Candida Cleanse (Part II: How to) - Information on Candida cleanse friendly snacks, beverages, 12 days of menu , and how I felt each day during the cleanse!
What is Candida Cleanse?
The essential idea is to take control of overgrown candida that is harmful to your body and cause infection. If you consume diet that is very high in refined carbohydrate and sugar, high intake of process foods, and take antibiotics and birth control pill, you may be at risk.
What is the benefit of candida cleanse?
The candida cleanse should ideally help you cure infection that is caused by candida. It helps reduce inflammation in your body, support healthy lifestyle, curve your bad food craving, and help with weight loss.
Unfortunately, there is not enough clinical studies or evidence to support the effectiveness of the candida cleanse. However, I personally benefit greatly from this cleanse - no longer suffering from frequent yeast infections, better mood, better digestion, better bowel movements, clear skin, and weight loss.
Foods you can and cannot eat:
Please see my Candida Cleanse 101 (Part I) post for general rules.
Helpful tips and advices on Candida Cleanse (Part II: How to)
- This is NOT an easy cleanse: Due to a very strict rules, it will take lots of effort and time. The key is to plan ahead and meal prep!
- Be aware of the die-off effects: If you are experiencing bad headache that won’t go away for few days, it’s normal for someone who regularly consume caffeine (caffeine withdrawal symptom). You may also experience lethargy, bloating, foul smelling gas and bowel movements.
- You will be hungry so stock up on candida cleanse friendly snacks and beverages.
- Drink lots of water: Minimum of 60 ounces a day.
- This diet is meant to last only couple of weeks. I recommend one to two weeks (maximum).
Candida cleanse with diatomaceous earth and probiotics:
Phase 1 (Day 1 through Day 5) - Diatomaceous earth
Upon waking, drink a tall glass of water with 1 teaspoon of diatomaceous earth dissolved in it. I drink this first thing in the morning. Before bed, drink another diatomaceous earth water. If you'd like to learn more about diatomaceous earth, please read my Candida diet intro post for more information!
Phase 2 (Day 6 through Day 12) - Probiotics
Upon waking drink a tall glass of lemon water (12 ounce of water with juice of a half lemon) with probiotic. This is the probiotic that I took during the cleanse. It was recommended by my yoga teacher. I finished this bottle and I’m planning to try this probiotic in the future.
Candida Cleanse Friendly Snacks:
- Fresh vegetable: celery, snow snap peas, and cucumber are excellent with hummus.
- Hummus: hummus is a great snack option. If you buy flavored hummus, make sure to read the ingredient list to ensure that there are no vinegar, nutritional yeast, or sugar.
- Crisp bread: I bought multi-seeds crisp bread from Trader Joe’s. This bread contains no yeast or sweetener of any sorts.
- Mixed nuts: Handful of mixed nuts is a healthy and nutritious option.
- Nut butter: Make sure your nut butter does not contain any sweetener.
- Vegan protein powder: Although almost all the protein powder have small amount of sugar, this will hep you keep full and curve your craving for sweets. I’d recommend that you limit your consumption to less than a scoop a day.
- Brown Rice cake and tortilla chips: After all, they are processed snacks. Consume these to very limited quantity.
Candida Friendly Beverages:
- Pau d'Arco tea: Pau d'Arco has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties.
- Rooibos tea: If you are a tea drinker (black or green), this is an amazing alternative. It tastes heavenly and it's caffeine free.
- Lemon Balm tea: It is well known to reduce stress and support nervous system. It helps relieve anxiety and depression.
- Mint tea: Some mint tea is blended with other ingredients that may contain caffeine. Make sure the tea is caffeine free.
- Chicory root coffee: This is a great caffeine free alternative to your morning coffee. Chicory root contains inulin fiber and vitamin B6. It aids digestion, improve bowel movement, and promote healthy gut bacteria.
