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About my candida cleanse idea –
Let me explain a little better what will be involved, and ask you some questions so you can tell me further what you think about it.
What Is a Candida Cleanse?
Your digestive system and intestines are absolutely full of yeast and bacteria. Some are really good for you, some are really bad for you and create major stress on your digestive system – this leads to a leaky gut wall, which leads to allergies, toxins entering the bloodstream, and poor nutrient absorption. The most common form of bad yeast that overgrows and causes problems is something called candida.
Having an improper gut flora imbalance and a poorly functioning digestive system is a major root cause of many diseases in the body, including acne. If you have acne and have any kind of food allergies or digestive issues – bloating, gas, loose stools, constipation, stomach aches – or you’ve taken antibiotics or birth control pills in the past – or if you’re a girl and ever get yeast infections – or if you’ve eaten a standard American diet full of sugar and refined carbohydrates your whole life like many of us – well, you can bet that you could do with some bacteria balancing in your gut, whether it’s specifically a candida overgrowth or not.
A candida cleanse works to kill off the candida in your system, while at the same time reintroducing good bacteria so that the good bacteria takes over and keep the bad bacteria and yeast in check, ultimately having an amazingly healthful effect on your body and your skin.
The most important and agreed upon part of a candida cleanse is that you must stop consuming any sugar for a temporary period of time – even natural sugar like fruit or honey. Candida and bad bacteria love to feast on sugar, so eliminating it helps you to cut off their food source.
The other basic rules are:
- No sugar
- No alcohol
- No wheat or gluten
- No yeast
- No caffeine
- No preservatives and additives
- No refined or processed foods
- No moldy foods
- No dairy (except milk kefir, maybe organic goat or sheep yogurt, and quality butter)
- Low in Carbohydrates, because candida likes starchy carbs
So, this generally means that what you are eating is a lot of lower carbohydrate vegetables and animal products. The best candida cleanse only includes these things, but that’s incredibly difficult and probably not necessary for most unless you know you have a very severe candida problem.
Either way, I still need to figure out what exactly my cleanse will entail, since candida experts don’t always agree on what to do (much like anything in the natural health and nutrition world!) – some say nuts are fine, some say they are bad, some say non gluten grains are okay, some say no, some say you can eat some starch, some say no, some say mushrooms are bad, some say it’s okay, some say all yeast is bad, others say there are benign or beneficial yeast that is okay, some say non gluten grains are okay, some say they’re not. Agh.
My Past Candida Cleanses
I’ve done two candida cleanses thus far, both of which lasted approximately three weeks. Both of them saw incredible healing of my acne, and in the second case, a complete resolution of the painful eczema I had on my hand. The good news is that the cleanses were slightly different from one another in what I excluded and included, and I still saw great results with both!
Candida cleansing was actually the first thing I ever did to change my diet for the purpose of getting rid of acne, which had recently gone from mild to moderate in the fall of 2007… lots of big papules showing up all over my chin. I had just moved in with a bunch of random people in Victoria BC, I was a student at the time, and I managed to pull it off just fine – on a budget without ever explicitly telling my roommates that my ‘weird cleanse’ was about acne.
Since this was my first venture into natural healing, I didn’t know anything about health like I do now (sigh, I feel like that was a much simpler time in my brain….), so I wasn’t all worried about the details. I also wasn’t as stressed about it. I just chose a protocol and followed it. I even did it with conventional meat and brown rice and it still worked fantastically. After the three weeks, I went straight back to my regular diet and my skin actually stayed quite good for a long time afterward, so it seemed to have quite a lasting impact.
However, when I began changing my lifestyle in 2010 to clear my severe acne, I consumed health information like I was going to starve to death without it. I was swayed by raw foodists, and I ate too many raw vegetables for my poor digestive system and did quite a bit of juice cleansing and fasting – which didn’t seem to work very well at all, leaving me in total frustration. I honestly wish I had just kicked it all off with another candida cleanse… funny how I’ve come full circle to my earlier, less educated, but perhaps better off self.
Either way – candida cleanses work. At least they do for me, and it seems like they do for others.
Here is what I propose as far as a general diet plan and you can tell me what you think:
The Candida Cleanse Plan
To include:
*Animal products (preferably naturally raised and fed, but at the very least, antibiotic and hormone free… antibiotics are bad for gut flora!) – eggs, chicken, beef, buffalo, wild caught fish, organ meats, shellfish, milk kefir and organic goat’s yogurt if dairy is tolerated, butter.
