The 10 Commandments of the Candida Diet:
How to Cleanse Your Body of Harmful Yeast

BY ANN BOROCH, N.D.

photo: brooke lark.

You Are What You Eat

Prior to treating myself for candida, for as long as I could remember, I’d been sick. As a child, I was riddled with colds, flus, and sinus and ear infections. Throughout my life, I was prescribed more than fifty-six courses or shots of antibiotics for various ailments. My diet until the age of eighteen consisted mainly of processed foods and sweets.

When my body collapsed from the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), also known as mononucleosis, at the age of eighteen, I believe this was my immune system’s way of crying uncle. Usually three months of bed rest helps you heal, but it took me three times as long. After seeing eight different specialists, taking over thirty prescribed medications, and searching many months for answers on how to get myself well, I was still exhausted and suffering from brain fog, disorientation, constipation, shortness of breath, and dizziness. I had reactive hypoglycemia, dealt with random fevers, and was achy all over. I just didn’t feel good in any way, shape, or form. Needless to say, this wasn’t normal.

Serendipitously, as I was hunting for answers in a bookstore one day, Dr. William Crook’s book The Yeast Connection caught my eye. I scanned through the pages and went right to his questionnaire, which I’ve included in the introduction of my book, The Candida Cure. I literally began to cry as I read down the list of symptoms—I had far too many of them, and it seemed stunningly clear that my EBV and candida overgrowth were in cahoots.

I decided to take a leap of faith and try Dr. Crook’s program, which consisted of following an anti-candida diet that included no refined sugars, dairy, white flour, or alcohol, and taking an antifungal remedy called Nilstat (nystatin). One long year later, I had regained my health. In that time, I learned an enormous amount about the role of diet in ridding the body of infection and inflammation. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize how absolutely essential it is to stick to a maintenance plan after healing, and so I went back to my old habits of eating gluten, dairy, and sugar. I also didn’t know that a candida overgrowth diet like this could roll into a debilitating autoimmune condition. Six years later, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

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As I look back, the writing was always on the wall about the trajectory my body would take given the candida-producing diet I was on and my health history. I was a sugar addict until the age of eighteen, a type-A perfectionist with high periods of stress, and I was sick all the time with colds, ear problems, and sinus infections. I was continually put on antibiotics and steroids, which fuel candida yeast. I had a mouthful of silver amalgam fillings, which added to my heavy metal load. Then EBV surfaced, which is common in those with MS. I’d also been put on several medications when my EBV wouldn’t lift, since the doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me, and these invited more symptoms that fueled candida. All of these factors over time disrupted my microbiome and weakened my immune system until it simply stopped functioning as well as it should. I also believe that EBV doesn’t really take down a body as hard as it did mine without candida overgrowth. It’s hard to know which comes first—the yeast or the EBV—but I feel they go hand in hand.

As a naturopath who uses sound nutrition to help heal the body, I know firsthand the extent to which the food we put into our bodies isn’t necessary only for survival but to create vitality and optimize the function of more than 300 trillion cells inside us. The digestion of food—as it breaks down into vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, and glycerol—has a complex chemistry, and what we eat can alter that chemistry either positively or negatively. Sadly, the average American diet is essentially a candida diet consisting of large amounts of trans fats, refined sugar, refined carbohydrates, corn, gluten, soy, caffeine, and alcohol—not to mention the chemicals and preservatives commonly found in processed foods. How can your cells thrive on food devoid of nutrition? They can’t.

It’s a mistake to think that eating the wrong food will not harm you. The equation is very simple: trash in equals trash out. A good diet is one of the most important means to prevent disease, as well as heal a diseased body. What you eat can either weaken or rebuild your immune system, speed up the aging process or slow it down. We can attribute some of the increase in health problems like allergies, diabetes, neurological disease, heart disease, mental illness, autoimmune diseases, and cancer to unhealthy, candida-fueling diets.

The great news is that you have control over your food choices and can switch off of a candida overgrowth diet. Once you educate yourself about the problems you’re facing, you can make the necessary modifications—and quickly notice improvements.

