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I’m now phasing myself out of my strict candida cleanse after going strong with it for three weeks or so.
And guess what?
I’ve accomplished what I wanted to accomplish – the eczema on my hand has completely cleared up (and the skin on my face is also looking better than ever). Watch the video to get my update!
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Blog author Tracy Raftl used to have severe acne — now she teaches thousands of women how to take back control of their skin through natural, holistic, and mind-body methods.
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Hi, my name is Krista and I am a recovered acne sufferer after a 5 year battle. I have tried for months to bring myself
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38 Responses
Gratz 🙂 Hopefully you stay clear after introducing new foods! 🙂
Beautiful background 😀
That’s so great to hear. I’m enjoying following your journey in real time and loving the HD background and bird chirps!
hey tracy! i m so happy for you!! you look so healthy!!
sampson i need your help!! yesterday i was watching some of tracys older videos and i saw that you had made a comment (particularly on the hormonal acne video) about high progesterone in women. i have hormonal premenstrual acne due to high progesterone.can you give me some advice?
From what I understand about high prog, you want to slightly increase estrogen naturally. Many foods which are high in ALA also tend to be very high in natural phytoestrogens. Too much phytoestrogen is bad because theoretically too much estrogen = cancer but a moderate amount has a very significant antioxidant effect.
I think the foods you want to include more are things like garlic, flax, sesame, pumpkin seeds, sprouts and walnuts (just be sure to supplement with omega 3s because ALA to EPA/DHA conversion is not efficient in humans.) All of those have significant amounts of phytoestrogens, with flax having the most.
Tracy, have you ever heard anything about Yellow Dock leaves/root or dandelion root? I know dandelion tea is supposed to be a good source of Lutein and a pretty good source of zinc considering it’s a plant.
I think you should do a video about some other lesser-known herbs and natural supplements that people might not have heard of.
Not sure if you remember but a while back, I told you about some herb called Gymnema Sylvestre which is supposed to stop your body from absorbing some amount of carbohydrates so it’s useful for controlling blood sugar and your candida cleanse reminded me of it. Maybe GS could be used to control Candida to some extent. I don’t remember if I ever followed up on that but I bought some and long story short it works quite well.
After eating a HUGE pie of pizza with some friends my glucose reading was something like 124mg/dl less than an hour after eating. Normally after such a high carb meal it would probably be AT LEAST 160 if not more right after. I retested ~2 hours after and it was back to near-baseline (104mg/dl)
From what I’ve seen, it definitely works and it’s something that I’m using more of as a pillow to cushion the blow whenever I go out with friends and we pig out on icky food. Maybe it’s something acne-prone people should consider.
Ohh.. that sounds excellent! Yeah, sorry… sometimes people suggest things way back, and I just get bogged down with new stuff and forget about all the old stuff…. Okay. I’m going to write this down. That’s great to hear that you have the concrete evidence that it actually works! Is it an expensive supplement?
Not at all. I got 5 bottles each with something like 100 pills for around $2 USD per bottle.
It cost more to ship it than it did per bottle. 😛
Excellent! I will look into it!
I want to do a candida cleanse and wanted to incorporate green Smoothies every day. I have a case of “raw life green Smoothies” green powder from Jordan Rubin’s raw life products. is that the same as making a green smoothie yourself?
I’d say it’s probably not as good, because it’s not fresh, but I’m sure it’s definitely beneficial if you don’t want to bother making the smoothies (although they’re pretty easy). I’d say it’d be even better if you put the powder in with an actual smoothie!
many many thanks sampson!! i will follow your advice and see how it goes!
has anyone tried the “candida spit test”? I found it online to try — it appears that I don’t have candida according to that.
Yeah… I think that is a hoax, because it was first started by the company who makes Threelac, which is a candida antifungal. Most people fail the spit test, so it’s to their benefit to make everyone think they have candida. I don’t know what it means if you passed it :/
hey tracy, do you know this guy? http://www.natural-acne-solution.com/
he used a picture of you in his site ..?
haha… at first I was like… what?? who’s using my picture? But then I looked, and yes I know him, he’s the guy who wrote the book Clear for Life, and it’s all cool
guys do you think that a colonic hydrotherapy would help kill the candida? i ve been thinking a lot about it lately. i mean if i have to buy all these supplements it would cost me the same as the colonics, and then of course i would maintain the results with a proper diet.
I’m sorry, I don’t know for sure how effective colonics are for completely irradicating candida! It’d probably help but I don’t know… I need to do more research on colonics.
Nice!
Question… where are you in that video? Its beautiful! What video camera do you use? A flip?
Thanks! It’s my front yard (that’s my shed though, not my house… the house is behind the camera). And yes I just got a flip! Only thing is that I’m having a lot of problems now because the videos seem to take forever to upload…. and my reliable connection that I had at work seems to have stopped working…. and all the other connections around my little hamlet are sketchy 🙁 … I’m getting a little worried to be honest!
Hi Tracy,
Wow- I can’t believe i’m just finding your website. It is comforting to read through all of your articles and to see the success you’ve had thus far with combating acne. Thank you for sharing, you are more brave than I. For the last two years I have had horrible cystic acne that I believe is hormonal. It started out two weeks before my cycle and now it’s simply all the time. I get hard, cystic ones that come to the surface for two weeks then stay for four more! I live in LA, work in TV and so you can only imagine the pressure to have clear skin and you feel as though you are the only person that has a zit. It has ruined my birthday, my anniversary, trips, countless weekends, etc. I guess I am really vain since I let it ruin so much. My husband doesn’t understand, his motto is- you have acne, that’s life. I just feel like there must be a reason why I have this so bad. My desperation has led me to spend thousands of dollars on skincare, makeup, lasers, peels, facials, etc. I am not rich and therefore can’t keep doing this, plus it’s not working.