*Super nutritious gut healing foods like homemade bone broth and nettle tea.
*Non starchy vegetables and herbs such as leafy greens, lettuce, asparagus, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumber, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, etc.
*Some nuts and seeds (like a handful per day) if they are soaked overnight beforehand to reduce mould. I’ve also allowed some nut butters and tahini in my last cleanse to make salad dressings.
*Unrefined oils like extra virgin olive oil.
*Coconut products including lots of unrefined coconut oil.
*Low sugar fruits like avocados, lemons, limes, sour green apples, and all berries.
*Fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, and kefir.
(Update: After writing the program, I decided kombucha should be avoided in the early stages of candida cleansing. It can be introduced later.)
*Powerful probiotic supplements.
*Some kind of yeast killer – I have used a grapefruit seed extract called Canplex that seemed to work very well. You can also use Pau D’arco, Garlic, Olive Leaf Extract and some others.
To maybe include sometimes, depending on how intense a cleanse you want to do:
*Higher sugar vegetables like beets and carrots.
*Winter squashes like acorn and butternut.
*Lower starch legumes like red or green lentils.
*Maybe* brown rice, millet, or quinoa if you’re vegetarian and have to fill out your meal, but I honestly think it’s better to give your gut a break from all grains.
(Update: After writing the program, I decided that winter squashes should be out except for spaghetti squash because it doesn’t have as much sugar. Beets are also out, but carrots can be eaten raw. All beans and legumes are out, as they often create gastic distress. For grains, all are out except the 3 pseudo grains that are actually more like seeds than grains – quinoa, buckwheat, and amaranth – and only if they are properly prepared by soaking overnight.)
To avoid:
*All processed foods, conventional seed oils, table salt.
*All refined and natural sugars such as honey, date sugar, raisins, blackstrap molasses.
*All fruits except the low sugar ones mentioned above.
*All wheat and grain products.
*All starchy carbs like potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn.
*Most cheese because it’s made from mould.
*Conventional non-fermented dairy products.
*Most beans and legumes.
*Mushrooms
Anyway… I might have forgotten some things, but that’s the gist of it to give you an idea if this is something you could handle. I think it’s important not only to reduce carbohydrates and sugars, but also to include really nutritious foods and ferments (like lots of greens, bone broth, and kefir) in order to give yourself the nutrients necessary to actually heal your gut and detoxify. Your body needs nutrients to do these things.
What You’ll Need to Buy
Most of this food you can find at your regular grocery store – organic is better but not necessary, although you really want to be getting your animal products as quality as possible. You will have to locate some really good probiotics, kefir grains if you can to make milk or water kefir, and also yeast killer supplements.
How It Will Work
I propose the structure of it to be something like this:
The cleanse will begin each month on a specified date so that everyone doing the cleanse starts together. I would like to close registration at least one week before we start the cleanse so that people are able to mentally prepare and get their hands on the items they will need…. so registering earlier rather than later is more beneficial!
When you register you will get some kind of document from me that will give you the ins and outs – the instructions – the how to’s – grocery lists and meal plans – how to prepare, etc.
On the start date, I will open the community forums for everyone in the cleanse to talk and support each other. Everyone will also begin receiving videos each day that I will record – probably motivational stuff or cooking demos or things like that.
The actual meal plans/videos will probably go for somewhere between 7 and 10 days. I know this is shorter than most people will want to do the cleanse, but since candida cleanses can go for an indeterminate amount of time, I need to cut it off somewhere – this will be kind of like a challenge to get you started and you can continue afterward if you want to – if not – you will still gain great benefits!
The fee for the whole thing will be $19.95, which I feel is very reasonable for this as I do expect it to be quite a lot to put together, so I hope this is okay. I appreciate your support with this!
Other Things to Consider
Because candida produces toxins as it dies off, when you begin the cleanse, you may not feel very good for a few days and have a flare up of any symptoms you have, including a slight worsening of your acne… so you need to be aware of that (it’s a slight worsening okay, not crazy, and it absolutely does not happen to everyone).
If it does, this is a good thing and embrace it as that – it means you are releasing toxins and things are going to get better, so no panicking, okay? It’ll pass and put you well on your way to permanent healing.