10 Food Rules to Keep Candida at Bay

I know what you’re thinking: So what should I eat and drink? Below is a list of rules to follow as part of a healthy, anti-fungal diet, which list several candida diet foods to avoid. A healthy diet, on and off my candida cleanse plan, looks like this: 60 percent organic vegetables; 20 percent organic animal protein; 15 percent gluten-free whole grains; and 5 percent organic fruits, nuts, seeds, beans/legumes (once or twice a week), and unrefined oils.

As you can tell, this candida diet food list is a very plant-based because a diet low in carbs keeps candida under control. Another major benefit of this anti-candida, anti-yeast diet is that fruits, vegetables, and plant foods are abundant in phytochemicals, which help prevent cancer and reverse disease. The most important vegetables to eat daily are dark green leafy vegetables—such as spinach, watercress, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion greens, arugula, baby greens, bok choy, and kale—and sprouts. They are filled with vitamins and minerals, especially B6 and magnesium, which are required for many metabolic processes. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower contain natural compounds that assist with healthy liver function. I do like the right animal proteins, because they contain all the amino acids required to keep your body functioning. Finally, raw nuts and seeds contain essential fatty acids needed for the cellular membrane around each cell.

1. Go Organic

The synthetic pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides used to treat conventionally grown food, including genetically modified foods, are carcinogenic—and they negatively affect the microbiome and gut lining, creating the underlying conditions for candida yeast overgrowth. While science hasn’t fully disclosed all the negative effects that GMO foods may have on our bodies, it’s best to avoid them. Genetically altered foods, which are unknowingly consumed by many on a candida diet, are filled with herbicides, which can damage our bodies. Studies link GMOs to kidney and liver damage, allergies, gastric disturbances, and cancer. Eighty percent of US corn and soy is genetically modified, and GMO corn is the base that we are using to feed all non-organic livestock and fish.

When it comes to candida diet foods to avoid, conventional foods and GMO foods make the list. One of the best ways to avoid chemicals and get the best-quality nutrients possible is to support certified organic farmers and eat organic fruits, vegetables, meats, and dairy products. These foods are slightly more expensive, but your health is worth the investment. Quality outweighs convenience when it comes to healing your body. Be sure to wash all your fruits and vegetables with a little soap and water or a natural fruit-and-vegetable wash, which you can find in the health food store.

Animal Protein

When consuming organic animal protein, eat small amounts (two to four ounces per serving) at one time for optimal digestion, every day. One of the reasons I encourage animal protein as part of the candida diet protocol is that it breaks down into amino acids when it’s digested, and your body needs amino acids to regenerate and repair cells, tissues, and organs. Consuming meat also helps to keep blood sugar levels balanced. Eating animal protein fewer than three times a week can create deficiencies in your body such as fatigue, muscle mass loss, anemia, joint pain, and moodiness.

When it comes to choosing organic animal proteins for anti-yeast and anti-fungal diets, remember that lean options such as chicken, turkey, eggs, and fish are best. Some do well with red meat—lamb, buffalo, bison, and grass-fed beef are good choices. For those leaning toward vegetarianism, I suggest animal protein a minimum of three times a week. When choosing meat, as much as possible, make sure it is from free-range animals not given hormones and either grass-fed or given vegetarian and antibiotic- and GMO-free feed. Free-range chickens are not confined in small cages and may have a little more room to move around than chickens raised on factory farms. However, their conditions are not necessarily humane or sanitary, and they are often kept in crowded sheds or lots. Ideally, the best meat to eat is from pasture-raised animals, who are truly free to roam outdoors. Eggs are also a good source of protein and best prepared poached, softboiled, sunny-side up, or hard-boiled.

One thing to know about red meat is that it contains high concentrations of saturated fat that can increase inflammation, but is usually tolerable in small amounts. If you do eat it as part of your candida cleanse, choose meat from grass-fed animals, such as bison and lamb, and eat it only once a week. Listen to your body; if you’re craving meat, it could mean you’re iron deficient (blood type Os, particularly, crave more red meat). When preparing red meat, cook it rare to medium-rare, as this leaves some active enzymes to help you digest it. It’s best to eat meat with vegetables rather than starches, beans, and grains to make it less acidic and easier to digest. If you are still not digesting the meat well, you can try taking a protein digestive enzyme that contains hydrochloric acid (HCl) and pepsin.

All fish contain some heavy metals, yet their biggest benefit, as a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, outweighs this. Wild-caught salmon, trout, halibut, cod, sole, and most other white fish are great in moderation as part of an anti-yeast diet.

Vegetables

Organic vegetables are loaded with phytochemicals, which your body needs to help it regenerate. Over 4,000 such compounds have been found in plants and some of the more common include:

+ Beta-carotenoids, found in green and yellow vegetables, benefit the skin, bones, and immune system.

+ Lycopene, abundant in tomatoes, red peppers, and pink grapefruit, is essential to heart health.

+ Lutein, a deep yellow pigment found in leafy greens, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts, is related to eye and heart health.

+ Anthocyanidins found in berries and onions contribute to the health of your heart and blood vessels.

Because vegetables have alkalinizing properties, they help reduce acidity in your body, which is important on an anti-candida diet and helps reduce inflammation. Ideally 60 percent of your daily diet should be comprised of vegetables. Green leafy vegetables are among the most nutrient-dense, and I recommend eating them every day. And since cooking destroys important enzymes that your body needs for digesting and assimilating foods, the more raw vegetables and fruits you eat from the candida diet food list, the more enzymes and nutrients your body will take in. However, if your digestion is out of balance, you might find that initially on the candida cleanse, for about one or two months, you’ll feel best eating only steamed or cooked vegetables and then gradually increasing your raw food intake with each meal—taking digestive enzymes along with both.

Culinary herbs are great as part of an anti-fungal diet. They also contain valuable phytochemicals such as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, and are used to ease heartburn and headaches. Remember to include fresh herbs in your meals whenever possible.

Last, don’t forget to incorporate sea vegetables, such as arame, kelp, dulse, nori, wakame, and sea cabbage, which are rich in minerals, including iodine. Most of us are lacking in iodine, which is essential for optimal thyroid function. Sea vegetables also bind with heavy metals and radioactive toxins and move them out of the body, making them a great choice when you are detoxing from a typical candida overgrowth diet.

Primary Benefits of Common Culinary Herbs

+ Cilantro: high in vitamin K, essential for bone and blood health, helping in the removal of heavy metals and blood clotting

+ Rosemary: rich in antioxidants that fight inflammation and fungus. High in vitamins A and C

+ Parsley: high in vitamins B1, B3, and C

+ Oregano: antibacterial and antifungal properties

+ Thyme: rich in antioxidants and contains antiseptic and antifungal characteristics

+ Basil: high in flavonoids, antioxidants, vitamins A and K, and calcium

+ Dill: high in calcium, niacin, and antioxidants

+ Mint: used for maldigestion and headache

+ Tarragon: one of the highest in antioxidant value, often used as an appetite stimulant, also inhibits blood clotting; rich in B-complex vitamins

+ Marjoram: high levels of beta-carotenes and vitamin A, resulting in antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties

+ Sage Rich in antioxidants and B-complex vitamins, vitamins A and C, and calcium

Fruits

Seasonal organic fruits contain many beneficial vitamins and minerals that help the body function optimally, are full of antioxidants that prevent disease, and are loaded with fiber that supports a healthy GI tract. That said, fruits are also high in natural sugars, so I recommend eating them in moderation on an anti-candida diet. When you do eat fruit, berries are a good choice. They are lower in sugar than most other fruits, and the skins contain beneficial antioxidants. Even after you complete the 90-day candida cleanse program, I recommend limiting your fruit intake to one or two servings per day. A single serving is a fruit about the size of a baseball or 1/2 cup of chopped or cooked fruit. Sugar content recommendations vary, but I’ve compiled the following chart based upon several nutrition advocacy groups.