I recently decided to try natural skin care, accupuncture, and a candida cleanse. I will DEFINITELY be following your site and looking for helpful hints. Thanks again, really helpful.
Hi Annie! Welcome to the blog and good luck going natural…. if you believe in yourself, you will be able to heal your skin 🙂 much love xoxo
I just got diagnosed with severe candida yesterday. My NP put me on a diet and candidastat. I was wondering when you were doing your cleanse if you experienced any reaction, ie. the candida die-off?
No not really, maybe a few zits here and there, but then again, my candida wasn’t severe. It’s likely you may experience some reactions and a worsening of your acne in the beginning. Just don’t freak out! It’s a good thing!
Why have you decided to do such a long cleanse as opposed to a 7-14 day one?
Well, how long your candida cleanse should be is definitely a matter that is debatable… sometimes they say if your candida is bad, you should be on your candida diet for months! So I thought three weeks sounded reasonable for my case, which was fairly mild
I am suffering from a severe case of hand eczema since January and it has gone to the point where it is too painful to “just deal with.” I came across your video recommending the candida cleanse and I was wondering if you did anything else in addition to the candida cleanse to rid yourself of the eczema, i.e. topical treatment of tea tree oil, probiotics, etc. Also, how long did it take for you to see significant improvement? Was it almost gone within a week? I’ve followed a strict candida diet for about ten days and have been taking Candistroyer for about a week, and I am starting to get discouraged that things aren’t improving faster.
Yeh, hand eczema sucks! I’m sorry to hear you’re experiencing it too….
The candida cleanse is all I did, and i wouldn’t say it worked in one week… more like two or three… but then again, my candida problem wasn’t severe, and I had also been eating and living fairly healthfully for a year or so before this, so… I don’t know what kind of lifestyle you’re coming from, but if it wasn’t a healthy one, you may need more catch up than I did! Try to be patient, as hard as it is. Freaking out only sends you backwards. Also, are you sure that you have candida? Eczema is caused by all sorts of different things, just like acne, so it may not be that. Read this series of articles, it might give you an idea whether candida is your problem or if it’s something else: https://thelovevitamin.com/967/do-you-have-one-major-imbalance-contributing-to-your-acne/
Hey Tracy, I have two questions. 1) I am guessing you are finished with the candida diet, how did you transition back to your old diet and did you see any effects? 2) This is your second candida diet right? Do you or do you plan on taking any preventive supplements in the future for candida? Thanks!
1) I just slowly started to eat more fruit and starchy foods little by little, I didn’t just do it all at once on the last day and pig out. I didn’t see any effects… my eczema is still gone. My skin stayed fine. 2) I plan to eat fermented foods regularly, and maybe take a probiotic supplement as prevention. Mostly just continue to eat a not-very-sugary diet and avoid antibiotics
Hey Tracey,
I have a question in regards to the Candida Cleanse and Antibiotics. I’m slowly weaning myself off Antibiotics and onto Probiotics, But when would be the best time to start the Candida Cleanse??? I’ve been taking Antibiotics for a month now (one a day). I just started to taking Probiotics on my off days and will slowly decrease the Antibiotics and up the Probiotics week by week. I’m going to start eating less sugary foods as of now, but I’m not sure what to do in regards to the supplements. Do I wait until I’m totally off the Antibiotics for awhile? Then start the supplements to tackle the Candida or start now while I’m still using some antibiotics?
Thanks! Love Love Love the blog!!!!
You’re helping more people than you know!
Sarah
Hi Sarah! I’d stay to start taking the supplements just before you’re totally done with the antibiotics and continue with them after you’re off them completely. Antibiotics kill the majority of the bactera…. the bad stuff and the good stuff, so you’re kinda starting from scratch…. you want to make sure that in that critical time after you’re done the antibiotics, you are flooding your body with the good stuff so that they get the upper hand right away.
Also, get in touch with Linda Mcartney. She’s been dealing with candida for a while too and has written about it on her site.
I found Lady Soma as well to be very helpful – the Lady Soma Candida Cleanse. Ive been using it for 1 month and having great results. Its effective.
You mean, like, Paul McCartney’s ex wife?
Hi Tracy!!
I am 35 years old and I am doing the candida cleanse myself. I feel great and sleep through the night!! It’s amazing! But my skin feels like it is “purging” Is that normal? I just want it clear!! Thanks for your help and inspiration!!
Yep, that’s totally normal that for some people their skin gets a bit worse in the beginning and you don’t feel great… it will pass, it’s just a purging, body releasing lots of toxins kind of a thing
Hello Tracy! I hope you are very well!
I am writing with a candida question for you or anyone else who has some insights on this issue. I bought your Candida Cleanse book (I loved it!) and have been following the diet for about four months (with a brief few weeks or so in there in which I ate rice and oats after my chiropractor gave me the okay–I have since cut those out again). I do not ever ‘cheat,’ and while some good things have happened, the yeast issue is definitely still present. My skin tone is uneven, my forehead rather bumpy, and infections still periodically trouble me. I know hormone imbalance and stress can play a huge role in this whole issue , so I am trying to work on those things as well, but I am wondering if I am missing something important and if you have any advice for me. Thank you so much! God bless you!
Hi Holly,
I can’t really say what the answer is, but I never really intended for the candida cleanse to last so long. If it hasn’t made a huge difference by now, then it might not be the answer to your trouble. Have you asked your chiropractor what he thinks? You may need a whole nother approach, some people actually trouble with their metabolisms which cause your resistance to things like fungus and infections to be higher. Look up Matt Stone’s work for more info. I really don’t know if that’s the answer for you, but his info might interest you.
Lots of love,
Tracy x