Something else to consider is that you will want to be eating quite often during this cleanse because you might feel quite hungry on it. This is because your body is not used to eating healthfully yet – it’s used to eating tons of calories in order to get minimum nutrition. Suddenly it has lots of nutrients in fewer calories, but it’s not used to this and craves more until your body adjusts. So make sure you are eating often and plenty in order to feel satisfied.
I’m Vegetarian, Can I Do The Cleanse?
I’ll be honest, it’s difficult to do the cleanse properly as a vegetarian, but it can be done (if you don’t eat eggs or fermented dairy though it can be nearly impossible). The menu plans that I set out will not be vegetarian based, but you can eat more grains and carbs if it is necessary for you – you will likely still get plenty of benefit (like I said, the first time I did a candida cleanse, I ate brown rice every day and did fine on it).
Okay… what do you think? Is this still something you think you could do? Is it what you imagined when I proposed the idea last week?
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I’m really interested in doing the cleanse..although I might find it hard to be prepared with enough food that is filling me up enough..
I have a question about sugar cravings: I know once you really stopped eating sugar you have less cravings. But I never make it through the time of PMS. All other days I don’t mind that much, but once my hormone level changes I can only think of chocolate. Any advice?
And how do you make kimchi yourself? I love kimchi, but I don’t have a good recipe. The kimchi from the Asian supermarket has some sweet flavor to it which is either sugar or aspartam…
Hi Eva,
Actually I do have some advice – you might be magnesium deficient. Most of us are, and especially during PMS time… and chocolate is high in magnesium… might explain why women crave it so much then? Google it!
Also, I’ll try to get a kimchi recipe up… I just picked one and made it and I don’t have a clue if it tastes like real kimchi but it tastes alright to me
Thanks, I will definitely look into the magnesium topic. Although I’ve been taking magnesium supplements for a while already. But maybe it’s not enough.
I’m looking forward to the kimchi!
I’m ready for the cleanse….it’s very helpful to have it all laid out! Thanks!
Nice, thanks! I’ve been thinking about doing a candida cleanse. I think I’ll start in Januar, when Christmas/new years is over 🙂
This looks awesome. I’m in!
Hi Tracy, is coconut sugar okay on the candida diet? And could you tell me why beans are okay on some candida diets and not on others? Thanks a bunch!
That’s exactly what I imagined! 🙂 I can’t wait.
For me the most important thing woulld be the recipes and menu plans. I have never made kefir or sauerkraut myself before (and have no shop in my town to buy it good quality either) so I’m interested in making them as well as homemade bone broth (no idea what it is) 🙂
For me the price is resonable so I’m ready to start with you in January.
ok! i dont know where to start from! first of all this is a very informative post and your idea about the candida forum is great. i will definitely join!
i have some questions though.i took a look at healing naturally by bee which was suggested by somebody here and i am totally confused now.this blog talks about a whole new theory about candida and whats going on in your body and it seems like some points are really interesting.the thing is that all the information explained there is totally opposite to what we know about candida and gut health. for example it explains why probiotics are not good or why raw vegetables are extremelly hard for digestion, advising that we should be cooking all vegetables for long in order to digest them properly.on the other hand i know people who swear by raw diet or probiotics. bee advises that all people should consume a high fat/high protein diet without emphasising on greens which sounds very strange to me. she even denies the existence of enzymes in raw vegetables.since you said that you are familiar with this blog, what is your opinion about this all?.i have done so much research about diet, candida, acne and so on and i am left very confused.i really dont know what to believe so i end up doing nothing…
Hi Magda,
Well, I share your pain completely. The more I read, the more confused I get about the little details… it’s easy to get a general idea of what you need to do, but it’s the little details that kill you….I end up getting really uptight because I want to give the best advice I can to all of you, but how? There is no agreement out there! Who is right? Who has the ultimate protocol? What do I recommend it? It seriously makes me want to throw in the towel on the whole nutrition thing and give up.
So what do I do? I do my best. I choose what makes basic sense to me, what I’ve personally experienced, what is actually possible for the majority of people to achieve and aim for… and just roll with it. I’ve been stressing out about this a lot lately, but I don’t think it’s doing me or you any favours. Like I said in this article – when I did my first candida cleanse, I didn’t know anything about health – I just chose something and went with it. I wasn’t stressed about ‘who was right’ and it turned out just fine. If it didn’t… well, I guess I would do something else.
