Candida

[naoise]

Hi

So I have candida along with dysbiosis and leaky gut. I'm confused as to how to eat. My doctor has said starches are fine but I eat them and crave more and am bloated. So do I listen to my body or my doctor?!

Also I find my cravings uncontrollable at times. Does anyone have a trips to combat them?

Thanks x

 

[jess100]

I just came across this website while reading a study of herbal treatments for Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth. One herbal product claims to help with yeasts and dysbiosis. That's all I know about it. It's not the one I will buy
https://www.bioticscan.com/6310

 

[minkeygirl]

Starches feed yeast. I crave carbs. They are my friend. I feel sick when I don't eat them and eating them I want more.

Find the right ones to eat if you have to have

I used the diet Below For candida. It allows some carbs and explains how to eat. I don't think docs know that much.

Not sure how this works with leaky gut or dysbiosis

http://candidarecovery.com/

 

[naoise]

@minkeygirl thank you that exactly what I needed. My doctor just keeps telling me different things to eat and then not to eat so I think I need to do my own thing.

I do fine when I increase my fats so I think I might try that. Just want to stop the cravings!

 

[minkeygirl]

@naoise There are a few candida diets out there but I like this because she's been there, she gives lots of options and it's not some nameless association saying do this. And it's worked for me.

My go to carb is blue or white tortilla chips. I felt much less guilty eating them.

If you are a true carboholic like me, the cravings never go away, but you can lessen them and also use will power. It helps to not feel deprived. One thing I would eat would be a taco salad and get my chips. Remember though no vinegar.

I swear by Thorne Sf 722 which she also uses.

 

[Eeyore]

You should get a breath test for SIBO. Any good gastroenterologist should be able to perform this, and it is a well established and medically accepted test. If positive, it's treatable/curable.

Why do you say you have candida? Did you have a test of some sort showing this or symptoms that clearly point in this direction?

 

[naoise]

@Eeyore i have had a sibo test done and it was negative.

I had a stool test done and it showed I have 3 strains of canddida.

 

[Eeyore]

Interesting. Did the doc have any ideas?

 

[naoise]

@Eeyore ideas on how to treat it?

If so then yes but I'm not convinced as she said to have carbs like sweet potatoe etc but everything else I read says don't. And my cravings are so bad and being home all day doesn't help that I need to move to an island where there are no temptations!

 

[Eeyore]

Interesting that you mention sweet potatoes. They have a lower glycemic index than regular potatoes and are considered better carbs. She may be suggesting that you try to switch to lower glycemic index carbs.

Another option you can try is probiotics. For example, you can take s. boulardii, which is a yeast, but not a pathogenic one (it's like the yeast in bread or beer - different genus, sacchromyces, than candida albicans and other species in the candida genus). It competes with the candida for resources, which can lower candida growth.

Bacterial probiotics (e.g. lactobacillus, bifidobacter) may also be beneficial.

 

[naoise]

@Eeyore i find though with any carbs I get intense cravings and even less energy. Is that possible?
I was considering doing a low carb way of eating with higher fat as fats don't bother my gut.

Yes she is sending me some probiotics actually.

 

[Eeyore]

It's actually very normal for cravings for carbs to increase as one eats more carbs, and not necessarily related to candida. It's more a function of human carbohydrate metabolism. Many people who go on low carb diets find it very hard for a time but eventually lose carb cravings. I'm not aware of any convincing evidence that candida affects carbohydrate cravings either way.

Probiotics can really help. I use them, and they are very helpful for many of the gastro issues that tend to afflict ME patients - the kinds of problems where nothing shows up with extensive testing by gastro docs, like IBS.

 

[Eeyore]

Oh also - yes, it's possible to have less energy. It actually makes a lot of sense. Say you eat a cup of table sugar, for example (doubt you do - but to make a point). Your blood sugar will spike very high very quickly. Consequently, your pancreas will release a LOT of insulin into the bloodstream. This signals adipose tissue (i.e. fat cells) to take up sugar from the bloodstream and use it to make fat, which is stored.

The problem is that the body is evolved to expect sugar intake to be slower and steadier over time. If you eat low glycemic index whole grains, for example, it takes a while to get at the sugar, so only a bit gets into the bloodstream initially, and then it continues to trickle in with time - sort of like a time release medication.

In the first case, with the cup of sugar, even after all that sugar enters the bloodstream, and insulin spikes to remove it, the insulin remains in the bloodstream. This drops blood sugar low - which gives you less energy. The body expected that the sugar that was coming in would continue at that rate for a time. The pancreas can rapidly upregulate insulin release, but once it's there, it takes some time for it to go away.

With a "time release" carb like a whole grain, insulin only goes up a bit The sugars continue to trickle in over time, so there is no precipitous drop in blood sugar - they remain roughly in balance.

This is why you should strive for low glycemic index carbohydrates. You want to avoid the sudden spike followed by the prolonged crash which increases weight gain and reduces energy.

 

[naoise]

@Eeyore oh I heard that candida and cravings go hand in hand. If it's not that then I guess I just crave for no reason. Either way I need to get control over it.