Helpful Hints

For those of you who don't know, which I'm sure is most people, I am on a strict diet known as the anti-candida diet.

Just as a slight overview this diet means going sugar, wheat, gluten, and yeast free (for more information visit this website.) That includes a lot of foods and the diet can seem pretty overwhelming. Trust me - I wanted to cry (and did many times) because finding foods and flavorful recipes isn't simple.

Here are a few simple tricks that I've learned over the past two and a half months.

1. Stevia. It will be your best friend. It's an herb used as a sweetener and it's safe - unlike Splenda which is better known as sucralose. In the research I've done on Splenda it does not seem completely safe to use. Anyway, Stevia will not effect Candida and can be used to sweeten almost anything: plain Greek yogurt, teas, shakes, etc. My one piece of advice with Stevia is not to put too much. If you're using it as a sugar substitute make sure the recipe is good. Too much stevia = bitter. It will leave a weird after taste, so if you plan on adding a lot of stevia to something, taste whatever you are making along the way.

2. Cinnamon. Obviously natural herbs and spices are allowed on this diet. Personally, I'm a cinnamon lover, but still adding this sometimes saves my foods. The two biggest things I add my cinnamon to are 1) plain greek yogurt with a packet of stevia and 2) my spinach smoothies. I'm still working on perfecting my smoothie because, truth be told, it is not the most flavorful. But when I find that a smoothie I've made is too bland I put some cinnamon in and it makes it more edible.

3. Tamari. This is pretty much wheat and gluten free soy sauce. I was raised in Asia and without my white rice and soy sauce I'm feeling pretty deprived. I can't tell any difference between Tamari and soy sauce, and this can be used as a substitute in recipes.

4. Xylitol. It's a sweetener, similar to stevia but has some special characteristics. It's better used in baking (we made my birthday cake with it, and it turned out wonderfully). The best thing about xylitol is how good it is for you - and it actually helps kill candida (not to mention if you have it in your gum it's great for your teeth.) The down side of xylitol is that you have to use it in moderation. Thankfully the people at the health store warned us before we cooked anything with it, but if you eat too much it will turn you inside out. I don't know how to say that in a more polite way. It will taste a lot like sugar and you'll want a lot but limiting yourself is important. The example we first heard - the lady at the health food store made a peach pie using xylitol. Her husband thought it was so delicious that he ended up eating half the pie. He spent the rest of the night in the bathroom. However, you will become more tolerant of xylitol so be patient and maybe in time you can eat half the pie.

5. Almond milk. Granted you have to take it unsweetened which may be a little funny at first. I'm not a huge fan of soy milk - especially when it's unsweetened - so this has helped me a lot. My mom and I are planning on experimenting with making our own almond milk. I'll keep you updated on that.

Food Blogs. It took a little searching and pinteresting, but after many hours and discussions with my sister-in-law (and personal trainer) we have found a couple of websites that are life savers.

• Supercharged Food - a recipe site about eating wheat, gluten, yeast, sugar, and dairy free. She has worked hard to find good recipes, and if you go to the original website instead of the recipes section she has many other helpful ideas. Her other site (here) might be easier to navigate for some of you. 
• DAMY Health - another great site, although for the candida diet it takes a bit of navigating. She has a lot of healthy snacks and options. This is more helpful for those just wanting to be healthy and not following the candida diet because she uses a lot of fruits. 
• Oh She Glows - another great website, but some no-no's are included so just be aware you can't use every recipe. Raw and vegan recipes are a great place to start though. 

Okay now the most important thing right? Dessert. Yes dieting sucks, especially when your doctor tells you that you have to do it. So we crave sugar, sweets, and desserts more than ever once we can't have them. Well here are some solutions:

• Chocolate Covered Katie - the healthy dessert goddess and her blogs. There are still some recipes that are not allowed (bummer, I know) but if you look under the special diet recipes section you will find she has separated things by gluten-free, soy-free, sugar-free, high protein, or raw recipes. All of her recipes are egg and dairy free. She's very allergy conscious and she's a definite life saver. 
• Diet, Dessert, and Dogs - a sugar/gluten free, allergy friendly, anti-candida site with more great recipes.

There are two books I've become familiar with that have been quite helpful as well. 

1) The Body Ecology Diet. She recommends a lot of her own products, so unless you want to purchase all of them, pay no attention. However, she knows a lot and has important ideas for anyone wanting to live a healthy lifestyle to understand. 

2) Eat Free by Rhiannon Lawrence. She has great recipes. It was about $5 on my Kindle app on the iPhone. Beware - she suggests agave quite a bit. I've done my own research on agave and have decided against it (as has my physician) but you may do your own and decide if agave is okay for you or not.

Now I'm sure there are more resources and helpful hints out there so if you have some to share with your fellow healthaholics, please be generous.