I suffered from systemic Candida (vs thrush or some other acute infection)... which was what directly lead me to further research the food industry and ultimately led me to Permaculture. I went 8 months without eating sugar including fruit. I only ate grass fed/organic meat (to avoid antibiotics and hormones), and avoided most cheese(exept fresh cheeses) and dairy as well as mushrooms. I significantly increased my intake of vegetables, minimizing all starchy veggies (mostly root crops). I planned for sweet cravings, because I knew if I was going to break my diet it would be because of chocolate cravings. I used Xylitol as a sweetener. I agree with the last post, Xylitol is not an artificial sweetener, it is a natural, non sugar sweetener. (I have recently heard there may be some issues with heavy metals being involved in the extraction process...so I would make sure to buy from a reputable natural store - my biggest concern with Xylitol is it is extremly toxic to dogs - so be very careful if you have dogs in the house). Some actually recommend Xylitol to inhibit Candida growth, and it has been show to be helpful in controlling detal decay. Any sugar based sweetener should be off the table (anything ending in -ose: Lactose, Fructose, Glucose....). Agave is extremely high in fructose, in some cases as high as HFCS so even today I avoid it, since Fructose has conclusively been shown to cause diabetes. There are some other non sugar/natural sweeteners (Lo Han Guo aka Monk Fruit - I have never tried this and Vegetable Gycerine is also sweet, but is not sugar - I have used this successfully. Inulin and/or FOS Fructo-oligosaccharides - sweet but cannot be digested by humans, but the good bacteria in your colon will love it). Always look for Maltodextrin though. It is not technically a sugar(it's a starch so it doesn't have to be shown on the label as a sugar), but it instantly converts to sugar once you ingest it. I have seen a lot of packaged foods that include it - even "sugar free" sweeteners...very disappointing. I stopped using soy sauce (can contain wheat and sugar) and switched to Braggs Liquid Aminos (I did a lot of stir fries so it became a staple)... and tried to avoid MSG in my diet.
I rotated grains (amranth, quinoa, teff, millet, buckwheat...I think I may have been eating brown rice, but I don't think that was very beneficial for me - I find that it tends to make me sleepy, which indicates I probably have a sensitivity to it or that it was affecting my blood sugar levels, and so I don't eat it very often any more). I used raw coconut oil for everything - baking and sauteeing - I wasn't really eating it raw, but in retrospect, I should have. Raw Apple Cider with mother is beneficial as is Oregeno/Oregeno Oil, Garlic/Garlic Oil, Pao D'Arco tea. I went to see an accupuncturist who gave me herbs... at the time I wasn't questioning everything (like I do now), so I don't know what he gave me. I also used colon hydrotherapy to help expedite the removal of toxins and dead Candida to help minimize the die off symptoms that generally occur as your body can be flooded with as you try to restore balance. I didn't know it at the time, but the addition of fermented veggies would have gone along ways to helping me as well. I didn't start eating sauerkraut until several months into the process. I would highly recommend adding them to iimprove your intestinal flora. If I was going through it today, I would probably also drink raw milk kefir, but at the time, I didn't understand it's benefits. I am an avid drinker of Kombucha, but I am always concerned as to whether or not all the sugar is gone, so, I would probably avoid it if I thought I was having a candida issue.
Somebody above said to ease into it, and that could work, but I jumped in head first and am glad I did. I started to feel better within 4 to 5 days (my cravings, headaches and general moodiness started to diminish), and my chronic sinus infection disappeared within about 3 weeks. I never felt better than I did at that time; alive, enegetic, optimistic, confident and connected.
I spent my entire childhood and most of my adult life suffering from chronic sinus, strep, bronchial, or ear infections. Up to my early 40's I was on antibiotics 4 to 6 times/year. Going through this Candida Cleanse changed my life completely. I have added sugar back to my diet, not because I wanted it, but it crept in because it is in nearly every processed food, and it is really hard to avoid unless you are extremely rigorous, and my life just got too complicated to maintain that kind of rigidity, but I never felt better than when it was NOT a part of my diet. I don't have the infections I used to have....any time I have gotten sick (which has only been a couple of times over the last 7 years), it is usually at a time when my diet has deteriorated for one reason or another.
Every website or book you read is going to have a slightly different take on how to treat Candida... for me it was helpful to be working with a health practitioner, but I found several books to be helpful as well. If you don't want to buy books hit your library...(I bought a lot of books at Abe Books ultra cheap).
You have to see what works for you. Just getting off sugar and wheat, increasing your probiotic intake and adding more raw coconut oil and raw apple cider vinegar should improve your health. If you aren't ready to go cold turkey there are some good books that can help inspire you and get you started. One of my favorite authors was Kathleen Des Maisons...(Little Sugar Addicts). Nancy Appleton is another good source and you could always read Sugar Blues or Sugar Shock for motivation as well.
Good Luck... I hope you find lasting relief.
