Could a better diet cut crime?

This is absolutely fascinating. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the world could become a better place just through encouraging good nutrition? And how many young lives could be turned around? Oh, I'm coming over all hippy-like. ;)

New (to me) cookery book and great recipe

On the look out for another recipe book full of healthy, easily adaptable recipes, I bought the Readers' Digest Food For Your Body at a second hand bookshop last week. It's full of lovely, simple recipes, most of which are candida diet okay (with the odd substitute).

What most attracted me was the section on mood food and, last night, I made one of the recipes suggested to restore a sense of calm (which I'm sorely missing at the moment!), Pan-fried Salmon with Pineapple Salsa (p. 275). I won't reproduce the recipe here, but suffice to say it was easy to follow and worked out really well. I substituted the maple syrup/honey for a tsp of granulated xylitol, with no obvious disadvantage. All in all a very tasty recipe, and one I will be making again.

I'm desperate to try out the Lemon Polenta Cake recipe on page 129, but I fear I won't be able to get polenta at my local Co-op. :( Will have to wait until I've got a chance to go into town again next week.

Vegetable Bouillon

Just a quick note about Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon (Reduced Salt). It's completely Candida diet friendly, suitable for vegans, and has less salt than the Kallo Yeast-free stock cubes. And a much more pleasant taste - very herby, and curry-powder free! Look for the purple tub!

Anxiety and Candida

Of course, I'd forgotten all about the link between candida overgrowth and mental well being. So, while I said the other day that I'd managed to go 'off-diet' for a couple of weeks without any major problems, the increased levels of anxiety and general miserable-ness which coincided with me eating masses of sugar and cheese and crap are likely to be connected. Especially as I've noticed that since I went back on the diet, my mood has slowly improved. Just another reason why its imperative that I don't slip back into old ways. And drink plenty of water. And remember to take all those damn supplements! ;)

Sourdough bread now available at Tescos!

My local Tescos (and, hopefully, those nationally) have started to stock their own freshly baked sourdough bread. They have three different varieties, including a baguette. Oh, happy day!

Oatcakes: Orangutan friendly!

Just a quick one. If like me you're concerned about the environmental impact of palm oil, you'll be pleased to hear that Paterson's use olive oil in their oatcakes and market them as orangutan friendly. Three cheers for them!

Update and EFT

I haven't posted anything here for a long time for several reasons.

i) my candida symptoms continue to improve steadily;

ii) it's been Christmas (obviously) and my nutritional therapist gave me the festive season off (which was great AND didn't provoke too nasty a reaction); and

iii) some of the emotional difficulties I had been dealing with over the summer have resurfaced, and have preoccupied my mind.

However, I did want to sign in briefly to write about my new discovery, EFT (aka 'tapping') and ponder how it might be utilised to combat candida.

For those that aren't in the know (like me until just over twenty-four hours ago!) Emotional Freedom Technique is a kind of acupressure-cum-hypno therapy developed in the 1990s by Gary Craig. You can find out loads more about the technique (which involves tapping a series of points on the body) on his website, including a comprehensive and completely free to download 'how to' manual. The idea is that when we experience something disturbing or distressing, or become ill, etc., our energy fields are disrupted. EFT works by fixing these blockages, helping to ease painful memories, or - indeed - physical pain.

I've been trying it to help with my anxiety symptoms. It's very easy to do when you know how, and doesn't take a lot of time. And, if my experience so far is anything to go by, it really is effective. I don't know how and I don't know why, but my God it works! And that's all I care about.

So, could it be used to combat candida symptoms? Well - to paraphrase Gary Craig himself - I'm prepared to try it (EFT) on anything. And a case study I've found suggests it could be effective. Could be the difference between managing my symptoms and eradicating them for good? Will post an update if (when!) I have anything further to report...

Experiments with Xylitol: Banana Cakes

After picking up some granulated xylitol at Holland & Barrett the other day, I thought I'd experiment with a bit of baking. And, as I had several very ripe bananas hanging about the house, I decided to try making banana cake. And, even if I do say so I myself, it was a bit of a triumph!!!

Banana Cakes

Makes 24 small fairy cakes

3 large overripe bananas
2 large beaten eggs
6 oz granulated xylitol (brand name 'Perfect Sweet')
8 oz plain flour (I didn't use wholemeal this time)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp vanilla essence
walnut pieces
plenty of paper cake cases

Mash the bananas in a bowl. Add the beaten eggs and sugar. Sift the flour and bicarb into the bowl and beat all the ingredients together well (you could use an electric mixer, but I managed perfectly well by hand). Spoon into paper cases. Top with a piece of walnut. Place on a baking tray and bake in the centre of a preheated oven at 180 C for 12-15 mins, until the cakes are golden brown. Cool and then enjoy!

* * *

What I really like about these cakes is that they're really not too sweet, and the flavour of the banana really comes through. Yum!

Once you pop...

Oh, blessed day! Marks & Spencer has begun manufacturing its own version of Pringles (aka 'Stackers'). And, guess what? The Lightly Sea Salted variety are anti-Candida diet okay!

Some new (to me) products

A new health food shop has opened just down the road from me, and I was delighted to find that they stock LOADS of Candida diet suitable products, including a few I haven't come across before:

Brilliantly they had at least three varieties of yeast-free (naturally leavened), wholewheat bread produced by The Village Bakery. I've been trying out the Organic Campagne. Dense in texture, but makes very good toast. And very reminiscent of my own attempts at sourdough a few weeks ago.

