Yeast Free Living

Archive for the ‘Book Review’ Category

One of my tragic flaws, at least one of the ones that I have been able to identify is what has become known in the psychological world of cognitive behavioral therapy as “All or Nothing” thinking.  This thinking is said to be why many of us cannot make one mistake on the candida diet or any other diet for that matter, without spiraling out of control.  We strive for perfection only, and when we don’t achieve it we abandon all of our efforts.  I know that for me one piece of candy quickly leads to another because I think to myself, “I have already cheated so what is the use of being good today”.  I always vow to start again tomorrow or Monday or in a week giving myself free reign to eat poorly until I reach whatever arbitrary time I have set for myself.  The candida diet itself often seems like and all or nothing undertaking.  Most books and other resources that I have consulted take an all or nothing approach that makes most of us believe that unless we cut out all foods and ingredients on the prohibited list we will be doomed to remain sick.  As I began to look into my distorted thinking a bit, I started to wonder if there would be any benefit in implementing the candida diet changes in a different way?  To my surprise I stumbled across a book that advocated and outlined a way to introduce yeast free lifestyle changes gradually in order to promote lasting dietary change. 

Feast Without Yeast: 4 Stages to Better Health : A Complete Guide to Implementing Yeast Free, Wheat (Gluten) Free and Milk (Casein) Free Living by Bruce Semon, MD, PhD and Lori Kornblum is the first yeast free cooking diet book that I have come across that discusses how to implement candida diet changes over time.  This book is not your typical candida diet book, as it will not present you with a list of things that you should and should not eat up front.  This book was actually developed with the goal of alleviating symptoms of autism.  Coincidentally,  there is a great deal of overlap with the candida diet and many of the dietary changes used to treat autism.  The book teaches us how to implement these dietary changes in 4 very well defined stages and includes explanations on what food and ingredients to take out and why to take out a particular food at each stage.  The beauty of this is that if you regain you health at any particular stage you do not have to continue on to the other stages.  This is definitely new to what I have been following.  No two people are the same and therefore I believe this fact leaves room for different variations of the candida diet for different people.  Depending on the severity of your candida overgrowth, I believe it could be possible for many to  continue to eat wheat or cheese and still regain there health  I actually kept wheat in my diet the first time I succeeded at battling candida.  Wheat was not a problem for me.  My problems seemed to be mainly with sugar and white flour products.  Once I eliminated these I was on my way to feeling great and many of my symptoms disappeared. 

The beauty of the stages are that if one stage helps you restore your health there is no need to move on the the next stage.  A brief description of the 4 stages of the Feast Without Yeast program is as follows:

Stage I – Add brown rice to your diet.  Subtract a few fermented foods. 

Stage II – Add potatoes, beans and vegetables.  Subtract more fermented foods mold contaminated foods, yeast and sugar

Stage III – Subtract Gluten and Casein

Stage IV – More fermented and mold contaminated foods

Wouldn’t it be great if you did not have to eliminate everything found on those long candida diet lists from your diet.  If you are eager to try another approach this book may be worth a look for you.  Most recipes are very simple and since this book was driven by family recipes developed for their autistic son they seem to be kid friendly.  The book also does a very good job providing tools to make this transition easier such as ideas for children, suggested kitchen tools and shopping lists. 

There is one thing that does disturb me about this book.  Unprocessed clover honey is an ingredient that is never eliminated throughout the stages.  Most candida resources agree that honey acts the same way as sugar in the body, elevating blood sugar and feeding the candida which only exacerbates our problems.  I am unsure at why the authors think that honey is okay on a yeast free diet and I found no explanation as to why it remained in even the most stringent stage.  I guess you could omit and use stevia.  I guess it just makes me mad because I really want to use honey but knowing what I know already I feel that it will give me the same symptoms that sugar does. 

All in all I feel that Feast Without Yeast: 4 Stages to Better Health : A Complete Guide to Implementing Yeast Free, Wheat (Gluten) Free and Milk (Casein) Free Living decent yeast free diet offering.  It may be more helpful to those who are treating autism but I believe that it may be beneficial to some of us candida sufferers who are looking for a gradual way to permanent health.

