by Olwen Anderson

Created on: November 05, 2010

Its amazing what a difference changing your diet can make to getting rid of the thrush bug, and one of the biggest changes you need to make for long term effective treatment is reducing the amount of sugar and yeast in your diet.

Its easy to equate eating sugar with spooning sugar out of the jar; but in fact most of the sugar in your diet is hidden; in breakfast cereal, in bread, even in 'savoury' foods like baked beans. Its only when you make the conscious decision to exclude sugar from your diet that you will discover just how much you were eating.  Sometimes this is a surprise!

Sneaky Sources Of Sugar

Of course, adding sugar to your cuppa, biscuits, sweet buns and chocolate are obvious culprits, and can easily be identified. Open up your pantry and read the nutritional labels if you're ready to be shocked at how much sugar is already added to everyday items. Food Standards Australia classify a food as ‘high in sugar’ if it contains more than 10g sugar in every 100g

Of course, fresh and dried fruit contains sugar as well. You still need to eat at least two pieces of fresh fruit every day; just choose fresh fruit that naturally has a lower concentration of sugar.

Fruits with the lowest concentration of sugar are citrus, berries, papaya, pear, melon

Fruits with the highest concentration of sugar are dried fruit, fruit juices, figs, grapes, cherries, mangoes

Foods From Mother Nature That Help Combat Thrush

Green Tea. A refreshing hot drink and a traditional anti-fungal remedy that is very good for you and actually tastes better without sugar! When you're first introduced to green tea, try it very, very weak, then make it stronger as you get used to the taste.

Garlic: This flavoursome food is actually a very powerful natural remedy for a huge range of ailments, from colds and flu to bronchitis, and parasite infections. Candida (the thrush bug) hates garlic, so use it liberally, either cooked or raw. Careful! More than two cloves of raw garlic at once may give you garlic breath: The therapeutic components of garlic naturally migrate to your mucous membranes, including your lungs – that's why raw garlic is so useful for respiratory infections, but not so good for getting up close and personal!)

Sample Diet To Combat Thrush

Here is a diet plan that is low in sugar and yeast, literally helping 'starve' the Candida bug of the food it loves.

First thing in the morning: A glass of water with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Breakfast: - wilt some spinach in a non stick pan. Whisk an egg and pour it over the spinach. Flip over briefly when the egg has set. Include some fresh fruit with your breakfast, plus some green tea. Coffee is OK, but enjoy a long black or a flat white, no added sugar!

Morning tea: Fresh fruit (citrus, pear, melon or berries) with a handful of raw nuts.

Lunch: A large raw salad with some protein – e.g steamed chicken, turkey, char grilled or tinned tuna, salmon. Include a handful of cooked legumes like chick peas (garbanzo beans) plus a yummy dressing like mashed avocado mixed with lemon juice. You can have one piece of yeast-free flat bread too or ½ a cup of cooked rice if you're really hungry.

Afternoon tea: raw carrot sticks with a vegetable based dip like hummus. Or unsweetened plain yoghourt with fruit. Or bircher muesli made of rolled oats soaked overnight in soy milk and grated apple plus yoghourt.

Evening meal: Meat or fish with vegetables or salad. If you're craving something sweet after dinner, reach for citrus fruit.

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