LIST ONE - FOODS I CAN EAT

FOOD LIST FOLLOWS BLURB BUT CUT STRAIGHT TO LISTS IF YOU PREFER

Once you have both lists to refer to, I'll be able to begin the blog proper, with more recipes, and stories of how I overcome challenges, or don't, and I'll find out whether or not this diet succeeds as I'm going along. So far, I feel so much better than I have done for ten years or more - I actually feel like I did in my early twenties, and I'm now more than twice that age - that, regardless of whether I'm killing off the Candida, I'm sticking to this diet. And when I have cheated (two pots of coffee in six weeks, really, does that count as cheating?) the side effects are swift to strike - proof conclusive, to me at any rate, that this diet is working... for me.


HOW I SELECTED THE FOODS

All of the advice in books and on the net became self-contradictory and confusing. I have used all the non-conflicting advice to start with, then all of the advice that made the best sense; then I went on an i-net trawl to find more information about exactly how much sugar there is in everything.


EXCLUDED FOODS

I also compiled a comprehensive list of excluded foods - foods which are excluded by all of the informants, but not all of these foods are excluded by every single informant - and I'll post this on my blog next week.


TO START WITH...

I googled the two simple words ... SUGAR CONTENT

I used two sites. The one I found first is...

http://www.dietaryfiberfood.com

You have to go to the sugar-free-products section...

This site shows the sugar content of individual foods, which are listed in order of sugar content, starting with sugar at 100%, and working down to meat at (0%).

However, this site appeared to be full of errors - I found this out from casual remarks dropped by Candida-suffering friends. "Oh, of course, cucumbers are full of sugar," and by checking the sugar content on the ingredients section of the food packaging. It's useful and I'm recommending you look at it because it gave me a clear picture of Sugar Levels in food in general. Honey is high on the list, for instance, and I've been reading blogs about candida in which the sufferers are recommending honey as an ingredient for recipes...

Basically, I copied out the list by hand, and it shaped my thinking about how to list my Candida diet foods - you'll see below they're in Levels. Level 0 is a list of foodstuffs which contain no sugar. Level 1 is a list of foodstuffs which contain a maximum of 1.9g sugar per 100g weight. Level 2 is full of foods which contain a max of 3g sugar per 100g weight - but I haven't published it as I'm not eating Level 2 foods yet. They contain too much sugar. The aim of this diet is to kill the Candida, not feed it.

This is the second website I found...

http://whfoods.org/

World Health, and it's an absolutely invaluable list of foods and their nutrition content. I used it to cross-check lots of the foods on the first website, and find out loads of information about what's in the food we eat. More of the info on this World Health site is borne out by the info on the back of food packaging (in the UK anyway. What happens in the rest of the world?) It can be a difficult to use for working out an extreme Candida diet, as they measure levels of sugar in cups (it's an American site) which hold differing weights of food, which they also supply. So, 1 cup of boiled Kale, weighing 130g, contains 1.56g sugar - clearly less than 1.9g per 100g. For all the tricky ones, I just had to get the calculator out.

Yes, it's been an obsessive little journey. This blog is an attempt to make this diet clear, and accessible to others, and especially accessible to people who've been suffering from symptoms which indicate high Candida Albicans levels in the body. It's made me feel better, so why not attempt to pass it on?

To use the whfoods.org site, enter the food you're looking for info on into the search box, and click on the search box (say, Kale). Scroll down the list of blue links til you reach: Kale: nutritional profile. Scroll down to the bottom of the nutritional profile and click on the blue link 'In-depth nutritional profile'. There you will find the sugar content listed, along with everything else that's inside Kale. Yum!

It's an American site, so sometimes they use different words for food items. Some foods don't show up on the searches, and you have to try a related food, and find the links. Chicken behaved like this!

THE LIST ITSELF

Level 0

ORGANIC MEATS, FRESH OR FROZEN
Chicken
Duck
Lamp
Pork
Beef

FRESH OR FROZEN FISH
Salmon
Trout
Tuna
Sardines
White fish
All shellfish, crab, lobster
Prawns
etc.

OILS & FATS
all oils, but especially Sunflower Seed Oil which contains lots of essential fatty acids
Organic Butter - good for you because it contains an ingredient which helps combat Candida. When I find the website again, I'll post the link.

DAIRY
Goat's yoghurt. It has live good bacteria, and no sugar; the bacteria are essential ingredients in the fight against Candida. Basically, as the Candida dies off, you have to stock up on good bacteria in the intestine; they help fight the Candida yeasts. Goat's yoghurt is delicious. Cow's yoghurt has too much sugar for me, but use it live for the bacteria if you've tried goat's yoghurt and it's too sharp. Also, see supplements. I don't normally use pro-biotic drinks because they're suspiciously sweet.

GRAINS & VEG
Quinoa - a seed which is also gluten-free
Linseeds - good source of Omega 3
Spelt - the grain
Kelp
Seaweeds
Creamed coconut - sold in packets, no sugar content unlike the milk or dessicated coconut. No, I don't know what they do to it.

