Like many of you on this forum I have come to think that my REAL problem is not yeast related but rather some other underlying issue which is making my body a great host for the candida. I started looking at the acid/alkaline issue, toxicity and the theories based on treating the whole body, not diseases or organs etc. Anyone that read my post a few days ago will already know that I have abandoned all candida protocols and switched to 100% raw food instead. I just wanted to let people know how it is working out.

For those who don't know I have gone to a 100% raw food diet in the ratios of 80/10/10. That's 80% carbs, 10% protien, 10% fat. What I eat is 100% raw fruit all day with 1 evening raw veg salad + with a small handfull of seeds. That is it. Not even oil on my salads. Even more amazingly I eat about 15 pieces of fruit a day. I'm on day 7 and guess what? My symptoms have all gone or almost gone and I feel great.

A brief history: Candida symptoms started 15 years ago. I guess I originally got it from Antibiotics , which I was on for virtually 2 years for tonsillitis. Eventually they took out my tonsils. For 15 years I have slowly been getting more and more frequent candida symptoms: thrush, cystitis, tinea, skin rashes, white tongue, acne, exhustion, depression, anxiety, food sensitivities , although curiously little abdominal or bowel upsets. I self diagnosed and didn't even bother with my doctor who hadn't even considered all my problems were related. I threw myself head first into the candida diet and started on threelac. I had massive die-off reactions and spent months feeling even worse than before I started. The one time I cheated on the diet I paid with an onslaught of thrush, rashes etc. as well as a black hole of Depression which I hadn't experienced for years. By this time I felt I needed help and got myself a naturapath. He agreed that candida is a big problem for me but also started to treat my "severe adrenal exhaustion" and support my liver and immune systems whist mantaining the anti-candida diet. He taught me that you cannot just kill it because you end up half dead yourself and create more problems with toxicity levels. However I couldn't tolerate any of the herbs he prescribed [even at tiny doses], they sent my anxiety through the roof and gave my insomnia. In the end I think he didn't know what to do with me. So I looked for other ideas and found myself at raw food. [Sorry, that was meant to be brief and ended up rather involved.]

I was very nervous about fruit in the beginning. But from day 1 my energy increased noticeably . I had detox symtoms like mild head aches and my skin broke out and was very itchy all over. After about 4 days I started to feel better. My candida stuff is abating ie. no more vaginal discharge or itch, tinea cleared up, skin is settling, both energy and mood are hugely improved.

My basic plan [using my body and instincts as a guide] is 3 weeks raw at 80/10/10, followed by a few days juice fast. I am not sure then if I will stay 100% raw, however eventually I will start to slowly incorporate more cooked foods and a broader diet. I am thinking along the rough guides of The Body Ecology Diet with fruit.

I am not necessarily advocating the raw food diet, at least not yet. But I think it is worth looking further than, what I now feel is the wrong [at least for me] direction, of the standard diet/kill yeast protocol. What I find amazing is that I am eating an 80% carb diet. Most of those carbs are from Sugar [fruit], the 2 biggest no, nos on the candida diet and I feel great, my symptoms are going and I am no longer wasting $1000's on herbs and probiotics and consultations. I truly believe that you must forget about the yeast and look at alkalinizing and detoxing your body with food. Food as medicine. All medications are making us worse and I feel the candida diet is too.

If you are interested in information about raw food diets, including the theories of the 80/10/10 I think it is best to do a search, rather than me giving you links. There is also a raw food forum on curezone and several threads on this forum in the previous days. Do check out the Dying To Get Well book which you can download free. I will post the link later as I can't find it now.

I will keep you guys posted with much shorter updates on my progress. I am also waiting for pH testing strips to arrive so I can monitor my quest to reach a more alkaline state.

Thanks for reading
nicole