Candida Diet 2.0

So, I had a LOT of fun on my vacation with my family.

I owe you posts about the trips, which will come this coming week when I’m on holiday, but suffice it to say that some of the food highlights looked like this…

Didn’t touch the rice. I haven’t gone that far off.

Some of these meals veered towards Candida friendly with just one or two little things (vinegar, soy) and others didn’t even try. Since getting back from my trip, I’ve struggled to maintain it, but it’s been incredibly difficult with friends (who have good wine) parties (that have yummy treats) and and Jewish Holidays (that have dishes that make me feel like I’m back home.)  It’s little wonder that after a tingle here, a tingle there, has led to a massive Candida relapse that I can only describe as “uncomfortable.”  Worse than that – something is going on with my digestion.  I’m waiting for an appointment with a new doctor (my original doctor is solely Western medicine, and after 8 full rounds of Western treatment, my body is exhausted and running on fumes) who is both a GP and a lecturer for the University of Preventative and Holistic Medicine (or something.) Because he’s taking twelve years or so to get back to me, I decided to make an appointment with my amazing naturopath to tide me over. 

After asking me a bunch of questions (and listening to my frustration, which is just as important) she strongly thinks that my candida is not simple candidasis (an overgrowth of candida, which I wouldn’t previously have called “simple”) but it’s in fact a symptom of digestion issues; my body isn’t processing nutrients or digesting food correctly, so candida (a friendly bacteria always present in the gut) is overgrown and insane. It makes a huge amount of sense, but the treatment kind of sucks.  I have to be on a more restrictive version of the candida diet for at least 8 weeks.  How on earth can such restrictive diet be more restrictive? By taking out my two main snacks: raw nuts and raw vegetables. Basically, I’m down to cooked, non-starchy vegetables (green ones a few white ones, like cauliflower, onion and garlic), cooked meat, unsweetened coconut milk, spices, a little bit of plain goat yogurt (if it doesn’t make me sick), avocado, butter, and hopefully nut butter (if it doesn’t make me sick).  That’s pretty much it.  No vinegar, no soy products (I’ll probably use a touch of Bragg’s for flavor as it doesn’t seem to bother me) no fruit, no fermented foods, no grains, no fruit besides lemon, and of course, no booze. In addition, I have to take psyllium husk, flax oil, and a few other delightful supplements to get my digestion re-started.

I feel so frustrated, particularly as I already did the candida diet once very strictly and thought I was better, only to find out it wasn’t really. However, at this point I feel so drained, and so tired, that I simply don’t care. I just want to get better and feel better. I want my brain not to feel fuzzy again, to feel energetic again, and to play again.

I’ll make a conscious effort to document my eats throughout the next eight weeks. Not just for the fun of blogging, but also because I hope it will be helpful to those struggling with candida diet recipes, and also as a visual food journal to make sure I’m doing well.

Just a side note: spoke to the naturopath about the fact that we are going away this weekend for our second anniversary, and there is NO WAY that I’m not enjoying myself at some of the beautiful restaurants in Byron Bay. So, while I’m already on the diet, I am taking this weekend “off” for dinners.

In case the photos resemble food porn, or something.

Have a great day, ya’ll.