SPICES - ALL SPICES, BUT ESPECIALLY...
Black Pepper
Cinnamon
Cloves
Cumin
Ginger - root ginger especially
Turmeric

HERBS - (but excluding chives, and check out basil) ESPECIALLY...
Basil
Dill
Oregano
Rosemary
Thyme

DRINKS
Herbal teas especially...
Pau D'Arco tea
Lemon & Ginger tea
Nettle tea
Red clover tea (Vitamin B source of)


LEVEL 1

Oats (see above)
Oatcakes - sugar free (see my first blog)

Brown Rice
Wild Rice

Aduki Beans
Chick Peas
Kidney Beans (there are lots of other beans with low levels of sugar, but I don't eat too many beans, as they're high in carbohydrate, and disrecommended by lots of the websites. Vegans & Vegetarians might want to experiment more with these)

Hummus

Eggs

Cauliflower
Collards
Lettuce - esp Hearts of Romaine, Rocket Salad
Kale
Mustard Leaves
Parsley
Spinach
Watercress

Asparagus
Celery
Fennel
Garlic
Leeks

Avocado

Sesame Seeds
Tahini Paste (Pasted sesame seeds).


Level 1+ (these foods are slightly high in sugar content, but have extremely high nutrition levels, and so I keep them on my list).

Broccoli
Squash - all varieties but especially pumpkin
Lime / Lemon juice (at three limes a week, this can't be excessive levels of sugar)
Runner beans (but not french beans)


Level - I refuse to stop eating these...

Almonds - they are high in sugar, but I like them, some sites recommend them for the Anti-Candida-diet, and they are an extremely convenient portable snack, which is also highly nutritious and delicious. I pour a 100g packet into one of those snap-tight boxes, and it travels with me in my handbag. Hardly any garages or other late-opening shops stock anything other than foods proscribed from the anti-Candida diet.


SUPPLEMENTS

If you are vegan, or just don't like yoghurt, then you need to take a supplement containing ACIDOPHILUS, which will give you the good bacteria you need (see above, Yoghurt). I found one in my local health food store; they're very friendly and helpful in there.

I'm taking some other supplements, but I won't go there this week. Too much information already.

And that's it! That's what I've been eating for the last six or seven weeks! That's what's put the spring back in my step, taken away the 'woolly cloud' from my head, the headaches, the lassitude, the feeling that my muscles have been sucked out and I've been packed with cottonwool instead, the cramps, the growling-tummy, the wobbliness, the earache, the sore throats, the inexplicably painful elbow, and a peck of other things. There are some symptoms that haven't gone away yet, but I'm prepared to be patient. I'll discuss this properly in another blog, but I'm in this for the long haul, and not all the symptoms will recede as fast as the ones listed above have done. What's instructive is, that when I have lapsed from the diet, some of them have almost immediately returned, just for a short period of time.


AND FINALLY...

Enjoy! Enjoy experimenting with the above foods. Enjoy contemplating going on this diet. As I said, it took me four years to brace myself to start it, and around two months of preparation - studying, working out the The List, stocking up on all the foods, eating all my favourite foods for the last time (that was important), finding out more and more about Candida and how invasive it is, and how it explained so many of the little symptoms I had, til I was so disgusted with it, I couldn't not go on the diet - and then putting up with a very painful Detox Month. And, after all that, I am totally thrilled that it's working so well!

Derwen Hen


FEATURE THIS

This week, I have mostly been eating...

CHICK PEA KORMA
Sunflowerseed Oil, garlic, lots. Saute garlic in oil, over low heat.
Leeks, the white half ONLY, chopped very finely, saute with garlic.
Butter, organic, add to leeks.
Cumin, coriander - ground - two teaspoons of each, or more. Add to mix, and stir well, til you can smell the spices heating up.
Black pepper, salt.
Chickpeas - two 400g cans. Or use dried, soaked Chickpeas (see packet)
Stock, enough to cover (see later blog on making stock from fresh - do NOT use cubes or bouillon - or, if tempted, read the labels, they are too high in sugar and other preservatives). Fresh stock can be made by boiling water with salt, garlic, herbs and spices for about half an hour; strain before pouring into the Korma.
Creamed coconut - no other sort will do. About a quarter of a pack will do, 50g max.
Serve with brown rice, flavoured with turmeric, cumin, and cooked in stock.
And yoghurt with mint/parsley/thyme chopped into it. Or you can add the yoghurt to the mixture and cook it in.

A two-can batch serves 4 people. You could easily add more leeks.

Also travels well, and I have used this cold, without the rice or the yoghurt, as my lunch when out for the day. Snap-tight box, plastic spoon, small cloth, box of chopped celery, tote bag to carry it all. Looks peculiar, tastes perfect.


NEXT WEEK

LIST TWO - forbidden foods, and why



Supper last night - butternut squash fried in goosefat with garlic and black pepper: scrambled eggs, done very slowly, just add a lump of cold butter at the end (thankyou, Gordon Ramsay) and chopped watercress. Would be better with lime juice on the cress, and salt in the eggs, and rosemary in the squash.