Foods to Fight Candida (Food List & Recipes)

If you are looking for foods to fight candida you have come to the right place!  After moving into a moldy Manhattan apartment at 18 years old, the wheels started to fall off physically speaking.  Unfortunately, this was the late 80’s before anyone had ever really heard the word candida and nobody really thought mold to be much of a problem.  I suffered for decades with what I thought were unrelated health issues.  Buckle up because it may surprise you that your Hashimoto’s, chronic sinus infection, chronic fatigue, and so much more could be caused by yeast and mold.

Yeast is a form of fungi that we all normally carry inside of our bodies.  These yeasts are normally harmless but in certain people they can cause serious health problems.

Read on, and I’ll share my own experience of many surgeries, infections, and illness due to a systemic fungal infection brought on by a moldy apartment, years of antibiotic use, and a horrendous diet of processed foods.

When Candida Yeast Becomes a Health Problem

When yeast turns from its harmless form into an invasive fungal form with hyphae (tentacles) it becomes dangerous and begins to borrow into your tissues causing damage.  An example of this is my decades-long fungal sinus infection.  Sometimes the fungal balls were difficult to remove so an antifungal had to be injected prior to removal because as the fungus begins to die, it will release its tentacle-like grip and therefore be easier to remove.  This yeast invasion can happen anywhere in the body and cause havoc.

Symptoms of Candida in the Gut

Below are just some of the many symptoms of candida in the gut.  I have included my television interview below discribing the devestation the overgrowth of yeast and fungus caused in my body.

• Chronic Sinus Infections
• Acid Reflux
• Joint Pain
• Chronic Fatigue
• Bloating and Gas
• Chronic UTI’s

Television:  My interview on Know The Cause discussing how mold almost destroyed my life

Foods to Fight Candida

When I finally got diagnosed decades after becoming ill, I started Doug Kaufmann’s diet called the Kaufmann Diet.  It’s a low mold diet which essentially means it does not feed yeast and fungus by removing the very foods they thrive on.  The same foods that kill mold in the body are the same foods you will see on the typical candida diet or Kaufmann diet.  On my website 90% of my recipes would be Kaufmann diet friendly and I will share some with you in this article.  You can find an in-depth antifungal diet food list in my article called “What Can I Eat?”  It also provides a lengthy explanation of how candida and fungus overgrowth leads to disease.

Avoiding Candida Overgrowth

Overuse of Antibiotics

We have an antibiotic overuse epidemic today.  Antibiotics are fungal metabolites or mycotoxins.  They not only kill the bad bacteria in your gut but also the good bacteria, leaving the door open for yeast to proliferate and try to take over.  Antibiotics save lives so they are important, but too many can cause health problems including a candida infection.

Poor Diet

A diet high in processed foods and alcohol can change your microbiome for the worse.  We also eat many foods that are contaminated with mycotoxins on a daily basis.  The biggest offenders of unwanted fungi in the food supply are corn, grains such as wheat, and alcohol.  Consuming these foods on a regular basis can alter the balance of good bacteria and yeast, allowing the yeast to flourish.

Oral Contraceptives

There are links between the use of birth control pills and candida overgrowth.  The cause may be from hormones, a weakening of the immune system, and a reduction in the important bacteria called Lactobacilli which help keep yeast in check.

How the Candida Diet Works

Below is the low mold diet explained by Doug Kaufmann.  Creator of the Kaufmann diet.

“Fungi are known human parasites.  They can enter our body in many ways, from inhalation to fugally contaminated food in our food supply, which is not uncommon. Several fungal species in our air and food supply make poisons substances called mycotoxins. The study of fungal poisons is a relatively new field of science.  It’s genesis occurred in England in the early 1960’s when thousands of turkeys died from eating peanut meal that was impregnated with mycotoxins.  We know that fungal mycotoxins can cause illness and death in animals and humans.  In the 1970’s, when I began studying fungal diseases, I realized that peanuts were not the only foods that were contaminated with mycotoxins.  From the scant literature on mycotoxins that existed in the 1970’s I developed a diet that minimized exposure to fungal poisons”.

“The premise for avoiding foods that feed fungi are quite simple; avoid yeast foods like bakers yeast and brewers yeast, avoid foods that contain fungal mycotoxins such as grains and alcoholic beverages and avoid eating fungi itself in mushrooms, corn and other foods.  The premise has remained the same for decades in my books and diets.  Advancements in my understanding of how fungus actually causes us to crave the foods required for its own survival (sugars/carbohydrates) and of foods that are either contaminated with fungus, or that feed fungus continue to this day.  Concentrating on foods that kill mold in the body and avoiding foods that feed yeast and mold.”

Easy Beginner Candida Diet Recipes

The Best Tasting Green Juice Recipe for Beginners

Ham and Egg Breakfast Cups

Easy Pumpkin Soup

Candida Supplements

• Probiotics:  Replacing yeast and fungus with beneficial probiotics are essential.  Since the yeast and bacteria complete for food, the healthy bacteria will help kill off the yeast.  I like MicroFlora Balance by Micro Balance.  The formula was created by and Ear, Nose and Throat physician who specializes in fungal infections.
• Antifungals: There are also many natural antifungals, in fact many vitamins are antifungal.  An example of natural antifungal supplements would be oil of oregano,  CitriDrops,  garlic and caprylic acid.  CitriDrops are especially helpful for candida sinus infection.  I have used them in my nasal rinse with success.
• Prescription Antifungals: Sometimes your doctor may prescribe you an antifungal such as Diflucan or Nystatin.  For chronic fungal infections of the sinuses, antifungals such as Itraconazole or Amphotericin B may be used.
• Binders: Binders such as Bio-Active Binder are important to help clear the yeast and mycotoxins from the body.  Binders play an important role in detoxing mold out of the body as well as helping with candida die-off symptoms.

Check out the second edition of my book Eat Pray Get Well – A Journey from Chronic Illness & Brokenness to Wholeness & Healing.  Foreword written by Doug Kaufmann, TV host of Know the Cause and creator of the Kaufmann Diet.

This post contains affiliate links.  Please speak to your doctor before trying any new diet.

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