It’s important to just try things, I think. The reason there is so much disagreement is because everyone is DIFFERENT. A general diet plan (like the paleo or whatever) might be a good starting point that makes sense, but then people disagree about eating dairy, cooked vs raw, how many carbs, this and that blah blah blah. It’s because everyone reacts to individual foods differently, and it’s damn well annoying, but it’s how it is.
Either way, if you want my opinion on Bee – I think she’s on the right track. I do think a higher fat and protein diet with a lower sugar content and minimal, if any, grains is in the right direction for MOST people with their general diet… but it depends on your metabolism and constitution. Also I don’t know what her problem with probiotics are, I disagree there, but whatever.
However, her diet is INTENSE. It probably works well for a lot of people, but for some people they simply need more carbs than that, or they can’t digest all the fat, or some other problem. There is no miracle diet, you just have to use your intuition, have a little faith, and quit the worrying… easier said than done, but that is how it needs to be with nutrition because there are no ultimate one size fits all answers. Believe me, I wish to god there was, but there isn’t.
oh, can you tell how can i pay in dollars? i am from europe
You can pay with pay pal or a credit card
Would this be in Canadian, Australian or U.S. dollars?
Hi Mary,
It’d be in Canadian dollars
i have never done a candida cleanse, but do feel i need one. mainly because it requires so much research to plan out every meal, making sure i have all the food at hand that i need, and not knowing really who to believe on what is and isn’t allowed. with you doing a lot of that legwork, it certainly would be so much easier to handle; and i just love the idea of a support forum. you mentioned starting the same day every month. i guess my question is, would there be a charge for each cleanse every month, or is this a one time payment and you’re in for the rest of the cleanses??? thanks, tracy!! please keep up the work you’re doing because you’re making such a huge difference in so many lives :)) <3
Hi Niki!
No it wouldn’t be a lifetime membership… I don’t think. I’ll have to think that over. I’d probably give a good discount for subsequent cleanses or something.
I still wanna take part and I love this article – thank you so much Tracy, you made it to give me an overview for I always struggled with all those different ‘experts’, too…
I’m still down. Never actually did a real candida cleanse, although I’ve done several liver/kidney cleanses and I imagine for the most part it’s pretty similar. Excited to start 😀
im so guna do this! what date will it start?? also how do i pay ect?
Hi Amy,
I don’t know what date it will start yet… I’m going to predict in the second half of January, because i have to put all of it together and I don’t know how long it will take.
You will be able to pay with pay pal or credit card
I think this will be great for the start of 2012! Admittedly, I’ve been eating sugary junk over the past week or so, which has led to breakouts that aren’t clearing very well, but I expected it…
One thing that I will find extremely hard is not eating grains. My breakfast is Gluten free organic oats with soaked nuts and freeze-dried cranberries (so no added sugar or apple juice like the regular cranberries, yet just as much nutrition!) I’ve looked online and it appears that, like you say, not all things in the candida cleanse are agreed upon i.e. some say non-glutenous grains are ok, some say on grain at all.
What would your opinion be on gluten free oats? What else could I have for breakfast, apart from green smoothies that I couldn’t handle in the morning, or eggs which cause me to bloat!
I’m definitely interested in this – I need a kick-start to a healthy and clear year, so for me, the earlier the better!
Thank you Tracy 🙂
P.S I’m already takin pro-biotic, with 3 billion active cultures which may also explain my breakout but I’ve also found some pro-biotics with Kefir ‘added’, which is great (I think) because I don’t eat dairy. (here’s the link: http://www.victoriahealth.com/product/Ecodophilus/8680/0/ )
Hi Nathan!
Well since some people say it’s okay and some people don’t, in the end, it’s up to you if you want to eat the oats or not. I would say just to make sure you soak them overnight beforehand if you’re going to eat them. Because… yeah… without eggs or smoothies, it is a bit of a challenge!
Sounds perfect!
Tracy, you are awesome and this cleanse sounds awesome!!! I also feel like the more I read the less I know about what is the “right” diet or the “best” nutrition that is going to be the magic cure and end all of disease and acne in my body…..but all you can do is stop listening to everyone and start listening to what your body is telling you, in the end you know what is best for you. I also agree with trying different things to see how well your body responds, and I’ve never tried a candida cleanse but my gut has been feeling quite leaky lately so I feel like this cleanse is going to be the best thing for me right now! Looking forward to it!!! xoxo
I literally cannot wait to do this! My skin is breaking out quite a bit lately (I think it’s gluten-free cornflakes which I’ve started to eat this past month) and it’s in the places where I have ‘always’ had problems: chin and jawline 🙁
Hopefully this will ‘boost’ my digestive system once and for all!