- Dandelion root coffee: Another caffeine free, coffee alternative. Dandelion root is high in antioxidant, it aids digestion, and promote bowel movements.
Menu during 12 days of Candida Cleanse:
Phase 1
|
| Day 1 (Start of Phase 1) |
| Breakfast | Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Tortillas filled with tofu scrambled with peppers, onion, turmeric and garlic and topped with spring mix and tomato hummus |
| Snacks | Pau d’Arco tea, snap peas, chicory root coffee, Rooibos tea |
| Lunch | Vegan falafel (recipe from Yoga Plate), leftover scrambled tofu with salsa, Cucumber, tomato, and avocado salad |
| Dinner | Quinoa, roasted broccoli and Brussel sprouts, Kale salad (recipe from Yoga Plate), leftover falafel, Hummus |
|
| Day 2 |
| Breakfast | Overnight oats made with chia seed, ground flaxseed, vegan vanilla protein powder and almond milk |
| Snacks | Pau d’Arco tea, mint tea |
| Lunch | Quinoa, leftover Kale salad, leftover falafel, roasted Brussel sprouts |
| Dinner | Lentil soup (recipe from Yoga Plate), quinoa, and kale salad |
|
| Day 3 |
| Breakfast | Rooibos tea with almond milk |
| Snacks | Pau d’Arco tea, chicory root coffee, Edamame beans, snap peas |
| Lunch | Leftover quinoa, roasted Brussel sprouts, scrambled tofu, and avocado slices with everything bagel seasoning |
| Dinner | Vegan chili (recipe from Yoga Plate) with handful of tortilla chips with salsa |
|
| Day 4 |
| Breakfast | Crisp bread with almond butter |
| Snacks | Pau d’Arco tea, chicory root coffee, Rooibos tea, mixed nuts |
| Lunch | Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Tortillas filled with tofu scramble, Romaine lettuce, tomato cucumber, avocado slices, tomato hummus, and everything bagel seasoning |
| Dinner | Same as lunch with fresh vegetables as sides(cherry tomato, red bell pepper, snow snap peas and hummus) |
|
| Day 5 (End of Phase 1) |
| Breakfast | Oatmeal made with almond milk and water. Sweetened with stevia, vegan protein powder and cinnamon |
| Snacks | Crisp bread, mixed nuts, Rooibos tea |
| Lunch | Lots of fresh vegetables (celery stick, cucumber slices, cherry tomato, snow snaps peas) with guacamole and hummus |
| Dinner | Vegan creamy tomato basil pasta (recipe from Oh She Glow: 100% whole wheat pasta - you can use lentil pasta if you’d like to stay away from grains all together during the cleanse) |
Phase 2
|
| Day 6 (Beginning of Phase 2) |
| Breakfast | Crisp bread with almond butter |
| Snacks | Chicory coffee, crisp bread, Rooibos tea |
| Lunch | Our perfect veggie burger (from Oh She Glow), tofu and bean scramble with peppers, spinach, onion, chili powder, and other seasoning. |
| Dinner | Salad made with Romaine lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, spinach, and kale. Dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. Leftover veggie bean burger patty. Whole wheat corn tortillas filled with leftover tofu scramble with avocado slices and everything bagel seasoning |
|
| Day 7 |
| Breakfast | Pau d’Arco tea with almond milk |
| Snacks | Chicory coffee, crisp bread |
| Lunch | Leftover tofu and bean scramble and tomato basil pasta |
| Dinner | Quinoa, roasted cabbage and cauliflower, Stir fried green beans with hummus |
|
| Day 8 |
| Breakfast | TOfu scramble with spinach. Seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. |
| Snacks | Chicory coffe, crisp bread |
| Lunch | White bean soup (recipe from Yoga Plate) |
| Dinner | Leftover White bean soup |
|
| Day 9 |
| Breakfast | Brown rice, seaweed paper, roasted cabbage and cauliflower, stir fried green beans |
| Snacks | Rooibos tea, Dandelion root coffee |
| Lunch | Leftover white bean soup |
| Dinner | Channa masala (recipe from Oh She Glow), quinoa, and roasted vegetable |
