Jane and I just finished a 7-day modified candida cleanse. I got it from a friend (Justin Meier), and apparently this is his concoction. I think if you click and enlarge the pic above you'll be able to print it off and see the details. I'm not exactly sure how Justin arrived at these particulars, because if you google "candida cleanse" (or diet), there are a variety of ways to do it. Most I saw don't allow fruit, but his does. (Here is a "Candida Cleanse" website). At any rate, I guess candida is some kind of fungus or bacteria or something that grows in your stomach and isn't good to have too much of.
Justin's plan entailed making this super yummy vegetable-ish soup and eating at least 3 bowls of it each and every day of the cleanse. Then you ate the following on these days:
Day 1 - eat only fruits, all you want (no bananas). No juice.
Day 2 - Start the day with a baked sweet potato (the only thing you can add is oil and raw cinnamon). Then eat only vegetables, all you want (no starchy vegetables like corn).
Day 3 - eat only fruits and vegetables, and all you want (No starchy vegetables or bananas).
Day 4 - eat only bananas, milk, and unflavored Greek yogurt.
Day 5 - eat only tomatoes and proteins like fish, chicken, and turkey.
Day 6 - eat only proteins like fish, chicken, and turkey along with nonstarchy vegetables.
Day 7 - eat only fruits and vegetables.
Also, every day:
1. Before you eat anything, work up a sweat on an empty stomach.
2. Take a table spoon of organic apple cider vinegar.
3. Take an over the counter "live culture" probiotic.
4. Drink at least 8 - 8 oz. glasses of water with essential oil cinnamon or clove or a combination of both.
So, we did it, and it was rather difficult. We also didn't drink any caffienated coffee or alcohol. I drank a fair amount of green tea along with water though.
We both thought it sounded rather easy, since you could eat as much as you wanted, plus we usually eat fairly healthy anyway. Boy were we surprised. The first several days were pretty tough, and I'm not really sure what it was due to. And day 4 was the worst as far as the food we ate, but that actually seemed to be the turning point. I started to feel GREAT on day 4. I wasn't hungry anymore (too much), and I had so much more energy. On day 5 I felt a sense of clarity like I haven't felt in several years.
I ended up losing 8 1/2 pounds over the 7 days (171 to 163). I'd lost 6 by Thursday, and for some reason really slowed down at the end. I think I even gained weight on Sunday on just fruit and veggies. Still, I feel much better physically and mentally. It's probably hard to tell if it's from the cleanse or just from not drinking for a week though. At any rate, I'm glad I/we did it.
Some additional thoughts: I thought the soup was great! I love it. One thing I thought would happen, though, was that I would go to the bathroom more often (#2). Interestingly enough, that never really happened. In fact, it almost seemed like I went less.
Going forward I want to continue trying to eat healthy, and I'm also going to try to stop drinking alcohol. I'm shooting for staying dry until Jane's birthday (2/27), and maybe even through Lent. So we'll see.
All in all, I'd recommend this cleanse. It's not easy, but you don't have to starve yourself either. It's a good way to get off sugar (other than through fruit). I may try doing it every few months, or at least a couple times a year.
