Q:
I have recently lost 15 pounds due to candida, hypoglycemia, adrenal fatigue Every time I eat ANY sugar I get completely exhausted within minutes and it feels like my blood  sugar plummets. I have been eating brown rice and chicken okay however. Has anyone here had this ultra quick reaction to sugar which is very scary?

I did not lose the weight on purpose though I need to lose about 50 pounds. I have had panic attacks waking me from my sleep and I think my adrenal glands are shot. I actually licked a sucker only about 4 times and within minutes felt like I was going to pass out. I have no idea what to eat except for meat and some complex carbs. This is scary for me indeed.

A:
I used to have terrible panic attacks and anxiety. About a year and a half ago I read this book called The Mood Cure by Julia Ross. It is about how to get rid of anxiety, depression and panic attacks using natural methods. It totally changed my life, and the concepts go well with this plan. Since I completely gave up sugar 3 months ago, I have had zero anxiety and no panic attacks at all which is shocking because I have suffered with this for 20 years. Up until I gave up sugar 3 months ago, I have had some level of anxiety every single day, even when on vacation and even when things were going really great.

Meat and vegetables and healthy fats are probably best for you now.
You should also get some Virgin Coconut oil and take at least a teaspoon with each meal. It keeps your blood sugar stable which helps prevent anxiety and panic. Fish oil is really good too. I take Carlson’s liquid. I like it because it is completely flavorless and because it is a liquid it is easy to take a high dose without taking a million pills.

If you feel like you must have sugar, get some Stevia. It has no carbs or calories and does not elevate your blood sugar whatsoever.
The brand I use is Stevia Canada and has no bitter aftertaste like most of them in the US.

Q:
I want to do a meat fast over the weekend. I really want this monthto be a big weight loss month and I want to get off to the right start.
What exactly do I do?

A:
The nice thing about meat fasting is that you don’t usually have any rebound weight gain, like with a regular fast. The bad thing about it is that it can give you some very serious candida die-off. I don’t recommend you do it unless you’ve been on MOVES at least 2-4 weeks.

I just want to make sure you are aware that you may experience nausea, headache or worse from the die-off toxins. You will probably also experience loss of appetite, but you should force yourself to eat all of your food.

To do a meat fast, start with calculating your calories. Multiply your current weight by 10 minimum to 12 max. So for example if you weigh 200, your calories would be 2000-2400, which ever will make you full.

Next get your protein gram calculation by dividing your weight in half. So if you weigh 250, protein grams would be 125. Increase by 10-20 grams if you lift weights or are pretty active. This is not a super scientific way of doing the calculation, but the way that I know that is more accurate involves knowing your body fat percentage and lean body mass, which I’m not sure if you know or not.

OK, now pick a meat you are going to eat, and it’s best if it’s fatty. Say ground beef or chuck roast.
Then add the amount into fitday until you hit your protein grams. If you need more calories still, add fat into protein until you hit your calorie benchmark.

Coconut oil is your best bet for additional calories as it boosts the immune system and metabolism as well.
Then just cook up your meat and oil, and eat only that as long as you can stand it.

I wanted to talk a bit about food and values, and doing a cost benefit analysis. Many people can see that the diet we recommend makes sense scientifically, but struggle actually following it. I know I sure did for a long time. I wanted to talk a bit about the shifts that I had in being able to eat this way consistently.

The diet information is pretty irrelevant if you don’t follow it because of personal challenges. Most people have several personal challenges, like food addiction, cravings, emotional eating, boredom with food, too much value on food, the wrong technical information and more.

Each person has to work on those challenges, and even “tweaking” the diet we recommend for themselves, and therein lies the challenge. I had mentors to guide me, and looked to others who were successful to see what behaviors to mimic.

I read lots of books, shared on newsgroups, did a lot of self-reflection. Simply put, there is no magic answer, it’s just a lot of hard work and some creative solutions. I had to figure out how to change my values with food, to change my attitude, to put my food as a priority, to really face how if I fell off the wagon, how hard it would be to get back on and
more.

I had to realize that there was no “end” where I would be able to eat pizza and ice cream and maintain my weight and health. I had to accept that I have to eat the way I do for life. The physical and emotional go hand and hand.

