Foods To Eat On The Candida Diet
The great news is that the Foods To Eat list contains many delicious, healthy foods. There are lots of tasty sources of protein, fat, and non-starchy carbohydrate that you can use to create mouthwatering meals. And there really is no limit to how you can use herbs, spices and other flavorings to make them even more delicious.
In our Ultimate Candida Diet program, we break these foods down into YES and MAYBE lists. The YES foods are always OK to eat, whereas the MAYBE list contains foods that should be minimized or might be OK in small amounts. You can see the list of foods to avoid here. The shopping lists that come with our program contain much longer and more comprehensive lists.
Foods To Eat
This is the ‘YES list’ of foods that should be OK to eat in reasonable amounts during your Candida diet. Your diet should include lots of non-starchy vegetables, some probiotic foods, proteins like eggs or white meat, and non-glutenous grains.
Here is a list of the foods to eat on the Candida diet:
- Non-starchy vegetables
- Low sugar fruits
- Non-glutinous grains
- Healthy proteins
- Some dairy products
- Low-mold nuts and seeds
- Herbs, spices & condiments
- Healthy fats and oils
- Sweeteners like stevia and erythritol
- Fermented foods
- Drinks like chicory coffee and herbal teas
And here is a more detailed table with the ‘YES list’ of foods that you can eat during your Candida diet. Scroll further down the page for explanations of each category.
| CATEGORY | FOODS TO EAT |
|---|---|
| NON-STARCHY VEGETABLES | Artichokes Asparagus Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Celery Cucumber Eggplant Garlic (raw) Kale Onions Rutabaga Spinach Tomatoes Zucchini |
| LOW SUGAR FRUITS | Avocado Lemon Lime Olives |
| NON-GLUTINOUS GRAINS | Buckwheat Millet Oat bran Quinoa Teff |
| HEALTHY PROTEINS | Anchovies Chicken Eggs Herring Salmon (wild) Sardines Turkey |
| SOME DAIRY PRODUCTS | Butter Ghee Kefir Yogurt (probiotic) |
| LOW-MOLD NUTS & SEEDS | Almonds Coconut Flax seed Hazelnuts Sunflower seeds |
| HERBS, SPICES, & CONDIMENTS | Apple cider vinegar Basil Black pepper Cinnamon Cloves Coconut aminos Dill Garlic Ginger Oregano Paprika Rosemary Salt Thyme Turmeric |
| HEALTHY FATS & OILS | Coconut oil (virgin) Flax oil Olive oil Sesame oil |
| NO-SUGAR SWEETENERS | Erythritol Stevia Xylitol |
| FERMENTED FOODS | Kefir Olives Sauerkraut Yogurt |
| DRINKS | Chicory coffee Filtered water Herbal teas |
Are you still unsure about a food that’s not on this list? Our Candida treatment program contains a much larger and more comprehensive list of foods to eat. We also go into detail on why they are beneficial for treating a Candida overgrowth, and there are lots of delicious recipes too.
Vegetables
Eating non-starchy vegetables starves Candida colonies of the sugar that feeds them. Stick to low starch vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, eggplant, onions, and zucchini. You should buy your vegetables fresh and eat them raw, steamed or grilled.
Minimize starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, yams, corn, winter squash, beets, peas, parsnips, and beans, especially in the early part of your treatment. When you switch to a low sugar diet, there is often a temptation to eat lots of starchy vegetables as a substitute. Rutabaga is an exception, and allowed in the diet, due to its antifungal properties.
Fruits
Fruits should generally be avoided or minimized until later in the diet, but there are some exceptions. Lemons and limes are really nutritious low sugar fruits that you can use to flavor your food and salad dressing. Avocados and olives are also fruits, although many people don’t realize this.
These are all very nutritious fruits that contain very few natural sugars. When buying olives, be sure to buy the properly fermented kind, not the ones that are simply pickled in white vinegar.
Grains And Pseudo-Grains
Grains and pseudo-grains like buckwheat, millet, and quinoa contain high amounts of fiber, excellent for keeping your digestive system moving and eliminating Candida toxins. These are great substitutes when your recipes call for wheat, rye, or rice.
Some products derived from this list are also OK – e.g. quinoa crackers, buckwheat flour. You can often find these in the gluten-free section in health food stores.
Meat, Fish, And Eggs
Eat only fresh meat, and organic where possible. Processed meats (like lunch meat, bacon and spam) are loaded with dextrose, nitrates, sulfates, and sugars, and they have also been shown to be carcinogenic. For similar reasons, smoked or vacuum packed meats are also best avoided.
Wild salmon and sardines do contain ocean contaminants, but in much lower amounts than other seafood. Buy these fish fresh or packed in olive oil or water. Make friends with your local butcher and fishmonger to get the best, most nutritious proteins.
Dairy Products
The best dairy products to eat are the fermented ones like yogurt and kefir. Live probiotic cultures help your gut to repopulate with good bacteria. The live bacteria in the yogurt will crowd out the Candida yeast and restore balance to your digestive system. This is especially useful after a course of antibiotics.
Probiotic yogurt and kefir tend to be low in lactose and casein, the natural sugar and protein that are responsible for many dairy intolerances.
Nuts And Seeds
Nuts like almond and hazelnut are healthy and have a low mold content. Any residual mold can be removed by soaking them in a diluted grapefruit seed extract solution for a few hours. Coconut is always a great option on the Candida diet, whether is comes in the form of oil, coconut milk, or shredded coconut. And you can also use healthy seeds like flax, chia, and sunflower. For baking, almond flour and coconut flour are healthy options.
Herbs, Spices, And Condiments
Many herbs and spices have antioxidant and antifungal properties. They can also improve circulation and reduce inflammation. They’re great for livening up food if you’re on a Candida diet.
Coconut aminos are an excellent alternative to soy sauce. And you can use apple cider vinegar, along with oils, lemon, lime, and seasoning, to make some delicious salad dressings.
Fats And Oils
There are a number of healthy oils that are excellent choices on a Candida diet. Coconut and olive oil are particularly good options because they have antifungal properties too.
Use cold pressed oils where possible. Remember that over-heating can destroy many of the oil’s nutrients. Be careful when you buy olive oil in particular, as there are many fake olive oils that are actually mixed with canola oil.
Sweeteners
Stevia, erythritol, and xylitol can be used in place of sugar, but they have a much smaller effect on your blood sugar levels. You generally need only a little of these sweeteners, as they are much sweeter tasting than sugar. These sweeteners are particularly useful for baking.
Fermented Foods
There are many wonderful fermented foods to try on the Candida diet. Kefir and yogurt are the most frequently used, but don’t forget non-dairy alternatives like olives and sauerkraut.
Making your own fermented foods at home will guarantee quality and allow you to reduce the sugar content even lower than the store-bought varieties.
Drinks
There are lots of herbal teas that have antifungal properties, and in fact you can drink any herbal tea on the Candida diet. Just make sure that it is not caffeinated.
Chicory root is also a great prebiotic (it contains 20% Inulin), so it can help to repopulate your gut with healthy bacteria too. Chicory root coffee is a good option if you are missing that bitter coffee taste.
Are you confused about a food that’s not on these lists? Our Ultimate Candida Diet program contains much larger and more comprehensive lists of foods to eat, along with detailed information on why each food group is permitted or not.