Despite following an anti-candida nutrition protocol, are you still experiencing fatigue, bloating, brain fog, itching, and strong sugar cravings?

We hear you! In fact, this issue is all too common. You are in the majority.

While there may be a host of reasons why you are not experiencing relief, sometimes the culprit is simply a lack of knowledge.

Perhaps you are in this alone, attempting to piece together random information on the Internet in order to design a candida starvation plan.  Maybe you are fortunate enough to be working with a healthcare provider who is well versed in the approach. (Lucky you!)

However, while your healthcare provider is doing their best to instruct you during your medical visit, the truth is, there is never enough time to explain all of the ins and outs of the protocol in one visit. In fact, when I was teaching the anti-candida diet in a massive, world-renowned hospital, I often needed two, three, and sometimes even four visits with the individual in order to provide a thorough explanation of the plan from start to finish, PLUS have the time to answer all related questions.  You can read about my approach in my post The Ultimate Candida Overgrowth Diet Plan.

In today’s article, I am going to address the seven most commonly asked questions while following an anti-candida nutrition protocol.  My hope is that the information in this article will provide you with a few of the missing pieces needed to experience ultimate relief!

1) Will I have to follow the anti-candida diet forever in order to keep my symptoms at bay?

While it is always a great idea to center your diet on lean protein, fresh veggies, nuts, seeds and low-glycemic fruit, you will not have to follow this strict protocol for life. Typically, once you have followed this plan for 6-12 weeks in addition to an herbal or medication protocol to help remove the yeast, you will be able to slowly expand your diet.

However, please keep in mind that if you dive right back into piles of cake and candy each day, there is a strong chance that candida overgrowth will come crawling right back and hit you when you least expect it!

Also, if you find that you are only following the protocol correctly a few days a week or only putting forth 50% effort, there is a great chance you will never actually experience true symptom relief.

2) Is Apple Cider Vinegar safe to consume on an anti-candida plan or will it feed yeast like other vinegars?

Yes. In fact, not only is it safe, but I would strongly encourage that you incorporate apple cider vinegar into your daily routine if poor digestion is one of your main symptoms.

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) is perfectly ok on an anti-candida nutrition plan. My only two suggestions would be that you a) Use it strategically. Consume 1 TBSP of ACV 5-10 minutes before a meal to aid in digestion and b) Be sure NOT to consume ACV straight.

Always, always, always dilute with water. 1 TBSP of ACV to 3-4 TBSP of water is a great ratio.

Even if you were told to “enjoy a shot of ACV for optimal digestion”, that individual meant for you to mix the ACV with water. The last thing you want to deal with is an esophagus that feels like a dragon blew fire down it on the day of a competition.

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3) Wait a second, how do I know if I am experiencing poor digestion?

Great question my friend.

Poor digestion can often be detected by the following symptoms:

  • Bloating after meals
  • Pain or burning in the stomach after meals
  • Reflux or the feeling of “gunk” in the throat after meals or throughout the day
  • Pieces of food found in your stool (corn doesn’t count!)
  • Stool that leaves a slimy, oily or greasy-like appearance on the surface of the water
  • Nausea or overall feeling of illness after taking any form of vitamin/mineral supplement

Think about it this way, you might be eating the most beautiful, perfect anti-candida foods on the planet. BUT if you are not digesting these foods, you may notice that symptoms still persist. Why? Because if you are eating foods that sit and ferment in your gut so to speak vs. actually breaking down and moving their way through your GI tract, those big hunks of fermented food particles can be fuel for the yeast.

If this sounds all too familiar, please speak with your healthcare provider as they will be able to design a supplement protocol that can enhance your digestion.

4) As a highly active athlete, I am not sure that I agree with the idea of completely removing fruit from my diet. Do you have any thoughts on this?

I can definitely understand where you are coming from with this question. And in fact, contrary to what many other healthcare providers might say, I agree with you.

Making sure that you consume enough carbohydrate to meet training demands is critical. After completely removing grains and placing significant limitations on starchy vegetables, a highly active individual does not have much left in terms of carbohydrate.

If you feel chronically fatigued, inadequate carbohydrate intake may be the reason why.

My suggestion to you would be to stick with low glycemic fruit each day such as cherries, kiwi, pomegranate, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and green apple.

Try to limit your intake to two servings each day and time your intake appropriately to meet your workout needs. Ideally, you would try to consume the fruit before your workout for a boost of energy and immediately post workout in your recovery shake for muscle repair. For example, a green apple dipped in unsweetened almond butter might be a great pre-workout snack. Adding a ½ cup of chopped, frozen strawberries along with your unsweetened coconut milk and chocolate protein powder would be a tasty option for post-workout fuel.

5) Can I eat a no sugar substitute such as Stevia on the anti-candida diet?

Yes, you may consume Stevia on an anti-candida diet as it does not contain sugar or carbohydrate to feed the yeast. However, keep in mind that stevia, as well as many other zero calorie sugar substitutes, tend to be extremely sweet. So sweet in fact that they’re considered to be even sweeter than table sugar, thus encouraging your body to crave sugar even more than it did before.

Also, it is important that you pay close attention to see if your sugar substitute contains additional ingredients such as maltodextrin or sugar alcohol as these ingredients may cause gastrointestinal upset.

6) How long will I experience symptoms of candida die-off?

Well, for starters, not everyone experiences symptoms of die-off on the anti candida plan. A lot depends on the way you were eating before the protocol, your current state of health, and how much yeast has actually overgrown in your body.

For those that do experience the die-off effect, please be sure to stay the course!  You may feel worse before you feel better. I can’t emphasize this enough. Many have given up on the protocol after the first week because they assume “Wow I feel so terrible, I can’t keep going. This diet is not working for me.” When in all actuality, those nagging symptoms are often a good thing. It means the approach is working for you. Ending the protocol halfway through the treatment might actually make things worse.

So to answer your question, if you happen to experience die-off symptoms, this feeling usually lasts 10-30 days. Typically within a month (max), you will notice improvement and if you stay the course, hopefully, entire symptom resolution.

7) Could my supplement protocol have anything to do with the reason why I still do not feel well?

  This requires a very lengthy, multi-faceted answer but I am going to keep it simple. If you think that you feel worse after taking a certain supplement, particularly your B vitamin supplement, it may be because that particular supplement is derived from yeast. In order to dodge this problem, choose brands that do not create products from yeast. Three reputable brands that do not use yeast derivatives include Designs for Health, Thorne, and Prothera.  

If you are looking to purchase professional grade supplements such as Designs for Health, Thorne, and Prothera as well as many other professional grade vitamins and minerals, we recommend you check out our candida overgrowth supplement plan on Wellevate.  All FWDfuel readers will receive 20% off supplements and free shipping over $49 for life.  This site stocks only high-quality brands so you can shop without fear of contamination.  We receive a small commission when you shop here, but this comes at no cost to you. The small commission helps to keep our blog running. We encourage you to price shop and compare as the Wellevate price for quality is hard to beat.

So, that summarizes our tips to help you stay in the fast lane to success on an anti-candida diet plan! Are you currently in the process of following an anti-candida protocol? If not, you may want to check out our post on The Ultimate Candida Overgrowth Diet Plan or join many others in signing up for personalized coaching packages. Our plan and packages are chock-full of useful information that will help you better understand the underlying issues of yeast overgrowth.

Do you have burning questions that remain unanswered? Do you have tips for success that you found were critical in your healing journey? Please share your thoughts below!