Sugar Content in Fruits

+ Low-Sugar Fruits: lemon and lime, rhubarb, apricot, fresh cranberries, guava, raspberries, kiwi, avocado, tomato

+ Low-to-Moderate-Sugar Fruits: Blackberries, strawberries, figs, grapefruit, cantaloupe, tangerine, nectarine, papaya, orange, honeydew melon, cherries, peach, blueberries, grapes

+ Moderate-to-High-Sugar Fruits: pineapple, pear, watermelon, apple, pomegranate, mango, prunes, raisins, dates, and any dried fruit

If You’re Vegetarian, Load up on Nutrients

If you decide to become a vegetarian, or already are one, make sure you’re getting adequate nutrition. Most of my strict vegetarian clients are relatively unhealthy because they’re not compensating for the nutrients they are lacking—such as certain amino acids and B vitamins—by avoiding meat. I’ve also found that many vegetarians tend to eat a lot of grains, refined carbohydrates, and sugar, all of which deplete vitamins and minerals and feed candida overgrowth. Personally, I find that eating some animal protein each week is the easiest way to keep your body chemistry in balance when it comes to protein requirements. But if you choose not to consume animal protein, I recommend taking a free-form amino acid blend and B12 supplement.

2. Incorporate Whole Grains and Pseudograins

Whole grains, which are the seeds of grasses, and pseudograins, the seeds of broadleaf plants, are complex carbohydrates that have not been bleached or stripped of their fiber. They include amaranth, barley, brown and wild rice, buckwheat, corn, kamut, millet, quinoa, gluten-free oats, rye, spelt, teff, triticale, and whole wheat. Grains contain important B vitamins, which support your nervous system. Some are needed in the brain to support nerve cells and help synthesize neurotransmitters. They are also a good source of fiber and help to keep your colon healthy. The problem is, we’re a nation that loves sugars and carbohydrates, and we eat too much of this food group, whether it’s bread, tortillas, rice, or bagels. We only need about 50 grams of carbohydrates a day, less if you want to lose weight. Examples of 50 grams daily are 1/2 cup blueberries (9 grams), 1/2 cup cooked quinoa (20 grams), 1/2 cup raw broccoli (2 grams), 1 medium Granny Smith apple (16 grams), and 1/4 cup raw carrots (3 grams). And as you know, carbohydrates are one of the candida diet foods to avoid.

The Paleo camp has taught us that grains and pseudograins contain lectins and phytates, proteins or plant toxins that bind to vitamins and minerals, inhibiting absorption. Lectins and phytates can also irritate the intestinal lining, causing leaky gut and inflammation. Does this mean we need to avoid them altogether? My answer is that small amounts of gluten-free grains and pseudograins are acceptable.

I have been successful over the years in helping many people get healthy and get rid of their candida overgrowth while allowing gluten-free grains in their diets. While there’s no doubt been an uptick in the number of Americans suffering from gut problems, I don’t believe that grains are the sole villain responsible for these issues.

It’s good to know, too, that soaking grains makes them more digestible by eliminating most phytic acid and reducing lectins. Thirty minutes to an hour of soaking and rinsing is sufficient, though many prefer to soak grains overnight. If you don’t have time to soak your grains, at least give them a quick rinse to remove dirt, mold, and contaminants, which may otherwise negatively contribute to a candida overgrowth diet. They will taste better that way too! This applies to grains and pseudograins such as millet, brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, and teff. Quick-cooking oats don’t need to be soaked.

During your 90-day candida cleanse program, I’d like you to eat gluten-free whole grains (except for corn, which contains mycotoxins, and white rice) in moderation. For those with more chronic conditions or who aren’t seeing enough positive benefits on the program, you may want to avoid grains for a month and see if you feel better. After the 90 days are over, I recommend living gluten-free and corn-free as much as possible because gluten can be an intestinal irritant and corn is usually GMO, containing the mold aflatoxin and chemicals that can be carcinogenic and detrimental to an anti-fungal diet.

3. Enjoy Your Good Fats

Fat is an important component of any healthy diet. Your organs are made of fat—in fact, your brain is at least 60 percent fat!—and your body needs fat to build cells and nourish them. Essential fatty acids include omega-3s, omega-6s, and omega-9s. Your body does not make omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids on its own and produces a limited amount of omega-9s, so you must include them in your daily diet, and thus they make the candida diet food list. These good-for-you fats help regulate hormones, blood pressure, heart rate, and nerve transmission as well as reduce inflammation and pain.

