The Candida Crusher Diet: Is Coconut Sugar Okay?

by Eric Bakker N.D.

If you have decided to follow the Candida Crusher diet, I would recommend having no sugar. That means you should avoid palm sugar, date sugar, coconut sugar, and even xylitol and stevia. When I wrote Candida Crusher, I didn’t mind people having small amounts of xylitol or stevia in their diet. But the more I work with people that include these sugars in their diet, the more I say, ‘Don’t do it. It’s a mistake.’

Once you are eating one kind of sugar, it’s very easy to add another type of sugar to your diet. You become accustomed to eating sweet foods and gradually slide back into old, unhealthy habits. My recommendation is this: “Don’t put your hand in the fire unless you want to get burned bad.” Keep your hand out of the fire. Keep a safe distance from it.

If you want something sweet, I suggest turning to naturally sweet foods like berries. Have three or four strawberries to eat or have some raspberries or blackberries. The advantage of eating berries is that you get the sweetness, but you also get phytonutrients and tannic acids that act to prevent sugar spikes. You could also have a tiny amount of Manuka honey – about a quarter of a teaspoon – if you need a small “sugar” fix.

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You don’t want to push your blood sugar up too high. It’s a big problem with Candida, but also with bad bacteria. Harmful bacteria thrive on excessive sugar. When you’ve got Candida issues in the intestines, you also often have very low levels of good bacteria. At the same time, you have harmful bacteria waiting for an opportunity to colonize and create a biofilm. When you add sugars, you’re courting a problem. It’s just not worth it.

When clients ask to have sugar in their diet, I explain that it’s like saying, “Is it okay if I occasionally do 70 or 80 miles an hour on the road, but then back off and go down to 50 or 60?” It’s not okay. You need to set a firm limit for your sugar intake and stick to it. You can flex maybe a percent or two, but don’t let yourself fall right off the sugar wagon. You will have opened the flood gates.

Don’t go back to eating sugar until your gut is almost completely healed, and even then, take it slowly.

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About Eric Bakker N.D.

Eric Bakker ND has completed almost ten years of study and has almost almost 25 years of clinical experience in natural and integrative forms of medicine, and has pursued continuous post-graduate study in Australia, America, India as well as in New Zealand.

Eric is the past Vice President of the NZ Natural Medicine Association and is currently on their editorial advisory board.