Alkaline Guide to the Candida Cleanse!

This week Gareth Edwards, our Alkaline Diet Expert and highly qualified nutritionist, writes about candida, its causes and how we can get rid of it by following Gareth’s candida cleansing guide!

Gareth’s Alkaline Guide to the Candida Cleanse

How do you know if you’ve got candida? In some people’s case the symptoms are fairly apparent. Uncomfortable itching, white discharge or coated tongue, can all indicate the overgrowth of the yeast form candida albicans. The truth is that we all have candida. When, however, something about us changes, so that we become more acidic candida albicans can replicate and change into a multi-cellular forms with filaments that can penetrate other tissue.

One of the most common causes of this change is the consumption of anti-biotics or other medications. Diets high in acidic foods, such as fruit juice, vinegar and animal protein, low levels of exercise, high alcohol consumption, emotional distress and fatigue can also be associated with candida overgrowth and “mutation”. This may manifest as an itchy scalp / dandruff, fatigue or a plethora of other unwanted symptoms. It is sometimes possible to see yeast forms in live blood samples too.

If a disruption (or over acidification) of your body occurs the objective needs to be to re-establish a more alkaline balance of your body fluids and tissues. Even if the cause is emotional in nature, this will help put you in the right place to resolve internal or external conflicts. A week’s cleanse can help to accelerate the process and with the vaguest sniff of spring in the air this is a great time to start planning it.

It’s best to see it in three stages: the build up, the cleanse and the after “party”. Get a sense of whether you want to cleanse for three or five days.

The Build Up:

For about a week (or two!) before you plan to start, start cutting out alcohol, black, green and white tea, coffee and refined (white) carbohydrates. Lower your intake of sugar (including fruit juice) and animal protein. At the same time increase your intake of powdered green vegetable and grass drink (such as Dr Young’s Doc Broc Power Plants) with alkaline water and pH drops (such as Young pHorever Puriphy drops) and eat more fresh raw vegetables and low sugar fruits (cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados, lemons, limes and grapefruits). For two to three days before you start your cleanse eat fresh raw (or very lightly steamed) vegetables.

The Cleanse:

During the cleanse everything that you “eat” and drink needs to be liquid. Start each day with a scoop of pHour salts in a glass of alkaline water. Then throughout the day consume only the following:

• Green vegetable juice. You can dilute this with alkaline water and add pH drops if desired.
• Green smoothy
• Powdered grass and green vegetable drink in alkaline water with pH drops. Aim for two to three litres a day.
• Water (with lemon or lime juice added – if desired)

There are links here to suggested recipes for green juice and smoothys. Which vegetables you actually put in them is up to you, but you should avoid carrots, apples and fruits (other than those mentioned above) because of their sugar content. Adding garlic to the smoothy should help with re-balancing, but limit your social inter-action if your partner isn’t following the same regime!

Decide before you start whether you want to do 3, 4 or 5 days. You can stop early if you feel very uncomfortable. It’s not a competition!

Handy helpers:

If at any point you feel light-headed or low in energy have some unrefined salt or use a pHlavor spray. You can further increase your body’s alkalising mineral resources with Dr. Young’s depHense, pHion’s silvagen or Jarrow’s mineral balance.

Elimination:

It’s important to help acid and other toxicity get out of your body as well as putting “good” stuff in. There are several ways that you can help this during the cleanse:

• Exercise: 20 mins walking a day minimum. Ideally build up a sweat, but don’t exhaust yourself so that you crave sugar. Re-hydrate with water, greens and pH drops.
• Hot baths with Epsom salts (such as Orgon Alkabath bath salts). This should make you sweat and help to draw out acids.
• You can also add clay (such as Young pHorever Terra pHirma Clay) to your green drinks to help mineralise and draw out acids.
• Using psyllium (such as Ispaghula Husk) or other fibre supplements can help elimination, but these fibres can be “abrasive” if your digestive tract is sensitive.
• Colonic hydro-therapy or self administered enemas can be helpful but should be administered by a trained therapist or clearly understood if self administering.

Sometimes the release of acid from body tissue can actually lead to reduced bowel movement (constipation). If that happens you can try using more pHour salts or Dr. Young’s magnesium oxide based product pHlush.

Sometimes the reverse effect occurs…. Diarrhoea is actually a natural cleansing reaction by the body and shouldn’t be stopped. If it is persistent (rather than passing) you should ease off the cleanse. Drink water with salt in it and use minimal amounts of green powder.

The after party!

Well …. in spite of dreaming of chocolate cake or bacon sandwiches when you start your green feast, you may find that that isn’t actually what you feel like when you are finished. It’s important to listen to your body’s needs. Maybe start with a cooked vegetable soup or a big bowl of fresh vegetables, nuts and sprouted seeds.

Ease yourself gradually back into normal eating and drinking patterns. Aim to keep sweet fruits, sugar, tea, coffee, vinegar, mushrooms and animal protein low, while eating and drinking plenty of fresh (ideally raw) vegetables, sprouts and low sugar fruits including avocados. Try to get more of your protein from vegetarian sources, such as nuts, seeds and tofu. Marmite and peanut butter are best replaced with tahini and almond butter.

N.B. It’s best to do these cleanses with other people around. If you experience any uncomfortable or unwanted symptoms for more than 24 hours you should revert to normal eating and hydration and contact a nutritionally aware physician. If you are taking medication regularly please consult with your physician before carrying out a cleanse.

Tagged as: candida, clay, cleanse, fiber, green drink, over acidification, ph drops, phlush, phour salts

Note: This blog is only my opinion. It is not medical advice or diagnosis. Only opinions based upon our own personal experiences or information detailed in medical/academic journals or other publications is cited. WE DO NOT OFFER MEDICAL ADVICE or prescribe any treatments. Please consult with a medical professional before making any diet or nutrition changes. Refer to our full disclaimer for more information.