Candida Diet Recommendations

Candida albicans is a single-celled fungus that natural grows in the digestive and rectal tract. An overgrowth can lead to skin rashes, vaginitis, thrush and stomach pain. Typically, a diet rich in sugar, hormone changes and a suppressed immune system can provide an environment that promotes a disruption in the balance of candida in the body. Find out what kind of diet you can adopt to restore the balance and prevent infections from occurring.

Cleansing the Body

The candida diet combats the fungal overgrowth in three phases: Cleansing the body, treating the candida and repopulating the body with healthier bacteria. Candida thrives on yeast, sugar, fermented foods and refined flour.

Keep a journal of what you eat in a single day. Avoid fruit, baked goods, aged cheese, mushrooms, nuts, chocolate, desserts, vinegar, alcohol, nuts, spicy foods and condiments. Carry a list of what to avoid with you, and refrain from eating processed foods. Entrees in restaurants often include one of the food items on the forbidden list. Eat a diet of vegetables, proteins and products that are free of gluten. You can find gluten-free products at the grocery store in the health food aisle.

Treating the Candida

Eat foods that kill candida, such as yogurt and garlic. Yogurt contains acidophilus, which is a bacteria that destroys yeast. Look for a brand that is void of sugar. An easy way to incorporate yogurt into the candida diet is to make a salad dressing of plain yogurt, vegetable oil, minced garlic, chives and black pepper. Pour it over a bowl of vegetables and chicken to get a filling meal. Garlic has many anti-fungal properties and helps cure stomach inflammation. Try throwing some minced garlic in meals or using it to flavor meat. Experiment with different ways to bring both garlic and yogurt into meals. If eating garlic bothers you because of the aftertaste, try taking garlic supplements.

Repopulating the Stomach

Because balance of bacteria and candida has been disrupted in the intestines, it is important to repopulate with probiotics, which produce helpful bacteria. These probiotics include acidophilus, bifobacterium bifidium, lactobacillus probiotics and streptococcus thermophilus. Get more bifobacterium bifidum by taking supplements from health food stores or pharmacies. For lactobacillus, eat pickles, sauerkraut and yogurt. Drink more milk to obtain streptococcus thermophilus. Go on the candida diet for a couple of weeks to see how you feel. When you go back to your regular diet, slowly introduce the foods from the "avoid" list. Use this diet when you take antibiotics, which tend to deplete the system of good bacteria.