They also stock Savoury Seed biscuits (crackers, really), again made by The Village Bakery. Spicy and slightly crumbly, they make a nice change from plain oatcakes.

Finally, I found Biona Lucky Stars in their chiller cabinet. Made from tofu and vegetables, they're a great fridge/freezer standby. Probably aimed at children, but that doesn't bother me!

A delicious apricot fool

This evening, craving something sweet, I decided to make Miriam Polunin's Apricot Almond Fool, minus the almonds, but plus chopped brazil nuts. It was delicious!! So good, in fact, that rather than just direct you to the page in the book (p. 130, btw), I'm going to reproduce it here. A great recipe for the candida diet repertoire.

Apricot Almond Fool

Serves 4 (I made half the quantity and got two decent servings from it)

250g dried apricots (go for the dark, unsulphured type - much better flavour, almost caramelly)

500ml live, low-fat natural yoghurt (I actually used a half yoghurt, half creme fraiche mixture, cos that's what I had in the fridge!)

1 tbsp honey (optional, I felt the mixture was sweet enough without it, to be honest)

40g unblanched almonds, roughly chopped (I used brazil nuts instead)

fresh mint or edible flowers (for poncey decoration, if that floats your boat!)

1. Place the apricots in a saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for five mins. Drain and add fresh cold water to cover the apricots.

2. Return to the boil, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 mins, or until the apricots are soft.

3. Cool slightly. Liquidize with just enough cooking water to make a thick puree. Cool until lukewarm.

4. Stir in the yoghurt and honey, if using. Chill until ready to serve.

5. Just before serving, heat the almonds in an ungreased frying pan over a low heat for two-three mins, until just starting to turn golden. Sprinkle over the fool, decorate with the fresh mint or edible flowers, if using, and serve.

New supplement regime

Well, I say 'new', but I have been on it for a couple of weeks now. I'm back on the anti-fungals in a big way...

Bioacidophilus - 2 per day (breakfast and evening meal)
PT208 - 2 per day (breakfast and evening meal)
Echinacea - 1 per day (breakfast)
Mycopryl 400 - 2 per day (breakfast and evening meal)
Mag 2:1 Cal - 3 per day (breakfast, lunch and evening meal)
Multivit - 1 per day (breakfast)
Milk Thistle - 1 per day (evening meal)
Iron - 1 per day (evening meal)

Strange to be taking so many tablets again. Are they doing the trick? Well, they're doing something. Have been experiencing a flare-up - started in my mouth (though that could have been the two enormous pieces of chocolate birthday cake I ate at my friend's recent 30th birthday party!) and has since spread throughout (yuck), but that's no surprise. The Mycopryl always makes things worse to begin with. However, starting to feel like I'm getting back onto an even keel again - digestion has improved, mouth feels less sore and furry and the rest is improving daily. A little disappointing that things should have flared up again, but it's the first since July, and really wasn't that bad when I consider the pain I used to experience.

All in all, still feeling fairly positive about my recovery.

Adventures in Sourdough

I recently read somewhere (a link I sadly lost) that the Candida Society now recommends that sufferers just avoid sugar where possible, as the prohibitions of the hardcore anti-Candida diet make it too difficult to stick too - there could be some wisdom there! Anyway, while I was at home over the summer, I ate a great deal of sourdough bread (leavened with 'natural' yeasts) with no significant 'side-effects', so I decided - as a little diversionary project - to 'grow my own'. :)


The website I used was this one. It gives easy to follow instructions on how to create a sourdough starter and how to bake with it. Unlike a lot of other websites and recipes I found, this recipe does not use added yeast or sugar as a booster. All you need is rye flour (chosen because it ferments more quickly than other flours), wholemeal strong bread flour, water, salt and a lot of patience.

Day one

I probably chose the wrong time of year to start my...er...starter, so it took a little longer than it might usually to get nice and bubbly. I only have a tiny (shared) kitchen, so I chose to keep the starter in my bedroom where I could control the ambient temperature more easily. But, the fact it is a rather chilly room, probably retarded the starter, so the whole process described on the website took around twelve days, before the starter was ready to bake with.

Hubble, bubble...

But, as you can see, it was well worth the wait! My first loaf of (yeasted) bread - I'm so proud. :)





The proof is, of course, in the eating. The verdict? Not too bad for a first go. The bread is nice and crusty, although the texture is quite dense. I suspect this is down to one of the inherent disadvantages of wholemeal bread flour, and the fact the starter was commenced with rye flour. Over time, hopefully, my starter (which is dormant in the fridge at the moment) will improve to produce a more flavoursome loaf that is lighter in texture. Oh, and I could have done with adding a little more salt to the dough methinks.

With a bit of olive oil spread and St Dalfour apricot jam (sweetened with fruit juice) as a treat!

Juice, juice, luverly juice!

Actually, not 'juice', but cordial, or - if you prefer - squash. I discovered Suma Organic Apple, Raspberry and Cranberry Juice pure fruit concentrate in my local independent health food store this afternoon. It's refreshing, contains just concentrated fruit juice and a very little goes a long way (dilute with water). Which is good, cos it's really quite expensive (the RRP is a whopping £3.59!).

N.B. Photograph taken from the Suma website.

More Ginger and Lemon Tea news!

Whittards make a delicious refreshing and just-spicy-enough Ginger and Lemon Tea - crucially without added citric acid. It's even better than the Marks & Sparks version.