Insight (Part 4)

January 24, 2010


I learn something new everyday about yeast and the Candida Diet. I don't really know what to call Audra....my friend, my coach, my saving grace. I have never met her in person, but we talk on a regular basis. She prayed for me via text as I lay on the bathroom floor feeling like I was on death's doorstep as I detoxed the first few days. She is amazing and an amazing resource for all things health.

As for the yeast. Everyone has yeast in their body and we function just fine with it there. However, it is when it becomes an overgrowth situation that the problem occurs. The greater the overgrowth, which usually correlates with the length of time you have had it (like me believing I have struggled since high school), the longer and harder it is to kill it all. Babe and I are perfect examples. He has responded to the diet with headaches and congestion like anyone with a yeast issue would, but he recovered within a day or two and he was certainly never non-functioning. I, on the other hand, had extreme symptoms, extreme responses to the die-off phase and needed extra time in the die-off phase to ensure every bit of yeast is dead.

I have completed my second day of the liquid portion of the diet. I struggled a bit today. Lots of hunger pains, although quickly relieved by the "Appease" pills I was given. I am extremely exhausted. However, my trusty journal tells me that I am not really exhausted. Really? I sure feel that way. This is the deal. Eating yeast, sugar, and stimulant free are the simplest and most pure way of eating. The things I am allowed to eat are easy to digest, thus allowing all the little ATP's (energy cells) to start working on repairing my body rather than working on digesting all the processed and difficult to digest food. The energy cells are even further relieved when you go on this liquid portion of the diet. My liquid is pure maple syrup for calories/energy, lemon juice to aid in the detox and distilled water. That is my sustenance for three days...only one day to go! So, this is officially call the "Detox Phase." All efforts inside my body are in repair mode. Repair. Repair. Repair. Audra told me I could go one or two days more on the liquid if I could stand it just to allow more time for repairing. Ugh. We'll see about that.

Then, she feels pretty strongly that my yeast is dead considering the length of time I ate no yeast...now 17 days. I will put a new food (very specific order) back in to my diet each day through day 27. (Remember I am really only on Day 10 according to the journal.) My first food will be a potato and let me tell you how I am salivating over the thought of a baked potato....with a little touch of organic butter. We wait 24 hours to see if my body has any sort of negative response...headache, tummy ache, fatigue. Anything. If I am clear after 24 hours, I will get to eat baked Granny Smith apples with cinnamon...heaven, my friends, heaven! Audra has recipes to get me through and help me as I add a new food every 24 hours, assuming I have no negative responses.

So, if all goes according to plan, February 13th will be my last day of this life-altering, yet traumatic diet. Babe's last day will be February 14th. That means Babe and I will have one more reason to celebrate on Valentine's Day. A skipped anniversary on 1/11 because I was hugging the toilet, Valentine's Day and the END OF THIS DIET with new hope for good health for this mother of three! Yahoo!