Candida and the power of Green Superfoods

When I was having my 3 year stint with candida (and the beginnings of interstitial cystitis) it was not a fun time but I learned alot. At one point I was invited to go to a workshop where a woman who had healed her own breast cancer was speaking about the importance of PH balance. I didn’t know much about it and I hadn’t made the connection yet but it intrigued me and I went. Turned out it was really fascinating and made sense to me. Ph balance is more important than I thought. I guess you can think about it this way. Swimming pools, if we are not diligent about keeping track of the PH readings, will start to grow ugly nasty bacteria. So will our bodies. If we feed our bodies nothing but acidic foods and thoughts we will create an acidic environment. Yeast, candida, and even cancer cells change in relationship to their environment.

Since I was struggling with candida for so long I decided it would be a good idea to test my PH. I got some PH testing strips and tested my urine and to my horror I couldn’t even see a reading! The lowest reading was 5.0 (a healthy body should show a reading around 6.5 - ultimately 7.3). I couldn’t see a reading at all. I took it over and over. The saliva reading was somewhat better but I compared mine to others and it was significantly lower and more acidic. This blew me away because I juice everyday so I thought I had it covered. Obviously I didn’t have it covered or else I would not have been struggling with candida for so long. I had already changed my diet, I was taking a good probiotic everyday and even using anti-fungals. I didn’t think there was anything else I could do.

Well, I had heard and read about green superfoods like chlorella, spirulina, barley grass, wheat grass, oat grass and how they raise PH levels so I decided to experiment. I began by using chlorella and spirulina and then added others and kept track of my PH. It wasn’t long (a few days) before I started to notice my interstitial cystitis symptoms fading away. I also noticed my candida symptoms becoming less and less noticable!

This was about a year ago and I have continued to do well. So I maintain a regimen of watching my food, taking a probiotic everyday (though occasionally I forget but it doesn’t seem to matter) and I hardly ever seem to need the anti-fungal anymore. I put the green powder in my vegetable juice in the morning and I feel like I’m drinking a glass of “green vitality.” It’s awesome.

It seems, for me, that this has been the missing link to getting control of candida and interstitial cystitis.

Sweetening without sugar or chemicals! Stevia!

Let's face it. Sugar is not a good thing. I know... it tastes so good and all that.... but if you are anything like me you'll find that it can make life really miserable. Not only can it contribute to blood sugar issues like hypoglycemia and diabetes but it also contributes to yeast issues like the dreaded CANDIDA!!! Ugh! Which in turn can also create bladder problems like interstitial cystitis!!

Interstitial cystitis feels like the beginnings of a bladder infection. You get the urgency to go.... almost all the time. Even after you've gone! I had it and didn't know why I was having it until I figured out it was related to yeast which came whenever I had too much sugar.

Even menopause issues can be increased with sugar! Heart palpatations, hypoglycemia, adrenal problems, insomnia, ... the list goes on. For me, slowly after age 40 I had every one of these issues, yet I also love sweets. Giving up sugar has been one of the things I needed to do to get back on my feet and functioning again but in doing so, I also discovered Stevia and now I can't imagine what I would do without it!

Stevia Rebaudiana is an herb so it contains no chemicals

It's been used safely as a sweetener in South America for hundreds of years

It tastes great. The liquid forms to me have a somewhat bitter after taste so I just use the powder.

It's EXTREMELY SWEET! In other words, you can use as much as you'd like but all you'll need is a tiny amount to be equal to what a teaspoon of sugar would taste like. A "pinch" can sweeten a cup of tea.

It's economical. Because it's so concentrated, a pound of stevia will last for months. And it's also economical because it will save you money on doctor bills. You will notice a big difference in how you feel by giving up sugar.

You can bake with it, but because so little will go such a long way it doesn't have the consistancy of sugar so you would not be able to make things like frosting or homemade ice cream. I have made carrot muffins, banana muffins, tapioca pudding, rice pudding, sweet potatoe pie, pumpkin pie, carob cookies.... etc. Basically just by replacing the sugar in the recipe with a little bit of stevia and cutting down on the milk (I use rice or soy milk) you can have a sugar free, dairy free (and even wheat free if you use brown rice or quinoa flour) dessert!

It has the medicinal quality of balancing blood sugar. Yes, it even helps balance blood sugar.
Great for weight watching because it has 0 calories

Now, here's a bit of interesting news.

Stevia is a much better substitute than the chemical processed sweetners (asparatame and sucralose) on the market today. And the politics behind this sugar-substitute is very interesting. In the 1980’s numerous companies in the U.S were interested in using stevia in their products. In 1991, the FDA banned the importation of stevia for use in foods. This was at the request of NutraSweet (owned by Monsanto who brought us Agent Orange, PCBs, genetically engineered seeds, sacchrin, aspartame, nuclear weapons, and human growth hormones in dairy cows). The power of Monsanto kept stevia out of the country banning it for almost 20 years. By the way, the FDA ignored published studies on the dangers of aspartame prior to its approval by the agency.