Many people have adopted the Hallelujah Diet based on the promises of the testimonies that we have received. They’ve read glowing stories of how people have reversed their ill health, their cardiovascular disease, their diabetes, and hundreds of other disorders by following the Hallelujah Diet. So you’ve adopted the diet, and you love the vegetable juices, but you’re not feeling those results right now. You’ve got this mysterious fatigue going on, digestive discomforts, and maybe some skin issues too. This might be just the article you need to read. Could it be candida?
See, the Hallelujah Diet is full of nutrients, fiber, and antioxidants that can supercharge your immune system. It really helps you overcome illness very well. But there can be an issue when there’s a lot of sugar in the diet. Sugar is what yeasts really thrive on. Candida is a naturally occurring yeast that’s in our gut. There’s always a bit of it there. But what happens when it gets out of control? Could that abundance of natural sugars from the fruits and the sweet vegetables be an unintended invitation to grow out of control?
In this article today, we’ll dive into the connection between the high fruit vegan diets and Candida overgrowth. I’ll also give you an idea of how you can tweak the Hallelujah Diet to make it work to overcome Candida as well.
Understanding Candida: Friend or Foe?
Candida albicans is a very natural type of yeast that usually lives harmlessly in small amounts in our mouths, intestines, and on our skin. It even helps us digest food and absorb nutrients. But when it overgrows, it can lead to candidiasis. The reasons it overgrows are usually related to too many antibiotics, inability to remove heavy metals from our gut and our body, or just an overall weakened immune system.
Symptoms of candidiasis range from chronic fatigue and brain fog to digestive disorders (like irritable bowel syndrome), skin rashes, and even mood swings. There are whole surveys to check to see if candida overgrowth is what you’re experiencing. If this sounds like what you’re experiencing—and you’re not getting the great benefits of the Hallelujah diet—maybe candida is working against you.
Now, vegan diets can be a double-edged sword here. They have a lot of raw produce, and vegetable juice, and some fruits in there too. They can be kind of sweet. That sweet taste from whole foods comes with a lot of good fiber, prebiotic fiber from the vegetables and fruits, that helps feed beneficial bacteria. That is the positive side of the sword.
But the natural sugars in the fruits can feed candida overgrowth at the same time. So what should be a very healthy thing can turn into a yeast smorgasbord. That’s the negative side of the sword.
The Link Between Fruit Intake and Candida Overgrowth
God made fruits to be sweet so that we would be attracted to them and eat them. (And maybe God didn’t make them as sweet as today’s fruits, as modern varieties are bred for sugar content, but that’s another discussion.) And while fruits offer vitamins and minerals, it turns out, at least for people who are susceptible to candida, that the high sugar varieties like bananas, grapes, dates, and mangoes and other sweet fruits can lead to yeast proliferation. While this is true for any diet, this is especially true in a mostly-raw, vegan diet with fresh fruits featured on the menu.
Now vegetable juices (if they are made mostly of low sugar greens like kale, spinach, cucumber, and celery, maybe with some lemon or lime thrown in there for flavoring) are generally safe and even beneficial for alkalizing the body and supporting detoxification. But when you toss in some sweet carrots or beets or sweet fruit, it can cause an imbalance of candida in your GI tract, if you are one of those people who are susceptible to candida overgrowth.
The main concern really is sugar. Candida thrives on it, whether it comes from refined white sugar or from honey or from fruits. In a high-fruit vegan diet, this could tip the scale towards an imbalance of candida leading you to an overgrowth, and all the symptoms mentioned above.
What Have We Learned about Candida and the Hallelujah Diet?
In the process of helping many people with candida overcome it, we have found that limiting sugar is the first priority. We’ve also learned that there is a deeper level of healing necessary. Getting rid of heavy metals seems to be very important as yeast can actually protect you from their toxicity. The yeast actually sequesters heavy metals so that you do not reabsorb them. So the yeast can be protective and they will not go away until you get rid of the heavy metals and then you won’t need the yeast anymore either. So for this reason, you may need to do a deeper cleanse to really get rid of candida. That is part 2 of candida control.
The Candida Rescue Plan from Hallelujah Diet
If you’re on the path towards excellent health on the Hallelujah Diet, but got sidelined with candida, then the Candida Rescue Plan offers a tailored, plant-based strategy for you. This 90-day program, as part of the Hallelujah Diet, combines dietary shifts with supplements to detox, restore gut balance, and heal naturally.
When battling candida we recommend the following:
- Eliminate all sugar including sugary fruits and veggies for at least 90 days
- Eliminate all gluten for at least 90 days.
- Minimize or eliminate all starchy carbohydrates for 90 days.
- Add raw fermented foods after 60 days at the rate of ½ cup per day.
- Salad with every meal- this can be traditional, blended or smoothie.
- Water (1/2 oz of liquid per pound of body weight – this includes water from raw foods and raw juices).
- 24 oz juice mix – 100% greens and green vegetables (lemon and lime usually are OK).
- Start with a diet of 50% raw and 50% vegan cooked. Then after 90 days begin working toward following The Hallelujah Diet® which is 85% raw, 15% vegan cooked which is approximately 1 cooked plant-based meal per day.
- It is highly recommended that two to three bowel movements are achieved daily while on this program.
The Candida Rescue Plan includes several key supplements: everything from BarleyMax for overall great cellular nutrition and Fiber Cleanse for detoxification, over to Professional Strength Probiotics and Candida Balance to help rebalance the good flora in your system. We also include Silver Biotics, Nascent Iodine, Digestive Enzymes, and Betaine HCL Pepsin & Gentian Root Extract. You can read all the details about this on the page about the Candida Rescue Plan on our website.
Between the eating plan outlined above and the supplements in the Candida Rescue Plan, you have a good chance of overcoming candida quickly and with the least effort on your part possible. The answer isn’t to go back to a meat-based diet, but to go forward with overcoming candida, cleansing out heavy metals, and moving forward to excellent health on a plant-based diet and lifestyle.
Wrapping It Up: A Balanced Vegan Approach to Candida
You began this diet because of the excellent health that it promised, but you got sidelined because of candida. Now, once you overcome the candida, you can move into the excellent health that you were promised. But first, you need to recognize that sugar right now is not your friend. But it won’t be that way forever. By following the plan outlined above, incorporating supplements from the Candida Rescue Plan, and then detoxifying heavy metals, you can reclaim balance and move forward to the excellent health that you signed up for.
