The Candida diet is a fairly new diet that people are following more often these days. The purpose of this diet is to relieve your body from various Candida-related infections. However, very little is known about this diet and how it works, so what about now?
In this article, we look at what a candida diet entails, how it works and whether there is evidence for it.
What is the Candida Diet?
Candida is a fungus that occurs in everybody, especially the mouth, skin, intestines, nails, anus, and vagina. It is a harmless fungus, but it can irritate if too much grows. Your body contains about 150 different species of Candida fungus, and only 15 of these can cause infection or inflammation. The other parts help your body digest food and absorb good nutrients.When you follow the Candida diet, you adjust your diet based on the risk groups. Because you eliminate certain nutrients, you would reduce the chance of a Candida infection and you will therefore be less likely to suffer from it.
When are you more at risk of infection?
Anyone can get a Candida infection, but certain people can get it more often because they fall into one of these risk groups. When you find yourself in one of these groups, you can look at options to adjust your lifestyle to reduce the chance of an infection. Risk factors that lead to a greater chance of a Candida infection are:
- Consuming a lot of carbohydrate-rich and sugar-rich foods
- Consuming a lot of alcoholic beverages
- Increased stress levels
- A weak immune system
- Using a contraceptive pill or antibiotics
- Diabetes Mellitus
- An imbalance in your intestinal flora
- Misuse of a catheter
How does the Candida diet work?
When you follow the Candida diet, you change your diet based on the recommended foods. You exclude products that contain a lot of carbohydrates, sugars, and starch. You also reduce your alcohol intake, you eat many fruits that are low in sugar and you eat less or no animal milk products. There are also candida supplements that can support your diet.According to the Candida diet, these are all foods that increase the risk of a Candida infection. In addition, the diet advises you to start with a so-called “cleanse” where you put less stress on your digestive system when you start the actual diet.
Although the Candida diet is followed by quite a few people, there is little scientific evidence that it works. Also, there are not enough studies that prove or disprove the effects of this diet. For example, consuming too much sugar and carbohydrates would lead to a Candida infection, while research shows that this does not have to be the case at all.
Despite little evidence, the diet is growing in popularity. In itself, it can't hurt and various Candida diet experiences also show that people respond well to it. However, whether this has to do with a healthier diet or the actual diet is not known.
