Snack Ideas for the Candida/Sugar Detox

Week 1, Part A

Week 1, Part B

Week 2, Part A

Week 2, Part B

It’s been a bit nuts around here given the my daughter almost being hospitalized with the flu, and then my husband and I getting hit with it (me harder than him. I quit counting after the 10th vomiting session) and Monday’s events. Not to mention transitioning this blog over here to Mama Buzz. . . .

Whew!

Starting Sunday, I’m planning a month long sugar and yeast-overgrowth detox. It shouldn’t be as difficult as last year. I have gotten back to breads and sugars in the past half a year, but not half as much as I used to consume it. And I’m down to 1/2 a cup of full strength coffee a day so I think it will be a fairly easy process this time around.

My main goal is to complete wean off carbs/sugar/caffeine addictions and get back to more natural eating. Doing daycare and a crazy life has had me relying on boxed mac-n-cheese and Ramen noodles and I want to be more deliberate about what I eat. Doing a detox helps me with that.

My main goals for it are:

~ No sugar! (including fruit)

~ Eat nothing with yeast or gluten in it

~ Drink 70 oz of water daily (a little more than half my body weight in water). This will include the first 12 oz glass consisting of grapefruit seed extract

~ Drink one quart of yogurt/kefir/spinach smoothie a day

~ As little processed food as possible

~ No dairy, except in smoothies. *gulp–no cheese!!! *

~ Eat 80-90% vegetarian and if I do eat meat, eat organic or vension

I plan on posting my meal plan for it as soon as it’s done and I also plan on doing a diary of it to go along with this series.

On the detox, snacks will change a bit. I’m one of those people who eats all day long. Not in an overweight, unhealthy way (I’m actually slender despite the fact I munch all day long) but in a small meals all day long, kind of way. But doing a detox means the cheese and crackers and pretzels will have to go. What is one to eat for snacks while avoiding sugar and wheat/gluten?

One simple rule of thumb is:

~ If you want sweet, eat fruit! (Unless you’re doing a yeast/candida detox. For at least a month you will want to avoid fruit, even though it’s a natural sugar)

~  If you want crunchy, eat vegetables!

It is difficult in the beginning. Our brains crave tastes and textures and fruits and vegetables don’t deliver. But I promise you, there will come a time — at the last in one month, the more usual, three months–where you will actually crave the apple over the brownie. And if you eat the brownie, it will be too sweet for you!

Snack ideas:

~ Rice cakes with different butters–cashew, almond, sunflower seed butter (peanut butter is advised against during a yeast detox but I’m not sure why)

~ Vegetable sticks with hummus

~ Vegetable sticks with homemade guacomole

~ Nuts, nuts, and more nuts

~ Smoothies

~ Yogurt (dairy is discouraged on a yeast detox but I allow yogurt in for the acidophilus. Even better is coconut milk yogurt, if you can find it)

~ 2 squares of 70% organic dark chocolate slip through for me, due to the claimed antioxidant benefits to it.

~ Black bean brownies

It seems boring, especially if you have a major love for crackers (like I do. I’m a Triscuit freak!) but after awhile you’ll actually start enjoying these snacks. In fact, I miss the days when my body enjoyed these foods more than processed foods, and I’m excited to get back to that way of living.