BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Alternative Medicine Systemic Candida Overgrowth. Need advice.

My 10 year old daughter craves sugar ALL THE TIME. She is on the autism spectrum (high functioning) and has terrible ADHD.
I did the "spit test" on her to see if she showed signs of candida overgrowth. Yep... very obvious. So I went to the store today and bought a product manufactured by enzymatics or something like that that is to kill the candida. I want to start her on it soon.
My question is, do I just remove all sugar from her diet at once (which will be very difficult for her... and those of us who live with her!) or can I allow her a little something sweet?
What sort of foods, besides obvious sweets (candy, cakes, cookies, fruit juice and kool aid) do I avoid?

And will she ever be completely rid of it or will we have to fight it always. (This enzyme wasn't cheap).
Hope you can help me!
collier5

What you might want to do is start by replacing with sugar substitutes like Splenda to begin with.

My oldest son has Asperger's - and my youngest son is very sensitive to sugar as well, so we started switching over to Splenda in things like Koolaid. It has made a big difference in behavior - and the kids haven't complained about not getting snacks.

Also, if she is ADHD as well, she may have a very high metabolism - and this is why she is having cravings so much. The problem with sugar is that it gives an instant "fix" but also wears off very quickly, so she has another craving very soon afterwards. So try to start getting her to snack on high protein foods like cheese sticks, nuts, Slim Jims, yogurt, even PB&J sandwiches on whole wheat bread would be better than Little Debbie type snacks.

The protein will give her a much longer lasting energy boost and keep her staified longer.

The other thing about yogurt is that it is a natural enemy of Candida. It will help even out her system without having to stay on the enzymes all the time.

Good Luck!

I agree with Michelle about the high protein snacks! We differ on our approaches to using artificial sweeteners though. Yogurt is also a great idea, as long as it isn't packed with sugar. Also, taking proboitic supplements will keep the candida at bay.

Why I don't like artificial sweeteners (most children's livers are overwhelmed by the age of 2):
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I should clarify...

I didn't mean to use the artificial sweeteners long-term, but as a way to wean off of the sugar. Kind of like the way a smoker uses the patch to wean off of cigarettes. Then they eventually come off the patch, too.

Eventually you'll come off the artificial sweeteners and use honey, or just have fruits and other naturally sweet items for snacks.

A really good way to keep the amount of sugar down in yogurt is to buy plain yogurt and no-sugar jam (like Polaner All-Fruit) and mix the jam in with the yogurt. That's what I do.

We use Stevia as a sweetener. It's a natural, zero calorie sweetener.

When my daughter was ill, we started using Holy Tea as a natural detox and it really helped her. Detoxing is a great help for candida, altho for a child I'd stay away from some of the harsher ones out there and read labels.

Yes! Stevia is an excellent sugar alternative, and one of the few that do not feed candida. Two other natural, healthy sweeteners that are candida safe (all plant derivatives) are Lo Han and Xylitol. See if your local health food store carries them. If not, you can request that they do, or purchase them online.

Here is an excellent article on sweeteners and how they affect the body:
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Collier, I wanted to thank you for inspiring a new article, which is now up on my Stomach Issues site, on Systemic Candida.
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I've used grapefruit seed extract (Citricidal) for candida and found it helpful.

You have to be careful with killing off this stuff too quickly. It could really upset her stomach. I have read that activated charcoal can help with this. I think the book "Enzymes for Autism..." by Karen DeFelice has a section on treating systemic yeast. You might want to get it from the library. It should be indexed so you can go right to it (or maybe had a contents section that was clear)

Anyone who is craving foods (like sugar, sweetness, simple carbs in general) is probably low in the minerals magnesium and chromium. Great for energy and helping to balancing blood sugar.

Siobhan