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My Anti-Candida, Anti-Psoriasis Diet – 9 Steps Towards Healing

My Anti-Candida, Anti-Psoriasis Diet was cobbled together from several different books and internet sources and trial and error. This has been working well for me, but every person is different, so listen to your body.

Please check with your doctor or trained health care provider before making major diet changes if you have a serious medical condition.

In addition to diet, I have also used topical psoriasis treatments, herbs and other complimentary therapies, which I'll discuss in more detail in upcoming posts.

My Anti-Candida, Anti-Psoriasis Diet - 9 Dietary Strategies to Help Reduce Inflammation, Speed Healing and Rebuild Your Microbiome

Anti-Candida, Anti-Psoriasis Diet Step #1 – Avoiding Allergens

I suspected my skin problems might be linked to some sort of allergic reaction to food. I ordered blood based allergy testing from Meridian Valley Labs (IgE and IgG4 antibodies) in mid-October, and finally got the results back in late November.

The results were not what I expected. I had traveled to Rhode Island in early October, and had eaten foods I'd been limiting or avoiding (such as gluten) on the trip. The testing showed a reaction to egg yolk, kidney beans, Brazil nuts, black beans, kale, navy beans, and pineapple. Grains (including corn and wheat) showed virtually no reaction, and dairy products were low.

Scrambled eggs and kale were a regular breakfast food, and I had been eating Brazil nuts for the selenium for my thyroid, but the other items were not foods I consumed on a regular basis. None of the foods were extremely reactive – they barely made it into the “avoid” range.

Even though they weren't flagged by the allergy testing, I still decided to stick with eating gluten free, and avoided dairy products for about a month. (It should be noted that all types of allergy testing can produce false negatives or false positives at times. They are not 100% accurate.)

I've since reintroduced limited dairy. All our corn products (and most of our food) is organic to avoid GMOs and glyphosate contamination. See “Bt Corn” for more information.

The “Big 8” Top Food Allergens in the United States are:

  • Peanuts
  • Tree nuts
  • Milk
  • Eggs
  • Wheat
  • Soy
  • Fish 
  • Shellfish

These foods account for 90% of food-allergic reactions. If you suspect a food allergy might be part of your health problems (most people with health problems do have compromised digestion), it may be helpful to eliminate these foods for a time and reintroduce them one at a time to see if your condition changes. 

In Eating Alive, the author also has four different levels of foods to avoid. Group I is foods that he believes should be avoided by everyone. Group IV includes foods that may be a problem for some.

Groups II and II are in between. I include his list here because it may be helpful for some. I avoided groups I – III for about a month in the course of healing, and still limit foods from those groups.

Group I – Coffee, tea, chocolate, white sugar, alcohol, artificial sweeteners and preservatives, salt and tobacco

Group II – Baking yeast, peanuts, brown sugar, cow products and pork

Group III – Wheat, tomatoes, brewer's yeast and mushrooms

Group IV – Lamb, beef, chicken, turkey, eggs, shellfish, fish, soya, lemon, oranges, grapefruit, pineapple, apples, bananas, peaches, currants, raisins, apricots, strawberries, potatoes, squash, rye, oats, rice, corn, alfalfa, eggplant, carrots, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, peppers, turnips, walnuts, cashews, brazil nuts, honey, maple syrup, molasses, raw sugar, curry, garlic, vinegar and onions

Step #2 – Limit Carbohydrates

Once I realized I was dealing with candida growth, I knew excessive carbs could cause trouble. Yeast loves sugar. I didn't go extreme low carb, since that can cause trouble if you have an underactive thyroid (which I do), but I eliminated snacks like chips and crackers, took only small portions of any sort of grains or potatoes, and pretty much ditched dessert.

I eat my fruit apart from other meals so it digests quickly and moves on through without much time to feed the yeast. Veggies, meat and healthy fat make up the bulk of my calorie intake.

In a fine twist of fate, I've been working on finishing my bread recipes book – which required making all the recipes in the book so I could get good quality photos.

