Too much gut candida?

What does it mean to have too much candida in your gut? Heck if I know. Just kidding. I do know and you came to the right spot to find out. Here are several things that were severely affecting my health for 7 months of this year. Well, actually, it most definitely started way before then, but this year was the start of my body really taking the damage and it being very noticeable in significant ways. I highly encourage everyone to do their own research and find scientific evidence when possible. My experience with having too much candida in my gut became most noticeable when I had to remove myself from driving because I was hitting curbs daily. I was running into walls and door frames in my house. I couldn't think clearly or participate in my favorite activities like music concerts or besting friends in our favorite boardgames. I thought I had dementia. I went to the doctor countless times just to be told they didn't know what was wrong with me. After months of this kind of livelihood, I got into several specialty doctors. A functional wellness doctor did extensive testing of my blood and urine. The urine took about a month to receive results. "You have too much candida in your gut. I want you to go on the anti-candida diet immediately." I didn't know candida was a thing that existed beyond the typical vaginal yeast infection. And yet, here I was trying to figure out what all of this meant. There is no part of an anti-candida diet that is fun. It is very bland and limited to what you can and cannot consume. It is also very expensive as it requires organic purchases to aid the process of starving the gut yeast. Yeast is fed on sugar and starch. So, I did extensive research as to what was safe for me to consume. I am allergic to eggs and casein, and I have celiac disease so this diet became even more limiting. My go to food items like rice, potatoes, and fruit became obsolete. I also needed to add 100g of animal protein to my diet everyday. So, vegan and gluten free except animal protein that is safe for me to consume which is organic 100% grass fed and finished, plus wild caught salmon. Got it. Let me just go pluck some dollar bills off of the tree outside. Be right back.

Here is a list of safe foods I could eat on the anti-candida diet:

Artichokes

Asparagus

Broccoli

Brussels sprouts

Cabbage

Cauliflower

Celery

Cucumber

Eggplant

Garlic (raw)

Kale

Onions

Rutabaga

Spinach

Tomatoes

Zucchini

Avocado

Lemon

Lime

Olives

Anchovies

Chicken

Eggs

Herring

Salmon (wild)

Sardines

Turkey

Almonds

Coconut

Flaxseed

Hazelnuts

Sunflower seeds

Apple cider vinegar

Basil

Black pepper

Cinnamon

Cloves

Coconut aminos

Dill

Garlic

Ginger

Oregano

Paprika

Rosemary

Salt

Thyme

Turmeric

Coconut oil (virgin)

Flax oil

Olive oil

Chicory coffee

Filtered water

Herbal teas (limited due to other conditions)

So, what do you do when life gives you lemons? You make 120oz of lime water to drink everyday to start healing your gut. You can make lemon water too, but I discovered that I prefer lime to lemon water because it just adds a little extra zing! I won't pretend to tell you this was an easy thing to accomplish. At first, there was a lot of recipe reconfiguration to feed myself and figure out other recipes to feed my family. It is no easy feat to be a world class home chef every single day and come up with one recipe, much less two. I kid about being a chef. I'm just a momma trying my best in life to provide healthy meals for my family. I ate very basic foods that consisted of vegetables with lemon juice for quite a while, perhaps a month passed before I began to have a little bit of brain clarity. Please consult with your healthcare professional first. You may have other conditions this diet affects that may not be suitable for you. I certainly had/have other conditions that affect me. For about 2.5 months, here is what my daily diet consisted of:

Morning:

Make a protein shake with organic almond milk and primal unflavored beef powder. I used two scoops in an 8 oz magic bullet container and blended it well. Then, I would pour this into a 64 oz bottle and fill the rest with water. This is a great way to get your initial water intake going for the day. It is a bit unpleasant at first, but you get used to it. It's much less unpleasant than the crappy symptoms you are experiencing. Once your gut heals, I highly recommend combining this protein powder with orgain chocolate protein powder. I do this every single day now at the start of my day. I use the same method of mixing in the magic bullet and then adding it to my 64oz water bottle and filling that up with filtered water. I usually sip on this for about 30 minutes.

Lunch: Various vegetables either raw or cooked. Did you know you can saute vegetables in water? Give it a try. It will evaporate faster, but just keep adding more to your dish until they're cooked. I would eat approximately 1.5-2 cups of vegetables with some form of protein. The easiest and cheapest thing I did for awhile was have a can of sardines with my vegetables. They are packed with nutrition. You can eat them straight out of the can or mixed in with a dish. Have an air fryer? Explore the world of possibilities.

Snack: Where's your water at, fam? Drink that up. Get another 64oz in.

Dinner: Repeat lunch. Vegetables and protein. I find it very difficult to physically eat so much protein in one day which is why I found the beef protein to drink.

For the most part, I am still on this diet except I have began to add various "treats" into my meals. Treats would be cashew products, gluten free flours like chickpea flour and almond flour. Have I mentioned that I started a charcuterie business last year? Charcuterie consists of all the meats and cheeses that I can no longer consume. It may not be perfect, but cashew products can replace the texture of cheese and cheese dips. I'll provide recipes for such things at another time. Just trust me. Again, nothing is as bad as the terrible symptoms you experience from having too much candida in your gut. Gut-brain health is real. I am living proof. Gut health in general is real. Not only have I been able to start driving again, but I also just played what I would like to consider a level 7 boardgame. I didn't win, but that's okay. I was able to play and that is a joyous accomplishment. I also had other health issues that have been corrected and/or are being corrected and I know those play a part as well. However, everything is connected, my friends. Another benefit of the anti-candida diet? I have lost almost 30lbs. This is probably due to the anti-candida diet as well as getting sufficient protein, but I'm okay with this! This post is long enough and so I bid your farewell. Let me know what you think in the comments! I am always happy to answer any questions.

xoxo,

Ashley

P.S. I highly recommend these books to help get you started. If there is an ingredient in there that doesn't belong, then replace it with something that does.