Teas and Drinks for People with Candida

Most teas are "out" for people with such severe systemic candida - green tea, black tea, red tea, flowered teas (because of their sweetness which feeds candida), teas with fermented leaves (yes, many Asians teas are prepared with a fermentation process), and teas of course with flavorings like citric acid (the killer of people with candida), orange rind, nutmeg and a host of other additives that most people wouldn't even wink at. The only two teas that I've seen recommended for people with systemic candida are peppermint and chamomile. I love peppermint and keep several boxes on hand, but unfortunately I have ragweed sensitivities and chamomile is in the ragweed family and so I have difficulties, specifically, I get a bit raspy and sometimes vaguely phlegmy ... both indicators of bacteria being fed!

But there really are so many kinds of teas that are such wonderful possibilities that haven't traditionally been labeled as "candida-friendly", but I'm sleuthing for some diversion. There are also so many delightful ways of preparing teas now ... why do the options for people with candida have to be so limited? I've found other options!!!

crockpot spiced cinnamon and ginseng plus anise, cloves and ginger

cilantro tea made in a French press

pau d'arco - a big time candida killer, boiled in a slow cooker and drunk a couple times of day

Peppermint tea is very nice for people with candida. Also recommended for people with candida is chamomile tea, but since I have an allergy to ragweed which is in the daisy family and related to chamomile, I have a mild reaction so avoid it. Fresh ginger tea is wonderful. Herbs tossed in hot water like rosemary (be careful, it is a flower and might affect sensitive people) and fennel are phenomenal! Avoid all teas with citric acid, and fortunately, many of the manufactured teas have this unpleasant mold-ingredient.

Other Drinks:

Although these alternative milks are great for many, I've reacted very badly to the sugars in coconut milk, cow's milk has been out of the question from Day #1 (and actually I have had a mild lactose intolerance most of my life), and soy milk or any soy product I react to in the throat area. That said, almost milk has worked very well. I tried Brazil nut milk but can only tolerate that on rare occasions. Found out that that milk can make a person toxic of drunk very much! I'm not a keener on walnut milk - it just feels chalky in my mouth, so I prefer to eat my walnuts washed and tossed in a salad. Basically, the only nuts I've eaten well are the almonds, walnuts and Brazil nuts. The others I might try on occasion but not as a drink. Just an FYI, people with candida are recommended to principally stick with the almonds and walnuts - they have a milder oil and less mold than other nuts.

What NOT to Drink!!!

People with candida would shock their system if they started dumping soft drinks down their throats! The sugar content in carbonated drinks (to say nothing of other ingredients) is a joyful energy food for the fungus and makes the little buggers prolific!

Some of my favorite drinks

Left to right: the cinnamon-ginseng tea (hot or cold), fresh squeezed lemon in water,
green smoothies, and almond milk

Passing Gas

Mung Bean Sprout Stir-fry

3-4 T. coconut oil
5 cloves garlic, sliced
2"-3" piece of fresh ginger, minced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 cups mung bean sprouts
1/2 carrot, shredded
1 can lotus seed, bamboo shoots, or water chestnuts (optional)
2 cups fresh kale, in large shreds
1/2 t. sea salt

Saute the onion, garlic and ginger on low heat in the coconut oil. Add in the bean sprouts and shredded carrots and lightly sauté. When the bean sprouts and carrots are becoming tender (do not overcook), add in the fresh kale shreds and stir until the kale is a bright green. Serve immediately with brown rice and seaweed laver.

I used lotus seeds ... for the first time. While I love bamboo shoots and water chestnuts, I am not keen on lotus seeds. They are very dry and somewhat bland. But cool, I did try them and it's exciting to eat something different :)

The seaweed laver is particularly complimentary to brown rice and stir-fry.
I eat tons and tons of laver and since being in Korea, the white spots on my nails have disappeared ... but they return when I'm in the States for a few consecutive weeks. I have wondered for a long time if the seaweed has something to do with eliminating the white spots, which supposedly are caused by zinc or calcium (have heard both contribute).


Pretty good, but have to say that my body isn't ready for the starchiness of the lotus seeds. 