At least the rest of the family and the neighbors have been enjoying the bread. (The book is going to be great and worth the work!)

Step #3 – Start the Day with Hot Lemon Water

Morning lemon water's becoming quite popular in a number of circles to help alkalize and rehydrate the body. I opted for the Eating Alive version, which calls for fresh squeezed lemon (for maximum enzyme content), warm water, and a small amount of natural sweetener.

I use about half a teaspoon of organic molasses for the magnesium content. Sometimes I also include a dash of cayenne pepper, but I don't enjoy the taste.

Step #4 – Chew Your Food!

This may seem self-explanatory, but digestion begins in the mouth, and we are a nation that often eats in a hurry. Wolfing down poorly chewed food makes the rest of our digestive system work much harder.

Take the time to chew every bite completely and mix the food well with saliva before swallowing the bolus.

Step #5 – Intermittent Fasting

I'm not counting my calories, but I am watching when I'm taking in my calories. After watching the video below, I decided to give intermittent fasting a try. It took about a week for my body to adjust.

At first I had headaches and some fatigue. Now I've settled into a routine and it's pretty easy. I try to finish supper by 7pm, and don't eat the next morning until after 10 am.

Before 10 am, I start with lemon water between 7am and 8am, and medicinal herbal tea between 9 and 10am.

Between 10:30 and 11am, I have a serving of fruit. Lunch is usually between noon and 1pm, second dose of herbal tea mid-afternoon, supper between 6 and 7pm, and a third dose of herbal tea around 8:30 pm.

Dr. Mercola is also a proponent of intermittent fasting, and notes on his site that intermittent fasting promotes the following:

  • Helps promote insulin sensitivity – Optimal insulin sensitivity is crucial for your health, as insulin resistance or poor insulin sensitivity contributes to nearly all chronic diseases
  • Normalizes ghrelin levels, also known as your “hunger hormone”
  • Increases the rate of HGH production, which has an important role in health, fitness, and slowing the aging process
  • Lowers triglyceride levels
  • Helps suppress inflammation and fight free radical damage
  • In addition, exercising in a fasted state can help counteract muscle aging and wasting, and boost fat-burning.

I regularly exercise early in the morning while still fasting. My belly does start growling, but it's not that tough to hold out until after 10 to eat now that I've gotten used to it. If I was doing more heavy labor in the morning, I might have to shift my eating time earlier.

I did have some minor issues with headaches and fatigue the first week I switched to this schedule, but do not anymore.

Typical fasting times are 14-18 hours. Women tend to do better with the shorter fasting times, but each person is unique.

Step #6 – Use Herbal Teas

I rotate through different herbal teas to help kill off the candida, address inflammation in the body and flush out toxins. From what I've read, candida adapts quickly to whatever you're trying to use to wipe it out, so it's a good idea to change your herbal tea every 7-14 days.

Teas that I have used for my Candida/Psoriasis:

I have also tried different anti-candida herbal tinctures and pills, but found them to be constipating, which slows down healing. The teas work more gently with my system. 

For more information on healthy pooping habits, see “Things We’re Embarrassed to Talk About – What’s a Healthy Bowel Movement?

Step #7 – Include Probiotics

While you are fighting off candida overgrowth and working to rebuild a healthy microbiome, it's critical to send in beneficial microbes to rebuilt your inner ecosystem. Live culture foods can be wonderful, but sometimes the wild yeasts that are present may be too much for an already stressed immune system. Listen to your gut, or work with a trained health care practitioner.

While I was on my most restricted part of the diet, I avoided live culture foods. Instead, I tool probiotic capsules. Spore based probiotics can penetrate deeper into the digestive tract, making them exceptionally helpful.

In the book Brain Maker, Dr. Perlmutter explores fascinating connections between gut and brain health, and highly recommends the use of probiotics supplements and live culture foods. In some severe cases, he even recommends probiotic enemas (with specific species of bacteria that are native to the lower intestine) or fecal transplants. It may sound crazy, but he has clearly demonstrated life changing results via a change in the microbiome.

