the biggest cause of this overgrowth that may lead to irritable bowel syndrome^[3].

What is Candida?

Candida is a type of fungus classified as yeast. There are different types of Candida, each of which affects your body differently. Additionally, Candida is known to live in our environment, on the skin surface, and in the gut flora.

However, it does not always cause issues and body effects. Only some of the Candida types can cause the symptoms. Therefore, you need to learn about Candida cleanse and the Candida diet too.

Candida always develops into a problem for your gut health^[6] after it has grown uncontrollably. Once it starts growing at alarming rates, it grows deeper into your body and treating it becomes quite a task. Candida can attack vital organs. The yeast cells can cause life-threatening infections known as Candidiasis.

Vaginal Candidiasis

Also known as vaginal yeast infection^[7], this is one of the most common types of Candidiasis. The infection comes about when there is an overgrowth of Candida in the vagina. It is also known as vaginal yeast infection, Candidacy vaginosis, or vulvovaginal Candidiasis. To treat yeast infections and other fungal infections, doctors prescribe antifungal medications, pills, or creams.

Some symptoms that accompany the disease include painful sex, itching in the vagina, and abnormal vaginal discharges. It can even cause the vaginal walls to crack, which can be very painful for the lady. 

Candidiasis can also affect men and is referred to as penile yeast infection, candida balanitis, or balanitis thrush

Mouth, Throat, and Esophagus Candidiasis

It’s known to most people as oral thrush^[8]. It’s caused by Candida overgrowth in the mouth and throat. Some of the most common symptoms exhibited include white patches in the mouth, redness, unusual patches on the tongue and mouth walls, cottonmouth, losing the sense of taste, and feeling pain when eating.

Even though it is common, thrush mainly affects children. However, people who have a weak immune system might be susceptible to the disease, even adults.

The Candida Cleanse Diet

Now that you understand most of the things about Candida, what does the Candida Cleanse Diet entail? How does it help your body? Does it clean your gut? Are there any foods that you should include and eliminate in your diet?

The diet generally involves eliminating all the sources of sugar, flour, and yeast in our diet. Additionally, the diet will also encourage lean proteins, healthy fats, and other non-starchy foods. Therefore, to avoid Candida infection, a healthy diet is key! It helps in stopping Candida, thus reducing its overgrowth.

Even though scientists have put a lot of effort into examining the risk factors caused by the diet, not much has been done to support the treatment plans. However, you can reduce your symptoms by following the healthy diet guideline.

Before starting on the Candida diet, experts and medical health practitioners recommend trying a Candida cleanse first. A Candida cleanse is a short-term dietary change that alleviates stress to your gut tract so that you release toxins. Even though studies do not fully outline the benefits, it might be an excellent start to get you in shape for the Candida diet^[9].

You can do the cleanse in different ways. However, one may use two common ways to get the results in an instant.

Methods of Taking Candida Cleanse Diet

1. The first way is a high intake of fluids. You will be required to take a strictly liquid diet. This includes lemon water and bone broth.
2.  The second way is the vegetable-rich diet. Vegetables such as steamed cabbage and salad can come in handy. You can combine this with a bit of protein, and you will be good for the day.

Another important thing for you to note is that you can experience adverse symptoms when starting the diet. This includes mood swings, fatigue, and headache. However, you will soon get into shape and get used to it. Additionally, the Candida cleanse diet should only take a few days. After you finish cleansing, you will be in an excellent position to start on the diet.

Candida patients might experience the effects of the diet at different rates. This means that even though one might take weeks, another can take months or even more.

The best thing is to get into the diet under the close supervision of your physician after a proper diagnosis. At the same time, you need to be taking adequate nutrients from the right foods. This way, your journey towards a Candida-free gut will be smooth and straightforward, helping you avoid an unhealthy and leaky gut^[10] which can be dangerous.

Another thing to keep in mind before beginning the diet is starting slow as you speed up. You do not have to exclude all of the prohibited foods from your diet at once. You make this more manageable by eliminating them one at a time until you are confident and ready to remove all of them.

Additionally, the diet and cleanse should be short-term. Therefore, you can stop the diet once your symptoms have improved.