|
| Day 10 |
| Breakfast | Rooibos tea with almond milk |
| Snacks | Chicory root coffee, mixed nuts |
| Lunch | Vegan green sushi rolls (rice was not seasoned) - brown rice mixed with quinoa, cucumber, avocado and seaweed. Dipped in coconut amino and wasabi paste mixture |
| Dinner | Same as lunch |
|
| Day 11 |
| Breakfast | Tofu scramble with spinach and green onion, seasoned with salt and pepper. Wrapped with whole wheat corn tortilla. |
| Snacks | Chicory root coffee, dandelion root coffee |
| Lunch | Crispy bread with almond butter |
| Dinner | Whole wheat corn tortilla, refried bean (recipe from Cookie and Kate), Romaine lettuce, tomato, and guacamole |
|
| Day 12 (End of Phase 2) |
| Breakfast | Sautéed cauliflower gnocchi (from Trader Joe's) |
| Snacks | Chicory root coffee, mixed nut, lemon balm tea |
| Lunch | Leftover taco from last night’s dinner |
| Dinner | Cream of tomato soup (recipe from Oh She Glow) with bread! (My cleanse was officially done after lunch so I treated myself with some bread!) |
How I felt each day of the cleanse:
Day 1: I did not have headache. I am feeling extremely tired and had to take a nap. I’m craving chocolate and candies. Foods that I’m eating for the cleanse does not taste good. I’m hungry because the food I’m eating is not satisfying. I had 2 bowel movements.
Day 2: I had a mild headache in the evening. I’m still feeling tired and have craving for junk food. I had 3 bowel movements.
Day 3: I’m feeling less tired than yesterday. Junk food craving is better. I had 2 bowel movements.
Day 4: I’m feeling not as tired as yesterday. The food craving is gone. The food started to taste better. I had 4 bowel movements.
Day 5: I am no longer feeling tired. I had 2 bowel movements.
Day 6: I felt energetic and clear headed throughout day. I had 2 bowel movements.
Day 7: I’m feeling tired only because I didn’t sleep well last night. I had 2 bowel movements.
Day 8: I had only 1 bowel movement. I’m feeling less tired today. I had a good night sleep.
Day 9: The food craving is back but I’m craving fruits and shellfish (Since I’ve became vegetarian, I have shellfish/seafood craving time to time). I had 2 bowel movements.
Day 10: Shellfish craving is gone but I do miss fruits. I had 2 bowel movements. Other than the fruit craving, I’m feeling great.
Day 11: Food craving is gone. The foods taste great. I had 2 bowel movements.
Day 12: I'm feeling great overall (clear headed and energetic). I'm very excited to eat fruits!!! I had 2 bowel movements.
Conclusion
Candida cleanse is not an easy cleanse. It takes lots of effort and preparation to complete. However, the benefit out weigh the difficulties of the cleanse. This cleanse helped me get rid of yeast infections that I suffered from frequently, it drastically helped relieve my depression and anxiety, and it improved my digestion and bowel movement. It was not my intention to lose weight but the cleanse made me lose weight as well. Towards the end of the cleanse, I started to feel light, energetic, and clear headed. I was able to really enjoy the natural flavor of many vegetables. Instead of craving a piece of candy, I was craving a piece of fruit. The cleanse really helped me curve junk food cravings.
Although there are not enough clinical studies to prove the effectiveness of the cleanse yet, I highly recommend this cleanse to anyone who is looking to flush out the junk in your body, curve bad food craving and reset your body. It was a difficult cleanse but I'm glad I started my 2020 with a clean, healthy body! Hope this post encourages you to embark on this journey and reap the wonderful benefits that I've experienced!
Happy living, my friends!
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