If you avoid the “alcoholic foods” (the ones that just make you want more and more) completely, then you are really able to have a physical peace with food. The diet we recommend will likely give you that peace.

Then there is the emotional and behavioral aspect of it. I find that if I deviate, I get cravings big time, and I really get set back, and I lose the peace I normally have. To avoid that, I have to always have my food cooked and ready to go, so I always have something appropriate to eat.

Many people hate this aspect, having to plan things out. But when you really get that just a little preparation makes everything easier, and puts your mind at ease about being able to stay eating the way you know works for you, it really helps.

Then there are lots of situations where it is really tempting to give yourself excuses to eat off plan, like parties, holidays, birthdays, etc. I look at this like I am an alcoholic with certain foods. Just like an alcoholic, I abstain from certain foods completely.

Just like a recovered alcoholic, there are no breaks, no holidays, no excuses. I have not cheated on my diet in almost 3 years. Not even a taste or a bite or a lick. Because I know, and have FULLY accepted that I can never have just a bite.

Just a bite will always lead to a binge, I’ve proved that over and over to myself. Just like an alcoholic can’t have just a drink. But many people will set themselves up over and over again with this scenario.

Oh I’m just going to have a little chocolate. Oops, I ate the whole bag. Well I am so ashamed of myself.
But you know it’s only XX number of rewards points, or I’ll exercise more next week, or I didn’t gain weight, or I don’t feel that bad, or it was my birthday, or <insert other reasoning here>.

Then the same thing happens over and over again..
lather, rinse, repeat.

I know, because I did this dance myself for a long time. Until my mentor really showed me, got me to take a good long hard ugly look at my self destructive pattern, and showed me how beautiful it was to stop that dance.

How I could make consistent good choices, see consistent good results, and get off the emotional roller coaster with food for good. I can still remember my own dance with those foods. Oh I’m just going to have one piece of chocolate.

It’s low carb, it’s not that bad. I am PMSing, and I really need chocolate. Chocolate is not that bad for me. Oops, I ate the whole box. Well, I’ll just do better next week, can’t beat myself up over this.

So yes, I have never been perfect, will never be perfect, and have danced the dance with food. I’m just done being in denial over my issues with food. I’m done expecting it to make me feel better when it never does.

I’m done trying to have a party in my mouth because I’m bored because I’m too fat and sick to have a real life. I’m done feeling guilty because I ate too much or I made bad choices with my food.

So what does it take to have lasting success with this IMO?
The right candida diet that is going to take away your cravings and your health issues and give you good results.

Combined with being *done* with your expectations and values with food, and having consistent behavior with food that is devoid of backslides the vast majority of the time.

When you realize and understand and accept that chocolate (or other unhealthy food) is only going to be enjoyable for a few minutes, but that the emotional and physical impact of that choice (guilt, weight gain, getting sicker etc.) are going to last days, weeks, or longer, then making good choices consistently is going to be a lot easier.

Food is for fuel, to make your body healthy. Not for entertainment, soothing, socializing, etc. It does not do the things we want it to do, as much as we wish it did. Do your own cost benefit analysis of food and you’ll probably see what I’m trying to say.

Q: Don’t we need to have antioxidants to improve the immune system? I feel like all I am hearing in the candida diet section is saturated fat, saturated fat, saturated fat. What about antioxidants? If we are not eating fruit or berries and we are not supposed to eat a lot of vegetables, how are we supposed to get enough? I thought these were supposed to be great for the immune system? I understand that the fats in omega 3 fish and olive oil are healthy, but I am just finding it hard to believe that the fat in butter and red meat can actually be healthy. I am sure it is, but it is just so hard to believe. Also, there was this naturopathic doctor who was really big on coconut oil and he died suddenly of a stroke at a young age. I just have to wonder whether or not it was from all the coconut oil. How can I be absolutely sure that all of this saturated fat is really good for me. I would really hate to go on believing this and then drop dead in a few months of a heart attack.

A:
Antioxidants are CRUCIAL to the immune system. Vitamins C and E really help to keep us (or get us) healthy. Saturated fats play a huge role too though. You can’t have one without the other.

And lets define “a lot” here when we’re talking about veggies. There were times when I’d eat several pounds of veggies a day because I thought I needed all that to be “healthy”. My antioxidant nutrient values were quite high when I did this, but like I said, I could easily eat 3lbs of veggies in one day, and that only added up to about 70-80 carbs.

