I think my wife has candida.

[Taz]

My wife has many of the symptoms of candida. (Feeling tired and worn down or suffering from chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia, Digestive issues such as bloating, constipation, or diarrhea, vaginal itching, sore and dry mucosa. Strong sugar and refined carbohydrate cravings). She's not overweight. Has been on anti-biotics sevral times. Last time a few months ago. She does not eat paleo or raw. As she is very sceptical to eating raw meat i would need some help becouse i've seen people here have had problems with it. Fermented foods will take a long time to have her try. Slowly easing in to it.

So i'm asking for a cure that's not too "weird" for her. So she can begin to defeat the candida and then slowly progress to a paleo/raw diet. I dont know how long it takes to get this over. She has had problems with her vagina since early teens. (No STD's, already checked). Or if it can be something else than Candida.

[cherimoya_kid]

What is her daily diet like?

[Taz]

I guess "normal" cooked diet.(Potatos made in the oven, with some cooked chicken and a sallad for example). She has got in her head that meat is bad for her. She also eats and has sweet cravings numerous days a week at night.

[eveheart]

Candida is normal in the intestines, but if it is showing up elsewhere (skin, mouth, genitals), then something is out of balance. Antibiotics can trigger candida overgrowth, but only when the person's diet is sub-optimal. Candida is easily put back in balance by correcting the diet. Once candida is out of balance, diet plays a major role in clearing candida.

Raw paleo is not the only direction to take. People who avoid eating meat often overemphasize starchy (bread, potatoes, rice, etc.) and sugary foods (fruits), which will keep feeding the candida. Since your wife doesn't sound open to a change in diet, she can find other websites with candida-cure guidelines and supplements.

However, she should also have a serious think with herself about the long-term effects of an unbalanced diet. All species thrive on their species-appropriate diet and decline over time when they eat foods that poison them. Candida imbalance can be a mild wake-up call to let you know that you have let someone's nutrition lies compromise your health.

[Taz]

Well she has agreed to have a change in the diet to cure it. And then change her diet to somewhat Low carb diet if it takes care of her problems.

So i'm looking for a cure, i've read some posts here. Some say all meat diet becouse plants contribute to the candida, while others says only eat cucumber, tomatoes and lettuce for a while. I dont know for how long this is supose to take to A: show improvement and B: cure it.

I would be very greatfull if someone could lead me in the right direction for this.

[eveheart]

For most people, an all-meat diet is not a good solution for a healthy gut. If her gut flora is damaged from poor diet and antibiotics, she might benefit from a probiotic supplement, and that can do no harm. Some people find that sources of capryllic acid (found in coconut) are helpful, as well as some other supplements.

But why not start from a basis of minimally-processed meats/fats/vegetables and eliminate grains and legumes? Curing a disease by temporary measures is a medical approach; it means doing something until the symptoms abate. Providing daily clean nourishment is better. And what better model of nourishment than the basic human diet that goes back to eating what we could hunt and gather (as opposed to what someone could grow a lot of and sell to us)?

[Taz]

Thanks for the great reply. Now i can start going down the road. I got some Probiotic pills with Lactobaciullus Plantarum. Or should i look for some other probiotic supplyment? I've heard femented foods are not good for curing Candida overgrowth such as sauerkrauts. She drinks coffee from now and then, not a coffeholic but a couple of times in a week. Should she get rid of that?

So, basically start on a LCHF diet, then progress to somewhat rawfood. with probiotics.

[Alive]

In addition to a diet of meats and lower starch vegetables it would be good to include herbs and spices like turmeric & black pepper (these need to be taken together, ideally after soaking in olive oil), oregano, cinnamon, and green tea. 

In general the less processed the food the better, and cooking is a significant form of processing.

Getting hungry before eating and only eating enough to satisfy the hunger is good, plus exercise to raise metabolism and get the blood flowing.

Avoid processed foods, cooked starches, sweet foods.

Personally I found probiotics to be an expensive waste of time - we have 35,000 species of microbes in our guts and the probiotic varieties are not high on the list of importance, as they are only ones that are easy to grow outside the body in milk etc.

[Taz]

Okey sounds good, i were looking for a good dressing to have on the sallad and i guess i can have that olive oil with turmeric & black pepper in it.

Which is the best way to resupply the gut with probiotics then?

[eveheart]

Which is the best way to resupply the gut with probiotics then?

Eat prebiotics - food for probiotics. You can "supply" probiotics as much as you want, but if they have nothing to eat, they won't thrive.

[jessica]

Add lots of crushed garlic to the diet as well.  It's excellent for cleansing the blood, has plenty of sulphur that kills candida.  Perhaps you can make a dressing with raw egg yolks and garlic, like a traditional Caesar.   

I always like garden of life primal defence probiotic and have used it to help with my own imbalances. 

Know that coming off sugars and higher carb diets can be very difficult and your wife should honor her energy levels and rest, drink plenty of fluids, especially broths made with soup bones that add collagen, gelatin and fats, veggies and seaweeds.  This should help if she is havin headaches or cravings. 

Certain modalities like sauna and deep breathing and my lathing massage are excellent ways to stimulate the bodies largest organ of elimination(the skin) and help her to oxygenate and heal.

Her cravings may also be due to mineral and vitamin imbalances.  Eating a diet with more nutrient dense foods (pastured beef and offal as opposed to store bought chicken, egg yolks as opposed to olive oil) may help curb these imbalances.  Chromium, selenium, zinc...low levels of these minerals are all shown to cause sugar cravings.  She probably needs to make sure she is eating plenty of healthy omega 3 fats, like having fish a few times a week and oysters and shrimp somewhere in the mix, good pastured pork and cheese as well.  Eat those instead of refined oils or seed and nut oils.

Have her try some good organic yogurt, white mountain foods is the best you can get commercially.  It may upset her stomach for the first few times she eats it but it really does a great job of helping to restore digestive normality.  It may also be something she can use topically on her vagina to help with the candida

[Taz]

She did some test awhile back and had signs of borrelia. So she got some antibiotics for it. She has had a problem with depression and have been taking SSRI's, but quit them 4 months ago. I can see the depression is comming back abit, mostly due to stress at work i think. Did some blood test that showed Vitamin B12 deficiency and Iron. She got some pills for that. Also low value of white bloodcell count for along time. The iron is better so she has stopped taking the pills, tho she still have very bad Menstrual symptoms. Bad cramps, alot of bleeding, stomach problems and strong PMS.

Got abit confused about the oils. She takes coconut oil right now, with squeesed lemon tea and to some food. But i've red that the candida can get used to it so you should change to grapeseed oil or garlic oil. Gonna try to eat much Sashimi.

[Taz]

My digestion has gotten alot better. Been eating something to a LCHF-diet, most things raw, but with cooked fish/meat.

Had a littlebit of raw miced beef. Was pretty good actually.

Before this i often had loose stools, so called million-wipers. And i always got a urgent feeling to go to the bathroom.

Now it sneaks up slowly. But my stomach is very hard now instead. Alot better than being loose, but i'm at the point to constipation i think. Only hard lumps. I wonder if it's becouse i dont drink enough, or not eating right?

[eveheart]

There's plenty of information elsewhere on this forum about the gut microbiome. Make sure your version of low carb doesn't starve your good intestinal flora.

[Inger]

How is your environment?
Are you living in a  city?

Candida thrives in high non native EMF environments... the same with borrelia
Fake light is a form of nnEMF too.

You need to watch for other factors than only the food.
nnEMF destroys gut flora.