Step One: Detox

Step 1 of the Candida Diet is the hardest, but it’s the part of the diet that’s really crucial to eliminate your Candida and return to health.

It involves three main processes. First, the complete elimination of several Candida risk factors. Second, cleansing techniques to detox your system. Third, some major changes to your diet. This first step lasts for 2-3 weeks, before you move on to Step 2.

Key Points

Eliminate possible causes of Candidiasis
Cleansing (1 week)
Strict dietary changes (2 weeks)
Prepare for Candida die-off
Duration: 3 weeks

Risk Factors

In this Detox phase of the diet, it’s important not to focus just on the foods that you eat. There are many other possible causes of Candidiasis, and now is the time to eliminate them from your life. Remember that when you’re through with the diet and have eliminated your Candida problem, you can try reintroducing them one by one.

Antibiotics are a primary cause of Candidiasis, so make sure you don’t get them unless you absolutely need them! Contraceptives like the Pill have also been found to cause Candida, as have stress, smoking, parasites and even mercury in old fillings.

That’s a wide range of possible causes, and we haven’t even mentioned things like diabetes that you really can’t do much about. Eliminate what you can, and concentrate on improving your diet and cleansing your system.

Cleansing

Diet

Once you've cleansed your system, next up are two weeks of strict dietary changes. You’ll need to cut out things like fruit, nuts, chocolate, alcohol and caffeine from your diet. Don’t worry – you’ll be able to add most of these back in small doses eventually!

You can take a look at our foods to eat and foods to avoid page for some tips. The first two weeks of the diet are the strictest, but it does get easier. You can also check out our recipes page for some tasty food ideas to try during Step 1.

Prepare for Candida Die-Off

If you follow all these elements of Step 1 correctly, you may find yourself suffering from something called the Candida Die-Off. This can show itself in symptoms ranging from nausea, headaches, sweating or even itchiness, but its nothing to worry about.

The symptoms of die-off occur when your Candida diet is working! It is simply the result of the Candida yeast cells being killed and releasing byproducts into your bloodstream. To reduce the symptoms, try a sauna or a hot bath, take some Vitamin C supplements and drink lots of water.

Next up.. on to Step 2!