Taram7 (Cincinnati, Oh) on 01/01/2014:

This website was one of the first websites I turned to when I first found out I had Candida... for over 5 years I have failed in all attempts to heal from years of antibiotic use and lies and the information contained on the three candida pages on this page, were dead ends. I found only partial truths seemed to make my situation worse later. Please let me explain what I have discovered, the pieces I have put together, my successes and why the information is in many ways incorrect.

Candida is existent in everyone and its job is to decompose our bodies after we die. For this reason, it is a very hearty, hard to kill parasite. The Candida diets I found never made sense to me as they contradicted many rules of good health and honestly, never worked... in the long run. Then I found that Candida has a survival mechanism called 'dormancy'. When we go on low sugar diets (cutting out all fruit) it send the Candida into survival mode and makes it even tougher to kill... it will lay 'dormant' for a time until it feels safe to spring back to life where it can rebirth in a new area of the body and cause more trouble. But many times we do not recognize it as Candida as the symptoms are very different.

The good news is- Candida is MUCH easier to control than I first thought... for 5 years. And the truth is, you can never get rid of Candida... as it exists to help decompose our body after we die, but we have to put it back into its proper ratio.

I found a 2 part problem that the typical Candida Diet never addresses and it can actually cause more harm that help.

1- is the overgrowth of Candida and the environment that has been created for it to grow.

2- is the leaky gut that Candida creates and that causes the majority of the symptoms even if we force Candida into dormancy.

Candida itself is actually EASIER to correct (rations) than it is to heal the leaky gut. BUT they MUST be done together.

In my research, I discovered a hard to find bit of information about the Candida cell itself... and the one thing that makes it so difficult to kill- its cell wall. This is a tough armor like wall that prohibits the cell from being killed easily. Its called a Chitin layer and then I discovered all natural enzymes that actually dissolve the cell wall and once I began taking this, my Candida (in my gut) was actually dead within 10 days. After about 2 months I am still trying to heal the leaky gut.

There is a fair amount of information on the net about how these two go together and have to be healed together, but this is where the 'Candida Diet' fails. It is insufficient to strengthen our GOOD fighter cells and to heal leaky gut.

OUR BODY HAS TO HAVE FRUIT! Fruit cannot be eliminated from our diets and makes no sense to try. Once you destroy the chitin layer of the Candida cells, you NEED FRUIT to heal. Leaky Gut NEEDS fruit to heal. We NEED VEGGIES... BUT the detox and healing that is most effective for leaky gut is a juice fast for 30-90 days. This LEAVES OUT all processed foods, all wheats and grains, all synthetic sugars BUT NOT RAW HONEY... organic raw honey is VERY HEALING AND ALSO A NATURAL antibiotic, caffeine, alcohol, meats... For this short time to heal and detox, the only think you drink are RAW juices and herbal teas and filtered water- in order to heal the leaky gut.

YOU can kill the Candida all day long, but if the leaky gut is not healed which the Candida causes- your body will still be backing up toxins and still causing much damage to the other organs. The leaky gut will also continue to let Candida through to the rest of your body and your blood system where it can cross the blood-brain barrier and cause more havok. The leaky gut MUST be healed along with the Candida.

I am not a doctor. I am simply a Candida survivor that is still healing and once I was able to piece it all together and finally realize that I was in fact healing, and not just sending Candida into dormancy for it to return with a vengeance some where else, I wanted to share with all of you my research and how its helped me. There was so much research that went into this... 5 years of beating my head against a wall and these insufficient diets that frustrated me and kept coming back despite all the money I spent on supplements and teas and blah blah...

So here is what I did and am doing. I would like to note that MAINTENANCE must be maintained daily AFTER the initial healing process is finished, in order to keep this nasty bug in check.

1- Enzyme supplements that dissolve the Candida Chitin layer/Cell wall in order to enable our immune system to take care of the Candida cells on their own.

2- Raw veggie AND FRUIT fast for 30-90 days depending on severity... may need to be repeated for severe symptoms such as cancers and other issues. (to heal the leaky gut)

3- GOOD QUALITY PROBIOTICS. Let me please emphasize that there are natural food probiotics and supplements and there are two types of probiotics as I have found... one is a bacterial and one is a fungal... YOU NEED BOTH.

4- Other supplements that you may be low in... D3, C, Iodine, Magnesium, Selenium, Zinc, H2O2, ACV, Baking Soda, Lemons, etc...

5- PLENTY of water and HERBAL teas...

6- organic everything as much as possible and and remove all chemicals and toxins from your life as much as you can... flourides, bad air, etc.

7 - GARLIC, GINGER, TURMERIC, MASTER TONIC... huge immune boosters and healers... raw, or raw encapsulated. Make your own, its easy :) Cilantro and Parsley- I have a GREAT all natural pesto recipe for right after your juice fast if anyone wants it also ;) Organic Extra Virgin COCONUT OIL

8- Get rid of your Commercial body products - soaps, shampoos, DEODERANTS, lotions, etc. (I can tell everyone how you can get all these products made in your kitchen naturally and totally safe for under 50 bucks at your grocery store! - it was part of all my research) Please stop poisoning yourself and your family with these chemicals.

(Please feel free to message me if you are interested or have any questions, I am NOT selling anything... I only want to share my info and my frustrating journey and don't want to make this post too much longer.)

Food Like products are the problem and the killer and Whole REAL food is the Healer.

The reason that the juice fast is needed to heal the leaky gut is the liquid form of the juice eases the work the digestive system has to do in order to heal and has all the minerals and vitamins that your body needs to heal it. If you try the typical Candida diet of HARD TO DIGEST foods like meats and eggs and nuts and beans, your body will have a very difficult time of healing the leaky gut, if it can at all. The juices also help the body to detox and readjust the organs such as the liver, kidneys and pancreas as well as help to purify the blood and clean out the intestines, resetting your entire body.

After the initial regimen, which is recommended to do all very hard for at LEAST a full 30 days, depending on how long you have suffered and the extent of your symptoms (this is not a science, its going to be different for everyone).

MAINTENANCE ------ After your main healing, you will need to continue to take one of the enzyme pills DAILY and STAY ON probiotics for the rest of your life. You should also always STAY AWAY FROM ALL wheats and grains except organic ancient/homegrown heirloom varieties... like quinoa and amaranth (UNLESS you were diagnosed with Celiac Disease- then stay away from them all) and stay away from ALL processed foods and drinks and ALL sweeteners and sugars, except RAW organic Honey and Stevia. Dairy, unless its raw organic, is just bad, but I have not found anything to say that this is potentially harmful to reintroduce in moderation at this point. ONLY COOK IN COCONUT OIL EVER and continue WITH ph balancing foods (lemons, and baking sodas) tons of fruits and veggies... only organic meats and eggs. Never veggie oils and ONLY 'California' EV Olive Oil as the rest of them are cut with cheap and dangerous veggie oils :/

So that is it what I have found in piecing the Candida puzzle together.

I want to add that as most of you here know, Candida is responsible for MOST ailments and allergies that we have as it is tied to our digestion and that is where our immune system begins.

Blessings Everyone~ Tara