Foods high in omega-3 essential fatty acids include deep-sea fish, dark leafy greens, coconut, flax, fish oil, hempseed oil, krill oil, olive oil, raw nuts and seeds, and avocados. Unsalted organic butter contains small amounts of omega-3s as well as vitamins A and D. Even if you consume these foods, you still need to take an omega-3 supplement because you won’t obtain enough through your normal diet an anti-yeast diet. Omega-6 essential fatty acids are found in eggs, grass-fed meat, raw nuts and seeds, and safflower, sunflower, and hemp oils. The best source of omega-9 fatty acids is olive oil, but they can also be found in almonds, avocados, and sesame oil.

Saturated fats from foods such as eggs, coconut meat and oil, butter, ghee (clarified butter), and grass-fed meat are beneficial in small quantities. These foods contain important vitamins and minerals, but you should eat them in moderation on an anti-candida, anti-fungal diet because large quantities can make the body acidic, which promotes inflammation.

4. Eat Beans and Legumes in Moderation

Beans and legumes are high in protein but also high in starch, which converts to sugar in the body that can feed candida. Legumes are also high in lectins, carbohydrate-binding proteins that can irritate the gut lining and lead to leaky gut. Because of this, I recommend eating small portions of beans and legumes only once or twice a week while on the candida cleanse or skipping them completely for the first two months of your anti-candida diet, particularly for those with an autoimmune disease. The two exceptions to this rule are adzuki and mung beans, which are higher in protein than other beans—it’s okay to eat slightly larger portions of these. I suggest preparing beans with one or more of the following herbs and spices for optimal digestion and taste: cumin, clove, caraway, dill, fennel, sage, thyme, onion, oregano, ginger, garlic, rosemary, tarragon, and turmeric.

As I mentioned earlier, soy beans and soy products are one of the candida diet foods to avoid, since so much of the soy in the United States is genetically modified and processed. The only soy that is permissible on the anti-candida diet is Bragg Liquid Aminos, an unfermented, non-GMO soy sauce.

Because phytic acid, which is the phosphorus store in plants, binds to nutrients, especially minerals, you’re not able to absorb them. Soaking organic beans/legumes overnight and cooking the soaked beans in fresh water makes them more digestible by eliminating most of the phytic acid and thus avoiding flatulence. Some people with autoimmune conditions or chronic conditions will do best avoiding beans/legumes for three months to reduce inflammation. If you feel bloated, gassy, tired, or achy after eating beans/legumes, stay off them for one to three months after the candida cleanse diet ends and retest.

5. Choose Sweeteners Wisely

While sugar is one of the candida diet foods to avoid, and you need to avoid sugar on the 90-day program, there are some sweeteners that do not feed candida and can be used in moderation: chicory root, luo han guo (monk fruit) extract, stevia, and xylitol. Even though xylitol is a carbohydrate, it is metabolized slowly and therefore does not increase sugar levels rapidly. Just make sure the brand you buy sources their xylitol from birch bark instead of corn. And while coconut sugar is popular for its lower glycemic index, it will still feed candida overgrowth; it’s best to wait to slowly reintroduce this after 90 days.

When your candida levels are back in balance after completing the candida diet program, you might be tempted to indulge in your old familiar sweeteners. Be careful, as sugar brings back candida with a vengeance. Most of my clients tell me they eventually lose their sweet tooth completely, and only eat sweets on rare occasions. If you really do need something sweet, raw, unfiltered honey and coconut nectar in small quantities (once or twice a month) are better choices than evaporated cane juice or agave. Raw honey contains amino acids, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals that are beneficial to your body. Coconut nectar has a low glycemic index.

6. Save Fermented Foods for after the Program

This one might seem a little counterintuitive because fermented foods are said to be great for the gut, but when you’re balancing candida, they are a candida diet food to avoid as they can initially aggravate overgrowth and present an allergy response. These include sauerkraut, kefir, cultured vegetables, kimchi, kombucha, tempeh, yogurt, and nutritional or brewer’s yeast—and I suggest staying off them during the program and then waiting three months to a year to introduce them to see if they agree with you. After all, not all fermented foods are made cleanly. Some have vinegars and pasteurized milk that cause candida flares. And then there’s kombucha, which is made with wild bacteria and yeast and has small amounts of alcohol that can irritate candida. During and after the candida diet program, the exception to my no-fermented rule is raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar, which balances pH levels and helps rid the body of candida.

