Though I'm the kind of person that enjoys eating well and exercising pretty regularly, I've never really had that much energy. It always seemed pretty odd to me that even though I do pretty much everything that people say is "good for you", I still feel as though I'm dragging myself through each day. I've been trying various things to see what might be causing this lack of energy (and usually depression) to see if it might be food/exercise/sleep related. I've tried a strict raw vegan diet, a lactose-free diet, a gluten-free diet (which I have to keep up anyway because I've got Celiac's Disease), six meals a day, three meals a day, various supplements, various cleanses, and other random things. I've been to the doctor's office so many times to no avail that I've just decided to try sort through this on my own. You can only go for so many blood tests that come back showing nothing before you want to slap your doctor upside the head.
Anyway, this trial and error has led me to attempt a Candida Cleanse (read that in a very serious sounding voice, like Mufasa). I've pretty much been avoiding doing one for years because I love fruit....and sugar. I love sugar so much that I would even go so far as to say I have a little bit of an addiction. I can't just have one candy, or one piece of chocolate. When I say that to people, they laugh and tell me that I have no willpower. I don't think willpower is part of it, myself. I can stay away from candy just fine, but if I slip up and have one little piece, then it's over for me. The floodgates open and it's incredibly hard to close them. I'd love to be able to have one square of chocolate and save the rest for a bit later, or have one candy and then be able to say 'no, thank you' to having more. To get to that point (and now I'm coming around to the whole point of this post), I feel as though I need to somehow defeat that sweet tooth and get my body able to have sugar and not have it lead to a train wreck.
For those of you that don't know what Candida (or Candidiasis) is, read over this. Candida Albicans is an opportunistic fungus (or form of yeast) that is the cause of many undesirable symptoms ranging from fatigue and weight gain, to joint pain and gas. The Candida yeast is a part of the gut flora, a group of microorganisms that live in your mouth and intestine. When the Candida population starts getting out of control it weakens the intestinal wall, penetrating through into the bloodstream and spreading throughout the body. As it spreads it produces toxic by-products that cause damage to your body tissues and organs, wreaking havoc on your immune system. The major waste product of yeast cell activity is Acetaldehyde, a poisonous toxin that promotes free radical activity in the body. Acetaldehyde is also converted by the liver into ethanol (drinking alcohol). Some people even report feeling a drunk or hungover feeling along with debilitating fatigue from the high amounts of ethanol is their system.
Everyone has Candida, and a significant proportion of us may have Candidiasis, or an overgrowth of Candida. Candida starts to cause trouble when there is some change in your body that allows it to overgrow. This change could be anything from a few courses of antibiotics, a prolonged diet rich in carbohydrates and sugar, or even something as common as a lengthy period of stress at work*.
Here are some symptoms of Candida overgrowth:
- Abdominal Pain
- Fatigue
- Bloating, Gas, Indigestion
- Oral Thrush
- Joint Pain
- Weight Gain
- Fungus (Athlete's Foot)
- Confusion or Dizziness
- Rashes and Itching
- Depression and Mood Swings
- Cravings for Sweets, Bread and Alcohol
- Acne
I spoke at length to a woman at Lifestyles Market here in Victoria yesterday about Candida and she had some interesting things to say. She told me that I probably wasn't getting enough protein. I don't really eat meat, save for fish, and I don't even eat fish all that often. I don't really like tofu, either, which doesn't help. I eat a fair amount of almond butter, but that definitely doesn't provide enough protein for a whole day for anyone. She said that upping my protein intake would help a lot with my sugar and carb cravings (which are totally rampant right now). If you're thinking you might have a Candida overgrowth, make sure you check your protein intake first, just to be sure.
I wasn't too into dropping sixty dollars on a cleansing kit, as I didn't really like the ingredients that were in some of them, so she suggested two products to me to start with, Fungafect Whole Body System and Dr.Ohhira's Probiotics 12 Plus.
Dr.Ohhira's Probiotics are made in Japan by a company that has devoted its time to digestive research. It's 100% vegetarian and dairy and gluten-free. The probiotics help maintain the proper pH of the colon fight pathogenic bacteria that can hang out in there. Go to the website for more information.
The Fungafect is made by St. Francis herb farm and serves to deal with systemic Candidiasis (yeast overgrowth). More info can be found here. It contains Oil of Oregano and Pau d'Arco, so it doesn't taste very awesome, but hopefully it works!
Alright, so now I've got the supplements down, the biggest challenge is the Candida diet. You can eat a variety of food on the diet, including pretty much all vegetables (except for carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, corn and any other starchy vegetable), plain yogurt (this is under debate, so I'm going to try and avoid it), beef, chicken, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds (except peanuts and pistachios as they have a high mould content), herbs and spices, some oils (olive, sesame, flax, coconut and any other nut or seed oil), organic butter. See? It doesn't seem so bad, right?
But now, here's a list of foods that you must avoid: fresh fruit, canned fruit, dried fruit, fruit juice, cheese, anything with citric acid, alcohol, caffeine, anything made with wheat, rye, oats, barley or spelt (ie. anything with gluten), mushrooms, condiments (mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup), ANY kind of sugars, vinegar (except for apple cider), peanut oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, canola oil and margarine.
The reason I'm writing about my decision to do this Candida Cleanse is because writing about it will keep me honest. I'll post what I eat each day and hopefully it'll inspire me to keep eating well.
Today's menu:
Breakfast:
2 large Organic eggs, scrambled with 1 cup of spinach and 1 small tomato.
Lunch:
2 cups spinach
1/2 cup bean sprouts
1/2 can Tuna (canned in water)
1 tbsp Flax Seed Oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
Snack:
2 unsalted rice cakes
1 1/2 tbsp natural almond butter
1/2 cup blueberries (I know they're technically not allowed but I have a bunch on my fridge and I don't want to let them go to waste because they were priiiiiicey!)
Dinner:
2 cups spinach
1/2 tomato
1/2 can Tuna (canned in water)
1 large hard boiled egg
2 tbsp Lemon Tahini Dressing
1/2 cup bean sprouts.
Yes, my dinner was much like my lunch because I didn't have time to go grocery shopping after work.
