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An overgrowth of yeast known as candida can contribute to a number of health issues, including digestive challenges and infections. Luckily, a diet tailored to help prevent candida overgrowth can keep your gut biome in balance, restoring gut health and immune function.
This article will discuss why you might want to try an anti-candida diet, also known as the candida diet or candida cleanse. We’ll also provide a helpful candida diet food list to help you recognize which foods to eat and avoid when trying to manage candida levels.
When Should You Start an Anti-Candida Diet?
To determine if an anti-candida diet might be beneficial for you, consider whether you have any symptoms that might indicate candida overgrowth. These health issues include recurring yeast infections, digestive issues, brain fog, and chronic fatigue. If these symptoms sound familiar, it might be worth consulting with a health professional to see whether an anti-candida diet might help alleviate these health challenges.
When starting an anti-candida diet, it’s important to consider timing to ensure you can stick to the protocol. When following a candida cleanse diet, you will need to eliminate sugar, refined carbs, alcohol, and other key foods. That means you’ll need to be able to carefully plan your meals and maintain the diet for several weeks to see the desired results.
Food You Should Eat on an Anti-Candida Diet
When following a candida cleanse diet, you will focus on eating nutrient-dense whole foods that naturally combat yeast overgrowth. Candida thrives on fuel sources like sugar and refined carbs, so these foods will be restricted to help reduce candida growth.
Here are a few key foods that can help eliminate candida and support gut health, immune function, and overall wellness. These recommended foods have excellent anti-inflammatory and antifungal properties, which make them ideal for an anti-candida regimen.
Non-Starchy Fresh Vegetables
Leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, and other non-starchy veggies are full of essential nutrients without being too sugary. This can help to stabilize blood sugar and keep your diet balanced without contributing to candida overgrowth.
Clean Protein-Rich Foods
High-quality proteins like wild-caught fish, grass-fed meat, and organic eggs are also key staples for an anti-candida diet. They help support healthy immune function and healing, which can combat the ill effects of candida overgrowth.
Low Sugar Fresh Fruits
Craving sweets is one of the key challenges with a candida cleanse diet, as you will be greatly eliminating sugar. Thankfully, low-glycemic fruits like berries and green apples allow for some sweetness in the diet in moderation without feeding candida.
Healthy Natural Fats
Anti-inflammatory, healthy fats will help sustain energy without contributing sugar for candida to eat. Great examples include coconut, olives, and avocados.
Probiotic-Rich Foods
When fighting candida overgrowth, you also want to focus on restoring beneficial gut bacteria. Fermented foods high in probiotics, such as sauerkraut and kimchi, can help rebalance your gut and reduce candida.
What to Avoid on an Anti-Candida Diet
For a truly effective anti-candida diet, certain foods and drinks will need to be strictly eliminated. This is because foods that directly feed yeast overgrowth or create dysbiosis in the gut must be avoided entirely to combat candida overgrowth and support healing.
Having a solid understanding of the following foods and drinks that should be strictly avoided will help you avoid accidentally slowing your progress and triggering candida-related symptoms.
High Sugar Processed Foods
Refined sugar, artificial sweeteners, and highly processed foods should all be eliminated. These foods directly feed candida growth and will prevent the restoration of gut biome balance.
Refined Carbohydrate Products
Refined carbohydrates, including white flour products, pasta, and other processed grains, also support the growth of yeast. These grains convert to sugar quickly, making them prime food for candida. Opt for whole grains instead, which have more fiber and a slower release time.
Alcohol Containing Beverages
Alcoholic beverages often have high sugar content, and alcohol also has a negative impact on the balance of your gut flora. So, all alcoholic drinks should be avoided entirely on an anti-candida diet.
Moldy-Aged Foods
Aged cheeses, mushrooms, and other fungi-related foods should be avoided when on an anti-candida diet. These items can introduce additional fungi to your gut biome, potentially setting back progress at re-balancing the digestive system.
