Candida diet.

To: herb.franklin.oit.unc.edu
Subject: Candida
From: "sara&mark" <sara&mark.vitex.f9.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2000 12:05:03 -0000

> you must eliminate all sugar (including fruits/fruit juices) from the diet as well as refined carbohydrates, fermented products, and mushrooms (fungi).

Can anyone tell me the logic of avoiding mushrooms in possible candida overgrowth? I understand the idea behind avoiding sugary and fermented foods, as these could feed any yeast overgrowth present in the gut. However, mushrooms are not particularly sugary, and are not fermented. They are fungi, but not yeasts - they are about as similar to yeasts as fish are to lizards. I have never heard of mushrooms being able to survive and grow in the gut. I do know that mushrooms can be hard to digest, so could cause tummy upsets in an underfunctioning digestive system, but then surely the rule would be avoid mushrooms if they bother you, not a blanket ban.

Sara

To: herb.franklin.oit.unc.edu
Subject: Re: Candida
From: Karen S Vaughan <creationsgarden.juno.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2000 21:13:46 -0500

Sara wrote
<<Can anyone tell me the logic of avoiding mushrooms in possible candida overgrowth?>>

I quite agree with you and find that most of the non-suggary, non-yeast-fermentable things prohibited in the typical "anti-candida diet" are actually useful. The one concern I can think of would be cross-allergic reactions to anything remotely similar to a yeast. However Christopher Hobbs says that he regularly uses medicinal mushrooms in the treatment of candida overgrowth without problems. I have found that fermented foods that would not support yeast--blue cheese, miso, saurkraut, kim chee, etc. are excellent for establishing competition to candida in the digestive tract and probably help normalize the body in what passes for systemic candida. Things that when diluted with food and weak gastric juices would ferment with candida--bread, wine, sweet vinegars and fruit "crock pots"--of course should be avoided.

Karen Vaughan
CreationsGarden.juno.com
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Email advice is not a substitute for medical treatment.