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Login Here Signup Here Signup using Facebooki've never seen so many threads about candida as i have on this site, even on SAD sites. does anyone wonder why? i would just like to offer a little advice to everyone, and this comes from experience.
for those that have been successfully brainwashed to think that fruit sugar is bad for you please do some research! i too, was one that had been brainwashed to think that fruit sugar is unhealthy. i read it in a few books so i thought i had become the expert. i look back and want to cry. i was depriving my body of what it wanted and needed so badly.
it all started with a little book called the ph miracle. the author was a microbiologist. i thought he's a scientist, he can't be wrong, so i started the ph diet. i reluctantly cut out most fruits and upped my veggie and grain intake. i was eating vegan and mostly raw except for the grains. after about a month i started to look gaunt. it is nearly impossible to get enough calories from vegetables. i knew this diet wasn't working. i turned to this site and read threads about the raw diet and decided to jump right in. i was making mock recipes of everything, not knowing the whole time that these mock raw recipes were not any healthier than their sad counterparts. i was still brainwashed at this time, thinking that fruit sugar was unhealthy. i had developed quite a sweet tooth. it became my mission to make every dessert possible using stevia instead of sugar or fruit. i spent hundreds of dollars on worthless "superfoods" and supplements. i'm sorry to burst your bubble but superfoods and supplements are a marketing ploy. they do nothing for your health. supplements are made from inorganic vitamins and minerals. your body can't utilize these. your body can only assimilate organic vitamin and minerals from whole, uncooked fruits and veggies. inorganic vitamins and minerals make more of a mess for your body to clean up. so not only are you spending a lot of money on something that does not work, you are spending a lot of money on something that makes you unhealthier.
so, back to my story... like a lot of people on this site, i started having symptoms of a candida overgrowth. wait, if i was eating all raw and healthy why was i getting a candida overgrowth? i never had problems with candida even as a sad eater. it didn't make sense. i searched candida on this site and a whole lot of threads came up. i thought it was weird. if everyone on here is eating so healthy then why do so many of us struggle with candida?
i had seen some people talk about fruitarianism, low-fat raw veganism, and the 80/10/10 diet as the cure and had immediately written it off as wrong (because of the brainwashing). i decided to go with the body ecology diet instead. after about 2 months, my symptoms got severe. i was cranky, sick, tired, i had bad skin, a very uncomfortable yeast infection and i was craving sweets like never before. i started eating things that i hadn't ever wanted before like baked potatoes. my body was telling me something. i would walk by the produce section wishing i could have all the beautiful fruit.
why was i getting all these sweet cravings? and why are there so many dessert recipes on here? because everyone that is depriving their bodies of fruit sugar will turn to regular sugar or something that tastes sweet or complex carbs that turn into sugar to fulfill the bodies needs for sugar. everything that you eat is broken down into simple sugars called monosaccharides. we need this for fuel and for energy. our bodies are designed to eat fruit. that's why humans have such sweet tooth's. fruit and greens have everything we need. they get digested easily and they give us quick energy. ripe fruit comes in a predigested form and supplies us with the perfect amount of simple sugar, fiber, and water. the combination of fiber and water helps the sugar to be released slowly, so it does not cause any spike in blood sugar levels.
so after 2 months of the horrible body ecology diet that wasn't working i had enough. i decided to try the 80/10/10 diet. after 1 day on the diet my symptoms were better. after 2 days on the diet my symptoms were gone!! why? because i cut out fat! sugar is not the culprit of candida overgrowth, FAT is. when you eat a diet high in fat (most of the recipes on here are high-fat) you make it impossible for your body to absorb the sugar efficiently.
so what do i eat now? i eat pounds and pounds of yummy fruit and greens and i get every vitamin and mineral i need. i have amazing amounts of energy (i jump out of bed instead of pushing the snooze button and rolling out 10 minutes later) and i'm more fit than ever. i have zero body odor and my stools smell pleasant. i don't need to use toothpaste. i don't have bad breath. i don't have to spend any time preparing meals. i am the happiest and healthiest i have ever been. i have tried almost every diet there is and now i know which one really works. i know what it's like to have perfect health now and I just wanted to share this with everyone that is still on that journey.
here are some great resources:
your natural diet: alive and raw foods by t.c. fry and david klein
the 80/10/10 diet by doug graham
any book by herbert shelton-especially natural hygiene: man's pristine way of life
Comments
How long have you been raw Kelly?
i've been raw for a while, but it didn't matter because i wasn't doing it right and i became ill. no one should have any illness if they are following a correct diet. i've been doing a low-fat raw vegan diet of fruits and greens for the last 3 months almost and that's what's counts to me.
Wow. So you have been doing it "the best way" for you for 3 months, and you already have had some great results! Gives hope/inspiration to the rest of us (or me haha, since its only been about a month)
:) yeah i had results the first week and it continues to get better and better!
That's very interesting. It is true that I find a ton of dessert recipes on this site.
I remember trying out gourmet recipes from various raw food books but have always felt like they weren't very healthy. For instance, I came across a recipe that used 1/2 cup almond butter and 1 cup dates with tons of agave and coconut oil. It's true that if the body is craving something sweet, we should make the healthier choice and eat some fruit instead. I think it's odd how some raw foodists, like some raw food authors, make a raw dessert out of tons of butter and dates and call it 'healthy.'
Sheik~ You are correct, raw or not, sweet and fat are still sweet and fat...
Lobo~ For me, I have learned that after you spend many hours making wonderful raw recipes, you will evolve to a more simpler way of eating raw... But all through the journey, you will gain energy, insight and a feeling of great health and well being... Good luck on your raw journey!!!
When I started raw two years ago, I started taking stevia to replace the Equal. I started getting very very bad night sweats which I figured were from my age. No. It was from the stevia. When I quit that to reduce over all chemicals, the hot flashing went away. Bad chemicals!
I would choose stevia for certain things over agave or yacon.....so I'm surprised you had issues with stevia! Sorry to hear. :)
internettourist~ You might like to try the dried stevia plant that is free of chemicals or even grow your own like I do... If memory serves me correctly, you can purchase th dried from raw guru... I don't know your age but it may have been just a coincidence or residual from the Equal and other artificial sweeteners...
edit: The source for dried stevia is The Raw Food World... www.therawfoodworld.com