Operation: Kill the Yeasty Beasties

April 9, 2011 By Leanne Vogel July 19, 2015

A little over a month ago, I had just finished my allergy testing and was preparing for additional tests/shots with my Naturopath. In an attempt to begin ridding myself of low energy, control my blood sugar, decrease my fuzzy brain and get rid of my bad skin while I went through additional testing, I set the following goals:

• Reduce sugar. I switched my sugars to coconut sugar [low GI] and stevia [which I’m totally obsessed with now!]
• Increase fiber. I’ve been able to increase my fiber by ~35%
• Increase antioxidants. camu camu has been a nice addition to many of my smoothies.
• Control blood sugar. I have increased legumes, but haven’t been able to get to meditation.
• Remove all allergens. I only cheated once. I really wanted to try the juice Kevin brought back from the UK.
• Improve absorption. I switched over 1 supplement to powdered form but that’s it.
• Continue gluten free [even though tests showed I don’t have a sensitivity to gluten or celiac disease]

Well, the results are in and I’m happy to report that it’s definitely not as bad as I thought it was going to be! I always expect the worst. I need to work on that. The results I have a rare form of yeast [it’s called saccharomyces cerevisiae] that is killing off all of my healthy bacteria, causing sensitivities to food, blurring my brain, and causing issues with my hormones. aha! Caught you, you little bugger! Other than that, I’m in pretty good shape! Intestinal yeast is natural to our intestinal system. The problem starts when this natural bacteria begins to overgrow. When we ingest antibiotics, sugar, birth control pills, sleep aids, drugs and medications of any kind, we kill off the bacteria that keeps the intestinal yeast in check. In other words, when we ingest something not natural to the body, the good bacteria dies off and is suffocated. Then the yeast start to run rampant in the body. Great news is, that it’s easily fixed with a change to diet, a couple of additional supplements, and patience. The entire process from killing the yeast > reducing inflammation caused by the yeast > repopulating my gut with healthy bacteria will take about 6 months. If after 6 months I have reduced sensitivities, a clear head, and normal hormones, I’m in all the way baby, ya!! The plan I’m so happy that I started my cleanse when I did. Other than the fresh juices; which contain high amounts of sugar, many of the steps I’ve made have been in line with an anti-yeast [also called anti candida diet]. So, the changes I’ll have to make are quite minimal. Intestinal yeast feeds off sugars – fruits, high starch veggies, simple carbohydrates, and complex carbohydrates [in larger doses]. The foods you want to focus on when you’re on this type of diet is fats + proteins + non-starch veggies. So, the plan will be to:

• Live ‘sugar free’. Coconut/coconut sugar + stevia only.
• Reduce carbohydrates.
• Increase non-starch vegetables.
• Eliminate dried fruit. I’m giving myself 1 pass a week at first or I may die.
• Rely on almond and coconut flour. These are great alternatives for low carbohydrate intake.
• Decrease fruit.
• Fall even more in love with coconut. It has caprylic acid that’s good for killing of yeast!
• Supplements. Take caprylic acid in the morning on an empty stomach + potent probiotics before bed.

Daily portions will include:

• 2 servings of complex carbohydrates
  • quinoa, rice, millet, kamut, spelt, rye, oats [yes, these are glutenous grains! I’ll explain below]
• 2 servings of fruit
  • high fiber fruit like apples and berries are best
• unlimited protein
  • animal proteins are best, but I’ll also be having 1 serving of lentils/beans per day
• unlimited fats
  • hemp oil, flax oil, coconut oil, nuts, and seeds
• unlimited non-starch veggies
  • cucumber, zucchini, onion, greens, bok choy, celery, tomatoes, peppers, etc.

Ending the cleanse I was quite successful in completing all of my goals and managed to hold on for 14 days. Results: my digestion sped up, I added more fiber and vegetables into my day, I’m drinking more water than I ever have before, I’m getting better with my chewing but I’m not there yet. I ate like a queen on this cleanse. My favorites were: Black Bean and Ginger Pasta Fry Cinnamon Raisin Flatbread 4 Ingredient Itty Bitty Strawberry Coconut Tarts Hidden Gem “Butter” Cookies Coconut Curry + Miso Gravy Luscious Bowls Vegan Creamy Honey Dijon Salad + Omega Croutons 5 minute Apple Quinoa Flake Bake Peach Pancake Cobbler Overall, I’d say it was a success! Introducing gluten The allergy tests have said that I have 0 sensitivity to gluten, but that wheat is problematic for me. I have no doubt that my allergies will improve with the plan I’m on, but in the meantime my Naturopath has given me the green light on a couple of glutenous grains. Kamut, spelt, rye, oats. Eak! I’m super nervous. I haven’t had gluten in over 3.5 years minus the couple of weeks I ate gluten during my allergy testing… and that didn’t go over very well. I’m going to start with oats today and see how things go. Guess what I’m having for breakfast? Apple cinnamon Vegan Overnight Oats! I’ve dreamed of this day… I really have. Coming up later today: I’ll fill you in on how my first day of anti-yeast is going, what recipes I managed to come up with, and how the oats settled with me. If all goes well, I’ll try spelt in a couple of days. Journey to health is a series of posts dedicated to my trials and tribulations in optimizing my personal health. Missed my previous posts? Check out: Steps to health, Gratitude, Relaxation and Breathing, Know yourself to love yourself, Steps in the right direction, 6 years to find myself

This entry was tagged: cleansing, journey to health