Thank you for your support – I agree that going at it alone can be hard.
It sounds good. Difficult for a person who leans vegetarian, but worth it and doable for a short period of time. I will have to look through your blog to find advice on buying: probiotics, kefir grains and yeast killer supplements. Maybe if you can purchase any of this online, links would help us out a lot.
The forum idea is the best part! I would really like to get people’s opinion on how damaging it would be to consume oats while on this cleanse.
That’s such a good idea! I’m definitely participating!I´m gonna pass the first round though, because I’m gonna be traveling. And the price is reasonable.
Do you have any experience with or an opinion on adding in something like activated charcoal or zeolite to absorb toxins to be removed in your bowel movements? That or psyllium seed or bentonite clay? I’ve seen mixed opinions out there but have not tried any combination of what people suggest.
I think it’s a good idea (as long as you aren’t taking them when you take your supplements or even just really nutritious food, because then they’ll be less effective… I don’t really know much about charcoal or zeolite though… and I’ve personally never done a bentonite clay and psyllium shake. I’ve just used the straight up psyllium. I need to do more research into the other ones.
I got a bottle of zeolite for free from someone so I’m going to add that into my candida cleanse along with CandiGone by RenewLife (not taken at the same time) so once your candida site is up and running I can share my experience. Hopefully the zeolite helps with the initial die off.
Hey Tracy! ( i dont know how you keep up with answering everyones questions) your straight up awesome and youve become my new favorite virtual being. I was wondering how come we have to make our own kefir? Ive been eating store bought kefir from the health food store is that a no-go?? Either for the candida cleanse or in general for acne.
Well, you don’t strictly have to as long as the store bought stuff isn’t pasteurized and actually has live cultures in it…. and hey, if it makes a difference, then great! however, store bought probiotic foods are just never nearly as powerful as the homemade stuff made from kefir grains. Store bought stuff often has additives too.. like sugar to make it taste better.
I see, makes sense. Okay well I checked my labels and one of the kefirs says, “Pasteurized organic partly skimmed milk and bacterial cultures” and the other one says, “Non homogenized whole milk and live cultures with with probiotic acidophilus and bifidus bacteria.” So is the second one better or should i chuck both? Im guessing youll explain to us how to make kefir then?
The second one’s better, but it’s still better to make your own… but if you’re not willing to do that, or can’t find the right milk, then you dont have to…. you can also make water kefir too …. anyway, yes, it will all be explained
Merry christmas tracy and all. and do you think getting a plain nothing added yogurt that is from cow’s will be okay? or cow milk kefir? or only from goats?
Hmm… I wouldn’t really recommend using conventional cow yogurt, no.
This sounds like a great idea. I actually have had pretty terrible chronic digestive problems for the last couple years, and I’ve been looking into candida cleanses lately for that, but it’s great to hear that it can work wonders for acne as well! I tried a candida cleanse a month or so ago, but I only lasted a day and a half because I was starving and didn’t know what to eat. I can’t eat lactose and I’m also vegetarian, but I’m willing to eat fish and other white meat for the candida cleanse (hoping I can find some antibiotic-free and organic meat). I can’t wait till this gets started!
Hey is you would like a helpful website to base some things off of you can use this one http://www.healingnaturallybybee.com/. I think its the strictest and its better to go strict since you dont know whose sensitive to what. my only thing is they use enemas which i have done before, but other diets don’t mention them and no one seems to have a problem. But you do use psyllium husk so if i follow this diet 100% but use neither enema or psyllium is it fine or do we all have to use some sort of thing?
Well I think if you’re eating tons and tons of vegetables, it might not be necessary, but I think it’s still helpful to use something that will kind of “rinse things out”. I’m sure most would prefer psyllium
I rely on Elidil for my chronic eczema. It’s a prescription alternative to steroid cream. Do you think it’s okay to use this while on the cleanse.
Hi Michele, yes it’s okay to use it while you get it under control from within
Hey,
Id like to join in! Is it too late?
