Foods To Include,
The Best Candida Cures

Last updated March 9, 2009

Serve up delicious candida cures with every meal!
Fill your grocery basket with these tasty ingredients.

Scroll down to view the complete list below.

Take from this list the foods which look appetizing to you, the ones you know agree with your particular constitution and make you feel good.

One person may do great on a meal of raw vegetable salad with pureed avocado dressing, someone else will choose chicken breast and a lightly dressed salad with olive oil and lemon juice while another feels better when they have salmon accompanied by steamed greens.

Pay attention to your particular needs. You may notice that in the morning you do better with lighter foods while in the evening you may want something a little more rich and fatty. Or maybe it's the other way around. There is no "one perfect plan for everyone".

For more information on how to begin a candida cures diet please see the Step by Step Dietary Guidelines.

This list of foods will help you to get started. You'll notice that there are a few higher carbohydrate foods on the list. I'm not expecting everyone to dive head first into a very low carbohydrate overnight, as is often recommended. In fact, it wouldn't be advised.

Change your candida cures diet gradually to minimize die off reactions. You can use your best judgment to decide if the higher carbohydrate items are appropriate for you. If you don't feel well eating those foods then remove them from your diet for a while and see if it makes a difference for you.

Now, with all that said,
use this list to help you create your own candida cures
in the kitchen.

Fresh Vegetables – buy local and organic, or even biodynamic whenever possible. Better yet, look for permaculture farms in your area or try growing some of your own. There are so many fantastic vegetables to choose from, make these an integral part of your dietary candida cures!

Best vegetable choices for candida cures (lowest in carbohydrates) - Asparagus, arugula, bok choy, beet greens, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, chard, cucumber, endive, fennel bulb, lettuce, nappa cabbage, mustard greens, radish, romanesco, salad greens, spinach, tomato, watercress.

Next best choices (medium carbohydrates) - avocado, artichoke, brussel sprouts, celeriac, chives, collards, dandelion greens, green beans, eggplant, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, okra, onion, parsley, peppers (green, hot, and sweet), rutabagas, sno pea pods, spaghetti squash, turnip, yellow and/or green summer squash, yellow wax beans, zucchini.

Too many carbs for some on a candida cures diet, but others may do okay with these high carbohydrate vegetables - carrots, beets, parsnips, yams, sweet potatoes, yucca, taro, winter squashes including butternut, kabocha, red kuri, delicata, hubbard. If you are eating these on a regular basis and still suffering - remove them from your diet and see if it makes a difference.

Pretty much all leafy greens are great!

Fresh Herbs – basil, cilantro, chervil, dill, mint, oregano, parsley, tarragon, etc. Tasty garnishes for candida cures menus.

Homemade sprouts - clover sprouts, radish sprouts, broccoli sprouts, sunflower sprouts, lentil sprouts, mung bean sprouts.

For sunflower sprouts, grow them up to 1 or 2 inches, cut them off at the base of the seed and eat the green tops. Legumes, when sprouted, have lower carb counts and are bursting with raw live energy. Sprout them until they grow a shoot at least half an inch long, eat legume sprouts occasionally, not too often. Make sprouts in small batches and eat them while fresh. Don’t store them in the fridge for long periods of time or they will collect mold.

My source for sprouting seeds and sprouting tools.

Raw Lacto-fermented Vegetables including Sauerkraut and Kim Chi. Note - its a good idea to incorporate some of the of the dietary changes outlined in the Step by Step Dietary Guidelines before chowing down on mega doses of raw fermented veggies. They can really do a number on yeast in the intestines, as well as being quite fibrous, both of which can cause gas and/or uncomfortable bloating. There really is a purpose to taking things slowly :) That said, they're easy to make at home, or check your health food store’s refrigerated section. Lacto-fermented raw vegetables can be a healthy part of a transitional diet because they help reintroduce healthy gut flora, which can be knocked out of whack by candida overgrowth. The store bought kinds tend to be pretty salty, so again, moderation please. Yummy additions to our shopping cart of candida cures!

Fresh Coconut - antifungal, full of good fats and not too high in sugars. Fresh coconut is one of my favorite snacks, and its one of the best candida cures!

Fresh Garlic - a very potent ingredient in a variety of candida cures, both for the kitchen table as well as for making topical treatments for external symptoms. Also can be used to make an enema solution or as a suppository.

Fresh Ginger - another potent ingredient used in a variety of recipes, excellent for digestive troubles.

Fresh Lemons and Limes - low in carbohydrates, and they add great flavor to salads, soups, marinades and beverages.

