Ever since I started on the gluten-free diet, that’s when I realize how heavily my diet (in fact, most Americans’s diet) has relied on carbohydrates. I soon realize I have nothing to eat for snack except fruits and vegetables, cheese sticks, nuts and seeds, gluten-free cookies (loaded with sugar).

Anyway, my point is our diet is loaded with carbohydrates, which eventually turn to sugar, that feeds not just our brain, but some unwelcome guest in our intestine – yeast or candida. And we wonder why we’re always dealing with chronic illnesses and symptoms like allergies, chronic inflammation, joint problems, mood disorders, digestive symptoms and more.

Good news is that a strict elimination diet that avoids all simple carbohydrate may help to treat candida overgrowth. There are many different diets and strategies to accomplish this candida elimination mission.

They all serve the same purpose via a slightly different approach. Diets like body ecology diet, specific carbohydrate diet and FODMAP diets, all do the same thing with their own littler tweak. These are very restrictive diets and are usually meant for short duration just to clear the body of the offending yeast.

These yeast elimination diet is an endeavor of and by itself. Eating no sugar and carbohydrates for days or up to weeks are unimaginable to many of us. Many people quit in the middle of the diet because of the restriction foods choices. But even more people quit these diets because of the “side effects”.

That’s right. Isn’t it funny that diets have “side effects”?

Actually, these are good “side effects”, unlike those from drugs or pharmaceuticals. These “side effects” usually mean the diet therapy is working. Many people do not understand these “side effects” and automatically think that they’re not tolerating the diet, and consequently, change and quit.

What they’re experiencing is actually called “Herxheimer reaction” or simply, candida die off symptoms or toxic die off symptoms.

When your candida elimination treatment is working, candida or yeast starts dying due to lack of food (carbohydrate restriction), increasing population of other organism in the intestine through probiotics supplementation, and antifungal medication or herbs that kill yeast.

When this happens, yeast is killed rapidly while releasing loads of metabolic toxic byproducts, which include ethanol (alcohol) and acetaldehyde (toxic byproduct after breaking down alcohol).

It’s like cleaning house, it has to get messy first, then the clean and fresh will come.

At this point, many may complain of:

Nausea
Headache, fatigue, dizziness
Swollen glands
Bloating, gas, constipation or diarrhea
Increased joint or muscle pain
Fast heart rate
Chills, or cold feeling in extremities
Skin itchiness, hives or rashes o breakouts
Sweating
Fever
Recurring vaginal, prostate and sinus infections

Relieving Candida Die off Symptoms

Candida Die-Off symptoms vary from person to person. These symptoms usually clear up within a week or so without intervention, but could last a little longer. There are a few strategies that can help minimize the symptoms by slowing the release of toxins and/or speeding up the detoxification system.

Try Molybdenum or Milk Thistle. The liver is your main pathway for eliminating toxins, which means your liver is overwhelmed during the toxic die-off. Molybdenum converts the neurotoxin acetaldehyde into acetic acid, which is a harmless substance. Silymarin in the milk thistle supports the detoxification process in the liver.

Temporarily reducing or discontinuing antifungal supplements.
Reducing your antifungal dosage will slow the release of toxins into your system. When you feel better, you can start to increase it again.

Increase water intake to flush out the toxins faster.
If you want to feel better, all those byproducts that are released by the Candida yeast need to leave your body. You can give them a push by drinking more water.

Relax and rest a lot.
Relaxing, meditating and taking some personal time will help your immune system functions better and staffs off infection.

Try saunas, massage or contrast showers.
These help to increase circulation and stimulate the lymphatic system, which help you to excrete the toxins released from the dying yeast bodies.

Take 1000 mg of Vitamin C x4 times daily.
This multi-purpose vitamin boosts your adrenals and immune system to health.

Take two activated charcoal capsules every four to six hours during the day.

Take a soluble fiber supplement that contains guar gum, alginates, psyllium, or pectin before bed. These fibers bind to yeast toxins and are helpful in reducing the “die off” symptoms.