Diving In
Tomorrow, my sister Michelle and I will embark on a ten-week health overhaul, a candida/digestive health program from www.thewholejourney.com. It addresses candida/fungal infections (which I believe are fueling my sinusitis and CFS/SEID), digestive health, heavy metals, thyroid, and adrenals. I am already gluten/dairy-free, and I can hardly wait to see how much farther I can improve my health just through diet and lifestyle. An 80/20 paleo diet has improved my energy substantially, but I still suffer from severe post-exertional malaise if I eat any significant amount of sugar or overdo it physically, especially standing for long periods. I am hoping this cleanse will improve these symptoms more. Michelle is coming off a standard American diet, so this will be harder for her, and I am so proud of her for taking this huge step. She is hoping to reduce a bunch of digestive symptoms, in addition to fatigue, endometriosis, and fibromyalgia symptoms. She has recently learned she is also gluten/dairy intolerant, so this will be the first time eliminating them for longer than two weeks.
I plan to check in here several times a week to record our progress and what is (or isn't) working for us on the cleanse. I will also post recipes and share how we handle meal prep and generally maintain our sanity on a strict diet, especially during the first two weeks of fungal die-off, fun stuff. I am a very adventurous eater, while Michelle likes maybe three vegetables. So the next couple weeks will be interesting, and I will need to be extra creative in the kitchen!
I am constantly posting whole food recipes and have created a Pinterest file specifically for anti-candida-friendly concoctions, so check me out on Pinterest!
The cleanse in a nutshell:
Allowance of 3 servings of complex carbs/day and 1 cup of berries/day.
Other than that, we are eating only whole, unprocessed sources of protein/fat.
No fermented foods, no coffee/black tea, no canola oil, no gluten/dairy
Dark liquid stevia is ok as a sweetener.
Anti-fungals: Pau d'Arco tea, Olive Leaf Extract, Grapefruit Seed Extract, Oregano Oil (16-day rotation, one antifungal at a time for four days in a row)
Probiotics: Saccharomyces Boulardii
And my "favorite:" Diatomaceous Earth and Bentonite Clay mixed in water...yum.
We're starting the cleanse off right tomorrow morning by splurging on eggs, uncured bacon, and smoothies. Right now, I'm off to make my last beloved cup of coffee!
-Lizzie
