Greetings,

Let's start with the basics (because the basics are imperative, and because I need to get them summarized & posted) -- as in, "what candida actually is and is not, and how it feeds/reacts, etc), and "what we've become accustomed/conditioned & led to understand & believe".  Please understand, I am not trying to win any 'science fair awards' here.  This is the basic stuff without all the scientific mumbo-jumbo, persnickety-details, and technical folderol.  (please feel welcome to 'go there' when you make a battle plan, but if we don't handle the basics first, the rest of the details aren't going make the difference between winning & losing, eh?).

First, we must understand that the majority of "authorities"'doctors & experts' (allopathic, alternative or 'otherwise') do not actually treat the baseline cause of disease & malfunction within the body -- bottom line: healing people = 0 long-term/repeat business.  This is the kind of 'author-ity' we should be seeking:  Sadly, colleges/schools/universities/certificate mills, etc., are only successful when they turn out practitioners that can actually make the kind of money that those striving to be practitioners want to make! ~!~ Schulze GEM! How to choose a protocol/teacher/book MUST READ  I've even read that David Christopher tells students to protect their income by NEVER sharing the formulas they create with others (I guess it's more important for their graduates to make money than to empower others to heal themselves?).  So, if Dr. Christopher's school has degraded to that extent, then where does that leave all the others ? (that don't even have colon cleansing, liver flushes, proper/adequate usage of organic herbs, etc., in their curriculum at all).

My point (and this is something I know from experience)...there is no one in this world that's going to make more than a very frugal living when they are actually healing people by treating the actual cause of their disease!  And to my knowledge, there's virtually no one out there that deals with the true, baseline cause of candida overgrowth...and that's 'decaying organic matter'.

What is/are "candida yeast"; what do they do; upon what do they feed (vs, what makes them 'react').

Candida (and many other yeasts & bacteria) are saprophytes (see extensive definitions below).  Saprophytes get their nourishment to live from 'decaying organic matter'.  Candida are the natural 'clean up crew' of our bodies (and they also serve to break down some nutrients so we can assimilate & utilize them).  There are many things that can trigger an overgrowth of yeast or bacteria, but saprophytes can only be nourished (and continue to live) by consuming 'decaying organic matter'.

(And yes, ample, healthy intestinal microbiota are part of the issue and essential for our health...but intestinal microbiota colonize on healthy clean intestines...not on the 'decaying organic matter' that's built up over decades throughout our intestines).

CANDIDA CANNOT SURVIVE ON SUGAR ALONE!  End. of. story.  They MUST have 'decaying organic matter'.  Ask anyone that brews their own alcohol - all brewers know that you must feed the yeast something more than sugar if you want them to stay alive.   The reaction that yeast have to a warm sugar-liquid is called fermentation...and when yeast are given warm sugar-liquid, they turn it into alcohol & carbon dioxide (both are poisons to our body).

If we have an overgrowth of candida (or other saprophytic organism) and we eat 'sugar', we cause the 'fermentation-reaction' (which in turn, causes the majority of 'candida symptoms')...long-term low level alcohol poisoning and excess carbon dioxide & depressed immune system.

The majority of symptoms of 'candida die off' are most assuredly 'alcohol withdrawal. Google the symptoms of 'alcohol withdrawal' + symptoms (and then 'candida die off' + symptoms) and compare the lists...they're virtual duplicates.  But that reaction & those symptoms (and the sugar that causes the reaction/fermentation) are NOT the 'cause' of the candida overgrowth. 

How many times have we all heard & read:  "I deprived my body of natural sugars/carbs for months, and the candida 'went away'.  But one day after I ate some fruit and a piece of bread, they 'came back' with a vengeance...and now I have to start all over again". 

The candida was not killed and it did not go away by depriving it of sugar!  The symptoms of the sugar-reaction-fermentation are what went away...and the symptoms came back when there was sugar to cause the reaction.   You cannot starve/kill an organism that lives on 'decaying organic matter' by simply depriving it of sugar!

I can't say it often enough - the cause of candida is not 'sugar'!   Removing the sugar does not eliminate the candida.  And we're never going to be able to recolonize & rebalance our intestinal microbiota, when we're full of the 'candida food' that candida were designed to eliminate.   We have to remove the cause of the candida overgrowth to eliminate the overgrowth successfully.

What is a saprophyte?

sap·ro·phyte

noun /ˈsaprəˌfīt/ 
saprophytes, plural

Web definitions

• an organism that feeds on dead organic matter especially a fungus or bacterium

• (saprophytic) obtaining food osmotically from dissolved organic material


• (saprophytic) (of some plants or fungi) feeding on dead or decaying organic matter

• Detritivores, also known as detritus feeders or saprophages, are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing organic matter). By doing so, they contribute to decomposition and the nutrient cycles.

• (saprophytic) Relating to saprophytes or their life style

• (saprophytes) Organisms that obtain their nutrients from decaying plants and animals. Saprophytes are important in recycling organic material.

• (saprophytic) fungi that obtain energy from breaking down dead or dying organic material

• a plant lacking chlorophyll that obtains its nutrients from dead organic matter. The bacteria and fungi of decay are examples, but there are also flowering plants like the white Indian pipes of eastern US Temperate Broadleaf Deciduous Forests or the giant Rafflesia of the Indo-Malyasian ...

• A saprophyte is a plant that obtains nutrition from dead and decaying plant or animal tissue. Most saprophytes do not produce chlorophyll, and therefore need another source of energy. Most fungi and a few flowering plants (like some orchids and Indian pipe) are saprophytic. ...