The Candida Control Cookbook: What You Should Know and What You Should Eat to Manage Yeast Infections (New Revised & Updated Edition) by Gail Burton is one of the best Anti-Candida Cookbooks out there.  I realize that this is an extremely strong statement and may seem somewhat biased but I write this book review after an evening of successfully entertaining friends who are not on the anti-candida diet.  I cooked a four course meal based on recipes solely from the Candida control cookbook and last night was a huge success thanks to Gail Burton.  My friends were very skeptical about eating a meal at my house due to my being on a yeast free diet coupled with the multiple food allergies that I must cater to for my children but by the end of the night I think they realized that living without certain foods and ingredients does not mean accepting tasteless food as norm.  We enjoyed turkey roll-ups, salad with dressing, spaghetti and meatballs and pumpkin cookies for dessert. 

The Candida control cookbook is unique in that Gail Burton herself has had to struggle with overcoming Candida Overgrowth, also known as Candidiasis.  Candidiasis is a fungal infection or mycosis of any of the Candida species, of which Candida albicans is the most common.  Candida albicans is usually present in small, benign amounts in all of our bodies but sometimes because an opportunistic infection in due to many external factors such as a diet high in processed foods, birth control, antibiotics and toxins.  When this imbalance the body occurs many seemingly unrelated symptoms can manifest. 

Burton like many of us experienced great relief of her symptoms while strictly adhering to the anti-candida diet but often found the diet extremely limiting and consequently very hard to stick to.  This of course led her to cheat, like so many of us do, and her symptoms would quickly return.  She acknowledged that she felt better when on the diet but she knew she needed to find a way to enjoy the food that she ate while adhering to the candida diet.  Her thought was, “I needed good recipes.”  Burton began to experiment with anti-candida diet foods and ingredients in the kitchen and was able to create recipes that not only she would enjoy, but for her family and for entertaining.  She presents us with over 150 of these recipes in the Candida control cookbook.  Burton is a gourmet cook and a former food columnist so you can trust that she does know her way around the kitchen. 

Burton shares her story with the reader in the preface.  She also incorporates two  professionals well versed in Candidiasis.  The foreword is written by Gail Nielsen, MS, Founding Director, Candida Research and Information Foundation.  The introduction which explains the Candida problem is written by Michael E. Rosenbaum, MD from Corte Madera, California.  Dr. Rosenbaum specializes in preventative medicine, allergies and nutrition and is the doctor the diagnosed Burton with Candidiasis. 

The book gives a brief overview of what Candida is, the importance of the Candida Control Diet and list permitted and prohibited foods clearly and provides their substitutes.  There is a 14 – Day Candida Control Menu Plan, Carbohydrate Guide, Suggestions on Dining Out and description of all ingredients that may be unfamiliar.
The Recipe section includes Dairy Substitutes, Appetizers, Soups, Eggs, Fish, Poultry, Meats, Grains, Vegetables, Dressings, Breads, Muffins, Pancakes, Beverages, Sauces and Desserts.  The book also contains a guide on where to get unfamilar ingredients.  Some of the information is out of date but a quick Google Search of the ingredient you are looking for or the company Burton has listed will put you on the right path.  

Although I believe this is a great cookbook, I don’t like all of the recipes.  The fact is that there are enough recipes that I do like that make this purchase completely worth it.  Burton’s recipe directions are sometimes lacking which some may find a bit annoying.  I was able to follow along pretty easily and I am by no means an experienced cook.  Burton’s use of a controversial alternative sweetner, vegetable glycerin, concerns some.  Although I found little evidence to suggest that it is harmful I personally feel more comfortable substituting stevia for the vegetable glycerin but as always do your research and speak to your health care provider and you will feel confident in your choice. 

Although not perfect, The Candida control cookbook by Gail Burton is an excellent offering for anyone trying to follow the candida diet.  These are real recipes, with real flavor without yeast laden ingredients.