As a Functional Medicine Practitioner, I value my relationship with food I eat, I come to realize when we listen to our body, and eat mindfully we can get rid of many ailments naturally and live a better life.
Candida albicans are a type of yeast and fungus that can live and proliferate in our bodies, instigating a series of health imbalances. The overgrowth of candida can mimic IBS symptoms, cause skin issues such as acne or eczema frequent rash, allergies, PMS symptoms, yeast infections, UTIs, anxiety, depression, hormone imbalances, joint pain, and a weakened immune system...just to name a few.
And when we are looking to get rid of these symbiotic pathogens the process can be quite a taxing experience. It involves a restrictive diet that aims to “starve” the pathogens along with antifungal supplements. The diet requires you to eat no sugar of any kind (or things that act like sugar in the body, like carbohydrates). This means no grains, fruit, soy, legumes, or starchy veggies, and many healthy food options like sweet fruits, sweet potato and so on…
The antifungal supplements often create what we call as to as Herx reaction/ “healing crisis” or “die-off effect,” which means you get to feel worse before you get better. Candida albicans can produce up to 80 different toxins in the body many of them are neurotoxins. As these pathogens die, one may feel a variety of symptoms including excessive brain fog, nausea, skin breakouts, irritability, and fatigue. someone correctly said, “when you do candida diet, better to stay alone in mountains for few months”!
1. Sugar cravings get super intense first and then disappear.
2. You get more creative with new food options.
3. It’s great learning for the whole family and eventually, your whole family starts to eat healthily.
4. Comfort doesn’t have to come from food.
5. You will feel sad sometimes, and that’s OK.
6. Finding the root cause is the key to feeling better.
7. A life without sugar can be a good one.
Dr. Kalpana Shekhawat -M.D.
Functional Medicine Specialist