Step #8 – Include Prebiotics

Along with the good bacteria, it's helpful to stock your guts with prebiotics, which are foods that the good bacteria need to thrive. Inulin is well known prebiotic, and it can be found in foods such as (Adapted from The Body Ecology Diet):

Many other fruits also contain inulin, but are too high in sugar to eat in quantity while fighting candida overgrowth. Gluten free “grains” such as amaranth, quinoa, millet and buckwheat can also feed good bacteria without the gut-irritating effects of gluten.

Note:  If your guts are severely overgrown with pathogenic bacteria, it may be necessary to limit prebiotics, as they can also provide food for bad bacteria. This is explained in more detail in the Gut and Psychology Syndrome.

Step #9 – Limit Drinks with Meals

It's not uncommon for US residents to knock back one or more large (often sugar filled) glasses of liquid with a meal. This can negatively affect digestion, as it dilutes the digestive enzymes. Instead of washing down half chewed food, take the time to chew more thoroughly, and you'll find you have less need to guzzle down liquid. Sip, don't chug, and drink most of your daily water intake between meals.

Diet Change Heals from the Inside Out

For me, no topical psoriasis treatment that I tried had long lasting results – until I dramatically changed my diet. Now, not only is my skin clearing, I have also lost around 30 pounds, have more energy, clearer thoughts and an overall better quality of life.

I was asked recently by my chiropractor, “Wasn't it hard to make such a big change?”

My response, “Yes, it was hard, but not nearly as hard is living in pain every single day.”

Feel free to share your story in the comments, and I'll see you next week with the next post in the series.

My Anti-Candida, Anti-Psoriasis Diet - 9 Dietary Strategies to Help Reduce Inflammation, Speed Healing and Rebuild Your Microbiome

Recommended Resources:

Other posts in the series:

Now available in kindle or print, “Psoriasis Healing – From Curse to Blessing“.

Released in 2020, this book shares my story and other tips for healing.

"Psoriasis Healing: From Curse to Blessing" book cover
https://commonsensehome.com/psoriasis-healing/

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21 Comments

  1. Hi!
    I have a question regarding the teas… do you use all of them over the same period, ou do you alternate?
    Thanks a lot, those are all great leads to try
    Myriam

    1. As noted in the article:

      “From what I’ve read, candida adapts quickly to whatever you’re trying to use to wipe it out, so it’s a good idea to change your herbal tea every 7-14 days.”

      I didn’t follow a specific schedule, but I did rotate teas, not use all of them at the same time.

  2. Beef and lamb, eggs too? Someone have big lacks of knowledge. I can bet with anyone, 1 month on fattest steaks only and water and your skin is totally free of psoriasis, one month on raw grass fed milk (no steroids and no antibiotics!) and you will be free of psoriasis, milk only like newborn! nothing more! natural milk and meat removes inflammation and there is no discussion with it. This is healthiest food human can eat. Its not only for psoriasis, its for EVERY chronic disease we know.

  3. thank you so much for sharing your story and what has helped your body heal from arthritis/candida! wondering how long it took for you to see symptom relief? i have a family member who i am planning to begin changing diet and wanted to know so it would help them stick with it!

    1. Each person is unique and diet changes are only one piece of the puzzle. It took about a year from when my symptoms started appearing to when they finally cleared. Good luck.

    1. Several months. You can look through some of the other posts in the series and see the photos of how it progressed. The most stubborn spots cleared later in 2016, and I’ve been clear ever since.

      I remember having a session with Mary Jean (my BodyTalk friend who helped me work through this) late in 2015, when my skin was at its worst. She said at that time that it would be much better in 3-4 months. I wanted to believe her, but still had my doubts. It turns out she was right.

  4. Thanks for the list of foods above. That’s easier than seeing what not to eat. You might also want to try bone broth — recipe all over the Internet. Just make sure you use organic, grass fed bones and make sure you add a splash or two of organic apple cider vinegar to the batch.

    1. Oh – and I should make time to update the posts in the series with new photos, but the good news is that my skin has cleared completely, including the stubborn spots like my elbows and under my breasts. Even the scarring has disappeared, like it never happened.