Fresh Raw Fruits What??? I know, I will make waves with this one, on a candida cures website. If you feel safer avoiding it for a while, that's okay. But as someone begins a transition from the Standard American Diet to a truly nourishing diet, why not include fresh raw fruit in your menu? It's not the same as bread, cookies, candy or soda pop - it's fruit! Some of the best choices will be green apples and berries, if you're concerned about the sugar content. Fruit is a natural, whole food. It's alkalizing, and is cleansing for the body. The trick is to eat fruit separately from other foods to avoid digestive complications. I often eat a fruit meal in the morning, and sometimes again at lunch. Fruit combines very well with leafy greens. Refined sugars, high fructose corn syrup, and cooked grains are very different for the body to deal with as opposed to the simple carbohydrates found in fruits. Fruit digests easily and quickly and supplies fiber, vitamins, minerals and water. The fructose in fruit is converted almost immediately into glucose (the fuel of the brain and body). People get problems with fruit when they're eating too much fat, too many refined sugars and grains, or when they eat fruit combined with or after eating starchy or protein foods. A clean, well-functioning body does not experience problems from ingesting fresh raw fruit on an empty stomach. It's one of the healthiest foods on earth.

Raw Butter, Organic Butter, Ghee and Clarified Butter

Free Range Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Pheasant, etc.

Grass-Fed Pastured Beef, Bison, Buffalo, Venison, Elk, Lamb, Pork, etc.

Fresh Fish and Seafood - check current safety and environmental stats from the folks at Seafood Watch.

Here's another great seafood resource website, called Oceans Alive.

All Natural Deli Meats - from a reputable source, no preservatives, sugars or artificial ingredients.

Find local sources of free range eggs, raw and organic butter, pastured meats, free range chicken and poultry.

Umeboshi Vinegar, Umeboshi Plums or Paste. Umeboshi vinegar is not technically a vinegar, its a salty brine made during the pickling of unripe plums. Also called Ume. Most reputable brands of ume products are raw, meaning they have not been pasteurized. Ume vinegar has complex salty/sour flavor. The plums and paste are also marvelously tart and salty, and a good digestive aid. If you ever have an attack of the dry coughs, a little piece of an ume plum or dab of the paste on the tongue will provide great relief! High in salt, use in moderation.

Naturally Brined Pickles (raw, refrigerated), or any raw brand of pickles with no sugar or preservatives. Bubbie's brand pickles are one common brand found in the refrigerated section of many grocery stores. These are potent weapons in your arsenal for candida cures, the live bacterias are beneficial, like those found in yogurt. Salty, use in moderation.

Good Grey Sea Salt – Often called Celtic Sea Salt. The coarse salt is more rich in minerals and trace elements, but the finely ground is easier to work with. Use a mortar and pestle to grind the coarse salt finer and get the best of both worlds. The unbeatable flavor combined with a wealth of minerals ranks unrefined grey sea salt in our top-list contenders of natural candida cures. Moderation please.

Pink Himalayan Salt - This is another high quality, edible salt which is rich in nutrients. Moderation please.

Solar Dried Pacific Sea Salt - This comes in coarse or fine granules, harvested from clean waters off the California Coast. Moderation please.

My source for Himalayan Salt, Sea Salt & Bath Salts.

Dried Herbs and Spices – buy organic to be assured they haven’t been irradiated. Cloves, Pau D'Arco, and many more are a naturally anti-fungal herbs & spices, another top player in our list of natural food candida cures, and pungent spices, like those found in curry blends, are also important candida-busters. Buy in bulk to save money (uses less packaging too).

Dried Lentils, Green Mung Beans, Clover, Fenugreek, Radish, or Sunflower Seeds - for making sprouts.

Not for everyone, but some will do okay with Dried Beans - black beans, chick peas, kidney beans, pintos, lentils, etc. Get the dried kind and soak them for at least 8 hours before cooking. Avoid canned beans. Dried beans are pretty high in carbohydrates, so if you are eating them and still suffering, remove them from your diet and see if it makes a difference.

Nuts and Seeds - Almonds, cashews, walnuts, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, basically all of them except peanuts (which sometimes contain molds which can aggravate candida symptoms). Nuts and seeds are good sources of healthy fats, protein and even some fiber too. Get high quality varieties, look for plain, raw, unseasoned nuts so you can soak and season them yourself at home with high quality ingredients. Nuts and seeds are better digested when they've been sprouted or soaked. They contain phytic acid, a natural protective substance for the nut, which blocks absorption of minerals in our digestive system, as well as enzyme inhibitors, which contribute to the difficulties in digestion. Our modern diet is already lacking in essential minerals (calcium, magnesium, zinc, etc.), so it's important to "do them right" before we eat them. After soaking or sprouting they can be roasted and seasoned as you like. Or, find the "raw foods" section at the health food store and get the sprouted kind - these are a great convenience food, as they've already been soaked, dried until crispy and seasoned for you! Avoid packaged nuts & seeds that have crappy oils listed on the ingredients, and also skip the "dry roasted" kinds that have sugars and other strange ingredients added. There are some dry roasted varieties in the health food section that I've seen lately, which only have salt added. Use nuts and seeds in moderation - they're potent and dense, but it's easy to go overboard because they're so much fun to snack on.

Dried Vegetables - with no preservatives or additives, good for flavoring soups and stews in the rare instance when you don't have fresh ones in the fridge (because you'll be buying lots of fresh veggies on a regular basis - right? wink wink, nudge nudge).