Nope, I’m still working on getting it all together… working on it kind of got deferred over Christmas unfortunately…. I don’t have an official start date yet I would like it to start this month or early February at the latest! You will get a notification about it if you are on the email newsletter list
I am interested in this cleanse, however, since I eliminated dairy from my diet, I have found a significant improvement in my skin. I am afraid to add Kefir since it is a milk product. Any feedback?
You don’t have to use any dairy at all if you don’t want to – the cleanse isn’t super rigid and there are plenty of options as far as what you want to do – at the very minimum you just need to take some kind of good probiotic supplement, and you can also make water kefir too if you would like (which has slightly fewer strains of bacteria as milk kefir and isn’t quite as nutritious (if you’re using raw milk), but it’s still really good!
I’ve been looking into Candida for mainly digestive issues, but also hoping that it will help with my skin. I recently read a book which recommended Renew Life’s CandiGONE product which has great reviews on Amazon. Not sure if you’ve looked at this at all, but just wanted to mention it. I’ve never used it, but everything I read looks like it’s really effective, so I’ll be using it!
Hi Kay!
Yes, in what I’ve made up of the program so far, I did recommend Candigone as an option to try, amongst some other brands of antiyeast/antifungal products too. I haven’t used that particular one myself, but it sounds quite good!
This is great project! I want to try candida diet but i’m afraid i would lose weight, i already lost visible amount when i stopped eating gluten and dairy, and i’m pescetarian (i only eat fish and other seafood once a week). Avoiding fruit would be very difficult for me.
So my question is would this diet be safe for me?
just so you know maja, this is my problem too! these diet are making me lose too much weight. im figuring once i fix everything maybe in about 3-4 months il be able to gain weight back again by eating lots of oatmeal and bananas and yogurt milkshakes. maybe even pizzas idk if ill ever be able to eat bread again though without breaking out. however i never had a problem eating bread until i took birth control. so perhaps youll have to lose a bit of weight to get the candida gone, and in the long run you can enjoy junky foods again?
and the massive amounts of coconut oil, butter, steaks and avocados i eat i still have lost weight. im a little sad in that regard
@ Maja and Bunny, for one, make sure you are eating lots of food (lots of good fats). 2 – it’s normal to lose weight when beginning a diet like this because you shed unhealthy fat and afterward you stabilize and gain some of it back – you should also be working out and strength training to build it back as healthy muscle, not fat. Most of us are what they call ‘skinny fat’ – look skinny and fit from the outside, but there is actually a layer of unhealthy fat
I deal with this too so I understand the fear… I lost some weight in the beginning of me changing my diet for my skin, but it has stabilized
I am so excited! I bought my supplements today and ready to go. Is there a set date?
Hi Anne Marie… unfortunately I’m kind of behind schedule with it… I’m plodding along with it, but it won’t be on till February sometime (maybe even late february, I don’t know)… I’ll give a date when I am closer to being finished
Instead of table salt, can sea salt be used?
Yes! Thank god. haha. I love my salt.
how can I register, Tracy?
I don’t have registration ready yet, but you will get an email when that is ready and you can sign up!
You say cut out honey, does this include
The manuka honey used for cleansing?
Aloe Vera gel instead maybe.
Anywho Love your blog x
Between you and Fran, my mind
is boggled(in a good way ofcourse)
P.s anyone on here from Ireland,
I get so confused as to where to source
some of the crazily named stuff 🙂
Hi Stephanie,
I guess I should have made that clear – you don’t have to quit using honey on your face, as the molecules are too big to be absorbed through the skin. Plus, even if it did, it would bypass the digestive system where the bacteria we’re trying to alter resides, so it wouldn’t really matter.
If you’re from Ireland, eat lots of Kerry Gold Butter!!!!
Haha yummy! Thanks 🙂
Hi tracy im still unclear about coconut products…i love coconut water and coconut milk, i know there is unsweetened coconut milk which obviously doesnt have sugar, but coconut water does contain sugar…is that bad for the candida cleanse or not? If unsweetened cocunut milk is ok on the cleanse can i use it to make kefir?
Thanks beautiful
Hope to hear from you soon
Hi Jessi,
Flaked coconut and coconut milk/cream/butter/oil/ are all allowed on the diet because they are made from the coconut meat, which doesn’t contain much sugar. But the coconut water from the center of the coconut is very sugar rich so it needs to be avoided for the diet.
And yes, you can use the milk to make kefir! 🙂
That was fast thanks girl!
Hey again i forgot to ask you, i want to join the next cleanse i was wondering if i reciieve info on the cleanse when i purchase it to get started or do i have to wait for the week before it?
Hey Jessi!
You get a long PDF straight away when you sign up with all the instructions + recipes, so you can start it whenever you want. When the official cleanse actually starts, you will get access to the forums + the videos (which is just extra info, not anything you need in order to start)
Hi Tracy!
I recently came across your blog, and I must say, I absolutely love it!
So here is my story:
I never had any acne problems growing up (I am 21 now), about 5 moths ago, I started to develop lots of acne. I was truly devastated, and still am. I still have a hard time figuring out what went wrong. I didn’t change my diet, my skin care routine or anything. Only reason I can think of is the evil mini pill Cerazette that I used for about 9 moths (stopped using it in August), it totally messed up my system, and now I have to pay for it! I went to a dermatologist, got some benzoyl peroxide that I used for 2 moths, didn’t really do anything. I bought your ebook, and I really learned a lot. Now I am only using Manuka Honey as a cleanser and a spot treatment.(waiting for my aloe vera to arrive) Haven’t dared to use my jojoba oil yet though, afraid it might break me out. I’m not using any birth control pills (and probably never will), I am taking Omega 3, Zinc, D vitamin, A vitamin, and a multivitamin.
Anyway, I am really curious about this candida cleanse, and I really think this could help me. I read that I have to buy some probiotics and a yeast killer, can I take that together with my other supplements? Or will it be to much?
Thank you once again for this amazing blog, and sorry about my english, I am from Norway!
Take care!
Hi Maria,
I’d say it was definitely the pill… it’s sad, but often women who have never had acne develop it after quitting the pill :/
As for the candida cleanse, yes you can take those supplements on the cleanse. Although if you want my opinion, I’d recommend ditching all of them (maybe except zinc) and using this product instead, fermented cod liver oil/butter oil blend: http://www.greenpasture.org/public/Products/ButterCodLiverBlend/index.cfm (recommended cinnamon flavour). I know it’s kind of expensive, but it’s an amazing supplement, and it’s not expensive if you consider that you get your vitamin A, Vitamin D, omega 3s, and lots of nutrients too from the butter oil and could throw away your other supps. The best thing about this though is that it’s in a natural, highly useable form, unlike the synthetic vitamins that you are taking.
anyway, that’s my two cents 🙂
HEY TRACY:) just wondering when you say you can use “garlic” as a yeast killer, what do you mean by this? Garlic as in the vegetable, or some sort of extract capsule? ….just curious 🙂
Hi Samia – could be either. If you’re just having cloves of garlic, it’s more effective if it’s raw.
hey tracy!! sooo i want to do the 7 candida challenge but im anxious to start it, do i have to wait till the 25th to get it? thanks!!
Hi Trish 🙂
No you don’t have to wait, when you purchase the program, you can instantly download all the instructions and recipes. You won’t have access to the forums or all the videos until the 25th, but that is all just extra stuff.
Hi All, I have already started a fast with bone both and juice and beet kvass and kombucha and feeling Great. I had to start because I was feeling aweful and having this rash breakout around my mouth after drinking milk. I have been doing the weston a price diet for over a year on and off. Still eating way to much and eating out/junk food. So it all came to a head and this month and I knew I had to do something. I heard about fasting and detox and healing your gut. So that is what I have been doing. My question is, when I am ready to come off my fast, would this be a good diet to start with for the 10 days? Thanks Sara
Hi Sara, good luck with your fast! Yes I do think this would be a really good diet to transition to after a fast like that
Hi Tracy, I think I might try the cleanse, my eczema has been flaring up a lot more lately.
Also is it best to avoid unsweetened cocoa powder?
Cheers
Aneira
Hi Aneira, many people on the cleanses have been having unsweetened cocoa powder.
Hi Tracy,
I want to buy your 7 day candida cleanse challenge as i have sverere cystic acne since i was very young i am currently on antibitics and would like to start the cleanse.The link that shows buy it, i am unable to open it or may be it’s not working.. please help me as i need to buy it, let me tell you i am frequent reader of your website and still struggling.
Love
Sachi
Hey Sachi, I emailed you 🙂
one more thing can we have water kefir drink during the fast and other wise as i have pcod i would like to avoid milk and dairy products. I knw there is sugar in water kefir and that’s why i wanted to ask.