  5. Questions:

    -What are a few typical breakfast, lunch and dinner meals?
    -What type of exercise did/do you do?
    -Did you take any anti-fungals or do any high colonics or enemas?

    1. Since I’ve been intermittent fasting by delaying eating until later in the day, I don’t always eat breakfast. Sometimes I’ll have a serving of fruit mid-morning, as one of the anti-candida books I read suggested keeping fruit separate from other meals so it goes through your digestive system quickly and doesn’t sit around fermenting too long.

      If I do eat breakfast, it’s usually something like eggs and veggies, or meat and veggies, maybe a green smoothie. Now that I have my system regulating better, once in a while I’ll have some granola, or make pancakes or waffles on Sunday morning.

      Lunch and dinner – again, when watching the carb count, meat and veggies are the easiest answers.

      For lunch, each family member tends to eat when they’re hungry, so I’m only fixing food for myself. My main “go to meal” is big salads loaded with:

      Veggies – whatever’s in season from the garden, or organic mixed greens, carrots, snap peas, etc.
      Pickled veggies – pickled beets, kraut, pickled dilly beans
      Protein – egg on top, smoked fish, pickled fish, chopped ham or whatever’s left in the fridge
      Seeds – pepitas, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds
      Nuts – we usually have a lot of walnuts on hand, so I throw some of those in, too
      If I’m eating dairy, I’ll chop some cheese and add it
      Drizzle of oil and vinegar to finish

      They more or less look like the fridge and pantry exploded on a plate. If I’m not having a full salad, then either meat and veggies left from the previous night’s meal, or some other variation. Snap peas (or other fresh veggies) and guacamole are a good side dish, or paired up with hummus. I don’t get fancy.

      For dinner, we all sit down together as a family, so I do more cooking then, but still we tend to keep it simple. Some sort of meat – beef roast, roast chicken, ham, etc; vegetables (fresh and/or cooked, depending on season) and starch on the side so it’s easy to limit or skip.

      I did not explicitly attempt to get rid of all salt from my diet, or attempt to avoid most of the Group IV foods. When avoiding gluten, most recipes can easily sub gluten free flours or non-gmo corn starch or arrowroot (for thickening). I also have several “go to” gluten free bread recipes. If it needs to stay low carb, coconut flour and almond flour will work, although it’s best to use recipes that are made specifically for them.

      Exercise – Once or twice a week, interval training. Now we have a nautilus, but before that I was doing timed sprinting in place – 30 seconds all out, 90 second moderate pace, repeat 8 times. On “off” days, I take a walk or garden or do a light aerobic workout. We recently got a rebounder, so I’ve added some time on that into the mix, too.

      For anti-fungals, I just used the herbal teas. Thought about colon cleaning, but didn’t attempt. Since changing my diet, regular pooping is not an issue. Have occasionally overdone MCT supplements or eaten something out of refrigerator that probably should have been composted and pooped so much I’m pretty sure I could whistle from my backside, so I think I’m fairly well covered.

  6. Hi Laurie,

    I just had a question regarding the “diet” did you do this for a period of time? Or is this an overall lifestyle at this point.

    Thanks!
    Jenn

    1. I’m still using most of the elements of the diet, but I have reintroduced most foods. I still generally avoid gluten and limit dairy, and avoid the items that were flagged as potentially most problematic on the allergy testing.

  7. At the age of 20 I started to develop reactions on my face, very severe and incredibly similar to what you described in your post ” Candida – Missing Link to Healing Psoriasis and Other Illness”
    My dermatologist had suggested to me that the reaction I was having could have been linked with the birth control I was taking but didn’t provide any further information and was reluctant to the idea of allergies and dismissed the idea of me having any tests done. I was aswell taking a topical treatment with steroids in it. I stopped taking my birth control and it resulted in, A BABY! Just kidding, but the reactions on my face disappeared and I thought that was the end of it. A little over a year later I started taking another kind with a lower dose of hormones hoping I wouldn’t be effected by it. And so for the last, just about a year I have continuously had reactions even after stopping. I have seen countless doctors of different areas of expertise and have been consistently left with empty answers. “This is what you have, but lets not try to find out whats causing it”. I had spent a majority of my late teens partying very hard, and I think the abuse left on my body finally decided to fight back. Your post was more or less completely similar to what I have experienced and I am so thankful to have stumbled upon it!After getting a test done and verifying that is what I have been experiencing, I am very excited to be starting MY ” Anti-Candida, Anti-Psoriasis Diet ” tomorrow and have very high hopes for results.
    Many Thanks X

