Stevia and Candida Albicans
Candida Albicans, a diploid fungus (a form of yeast) is the
causal agent of opportunistic infections in humans, the most
common being oral and vaginal infections. But, I would like to
add that not only women suffer from Candida but also men in a
variety of forms.
Among the many organisms that live in the human mouth and
digestive tract is the yeast Candida Albicans, which under
normal circumstances lives in 80 percent of the human population
with no harmful effects generally, although overgrowth results
in Candidiasis. Candidiasis. Candidiasis is commonly known as
"thrush", and is a common condition that is usually easily cured
in most people.
Health symptoms and complications of Candida may include:
bladder infections, energy loss, puffy eyes, fatigue, food
cravings, hay fever, heartburn, hyperactivity, inflammation,
itching, insomnia, migraine, mouth infections, rashes, sore
throat, thrush and thyroid problems.
As well as anti-fungal drugs and eliminating antibiotics, diet
is an important part of most Candida treatment programs. The
purpose of a Candida reduction diet is to eliminate sugary
starchy foods that "feed" the yeast infestation, by sticking
with a restricted foods list. Once you get on the anti-candida
diet you can expect to see an improvement within 2-4 weeks. Once
you have the Candida under control then you can slowly start
adding restricted foods back into your diet.
Here are a few tips for sticking with a Candida reducing diet.
Try to eliminate your carbohydrate intake. Sugars are what feeds
Candida. So it is important to minimize or eliminate
carbohydrate intake for a while.
Reduce food that contain yeast. Foods that contain yeast should
be completely eliminated. These are foods like, bread, beer,
wine, cheese.
Eliminate dairy from your diet. Dairy foods should be removed
from the diet because Candida can reduce the body's ability to
digest fats which can result in a build up of fatty acids in
your system. You don't want that.
Stay away from mushrooms, Brie and moldy or mold-containing
foods. This will exacerbate your Candida.
Stop eating processed and packaged foods if you haven't already.
These foods and drinks are loaded with sugar, high glycemic
carbohydrates, yeast or other ingredients that will feed the
Candida.
The biggest thing to remove is sugar. Remove it from your diet
completely. Sugar feeds yeast like nothing else. Start reading
food labels and if you see anything that ends in "ose" such as
maltose, dextrose, sucrose or even maltodextrin stay away from
it. Basically anything that tastes sweet with the exception of
stevia, don't eat it.
Using pure Stevioside - white stevia powder, a natural plant
extract that is around 200 - 300 times sweeter than sugar can
satisfy you craving for sweets. You can add stevia to hot or
cold beverages as well as using it for cooking and baking.
Here are a few tips when using stevia.
When baking with pure stevia powder mix 1/8 of a teaspoon with 1
cup of unsweetened apple sauce. Because stevia is 250 times
sweeter than sugar you lose a lot of volume from replacing the
sugar.
When recipes ask for brown sugar you can use an equal amount of
Steviva Brand Stevia Blend with 2 tablespoons of molasses added.
If you are not using the blend and need a brown sugar substitute
then you can use 1 cup of unsweetened apple sauce 1/8 of a
teaspoon of Steviva Brand Stevia Powder and 2 tablespoons of
molasses.
I would like to add that aside from eliminating sugar, grains,
fruits and high glycemic carbohydrate you should drink at least
4 quarts of clean filtered water. Drinking copious amounts of
water. flushes the Candida out of your system as well as aiding
in stabilizing blood sugar level. Instead of soft drinks or
powdered drink mixes that are loaded with chemicals and sugar, I
suggest is adding the juice of half a lemon to 32 ounces of
water with a sprinkle of Steviva Brand Stevia Powder. Aside from
being less than 2 carbs, you will get the health benefits that
the stevia provides along with the vitamin C and electrolytes
that lemon have. You can substitute limes for lemons if you get
bored and break the routine even more by adding a little
unsweetened cranberry juice.