Dried Seaweeds - Optional. Dulse, nori, kombu, hijiki, wakame and arame are my favorites. Use them in small amounts, they're potent in sodium and iodine, and they do have some carbs.

Stevia Dried Ground Leaves, Stevia Tea Leaves, Liquid Stevia Extract - Another one of the best choices when filling that grocery basket with delicious candida cures. Stevia is a naturally sweet herb which contains no sugar and no carbohydrates. It's an amazing gift from nature!

Pure Extract Flavorings – vanilla, almond, lemon etc. Some of these are steeped in alcohol to extract the flavor essence, but the amount will be negligible when you use them in your recipes.

Herbs, Spices, Sprouting, Seaweeds, Stevia, & Flavor Extracts.

Thai Chile Paste – a quick flavor-booster for soups, stir fries and marinades. Thai Kitchen brand contains a trivial amount of soy oil, Santa Maria brand has no oil added, and you might find a great one in a can at an Asian imports store. Make sure its free of artificial ingredients and no preservatives. Chile paste is another good source of those pungent herbs and spices that can help to ward off candida.

Thai Fish Sauce - you can't beat it for authentic flavor in Thai curries, soups and salad dressings. It is, simply, the liquid obtained from pressing salted anchovies. Read the label, try to get one without added sugars. Thai Kitchen brand makes a pure one which is delicious. Salty. Moderation please.

Hot Sauce made with natural ingredients - If you like it hot, a dash of these tasty sauces will keep things interesting! There are a whole lot of fantastic ones out there. No thickeners, preservatives or artificial flavors please.

Fish packed in water - sardines, mackerel, skipjack tuna, wild caught herring, and wild salmon are good choices. Anchovies packed in olive oil are great to have around too. I love tinned mackerel fillets. Just mackerel, olive oil and salt - I get them in my local grocery store, along with another fantastic product - smoked herring fillets. Oh my gosh, they're so good! They're wild caught herring fillets, lightly smoked and packed in water. Excellent to have a couple of these in the pantry at all times.

Tomato Products – fresh tomatoes are the best, but a few cans of organic chopped tomatoes, or organic whole tomatoes are great to have in the pantry. Look for a brand with the smallest ingredients list and no additives or preservatives. For tomato paste there are imported Italian brands which come in a tube. I love those because you can use a small amount and reseal the tube instead of opening a whole can and then figuring out what to do with the unused portion.

Pasta Sauce in a Jar - there are a bunch of really great varieties out there these days. Look for ones made without sugars or strange sounding additives, and with extra virgin olive oil or no oil added so you can drizzle your own in after you've cooked it! Keep a few stashed in the pantry, you can make a quick dinner by simmering a jar of sauce with some fish or chicken breasts or ground meat.

Organic Chicken Broth – Homemade is best. Still, its handy to have some in the pantry for a quick fix. Look for all-natural brands, organic when possible, but read those labels. Sometimes even the organic ones are loaded with undesirable additives. If you like to make your own, freeze some in small portions so you have it on hand when you're making a sauce or need to add a little flavor or to moisten a dish.

Coconut Butter - a raw creamy delicacy made from whole coconut, very slowly ground at low temperatures to preserve its nutritional values.

Coconut Milk, Coconut Cream – unsweetened, in a jar or can, organic with no additives if you can find it.

Creamed Coconut, Dried Shredded Coconut – unsweetened, organic, with no additives if you can get it.

Canned or Jarred Sauerkraut - Optional, for occasional use. Opt for the raw variety to eat on a regular basis. Ingredients of the canned or jarred variety should say cabbage and salt, nothing else.

Oil Cured Olives

Sun Dried Tomatoes (dry or packed in olive oil)

Salt Cured Capers- these little beauties add a great little kick to a puttanesca sauce for fish or chicken, or lemon caper sauce is great too. Just rinse the salt away before you add them to a dish.

Wasabi Powder - if you like the nose clearing effect of a strong wasabi, go for it! Get one that has no added colors or flavors. Add it to soups, salad dressings, vegetable mash, or just make up a little batch of wasabi paste to serve along with your salmon steak or your seared ahi tuna...

Always opt for beverages in glass bottles as opposed to plastic whenever possible.

You don't have to get all of these, it's simply a list of some good choices to have around the house.

Pure Spring Water or Good Filtered Water
Mineral Water
Electrolyte Enhanced Waters - no flavors or sugars added
Herbal Teas, Yerba Mate Tea or Green Tea brewed very light
Roasted Chicory Granules - also called "chicory coffee", for a tasty, warm, non-caffeinated beverage option
Roasted Dandelion Tea - you'll find it with the herbal teas in the health food store, excellent liver cleanser.
Swiss Water Process Decaf Coffee – with coconut milk and stevia if you take cream or sugar
Decaf Tea

Check out the Candida Cures "Drinks & Tea Recipes" section (look for the link on the left of the screen) for a bunch of great recipes.

Where to get Organic Herbal Teas.

Who knew there were so many natural candida cures in the kitchen?

This is going to be a delicious experience!

Use promo code YERBAFAN to get 10% off my favorite teas from Guayaki. Rich in antioxidants!