If you choose nutrient-dense veggies and you supplement well, you’re getting superior nutrition and not just adequate nutrition. How many of us ate that many veggies and fruits in a day before we tried to be healthy? Most of us didn’t. Most of us had a diet based on grain/legumes/unhealthy fats with the occasional pieces of fruit and servings of veggies thrown in for color. So even eating “not a lot of veggies” on MOVES still has a lot of us better off than we were when we were much sicker.

And with respect to fruit, we do allow some “fruits” like tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, and cucumbers. And of course there’s lemon and lime for those who can tolerate it. While some foods are higher in certain enzymes than others, you can have a perfectly varied and nutrient-dense diet if you limit your foods to the ones we recommend.

It IS hard to believe that fat consumption is necessary, because we’ve been conditioned by this whole “low-fat” thing that started in the late 70s. Did you know that the incidence of heart disease has gone up significantly as we’ve reduced our fat intake?

Bruce Fife, N.D. is considered one of the most prominant experts on saturated fats and coconut oil, and I haven’t found anything saying that he died. And remember that a lot of things can cause a stroke that have NOTHING to do with how you eat (even if someone DID eat coconut oil and then died from a stroke.) This sounds like some kind of urband legend to me — the same kind that was stirred up when Dr. Atkins died. (He fell on ice, hit his head, and ended up dying 10 or 11 days later, but the people who wanted to discredit him said he died of a heart attack and he was
“obese”. He wasn’t even overweight when he went into the hospital after his fall, but he gained something like 50lbs from fluid in those 11 days of his coma before he died.)

My results speak for themselves. My cholesterol looks great, my blood pressure is perfect, and I’m losing weight. Best of all, my Candida symptoms are improving every day. No doctor in their right might would argue with the results (even if they can’t wrap their minds around HOW I got them.)

I’ve done enough research over the past 10 years and I’m quite confident in the way I eat. It’s hard to sort out the brilliance from the BS sometimes though, and I understand. The initial leap of faith was tough, but when I started digging and finding information that appealed to my scientific nature, the information was impossible to ignore. It’s a
learning process though. I learn EVERY day.

There are a lot of things that are great for the immune system. Things like lauric acid, found in coconut oil, and garlic, are also great for the immune system. Antioxidants are also found in meats.

I have read in the ‘Harvard Health Letter,’ Vol 32, #11, Sept 2007 the following (brief):

There are four varieties of saturated fat in our diet:
lauric acid
myristic acid
palmitic acid
stearic acid

Their effect on LDL cholesterol levels varies, so among the saturated fats, there are degrees of bad. Stearic acid seems to be the least bad because it’s rather quickly converted into a healthful monosaturated fat & doesn’t increase LDL levels very much, if at all. THAT’S GOOD NEWS FOR STEAK LOVERS: Half of the saturated fat in beef is stearic acid.

There’s a great chart in the newsletter showing the specific types & percentages of fat in common oils & fats: saturated, trans, monosaturated, & polyunsaturated fats.

From the looks of the chart, coconut oil doesn’t appear to be a good option over other oils like canola, olive, safflower, & sunflower oil.

Here’s an interesting twist:
The tropical oils in small amounts are okay, & they’re certainly an improvement over trans fat. Americans were scared away from them because of their saturated fat content. But REMARKABLY, COCONUT Oil & OLIVE OIL HAVE SIMILAR EFFECTS ON THE RATIO OF LDL TO HDL.

(This isn’t so bad either–When it comes to chicken, go ahead & leave the skin on. Because of the polyunsaturated fat content, says Dr. Willett, ‘a little bit of chicken fat isn’t such a bad thing.’ Besides, he says, ‘cooking chicken with the skin on makes it taste a lot better.’

I have water pitchers (that go with my water distiller, but I bought extra pitchers) that specifically said “non- eaching” and indicated they are safe for purified water. I trust that it’s true because I got a quality product from a quality company. But I had wondered what is the difference between safe plastics and unsafe plastics? I had a hard time explaining to anyone who asked about my water pitchers.