    1. Glad you didn’t end up with an unexpected baby. 😉

      I hope you can find the right diet that helps you improve your health. It can be challenging at times, but I feel world’s better than I did this time last year.

    2. Birth control pills are known to contribute to candida overgrowth due to their effect on your hormones particularly estrogen. You can find information on many sites if you search the internet. And then once the candida imbalance starts it can cause further hormone imbalances due to the stress it puts on your body, among other factors. I have been dealing with candida for a number of years and have been following a candida diet for almost as many and it was only after going to a naturopathic doctor to get my hormones back in balance that I really began to see strong results.

  8. Good 9 steps Laurie,
    As I said I’m trying to list in order what steps I took to get back in control It isn’t easy. There are just two points I want to speak on one is Fruit is good but watch out for it too has a lot of sugar. Sugar is Sugar even with fruit Read my article
    Watching Fructose – So What Fruit Can I Eat?
    http://coconutcreamcare.com/2012/07/09/watching-fructose-so-what-fruit-can-i-eat/
    The second thing is Soil based probiotics are like eating dirt and are good but they are spores and populate fast if your gut needs repairing it isn’t ready for this strong of probiotic. Remember You have to go slow. Your body has a language learn to hear it.
    I had to turn to bitter foods to rebuild my stomach acid so I could tolerate food better. Like your use of the Lemon.
    Also remember you need magnesium more than any other mineral.
    Keep up the good work No body is talking about Yeast and Candida and it is responsible for many many illnesses.

  9. Since a major candida clean-up about 10 years ago I have noticed that I still have to be cautious with a few foods and to be careful to limit and rotate all sugars except a daily dose of raw honey. I’m seeing some strategies, recommended foods and herbs that were not commonly discussed during that period. I am going to study this post in depth, add some foods and refer back to it at those times when my gut acts up.
    One point that got a lot of discussion a number of years ago was the importance of maximizing the enzyme content of foods. I took vegetable sourced enzymes in capsule form for years, but found that eating a good portion of raw foods and dairy kefir and yogurt to be most helpful Some of the foods I have difficulty digesting cooked are digestible if I also eat a small portion of those veggies raw, such as with onions, garlic and carrots. My guess is that there are sugars or other some form of carbohydrates in those veggies that require some enzymes (in my case) to be properly digested. I also handle grain better if I can have some miso (Miso Master Organic Chickpea Miso: No soy, delicate in flavor, all US ingredients. Also very soothing if I am in the mood for a cup of quick broth). A number of the foods on the prebiotics list are high in enzymes, some of them will keep their enzymes even when cooked a bit.
    A point about feeling crummy while fasting: I started my candida campaign with a high level of mercury and other heavy metals in my teeth and organs. Fasting at that time was extremely unpleasant and uncomfortable. After removing the metals from my teeth and especially on a routine with a daily pint of organic cow’s milk kefir, the metals level went way down and fasting became easier and more comfortable.
    It took a lot of discipline, but the relief and transformed quality of life was worth the will power. The discoveries Laurie made will definitely be on my “tweak up” list.

    1. As we age, our enzyme production tends to naturally decrease, so that’s a good point. I’m planning to slowly reintroduce more live culture foods now that things have settled a bit. Some references suggest starting them immediately, other recommend bring down inflammation first and keeping to more controlled enzymes and/or probiotics.

  10. Thank you Laurie for sharing this information it was very interesting. I know many people suffering with the same problem.