Everything Has Sugar In It!

I am nearing the end of my first week on the candida diet and I have been really happy with my progress so far. I really feel better.  I don't know exactly how to explain it but I feel awake.  It's nice because for a long time I felt like I was just always going to feel like I was dragging.  I know a big part of it is the no sugar aspect of the diet.  Having no sugar (or very little and all from plant sources) is making a huge difference in how my body regulates and processes the food I'm eating.  Without caffeine to keep me awake, my body has had to actually start doing it by itself, which has forced my adrenals and other systems to start doing their job properly again--or close to it anyway.  I really like how I feel right now, less pain, more focus and more energy.
I haven't been hungry either, not really hungry.  I have learned over the years that there is a difference between having a craving and really being hungry.  I will admit that I have had some cravings and with a lot of those food items in my face and offered to me this week, it's been hard but I have declined successfully so far. I am satisfied with the amount of food I have eaten so I haven't felt hunger pains or anything like that. Just the constant thought of, "Hmmm, a chocolate chip cookie would be nice. . . ."  And it has been very difficult to deny myself my constant Dr. Pepper but so far I haven't had any--just a whiff of a friends.
This diet is tough because it eliminates so many of the things I would normally eat.  I'm not allowed to have any sugar in any form.  Period.  That means no fructose, which is what we find in fruit.  The only things that are somewhat allowable if you read some sites are Granny Smith apples and some berries. So I have had a few apples and some blackberries this week.  It also doesn't allow anything that turns in to sugar--so that means there are not a lot of carbs that I can't eat either. There are some that are allowable, like the buckwheat bread I've been eating, but all of the things I am used to eating--like rolls, pizza crust, white bread, are not okay.

Artificial sweeteners are also off the table, as well as tea and other drinks that have caffeine (unless it's decaffeinated).  I am allowed to use Stevia so I got some of that but I haven't used it.  I'm trying to get my body to understand that I don't need everything to be sweet all of the time.  There are other flavors! So far I have been fairly successful with this and I plan to hold off for as long as I can.
The good news is that, if I am doing this diet solely to fight off the candida and not as a weight-loss diet, I can start introducing "normal" foods back in a couple of months from now.  That does not mean I can start shoveling cookies into my mouth or drinking Route 44 cherry-vanilla Dr. Peppers from Sonic everyday but it does mean I can have an occasional sweet snack or drink, in moderation.  And that's really the key to everything.  I think we forget that.
Processed foods, now that's a different story  that I will save for anther post.  I will also discuss the supplements I'm taking in more detail as I continue to post on this topic.
I'd love to hear from anyone else who has followed the candida diet or suspects they may have candida overgrowth.  Please feel free to leave a comment.

Trying out the Candida Diet

For the few of you who were reading this blog before, you probably thought that I fell off of the face of the earth or something.  I was not very successful on my last endeavor to find a path to a thinner, healthier me. And what happens to fitness blogs when the blogger is unsuccessful?  They die a slow and painful death!  But I am on a new journey now so I've decided to share some of the things I've learned and hopefully some progress towards my goals.  Despite the name of this blog, however, my focus for now is going to be getting healthier, not necessarily thinner. Though, if one comes with the other, that will be fine with me!
A few weeks ago, I was working on a project when I saw an annoying pop-up that actually caught my attention.  It said, "The American Parasite."  It looked interesting so I clicked on it. I was led to a video put together by a company called Whole Body Research.  I was familiar with the company and I knew they had a good reputation, so I decided to watch the video.  What I saw and heard changed the way I thought about my body and from that point on, I am seeing food in a totally new light.
The video talked about a fungus that grows in the gut of humans called candida. In small amounts, candida is completely harmless but if you grow too much of it, it can really start affecting your health in adverse ways.  Candida is a yeast so it feeds off of sugar and starches and all of those other yummy things I have a tendency to eat too much of. Some of the symptoms of an over-growth coincide with many of the symptoms I have--fibromyalgia, headaches, itchy eyes and ears, chronic fatigue, foggy brain, etc. For the first time in a long time, I actually felt like there was a possibility that this is what was wrong with me and that it might actually be fixable.
For months now, I have struggles with getting out of bed in the morning, which is not like me at all.  I've been having some brain fog when my memory is usually really great.  I've been in so much pain from my bursitis and fibromyalgia that I've been going to physical therapy twice a week for the last four months but it doesn't seem to help.  I feel like I've been putting effort into losing weight and I'm definitely getting stronger and more endurance, but no weight is coming off.  To think that all of this could be due to a little fungus is unbelievable to me.
I should probably say that most doctors don't believe in candida overgrowth and they feel that it is ridiculous to spend a lot of time and effort trying to kill off something that they haven't diagnosed as a problem.  Most experts in the field of candida-overgrowth have what looks to me like pretty solid data to back them up. Maybe I'm just a chump but I'm willing to try it at this point!
In order to bring things back in to balance, one must cleanse oneself of the candida while building up the good bacteria in the gut.  There are several ways to do this but the most effective is a three part system. 1)kill the candida with anti-fungals, such as grape seed extract and caphalyic acid. 2) replenish the good bacteria by taking probiotics 3) cutting out all sugar and processed food from one's diet to eliminate the food source for the candida.
It is the last one, of course, that is the hardest. But I'm doing it. I started the no sugar/no processed food part on Saturday and today is Thursday. My headache finally went away yesterday and I haven't been very hungry either. I've been eating a lot of salad and meat and other non-processed replacement foods for what I would normally eat.  There are a lot of restrictions on this diet and like most things, I'm not absolutely sure I'm doing it perfectly, but I'm definitely trying and I've already lost six pounds so I feel good about that. I'm also taking anti-fungals and probiotics as well as a supplement called Bentonine which is supposed to help remove the toxins that the candida release when they die.
I don't know if this whole thing is ridiculous at this point but I honestly do feel better. I have been able to get out of bed more quickly, I'm not as tired in the afternoon, and my body doesn't hurt as much.  I am very hopeful that this will be the right path for me to finally achieve the healthier me I've been searching for for so long.
If you would like more information about the Candida Diet, you can visit  this website, linked here.
If you would like to watch the American Parasite video, you can find that here.