Care for Your Liver

Someone sent me these slides via email and I thought the message they contain is very centered on good health, especially for people like me who have systemic candida which can tax the liver with all the fungus in the body and the constant fight to purify the blood and clean out the fungus. Whoever put these slides together, kudos to you and thank you!

(unfortunately didn't receive slide #5)

Dairy-free Veggie Primavera

Gluten-free pasta of your choice  

Veggies: 

2 carrots, sliced

1 large onion, sliced

1 zucchini, angle-sliced

1 yellow squash, angle-sliced

2 scallions, sliced

5-6 cloves garlic, sliced

olive oil

Primavera Sauce: 

3/4 - 1 cup cashews

1 small onion, chopped

2 t. turmeric powder

2-3 cloves garlic

handful of basic leaves, if desired

salt and pepper to taste 

prepare your veggies

first, lightly sauté the garlic and shallots in olive oil

then add in the remaining veggies, and add water to nearly cover them.
cooking at high temps kills enzymes really quickly so simmer, if time permits

When the veggies are tender, pour the sauce made in a high-speed blender over the veggies and cook another 10 or so minutes. Sauce will thicken on its own.

After the sauce and veggies are ready, mix them into the pasta.

I can't eat mushrooms or the marinade, but I made them for others at the table to have a fuller Italian-like meal. 

Homemade almond milk and my meal (minus the marinated mushroom)

I realize that cashews are NOT on my systemic candida diet; however, I was also feeding other people (hence, the marinated mushrooms) and since I've been very careful with my diet, eating cashews once in a low amount probably isn't going to hurt me. I did carefully choose cashews that didn't look discolored though so hopefully with minimal mold that they are known to have.

Veggie Juice Pulp Crackers

When making veggie juice with a juice extractor, the fiber of the plants has mostly been removed to expedite assimilation of vitamins and minerals of the straight juice, but there's no reason why the squeezed vegetable fibers, also rich in vitamins and minerals, need to be tossed. The bulky plant fibers can be added to other ingredients to make bread, crackers, crusts, pot pies, and to retain their full vitamin B count [heat kills vitamins B & C], they can remain in their raw state, so even raw foodists can utilize this veggie juice "waste".

I especially like making crackers with the juice pulp. Unfortunately, this time I didn't find any zesty sesame leaves in the market because they add a delightful zing to crackers, but the parsley works pretty well for added flavor. And btw, I juiced the cucumbers last to better flush out the juicer but, as I wasn't too sure about the cooked flavor of cucumbers, I refrained from using the cucumber pulp, not that there was much anyway as the cukes are high moisture.

After juicing all of the leafies and the cukes, I refrigerated the juice for the veggie juice cleanse. Throughout today and tomorrow I will alternate on a tall glass of water and a tall glass of fresh veggie juice. There are times when a person needs to clean out their intestinal tract, and I really need this as I've been bloating a lot, even after eating foods that I've previously eaten and digested really well. We'll see if this juice cleans flushes the GI tract some.

Veggie Juice Pulp Crackers 

2 1/2 cups millet & quinoa & flours mixed (made in Blendtec)
1 1/2 - 2 cups vegetable pulp
1 cup roasted buckwheat
1/2 - 2/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water
2 t. garlic powder1 1/2 - 2 t. sea salt (use some for dusting the tops of the unbaked crackers)

After pressing the cracker dough into a greased and flour-dusted pan, lightly dust the top of the pressed down dough with flour. Bake at 250F for 30-35 minutes.

And here are some crackers I previously made with dark green leafies which included a lot of sesame leaf pulp. Wow, were these ever tasty! Wish I wrote this recipe down, but the flours used were quinoa, millet and flaxseed. It was very similar to the one above, but something besides the zesty sesame seed leaves made it much better. 

Here's another pulp cracker using pumpkin seeds, millet and quinoa for the flours. I skimped a bit on the added salt because the packaged pumpkin seeds were incredibly salty. These crackers turned out pretty good, especially because the veggie pulp was loaded with sesame seed leaf refuse. It's obvious I used quite a lot of the pumpkin seeds for this recipe, but actually it was a bit much. It needs more flaxseed to hold it together better and to add a deeper flavor. I think the flax flavor is very complimentary to the zestiness of the dark green leaves, which, because of a lot of sesame seed leaf pulp, can be rather bitter.