Diet is a large part of the protocol we are following to bring candida overgrowths in our community members back into balance.

Lifestyle changes can be challenging in the beginning - especially something as basic eating habits, which are developed in infancy! Thankfully, we have the support of a group while we make some more health conscious choices, and we highly recommend enlisting your friends, family, or loved ones to join you for a detox for extra moral support and solidarity as well. 

After only 3 weeks of following the diet and 100% Gum Spirits of Turpentine protocol, the majority of us felt better and reported really encouraging results in our food cravings vs. real diet needs. 

During this protocol, we follow an anti-candida diet for the 4 consecutive "on" days a week in which we take 1 teaspoon of 1​00% Gum Spirits of Turpentine first thing in the morning.

We chose to take the next 3 days "off" each week. During the 3 off days, we eat whatever we want and do not take 100% Gum Spirits of Turpentine.

(Note that this protocol can be followed even more strictly, with 5 on & 2 off days a week, or 6 on days and 1 day off, or even 7 full days a week on with none off for at least 2 weeks. 

We chose to experiment with the 4 on / 3 off protocol to #1 emulate realistic modern lifestyles, and #2 observe if we could still achieve successful results even with this "lax" pattern. 

Spoiler alert: We were indeed very successful with just 4 days on and 3 days off for 3 weeks! However some of us chose to extend the protocol week by week as we felt even better health was well within reach.)

The anti-candida diet largely corresponds to an alkaline diet based in fresh fruits and vegetables. While following the protocol, we enjoy:

• fruit smoothies
• green juice
• wild plants/herbs
• raw fruits 
• cooked fruits
• raw veggies
• cooked veggies
• leafy greens
• eggs
• quinoa
• potatoes
• tea or coffee

We avoid or eliminate:

• meat
• dairy
• processed foods (anything from a package)
• wheat
• rice
• corn
• non fruit sugars
• dried fruits
• nuts
• oils
• avocados
• seeds
• beans
• alcohol
• soda, energy drinks, and other carbonated beverages

A note about eggs:

• Candida itself does not feed on eggs. However, some parasites and/or viruses that co-present with candida do feed off eggs, so consider that when making egg choices. We chose to eat them in moderation on the protocol and found that we were still very successful.

Now let's take a look at what we actually consumed over weeks 1-3!

Feast your eyes upon this gallery of a few of the dishes we prepared for our community over the course of our cleanse:

We're publishing new recipes here on our website frequently, and many of them would be suitable to enjoy while following the protocol. Here are a few that we recommend:

Be sure to check back for more that follow the guidelines listed above, and remember you can always tweak your favorite recipes!

Now for more fun, let's analyze some data! Here is a look at our reported diets for ON & OFF days from Week 1:

Looks like we stuck to the protocol pretty well over the first week.

Now let's look at the differences between ON days for Weeks 1 to 3:

Week 3 was a little more relaxed than week 1 while we were supposed to stick to the diet, although only a few people were not following the complete protocol during those on days because they felt they had achieved desired results.

Now let's look at the differences between OFF days for Weeks 1 to 3:

The data shows that from week 1 to 3 we ate more meat, dairy, and processed foods on our off days, but we also ate more fruits and veggies even on our off days. This suggests we adjusted the baseline of our diet once we built up real nourishment during the 4 on days, so then we actually preferred plenty of plants when given the freedom to have anything we want!

Here is what we experienced from following the anti-candida diet:

• Most of the people here were considered very fit based on height to weight ratio even before we began the protocol. Weight is not something we have been specifically tracking during our experiment as it's not something most of us even think about on a frequent basis, but one individual reports they lost 10 pounds in only a few weeks!
  
• Others have reported a noticeable difference in stomach protrusion / bloating, both after eating and in the morning. One Eden Knight commented, "It felt like I was always carrying around a food baby because I was eating so much, but I still felt hungry. Now I'm eating a lot less, I don't crave junk food, and I wake up each morning with my stomach flat again!"
  
• Everyone agreed that eating excessively healthy during the majority of the week and allowing ourselves to eat whatever we want during the last few days worked very well. The pressure of an "all-or-nothing" mentality with the threat of one small mistake derailing the entire effort was completely lifted. Everyone felt better mentally & physically since the cleanse started!
  
• We loved the relief of experiencing that 3 whole "off" days in a row of having as many treats as we wanted still kept us on the right track of progress, success, and better health. However, even though we technically had the freedom to eat as junk food as we would have wanted, we realized that everyone of us willingly made positive changes towards our eating habits and ate much more consciously even on those "off" days. Most people reported new awarenesses of their own tendencies for healthful vs. not so healthful food choices, consideration for where their habits come from, and an increased desire to choose options that make their bodies feel good.

Despite our starting to slack on the diet in week 3, we are still making progress. Our candida levels have decreased, our die-off symptoms have decreased, and our pH levels are slowly rising as well. This is encouraging to know that you can still "cheat" from time to time and see positive results in health! Getting better and better can be fun and rewarding!

We hope this will inspire you to do additional research and work towards the best possible health for yourself! 

Cheers to your health & happiness!

*This information is not intended to be medical advice; it is just shared research & experience.