Yeast Containing Products
When on a diet to fight yeast overgrowth, it’s probably no surprise that you’ll want to avoid foods that contain a lot of yeast on their own. Yeasted breads, beer, and many types of vinegar and fermented yeast products should be eliminated from an anti-candida diet.
Tasty Meal Ideas That Are Suitable for an Anti-Candida Diet
When limiting sugar and yeast to avoid candida overgrowth, there are still plenty of delicious meals you can enjoy. Combining permitted ingredients like high-quality proteins and healthy fats can result in delicious, anti-candida diet-friendly foods that aren’t bland or boring at all.
Grilled Protein With Vegetables
Grilled protein is a great, lean option without added sugars. Flavor chicken, fish, or grass-fed beef using anti-fungal herbs and spices and serve alongside sauteed non-starchy veggies for a delicious, anti-candida meal.
Low-Carb Vegetable Soups
Nourishing soup recipes using ingredients like bone broth, leafy greens, and low-carb veggies can be a great healing, satisfying choice when on a candida cleanse diet.
Fresh Leafy Green Salads
Salads can be satisfying and nutrient-rich when you combine mixed greens, lean, healthy proteins, seeds, and low-sugar dressings approved for an anti-candida diet.
Green Smoothies
A low-sugar green smoothie can help satisfy your sweet tooth while you avoid sugar for a candida cleanse. Use low-sugar fruits like berries or apples, healthy fats, and protein powder for a quick, delicious anti-candida meal replacement.
How Long Is It Safe to Be on an Anti-Candida Diet?
The exact length of time you should follow an anti-candida diet will depend on personal factors, including the severity of your symptoms. However, most practitioners suggest following the cleanse diet strictly for 2 to 4 weeks. After that, you can start gradually reintroducing certain foods while still monitoring symptoms.
In severe cases, people may need to maintain an anti-candida diet for 3 to 6 months under the guidance of a healthcare professional. However, staying on an anti-candida diet long-term isn’t advised due to the level of restriction, which can lead to nutritional deficiencies over time. It’s best to discuss your situation with a healthcare provider to determine how long you should maintain an anti-candida diet.
Meal Delivery Services That Have Good Meals for Anti-Candida Diet
Following any strict diet can be challenging. Thankfully, meal kit delivery services can make it easier by delivering pre-measured ingredients for delicious, anti-candida-compatible meals right to your door.
The services below offer clean proteins, low-carb veggies, and dishes free from commonly prohibited ingredients like added sugar or yeast. Using these meal kits while doing a Candida cleanse diet can help you save time on meal planning and preparation without compromising your health goals.
Green Chef
Green Chef uses 100% organic ingredients in its customizable meal kit offerings. The menu is full of keto-friendly items and a gut-healthy diet that can easily be adapted for an anti-candida diet. This is an excellent option if you want to prepare healthy meals at home without the hassle of grocery shopping and meal planning.
Factor
Factor delivers chef-prepared, keto-friendly microwavable meals that naturally avoid many common candida-feeding ingredients while still offering great flavor. Their menu of fully prepared meals changes each week, giving you plenty of variety while following an anti-candida diet.
Trifecta
Trifecta is a meal kit that focuses on clean, nutritionally optimized meals that arrive ready to heat and eat. It uses organic proteins and plenty of non-starchy veggies that align well with anti-candida diet needs. Plus, its customizable options make it easy to find what you need.
Bottom Line
Following an anti-candida diet means eating plenty of non-starchy vegetables, clean proteins, and healthy fats while avoiding sugar, refined carbs, alcohol, and foods with yeast. Over time, this can help combat candida overgrowth and improve symptoms.
A restrictive diet like this one requires careful planning and commitment, but relying on well-designed staple meals and healthy meal kit services can make it easier to stick to your diet for the recommended period of 2-4 weeks. Always consult with your healthcare provider to determine if a candida cleanse diet is appropriate for you and to help determine the length of the diet.