Thanks
Sachi
You can have it if it’s been fermented long enough. The reason sugar is in it is so that the bacteria have something to eat. When it has fermented long enough, the sugar should all have been eaten, so it’s cool to drink on a candida cleanse. So it should be fermented until it doesn’t taste sweet anymore
Candida cleanse i meant
Hi Tracy,
Thanks for the plan i will start following it post My marraige.
Thanks
Sachi
Hi Tracy,
I have been suffering for the past 6 months with acne due to taking low dosage birth control for ONLY ONE MONTH!!! before that I had good skin, not amazing, but good enough, perhaps a pimple or two around my period but thats it. I took doxy for 2 months, didn’t do anything, now I’m on minoxclyin ( different antabiotic) .. along with topical gels.. and it has really helped but I want to stop and do the cadida and never have to take anything again for my skin and go back to the way I was before birth control!! So i feel like a great way would be for me to stop and jump right into the Cadida.. I was thinking about taking the antabiotics for another month and then hopefully in June you will have another session group for the cadida so that I can join?
I definitely want to do the Cadida diet… I did a lot of research online and it all seems very confusing. I feel like the best way to do it will be with your group to have support and detailed guidance. If we do the program do you respond to specific questions and give us specific advice during the 7 days? I just feel like everyone is different and might have different issues/questions things they need help with.. so I feel like it would be great if joining this program would mean we would get that support from you? Also if I would want to continue the cadida diet for longer then 7 days will you give us guidance to go off for continuing.. ?
I see that you are starting one in mid may but that is when I will be abroad. I was wondering if you will have any in June? Please let me know! I would love to do it. I appreciate any advice or guidance you have!! I am so happy i found you. I was so interested in the healthy natural way of curing my skin but the internet is so overwhelming, your websight makes it easier and puts everything together.. so it has really given me no excuses to not do it.. I have been raving about you to all my friends ever since I discovered you.. I am excited to begin this journey.
Hi Laura 🙂
Yes, if you sign up for the program, I answer people’s questions and give support in the private forum. And the forum stays open for quite a few weeks after the 7 day so people can give each other continued support if they are going to continue past the 7 days. As for your questions about vegetables and meat… yes you can definitely eat cooked vegetables on it. And organic meat is definitely preferred, but… the first time I did one, I ate conventional meat and it still worked fine. As for how often I host it… usually every 6 weeks, so the next one will probably start in the last week of June.
Hi Tracy,
I’m so confused as to why you can have berries but not carrots? Are carrots higher in sugar than strawberries or blueberries?
Thanks,
Jessica 🙂
Apparently cooked ones are!
Thanks Tracy,
So interesting!
When you soak buckwheat or quinoa, can you do a lot and save it for a later date or do you have to cook it immediately?
Hi Leah,
I wouldn‘t save the soaked quinoa for a later date (at least if you don‘t want the seeds to grow or become moldy), but after soaking it you can always cook all you need in bulk and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days in order to save time.
Hi Tracy,
I purchased the candida cleanse that starts Nov 4th and I have been doing it fully since Monday. It’s going really well so far, except a few failed attempts at baked goods haha. I love most of your suggested meals! I just have a few questions that I’m itching to ask before the 4th:
-Is naturally derived citric acid (as in a can of tomatoes) okay?
-Should I avoid taking my estroblock supplements with any of the one’s used in the cleanse? I’m not taking it near the physillum but can it be taken at the same time as my anti-fungal or probiotic?
-How does one safely come off of the cleanse? Just slowly introduce foods not allowed after (i.e. wean-off)?
Thanks!
Hi Kristen 🙂
Glad to hear everything is going well so far!
1) Well, citric acid that is in cans is derived from yeast and can encourage candida. It’s hard to say whether there’s enough in there to really be a big deal or not though. It’s a grey area. It might not be a problem, so you can decide. I’m not that strict with the grey areas 🙂
2) Yep you can take the estroblock whenever and with whatever, just not with the psyllium.
3) Yes, exactly.. wean off by slowly introducing foods.. start with things like sweet potatoes, starchy things, fruits etc
I did not get the take away on whether raw coconut crystals are allowed on the candida cleanse. I have never so much as had a pimple in my life, have really dry skin. I now have a red rash which has turned into a burning red dry mask all over my face, eyes included.
Yep, coconut is allowed on the cleanse – dried and fresh coconut, coconut milk, coconut oil. Avoid drinking coconut water though.