• A plant or microorganism that obtains its nourishment from dead organic matter, such as most fungi and bacteria and a few non-photosynthetic flowering plants.

• A plant that derives nutrients from organic material and cannot photosynthesize.

• An organism that commonly feeds on dead organic material, usually by decomposing and absorbing it, and assisting in its decay. Saphrophytes, in certain circumstances, may attack living hosts (e.g., those weakened by primary pathogens or stress) and become pathogens.

• a micro-organism that feeds on decomposing substances

• A plant that draws nourishment from decaying material

• also saprophite) /sap-ruh-FITE/ A plant, fungus, or microorganisms that feeds on the dead or decaying remains of once living matter; adj: saprophitic /sap-ruh-FIT-ick/. Saprophites are often called "decomposers."

• a plant, generally without green colour, which derives its food from dead, organic matter.

• A plant which derives its nourishment from dead organic matter and usually lacks chlorophyll. Represented in the North Country by the ghostly white Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora) and the Coralroot orchids (Corallorrhiza spp.).

• Microorganism that normally grows on dead material.

• A fungus that digests and lives on dead organic matter; a decomposer as opposed to a parasitic or mycorrhizal fungus.

I'm wondering what you think (Uny in particular) about the high fruit diet, called also the 80/10/10 diet. I'm seeing more and more testimonies of people having cured candida and other health issues by simply adopting this diet. I've seen that, too...and we've all seen that same "phenomena" for decades.  Virtually every new "diet" that comes out is always followed with a myriad of 'success stories' (if they weren't, we'd never even hear of them).  Altering the diet radically, alters the way a compromised body responds - just like putting different fuel in a poorly-maintained car will alter the way it responds.  Does that mean the car problems are fixed? Is it the proper fuel for the car, or something that just masks/bandaids various problems? Will it produce more problems down the line (particularly if the original problems are not addressed)?  Do we want to be the guinea-pigs?  The answer (to me) --what basic diet has stood the 'test of time' and yielded consistently positive results for ALL conditions?  Although it doesn't make much sense for me to heal candida issues on this diet alone, I'm seriously considering trying it.  I highly doubt it'll get to the root of the problem (as I don't see it addressing or eliminating the cause), but it's definitely your-body-your-choice!

In the past, the only way I managed to bring a severe candida overgrowth under control was with a juice fast (and other stuff of course: well basically most of the Incurables Program). I was consuming liters of carrot juice daily so the sugar content is maybe not the biggest enemy here. But I do know that when I started indulging on apple juice during my fast, the candida grew out of control immediatly.  Or it was the symptoms of the candida/fermentaion 'growing out of control' because the sugar in the apple juice triggered the fermentation reaction more strongly than the carrot juice...or added to the fermentation reaction in some way or another.

By experience, the standard anti-candida diet with animal proteins at every meal and lots of fats (even good ones), plenty of raw vegetables doesnt work, too taxing on the digestive system for any healing to occur. It might work though for minor candida overgrowth and a "relatively" healthy body. No diet that's high in animal flesh/fats will ever "heal" (although when people stop eating horribly poisoned animal flesh/fats and switch to the lesser evil, they feel better).  Nothing takes longer to digest and eliminate than fiberless animal flesh = decaying organic matter.  The more 'decaying organic matter', the more candida (but not necessarily more 'fermentation symptoms).

I believe the best way would be consuming mostly vegetables or vegetable juices, but how would you proceed if one cannot afford to lose weight?  When ingesting ample calories & fat via a healthy diet, but not achieving a normal weight, then"weight" is an expression (symptom) of the condition of our body.  For example, an extremely thin person (that ingests a healthy diet, but isnot gaining weight) is not obviously not processing & assimilating nutrients effectively.  The cause is invariably some level of congestion & compromise throughout the various organs, coupled with lack of intestinal microbiota (which of course, can't colonize atop or amidst 'decaying organic matter).  Adjusting the diet to eliminate or cause 'symptoms' isn't going to achieve health.  Dr. Christopher told many of his patients that they could expect to become very thin before their body started rebuilding.  Miss H addressed that beautifully here: Juice fasting, gaining weight and losing weight.

Reminder, 50+ years ago, Dr. Christopher claimed it took YEARS to cleanse a typical GI tract using only LBB (his equivalent of IF#1) .  Dr. Schulze invented the IF#1 that speeds the process along...but we cannot expect to clean out decades worth of junk in a few months - particularly when it's HIGHLY unlikely that we're working on our liver just as diligently (and the liver is a major player in colon health & harmony).

Bottom line for the low-weight issue...we need to do whatever it takes to ensure the CAUSE of the low weight is addressed, no matter how the 'symptom' may be temporarily affected.  We need to provide ample nutrients in the forms that can be assimilated WHILE we are doing everything we can to eliminate the cause of the lack of assimilation, poor processing & congestion, so that we can then achieve a normal healthy weight/balance.  I don't necessarily think that a totally fiberless diet without added fats (i.e. juice fasting) for months on end is always the solution for those that are severely underweight (I'm leaning more & more towards Gerson's diet for the baseline diet, possibly interspersed with juice/water fasting...as long as CE's are done (or charcoal taken) to eliminate the excess toxins being released).

Besides the cleansing and a 'diet that has stood the test of time', there are two things I would do daily if I were dealing with candida...Echinacea to support my immune system to fight, and daily ACV (not only anti-fungal/yeast, but it's been show somewhere in a study that a highly alkaline GI tract encourages candida to morph to it's fungal form...and that makes a ton of sense to me because 'low stomach acid' is commonly implicated in candida overgrowths).

Healthiest of blessings,

Uny