Candida....your hidden enemy

[lizker]

I have been struggling with sinusitis, acid reflux, poor sleep, memory issues, tiredness, cravings for carbs among other issues. I eat pretty healthy and exercise almost everyday. I have been to Drs for my sinuses which cause headaches, face pressure, weak sense of smell, full ears....total misery. I have had several tests, expensive MRI, Ctscan, endoscopy....nothing. After intense research, I zeroed in on the culprit....yeast overgrowth....what happens when we drink excessively, the yeast in our bodies starts to grow out of control due to the excess sugar in the body. There are othe r causes of the overgrowth such as antibiotic use, poor eating habits and contraceptives. I decided to be my own Dr as the Medical Drs are pretty much a waste of time and money. One Dr who is supposed to be a ENT confidently told me that yeast cannot cause sinusitis....and it does...two weeks ago I went on a Candida diet....no Sugar, no dairy of any sort, no yeast products like bread, rolls, pizzas, sandwiches....and started taking a yeast cleanse product...this product has caprylic acid, pau'd co, grapeseed extract, garlic, licorice among other powerful anti microbes and a good quality probiotic...when I say my life has literally changed in this two weeks, it's an understatement. My acid reflux is gone and I actually sleep all night...deep REM sleep. I have so much energy and my anxieties which have been tormenting me ever since I stopped drinking are completely gone. Candida suppresses serotonin production, as a result you become depressed and anxious. When we stop drinking, we also need to eliminate all sugar and yeast products as the sugar and yeast we consume, is food for the Candida and keeps growing and cause all kinds of illnesses that affect every system in the body. 90%of alcoholics have a Candida overgrowth...the by product of Candida is alcohol. So we may think that we are sober but we really are secretly still drinking unbeknownst to us. Iam only sharing this because I feel so blessed to be relieved from my suffering and hope it helps somebody.

[Sunbeam]

Lizker, I'm glad you found what works for you.

Peace and good health to you.

[lizker]

Thanks Sunbeam, I had tried acid blockers for the reflux but they didn't work. I think my body was too acidic from the yeast overgrowth. If anyone suffers from digestive, sinus, brain fog, memory issues, fatigue, muscles or joint pain, sugar and alcohol cravings...a Candida diet and yeast cleanse can make a huge difference. Even men can have yeast problems in the body. For women it's easier to tell due to our anatomy but it affects everyone.

[paulywogg]

Absolutely agree with this 100% I nearly always have a white,coated tongue and many,many almost to a tee the symptoms you've had Liz,the only problem is its hard to eliminate all the yum stuff

[satz123]

100% agree too.
Now it's dawned on me that the reason we crave sweet things after we stop drinking - is the body wanting to feed the Candida ?
I NEVER had a sweet tooth until I stopped drinking.

[lizker]

Absolutely agree with this 100% I nearly always have a white,coated tongue and many,many almost to a tee the symptoms you've had Liz,the only problem is its hard to eliminate all the yum stuff

I never thought I could Pauly...what made me commit was the realization that these buggers may be brewing booze and having a party in my gut without my permission and I'm not even enjoying it...just the misery...Candida's by product is alcohol. In other words we are still "drunk" even if we are not drinking if we keep feeding the Candida. You can start with a Candida cleanse product and eliminate one or two Candida friendly foods...in other words, start slow. You will never regret it. I promise.

[lizker]

100% agree too.
Now it's dawned on me that the reason we crave sweet things after we stop drinking - is the body wanting to feed the Candida ?
I NEVER had a sweet tooth until I stopped drinking.

I think that Candida messes with hormones like insulin which deregulates blood sugar levels. Low blood sugar causes sugar cravings. There's a co relationship between hypoglycemia and Candida. Not to say that every one who experiences low blood sugar has Candida, but majority of people with Candida experience low blood sugar and experience major sugar and alcohol cravings. Even though my protein intake was helping with alcohol cravings, I still struggled at times. Ever since I started the yeast cleanse, my cravings and thoughts of alcohol disappeared dramatically. I have lost 7 pounds. I'm not starving myself but I am not thinking about food all the time like I was doing before. I don't crave junkie foods like wings and pizza that were my weekly treat. The biggest lie I sold myself when I stopped drinking was that I can eat WHATEVER I want, whenever I want as long as I work out and burn it....wrong...

[available]

I never had a sweet tooth at all till i stopped drinking and now it is a constant battle to not eat sugar. what diet did you use Liz?

[NoSugar]

There is a simple test you can do to see if Candida might be a problem: http://wellnessmama.com/2430/what-is-candida/

[lizker]

I never had a sweet tooth at all till i stopped drinking and now it is a constant battle to not eat sugar. what diet did you use Liz?

The sweet tooth took me by surprise too Available. When I drunk I never wanted to taste anything sweet. For years, I never had cake or ice cream. Since quitting, It's almost as though sugar became my new addiction. I even mix artificial sweeteners to get my fix.
I have cut all sugar from table sugar, fruit juices, most fruits like banana, oranges, plums. I don't eat cookies, chocolate, candy, cakes, bread, biscuits or fried foods or pizza. Typical breakfast is a green smoothie with spinach, kale, frozen pieces of mango and frozen mixed berries. I use rolled oats in place of the protein shake....I take about 10 ounces of this. I also eat 1 boiled egg for protein. This usually keeps me pretty full till lunch time. Lunch is a nice size romaine lettuce salad...I put a variety of veggies on it like tomatoes, olives, cucumber, onion, pickles...I like Italian dresssing as it's lite in calories and not dairy based. The low fat varieties are my favorite. I alternate the meats on my salads...I do tuna, salmon and grilled chicken. I eat home made soups with my salads. For carbs I eat a baked potato, baked corn chips or whole wheat tortillas. Tortillas are made with baking soda not yeast. Dinner is a half cup of kidney beans, or black beans or peas with brown rice and mixed vegetables. I also do eat grilled chicken or baked fish for dinner with mixed vegetables and rice. There are variations to break the monotony such as grilled chicken wraps with whole wheat tortillas, stir-fried blended veggies, quinoa and barley...water is super important. Sometimes dehydration is mistaken for all sorts of cravings. Try drinking a cup every other hour. A good cleansing product will help kill the starving yeast. Probiotics will introduce good bacteria to the gut. 20billion cfu or more of a good quality probiotic will be very helpful. A colon cleanse is also highly recommend to remove the build up of toxins in the body. There's plenty of information on this topic and the various ways most people deal with on the web.

[Dutch1988]

It's great your seeing results Liz but what's a guy to do who just eats like 800-1000 grams of sugar a day. I mean I started just buying the large slurpee at 7-11 because it's cheaper than a can often and jerrys and no fat(just 300% more sugar). How am I supposed to consume 3500 calories without any of this yummy stuff and not drink? I always get to the end of the day and cave due to hunger. It's not like I am fat, I am 150 pounds and 5ft6.

How do you get started?

[lizker]

Nuts like almonds, walnuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds and peanuts cam be very helpful when doing the Candida diet..I especially like almonds as they are good with appetite control.

[lizker]

It's great your seeing results Liz but what's a guy to do who just eats like 800-1000 grams of sugar a day. I mean I started just buying the large slurpee at 7-11 because it's cheaper than a can often and jerrys and no fat(just 300% more sugar). How am I supposed to consume 3500 calories without any of this yummy stuff and not drink? I always get to the end of the day and cave due to hunger. It's not like I am fat, I am 150 pounds and 5ft6.

How do you get started?

Whoa! That's a lot of sugar :happy2: do you have any of the problems we are having? If that's is your birthday, you may still get away with. U pretty young. Even if you are not having them, it's still too much to take in. You are damaging your organs to save a few pennies? The long term consequences may be more costly. You can start by tappering of or changing gas stations. Stay away from 7 11:-). You can substitute with a nice protein bar or shake. You may have to revamp your whole lifestyle.

[Dutch1988]

Lol sorry I meant 1000 calories, I am assuming a large slurpee has 120-150 grams, still way more than I need.

I already drink a protein shake everyday, and that too gives me gi problems, anything else I can eat with 1000 calories that isn't a sugary slushy?

[paulywogg]

This thread really has me thinking Liz,thank you for sharing, you always manage to post helpful things to me I was reading the candida diet and she said a beer is basically a glass of yeast,makes sense cuz one time I misplaced one of my decoy water bottles and when I found it a month later it smelled yeasty and had weird white stuff growing on it,sick! I probably threw it away,mmm,knowing me I probably just rinsed it out and used it again so I'm trying to follow this way of eating, are there certain foods that you avoid? I'm curious about bananas? Thanks again