Foods that You Should Eat on the Candida Diet

Candida is a simple yeast that does not require much for it to flourish in our body. Candida thrives in the warm and damp environment in the body, which promotes its growth. Additionally, if you get used to taking antibiotics, the fungus increases in the body. Also, these antibiotics may kill all the good bacteria that are good for the GI tract.

That said, below are some of the foods^[11] to incorporate in your Candida Cleanse Diet.

• Fruits with low sugar content. Some examples include lemon and lime. Berries can be a good fit too. These foods also help regulate blood sugar levels.
• Gluten-free grains such as oat bran, millet, buckwheat, and quinoa
• Starch-free vegetables. You can eat them raw or steam them before eating. Best options include spinach, zucchini, eggplant, cucumber, asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, broccoli, and celery.
• Proteins. High-quality proteins such as chicken, turkey, eggs, and salmon can come in handy. However, ensure that they are organic or pasture-raised to get the most out of them.
• Healthy fats and oils such as ghee, butter, coconut oil, and olive oil are also a vital part of the Candida cleanse diet.
• Condiments such as vinegar, apples, and coconuts
• For beverages, you will have to turn to non-caffeinated ones such as chicory tea, herbal tea, filtered water, coconut milk, and water.
• For sweeteners, no sugar ones are the best. Examples of such include xylitol and stevia.
• Spices and herbs such as cinnamon, dill, ginger, garlic, oregano, black pepper, salt, paprika, rosemary, and turmeric can be part of the diet. Thyme might be a good option too.
• Wild fish.
• Green tea.
• Cruciferous vegetables.
• Ginger.
• Nuts such as macadamia nuts and walnuts.
• Avocado and dark chocolate.

Foods that You Should Avoid on the Candida Cleanse Diet

Some foods are known to aggregate the symptoms in people with Candida overgrowth. Below are some of the foods that they should cut off from their diets.

Sugar

Sugar should not be in your diet, be it brown or white. Additionally, you should avoid any simple sweeteners derived from honey, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, or agave. Also, avoid high fructose corn syrup; it is a processed form of sugar derived from corn and is problematic to people with yeast growth.

Refined Carbohydrates

You should also avoid refined carbohydrates and simple processed foods such as chips, crackers, pasta, and noodles. It would be best if you eliminated them because they are converted into sugars.

Yeast

Any form of yeast should not be in your diet. As we all know, Candida is a yeast, and consuming more yeast will be like adding more of it to an already full environment. Fermented alcohol is part of the beverages that contain yeast. 

However, you can still take gin, tequila, and vodka as they have less yeast content. You should also eliminate fermented food products such as soy sauce, tamari, mayonnaise, mustard, and ketchup. Bread contains yeast, too, so avoid it too.

Mold 

Foods that have a high mold concentration add to the fungal population that already exists in the gut. Foods with high mold content include smoked meat, hotdogs, smoked salmon, pork bacon, cheese, peanuts, dried fruits, and bottled fruits.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are fungus too. Yes, some mushrooms might have health and medicinal benefits. However, they will not be suitable as a Candida diet food as they won’t minimize the yeast overgrowth in the gut.

Gluten

Gluten is restricted on a Candida cleanse diet. Research shows that gluten intolerance^[12] damages the intestinal tract and gives the yeast the upper hand when affecting our body. 

However, little is known about how gluten can harm intestinal wall linings, especially in gluten-tolerant people.

Dairy Products

Some dairy products are also excluded from the diet. Theoretically, lactose can stimulate the growth of Candida^[13] because it tends to increase mouth acidity. However, this is yet to be proven scientifically.

Effects of the Candida Cleanse

The Candida cleanse diet aims to prevent Candida overgrowth from the intestines. After following the diet for some time, you might notice a change or improvement in the symptoms. This can be heavily attributed to the reduced consumption of processed foods and carbs.

However, eliminating healthy carbs from your diet might affect your health. Therefore, you can instead switch to healthy carbohydrates such as whole grains.

Conclusion

Candida overgrowth can be a hidden culprit for several chronic diseases^[14]. The yeast can grow over a long period without causing symptoms until there is an overgrowth. You can use the Candida cleanse diet to treat Candidiasis.

Even though it is not so simple, the diet is manageable and is potent as disease control for numerous conditions. If you are strict, you may even get to accomplish weight loss. Therefore, ensure that you get advice from your doctor, and you will easily maneuver through without any adverse effects.

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