After some research I have found the following info:

According to Dr. Mercola’s website, the following plastics are safe for food and beverage storage because they don’t leach harmful chemicals:
High-density polyethylene “#2 HDPE”
Low-density polyethylene “#4 LDPE”
Polypropylene “#5 PP”

Q: everytime i try to do the candida diet cold turkey my blood sugar crashes – i feel light headed, dizzy, shaky and i have to eat and eat and eat. is this normal? will it go away?

A: If you’ve never had experience with even a less-restrictive low-carb diet, changing cold turkey probably isn’t the best idea. I can say though that when you do that and experience those symptoms, I’m betting it’s not actually blood sugar related even though it feels like it is. (I’ve had those symptoms myself at times, and I’ve checked my blood sugar, and it’s fine.)

When you’re first starting out on a plan where carbs are significantly restricted, it’s crucial that you pack in as much fat as you can! As soon as your glycogen stores run out, your body’s got to learn to derive energy from fat and protein, and there’s a transition there that’s not always pleasant. You can make it go a little smoother though by cramming in the fat!

I agree with most who advocate making slower dietary changes (in most cases), but there’s something to consider. High fat in the presence of high carbohydrate is NOT healthy, so you don’t want to get stuck in that situation for too awfully long.

It’s tough, but actually, I HAVE to do things the cold turkey way or I never make the switch. And you only feel real yucky like that for a couple days (if you choose to do it that way.)

There have been instances of having illnesses come up for me while I was in the vicinity of another sick person. This has happened enough for me to think that we are not just individually sick, that somehow we might be interlinked.
One instance in particular that is of concern for me is when I ‘contracted’ a version of herpes from sex with a person who had a cold sore. This couldn’t have been a co-incidence. I have only had one other very mild re-occurance since the first time, and it has been over 10 years since that, so I am inclined to believe that I am free from it. Except that traditional doctors believe that even without an outbreak I still ‘carry’ the herpes virus.
Also, what about giardia while travelling abroad? Isn’t it strange to have this happen when travelling in a country where giardia is prevalent, is this just the body creating again, just a co-incidence?
I guess I might say that I sit in between the germ theory and the no germ theory, as neither seem to line up with my experience.
But, all that aside I am delighted to know that when retracing we aren’t ‘contagious’ or something like contagious. This is wonderful.

There is a claim that no viruses, bacteria or germs are contagious, since they are all created within each person’s body, just like candida is, in order to clean up the body and/or to minimize damage caused by toxins, etc. Therefore, an immune depressed person’s own body creates them, and they do not “catch” them from any outside sources.
If “the germ theory of disease” were at all true we’d all have all of the bugs all of the time since they are “supposedly” everywhere, so life on Earth couldn’t have existed. Immune depressed individuals wouldn’t have only one bug either, they’d have all the bugs in their environment. 

I’m learning that you “retrace” the symptoms, aches and pains but do not actually have any bugs. For example: Members of some group have gotten tested for pneumonia, bladder infection, etc. when they were “retracing” them, but their tests results are negative for any kind of bug.

Q: if candida overgrows as a result of an improperly functioning immune system, what casued the problem with the immune system in the 1st place? does this mean that we have to stay on a candida problem forever as our immune system isn’t functioning properly?

A: Things that compromise your immune system include drugs (over-the-counter and prescription), chemical exposure (everything from cleaning products to treated fabrics to hygeine products), vaccines, and physical and emotional stress. Poor nutrition plays a huge part too. When we’re not getting all the right nutrients (and we’re eating lots of sugar and refined carbohydrate), we cause our bodies serious issues.

No, you don’t have to follow the strict candida protocol forever, but if you want to keep your immune system functioning in an optimal fashion, it’s important that you eat well, supplement well, get adequate rest, water, and exercise, refrain (as much as possible) from using drugs, and limit your chemical exposure as much as possible. Once you’ve built a strong immune system, it’ll just be a matter of maintenance, and you’ll know when your immune system isn’t functioning at its best. Then you may have to restrict your diet again and take more drastic steps to support healing.

Q: With Baking Powder the ingredients are Disodium Diphosphate, Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate, Calcium Sulphate.
I’m not too knowledgable about what is ‘non-aluminum’. But are these ingredient ok to use?

A: I think it is important, which ever brand you use, to make sure they don’t use aluminum in any way, shape, or form. However, I would call the company.
It should say “aluminum free” on the package. That is your safest best bet – ensure you buy aluminum-free.