Anti Candida Diet Cleanse for Cholinergic Urticaria

Hello Everyone!

Well it looks like tomorrow the diet is going to come to an end. I am still getting itchy, although not quite as intense. But it looks like I will stop the diet tomorrow for sure. I am thinking of possibly trying a few more things before diet is completely ruled out, however.

In my last post, I talked about the possible connection between Candida (yeast), and whether or not it could be the cause of Cholinergic Urticaria (or other hives) at least in some individuals. So today I will post some anti-candida type of foods based on some info I gathered on the web.

First, just let me point out that I am not really convinced whether it could be caused by Candida or not. I have seen some reports online where people with cholinergic urticaria have tried it, and it did not help at all (or helped very little).

Then again, there are a couple of instances where people have reported it helped. Again, I am not really entirely convinced myself, and I don’t plan on trying any type of “anti-candida cleanse” or anything. I may incorporate a few “anti-candida” foods into my diet. Or possibly try an anti-candida diet (although I am going to take a break from diets first!).

There is a thread right now on the Cholinergic Urticaria forum, and Duper made a great follow-up & let us know that he has tried it & didn’t see any huge benefits from an anti-candida treatment. Again, this may work for some, and not for others. Who knows? But I thought I would share some of the resources of where I found some good & bad reviews: First, on our forum we have already had a response of it not working. Second, there is another website in which a CU sufferer tried a candida cleanse, and it didn’t cure him either. There are also some posts on the ehealthforums.com site, in which some people indicated it helped/but didn’t cure it.

There are a couple of references that I found where it did help. One is just a small comment left on a blog, where the person simply states that they had CU, and tried some anti-candida/yeast product, and that it went away the next day.

Another person claims they are 99% better after trying an anti-candida diet/cleanse.

So there are mixed results with trying to eliminate candida. Personally, I am not going to rush out & buy a candida treatment. However, I may try to eliminate candida naturally by diet (although not until I have had a break from diets for a few weeks).

What is an Anti-Candida Diet/Candida Cleanse?

An anti-candida diet is simply a diet which is supposed to help reduce the amount of Candida (yeast) in your body or intestines. As I mentioned in the last post, some people can have a problem with an overgrowth of yeast.

So what foods do you eat on an anti-candida diet? Candida lives off of sugar mostly. So if you plan to reduce the amount of candida, you may want to cut down or completely remove sugar consumption. Most anti-candida diets list that you should also avoid foods containing yeast (pizza crust/bread, beer, etc). Also, most diets say to avoid starchy foods (such as white potatoes, white rice, etc.).

Of course, I am not expert on nutrition, so you need to talk to a nutritionist to make sure you still get proper nutrition for your diet if you decide to try an anti-candida diet. Also, you need to monitor blood sugar levels if you are a diabetic. Here is a list of foods to avoid & foods recommended to eat while on an anti-candida diet:

Foods to Mostly Avoid on an Anti Candida Diet:

• Excessive Carbohydrates (white rice, pasta, white potatoes, etc.)
• Excessive sugar (honey, processed sugar, snack foods, etc.)
• Alcohol and vinegar
• Foods containing yeast or fungi (breads/pizza, and mushrooms contain yeast & fungi)
• Too much fruit

Foods to Eat to Help Reduce Candida (yeast)

• Raw or cooked vegetables (broccoli, cucumbers, greens, green beans, etc-most any veggies that taste bland)
• Garlic & onions (warning: raw garlic can interfere with some medicines or be unsafe for some individuals)
• Meat (fish, chicken, red meat, etc)
• Nuts

So to sum up the diet, I suppose the idea is to eliminate most sugar & yeast based foods, and instead focus on low sugar veggies and meat. Most websites recommend following the diet for at least 2 weeks, others recommend up to a few months. Again, If you plan on trying this type of diet I would recommend you work with a nutritionist.

This is somewhat similar to the diet I am on now. The main difference is that I have consumed a lot of rice on a daily basis-which probably isn’t very good.

What is a Candida Yeast Cleanse?

A candida yeast cleanse is somewhat different. This is where you rely on supplements or homeopathic type products that are supposed to have anti-candida/yeast properties. For example, some candida treatments contain a lot of garlic, etc.

There are a variety of products on the market, and again I don’t necessary endorse running out & trying to do this. But some people claims it helps, and some people with CU say that it hasn’t helped.I have not personally tried a candida cleanse, so I can’t comment on it.

UPDATE: 1/21/13 This is an old archived post, and I have made more recent posts regarding my new diet and how I was able to finally get my hives under control. Read more about it on my cholinergic urticaria diet page. What I essentially did was keep a journal and do several allergy elimination diets.

You can watch a video of my conclusion about Candida and hives: