I started to follow the Low Carb diet when I read an article that recommended the Atkins diet for Candida Yeast. My initial reaction was rejection but the more I learned and saw positive results in other people the more I warmed up to actually trying the diet. The first week of eating low carb was great. Digestion and bloating improved and I lost weight. Hunger and cravings disappeared and so on. The Candida Yeast symptoms gradually reduced and I did experience a yeast die off. And the best thing was is that I got to eat yummy food.

My main reason for sticking to the Low Carb diet is to get rid of yeast. It is not the weight loss or the other benefits that I described above. It is a physical discomfort and a constant reminder when I cheat. The foods that I am cheating with are small amounts of fruit and mostly berries. Fruit like berries, grapefruit, lemons, limes and cantaloupe are allowed while low carbing. But they still cause a Candida reaction in me. They may not cause my eating to get out of control but they are still sugar and my body is telling me that it does not like it. The reason I allow myself to eat these foods is because they are allowed even though it is not good for me.

Our minds desire things that create pleasure for us and stay away from things that cause us pain. Candida causes me pain so I stick to the diet. I don’t want Candida anymore. I will have to get my mind around the fact that even low sugar fruit causes me pain.

The immediate pleasure that we get from eating junk food is often much more powerful than the pain that we feel after we eat it. But if the food makes us physically sick after we eat it we are more likely to stay away from it.

Remorse, guilt, bloating, just overall bad feelings are not enough to stop us from raiding the cupboards. There has to be something more. On the weight loss show “The Bulging Bride” and “The Last Ten Pounds” they have the personal trainers come early in the morning and whip the poor participants out of bed and give them an extra gruelling workout to ensure that they will feel the pain for days to come. And this workout also involves the participant’s friends that allowed them to cheat. They also utilize the pleasure principle: at the end of the show they get to fit into their gorgeous wedding dress or in the case of The Last Ten Pounds they get to fit into a snazzy new outfit.

I am also creating more pain by setting exercise fitness goals for April 25. If I fail, then I fail publicly. I will have to find a nice new outfit that I can hang on my bedroom door to motivate me every morning when I get up.

Is there a way that you can implement these principles in your life?

What can you use for your pain and pain motivators?

To your health and wellness,

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In the last two weeks I have had two days that have been higher carb and sugar. The first was a holiday work party. I did well at dinner but when I saw the dessert table I let my guard down and indulged. I also had an alcoholic beverage or two. Ah well. 

The next day was back to normal low carb eating. I have been reading Suzanne Somers Fast & Easy. She has created a diet called Somersizing and it is mainly a high fat low carb diet.  There are two phases – a weight loss phase and a maintenance phase where you can eat carbs (but without fats). Fruits are also allowed but should be eaten alone and preferably in the morning so you have all day to use the sugars and carbs.

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Sometimes it takes a health issue to turn our unhealthy habits around. About four weeks ago I got a seriously uncomfortable Candida reaction. Now I have had a systemic Candida problem for more than half my life – approximately sixteen years. Most of this time I had no idea what my problem was. I was vegetarian/vegan and was going through a young adult life, eating lots of white carbohydrates, sweets and alcohol. Before I new it my problem became systemic. I got pregnant with my first daughter, so the alcohol stopped but the carbohydrates didn’t. After my daughter was born, nursing was extremely painful. I was certain that she had thrush. My nipples were red sore and sometimes even bleeding. This is when I educated myself on candida. I cut out sugars, but since I was vegetarian I could not cut out carbs. My daughter showed sensitivity to milk and eggs so then we became vegan.

My daughter became sick and started to show signs of  dental decay. The doctor told us that my daughter at 18 months was classified as failure to thrive. That shocked me and I took it personally that I was being a bad parent. It put the fire under me and I started to do research on dental decay and nutrition. I found the Weston A. Price Foundation and the book that was written on Dr. Weston Price’s research called Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictorats by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig Phd. This is the book that ended twelve years of vegetarianism. My daughter started on probiotics and yogurt and her milk and egg sensitivity went away. Her dental decay did not worsen and to this day she is almost six years old and has no cavities. This book teaches the importance of enzymes, beneficial bacteria, culturing and fermentation for the importance of digestion and nutrient assimilation.

I got pregnant again with my second daughter and had a blast working with this cookbook. However, I found out that I still had a very bad case of candida. Not to mention all of the sweet cravings that I was having and my hormones going wild. After the birth I did not have a reoccurance of thrush and I was very thankful. I did continue to follow the cookbook and its nutrition. But I could not get rid of the candida. I stay away from sugar and sweetners and the main sweet things I would eat was fruit.

So back to four weeks ago and my candida reacion… I have had enough! I cut out the only sweet things I eat. Fruit! I researched the Atkin’s diet a bit. I cut out sprouted breads, fruits, and grains. And it took a while but I am in the middle of a “yeast die-off” Not fun, but I have had my worst day and I am now on the road to healing. I know I can do this diet in combination with the Nourishing Traditions diet. I have no cravings at all for sweets or fruits. I feel SATISFIED after eating and I am not hungry.  Another big bonus is that I have lost 10 pounds in four weeks!

So I ask for help and advice.. How did you cure your Candida?

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