This month’s raw food focus is about the ABC’s of health. We’ve been getting a lot of queries about candida and the anti-candida diet so this forms a little summary and reminder.
A = Acid B = Blood C = Candida A.
The most important balance that the body strives to maintain is the one between acid and alkaline.Overacidification of the body underlies all disease. An overly acidic body is vulnerable to disease and allows germs to gain a foothold, hence our focus on green alkalising foods. B. Our blood is mildly alkaline at 7.365 pH. It is absolutely vital that our body’s maintain our blood at this delicate pH level. Our bodies cannot tolerate extended acid imbalances, yet needless to say a standard western diet is almost entirely acidic in nature.
Early symptoms of acid/alkaline imbalance include things such as skin rashes, headaches, allergies, colds and flu and sinus problems. These should be your early warning signs to go out and order 4x double shots of wheatgrass from Kauai. Just the other day after burning the candle at both ends for 4 days running I found myself with an ulcer on my tongue! Many people would just accept this as standard and wait for it to pass. I got mad! With so much emphasis on diet and staying alkaline I realised I’d forgotten to get in enough alkalising greens and ordered Peter to juice us 2x quadruple-sized wheatgrass shots… after swirling the grass around my mouth and getting a good night’s sleep – I woke up the next morning with … no more ulcer – the result I was looking for was practically instantaneous.
It is really great when you get in touch with your body in this way. We all fall off the wagon from time to time, but it’s what we do consistently day by day that really makes the difference. If we can notice these mild symptoms that most people accept as common place as totally ABNORMAL – plus we know what to do to rebalance and centre ourselves – dis-ease and germs will leave us alone in search of greener or should I say ‘less green’ pastures.
C. Ahhh, the big candida hype. The anticandida diet is nothing more than an anti-acid diet or a poison-free, predominantly raw food diet. No wheat, sugar or dairy. Anyone who tells me they are on the candida diet and then bewails their fate at how hard it is to stick with I reply to in this way… “Everyone should be on the candida diet – if you’re not on the candida diet you’re on the composting diet.” The composting diet is a technical term and it basically means that your body has recognised that there is far too much acid in your system, which means it’s time for you to start to be recycled – returned to the earth in a manner of speaking – and so yeast, mold and fungus move in to help speed up the process.
Candida is nothing more than out of control, overgrown yeast and fungus. Once the overgrowths are well set in they perpetuate themselves by adding their own acid waste or excrement to the body. In fact it is their toxic waste that produce disease symptoms in the body, not the bacteria, yeast, fungus or mold itself.
Rudolph Vichow writes: “Mosquitoes seek the stagnant water, but do not cause the pool to become stagnant.” General early symptoms of overgrowth include: infection, fatigue, indigestion, diarrhea, food cravings, depression, intestinal pain, hyperactivity, asthma, colds and flu, bad breathe, thrush, hayfever, acne , headaches, lethargy, bladder infection, athlete’s foot, overand under-weight conditions, gas/bloating etc. Microforms thrive on acidity and low oxygen levels which is why we encourage breathing, exercise and good diet and of course good clean water too.
BUT Where do we get our bread fix on a wheatfree diet? Sprouted wheat bread… of course! These are treats we include when we feel like a starchy fix. We don’t eat them every day. If you feel you’re on the wrong side of the ABC’s I’d recommend green juices and wheatgrass shots EVERY day and bread and burgers as once a week (or less) occurences. But we also have to stay sane and as I’ve said over and over the raw food health approach is not about deprivation – it’s about finding a healthier substitution. Another proven method to enhance health is to smile always.