Cleansing Options

There are many different ways to do a cleanse. In fact there are cleanses for your liver, kidney, gallbladder and more. For the cleanse in Stage One of the Candida Diet, you should be focusing on flushing your colon. This is where most of your Candida yeast resides, so flushing out this part of your body will go a long way towards beating your Candida overgrowth.

A full colon cleanse is not for everyone however, so we've formulated an easier alternative. A good detoxing diet, combined with some detox drinks and a nightly liver flush drink, will have a very similar effect. These two options are listed below.

Option 1: A detoxing diet (the easier option)

This is a strict (but very healthy) diet, with some detox drinks and a liver flush added too. Think about what you eat each day. Fast food is overloaded with additives, beef has added growth hormone, and fish are full of the various chemicals that are pumped into the oceans. You can do a very effective detox just by cutting out these toxins, without necessarily doing a colon cleanse. Eating fresh, organically grown vegetables is a great start and will stop any more toxins from entering your system. Always remember to drink lots of water too.

• Eat only raw salads and steamed vegetables
• Buy organic if you can
• Drink a detox drink (recipe) twice each day
• Drink a liver flush (recipe) every evening, at least two hours after your last detox drink
• Do the cleanse for 7-14 days

Avoid starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, yams, corn and winter squash. They all contain sugar and can lead to Candida overgrowth. Raw salads and steamed vegetables might not sound that exciting, but you can use salt, pepper, lemon juice and various herbs and spices to liven them up. See our list of foods that you can eat while on the cleanse for more information.

The detox drinks must be taken on an empty stomach, so don't eat anything for an hour before and after you drink it. The easiest times are usually first thing in the morning, in the afternoon, and two hours before bedtime.

Note: If you are experiencing an irregular heartbeat, nausea or any other worrying symptoms, you should stop the cleanse immediately and consult your health professional.

Option 2: A colon cleanse (the more difficult option)

This option is a great way to start off your Candida elimination program. There really is no better way to flush out your system. However it can be quite draining, so if you have a full time job its best to take some time off and relax in a comfortable environment. Typically a colon cleanse will last for 3 days to a week. You can add colonic irrigation sessions if you feel up to it (see below).

A 7 Day Colon Cleanse

Here's a 7 day plan that you can use for your detox. Of course this is just a rough outline, you don't need to follow it exactly.

8:00am .... Detox drink (see recipe)
10:00am .. Broth soup (see recipe)
1:00pm .... Detox drink
3:00pm .... Broth soup
5:00pm .... Detox drink
7:00pm .... Liver flush drink (see recipe)

Be sure to keep drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated and to flush away toxins. You can make things easier on yourself by preparing large amounts of broth soup once every two days.

This type of cleanse is generally very safe, but if you have any health problems or concerns, please make sure you consult your doctor before starting. If you are experiencing an irregular heartbeat, nausea or any other worrying symptoms, you should stop the cleanse immediately and consult your health professional.

Recipes for your cleanse

RECIPE: VEGETABLE BROTH

3-4 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 small onion, diced
3-4 stalks of fresh grown celery, thinly sliced
1-2 fresh grown carrots, thinly sliced
Cayenne pepper (optional)
1 large handful of greens such as kale or chard, chopped

Place ingredients in 3 quarts (about 3 liters) of pure or distilled water. Bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes, strain the liquid and discard the veggies. If you'd like to spice it up a little, throw in some cayenne pepper. You should drink 2-3 bowls of this vegetable broth each day to replace depleted minerals. Use organic vegetables if possible!

You might be wondering, "If potatoes and carrots are on the Candida Foods To Avoid list, why are they in the vegetable broth?". Well, the key is that you are discarding the vegetables before you drink the broth. This mean you are getting vitamins and minerals of the vegetables, but without the carbs that would feed your Candida!

RECIPE: DETOX DRINK

1 cup of water
1 flat tablespoon of Psyllium Husk powder
1 flat tablespoon of Bentonite Clay

Psyllium and Bentonite clay don't mix well with water, so shake up the mixture for a few seconds then quickly drink it before it settles. Drink another extra large glass of water immediately after. Both these ingredients are great for detox. The Bentonite clay soaks up toxins, and the Psyllium pushes waste matter out through your colon.

RECIPE: LIVER FLUSH DRINK

1 cup water
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic
Small chunk of fresh ginger

Just blend all the ingredients together and drink.

What Causes the Toxic Build-up in your Colon?

We put our colons under a great deal of stress with our modern lifestyle. Years of fast food, cigarettes, prescription drugs and alcohol keep the colon busy. Add Candida to that mixture, and you have a recipe for an unhealthy colon.

The colon is the waste pipe of the body. Once the nutrients are taken out and processed, the waste from your food intake is passed through the colon and expelled from your body.

What many people don't realize is that this fecal matter, including the Candida yeast, can get backed up and solidified in your colon. Without a regular cleansing program it can get trapped there for years or decades, slowly releasing toxins into your system.

The waste matter hardens, fixing itself to the wall of the colon. Sometimes an unhealthy colon will have attached to it up to 20 pounds of this matter that just won't go away! Ever wondered why you sometimes feel heavy and bloated?

This waste material can serve as a breeding ground for Candida, releasing toxins into your bloodstream. They can spread through your body, affecting every part of it. Hence the need to flush out your system with a good cleanse.

Colonic Irrigation

Colonic irrigation is really not as daunting as it sounds, and it can make your cleanse much more effective. It acts to loosen and expel the hardened fecal matter within your intestine, eliminating the Candida yeast and its byproducts much more quickly than you can by diet alone.

During a session of colonic therapy, which typically lasts around 45 minutes, the patient lies down and is first given a gentle but firm massage in the lower stomach area. This is to loosen the materials that the colonic will expunge. A small, sterile and disposable plastic tube is then inserted into the rectum and warm water is passed into the colon. Clients typically report a warm feeling but often have little sensation of the colonic, although it can feel slightly uncomfortable the first time. The water is allowed to gently flow into your colon, then you push it out along with the fecal matter that it has loosened. This cycle repeats several times. Other liquids, often coffee, are then typically added to the water to further help with the loosening.

You can look online to find your local colonic therapist. He or she will be able to give you guidance as to how often you should get a treatment. For the purposes of the cleanse in Stage One of the diet, two or three sessions should be more than sufficient.