7. Consider Food Combining

Proper food combining involves eating either protein with vegetables or grains with vegetables but avoiding mixing protein with grains at the same meal. Doing this can benefit those with digestive problems. Others find that having a little protein along with grains at each meal, whether from an animal or a plant source, keeps both their blood sugar and energy levels more stable. The answer lies in listening to your body. If you’re hypoglycemic, meaning that you have low blood sugar, start off your morning with protein and work your complex carbohydrates into your lunch or dinner meals. Most people who struggle with reactive hypoglycemia—low blood sugar after a meal high in carbohydrates and sugars—do best eating three meals a day plus a snack mid-morning and afternoon, as this keeps their metabolism and energy levels balanced. If you are prone to excessive weight loss, however, eat only the three meals a day and avoid snacking in order to slow down your metabolism.

8. Drink Your Water

Many of my clients only drink between two to four glasses of water a day without my prodding, which is nowhere near enough to compliment a candida diet or sustain a healthy body. As the eminent researcher Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, MD, states, “Dehydration is the number one stressor of the human body—or any living matter.”

Your body is 80 percent water. How can you keep it running smoothly when you drink fewer than eight cups of water a day? You can’t. When you do, your “plumbing” gets backed up—your lymphatic system becomes sluggish, your kidneys become overstressed, your colon becomes constipated, and your liver and gallbladder become congested. Autotoxicity occurs as you reabsorb the toxins your body is unable to eliminate. These conditions set the stage for GI problems and autoimmune diseases.

And no, soda, coffee, iced tea, and fruit juices are not substitutes for water. These beverages do not hydrate the body and its organs in the same way that water does. Dr. Batmanghelidj explains that the brain is 85 percent water: “Next to oxygen, water is the most essential material for the efficient working of the brain. Water is a primary nutrient for all brain functions and transmission of information.” This means that your body needs adequate water if you want to stay sharp and focused. If you notice that your urine is dark in color, this indicates that you are dehydrated. Don’t let yourself get to the point of feeling thirsty either. Drinking more water can eliminate a number of candida overgrowth symptoms, including headaches and pain in the body.

You can easily calculate the ideal amount of water you need to drink: one ounce for every two pounds of your body weight. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you need to drink 75 ounces (a little over nine 8-ounce glasses) of water daily. Or to make this easier, just drink 6 ounces—a little less than one cup—every waking hour until you go to sleep.

Distilled water is a good water choice for hydration because the distillation process removes harmful chemicals and minerals (some controversial such as fluoride), which makes it almost pure water versus tap and bottled waters. This is terrific for cleansing toxins out of the body, but the downside is that it leaches essential minerals. If you drink distilled water, make sure to take your vitamin and mineral supplements daily throughout the candida overgrowth diet protocol. Sparkling mineral water in small amounts is acceptable as a soda replacement. Look for brands from Europe, which contain higher amounts of natural minerals and less added carbonation.

The best way to ensure that you’re getting purified water as part of the candida cleanse is to buy your own filtration system. I don’t recommend most bottled waters because manufacturers are not regulated, and you don’t really know what you’re getting. Also, the chemicals from plastic bottles are endocrine disruptors (there are one or two water companies that deliver in glass bottles). If you do buy bottled water, look for a brand that states on the bottle how the water has been processed, such as through reverse osmosis. If this information is on the label, you have some assurance of the water’s purity.

Believe it or not, herbal teas do count as water; but because they are also diuretics, make sure to put minerals back in your body by taking your daily multivitamin-mineral supplement. Among the many therapeutically beneficial teas are red clover, white tea (it has small amounts of caffeine and is an excellent blood cleanser), pau d’arco, rosemary, dandelion root, green tea (caffeinated or decaffeinated), chamomile, hibiscus, and mint. Green tea has also been found to have beneficial detox properties and epigenetic consequences.

Another great hydrator for the body is fresh coconut water, but it should only be drunk after exercising once you have completed your 90-day program off the candida diet, as the average-size can contains fourteen grams of sugar. You can also obtain small amounts of water from eating fresh organic fruits and vegetables.

9. Take Up Juicing

Juicing is a great way to nourish your body on anti-fungal diet. Fresh vegetable juice immediately fills your bloodstream with live enzymes, vitamins, and minerals. Juicing is also alkalinizing to your body because it leaches out acidic waste products. Your digestive system doesn’t have to work hard to absorb vitamins and minerals from juice, since the fiber is missing, which makes it an easier way to load up on vegetables on a daily basis. When you’re juicing, be sure not to include large amounts of sweet vegetables or fruit; without the fiber, the juice is absorbed quickly and causes a rapid spike in blood sugar. If you want to eat a high-sugar fruit, eat the fruit itself or use it in a smoothie, where the fiber is beneficial and will temper blood sugar spikes.

Juicing correctly is important when you are using it as part of a health program. First, don’t make more than eight ounces of fresh juice at one time. Drinking sixteen or thirty-two ounces of carrot juice at one time can do more harm than good, because vegetable juice can contain a lot of sugar, which is, of course, the number one candida diet food to avoid. Below is a list of low-sugar vegetables that are great for juicing as part of an anti-yeast diet.

Low-sugar Vegetables Good for Juicing: celery, parsley, cilantro, cucumber, fennel, spinach, kale, collard greens, mint, Brussels sprouts, string beans, red, yellow, and green peppers, broccoli, cabbage, endive, asparagus

Second, drink juice on an empty stomach, either an hour before or two to three hours after a meal. Since the juice acts as a cleanser for your bloodstream, do not drink it with a heavy meal.

Third, drink your juice as soon as you make it. Many vitamins and minerals become oxidized within thirty minutes of being exposed to air.

Fourth, drink your juice slowly. Swish it around in your mouth to mix it with saliva, which releases digestive enzymes from your mouth, and then swallow.

There are many books on juicing that you can use to find recipes you like. When it comes to buying a juicer for your home, I recommend the Breville juicer, which can be bought online on Amazon or in many local department stores. The Vitamix blender is a wonderful way to make soup, but it is different from juicing. A Vitamix retains the fiber, which your digestive system then has to break down, whereas juicing discards the fiber, allowing the nutrients in the juice to go directly into the bloodstream. Fiber is important on an anti-fungal candida diet to move stool through the digestive tract, normalize bowel movements, lower cholesterol levels, and balance blood sugar levels.

10. Be Sure to Nutritionally Supplement

In today’s world, a good diet alone cannot keep your body healthy—and as you now understand, a healthy and well-nourished body is the very opposite of what yeast needs to thrive. If you want to experience good health and a balanced microbiome without candida overgrowth as you age, supplementation is essential, and you will find all the supplements you need to maintain great health both during and after the candida diet program in part 2 of my book. Because modern agricultural practices have depleted our soil, we must eat five times the amount of vegetables our grandparents ate to obtain the same nutrient value. Our bodies must also cope with more environmental toxicity from pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, and synthetic chemicals than ever before. On top of that, increased stress levels have weakened our bodies, making supplementation necessary to offset the imbalance.

Now that you’ve seen how important it is to get rid of candida overgrowth through a rigorous diet and supplement plan, it’s time to officially begin the 90-day program. Are you ready? Remember, any lasting change takes time and dedication, but you’re already well on your way to a candida-free body and revitalized life.

Excerpted from the book The Candida Cure: The 90-Day Program to Balance Your Gut, Beat Candida, and Restore Vibrant Health by Ann Boroch. Copyright 2018 by Ann Boroch. Published on February 1, 2018 by Harper Wave, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Reprinted by permission.

About The Author

Ann Boroch, N.D. was a certified nutritional consultant and naturopath as well as an educator and speaker on the topics of nutrition, naturopathy, allergies, autoimmune diseases, gastrointestinal health, and candida. Ann authored two books, Healing Multiple Sclerosis and The Candida Cure, and maintained a practice in Los Angeles for more than twenty years where she treated thousands of patients back to optimum health. Ann passed away in 2017, shortly after finishing her work on the revised edition of The Candida Cure. Learn more at annboroch.com