Step 2: Challenge
Now is the time to figure out what's playing havoc with your body. If you've been faithful in Step 1 (the Elimination phase), you've made a great start, and your yeast overgrowth is beginning to get under control.
Now it's time to challenge your system and see what you can and cannot tolerate.
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| Yeast Infection Diet |
It's really up to you how long this step takes, but remember: You must remain on the Step 1 diet throughout this stage with the exception foods you are reintroducing as part of your research.
First, take the yeast challenge:
After you've avoided yeast-containing foods for three weeks, you can find out if you're sensitive to yeast by eating a tablet of brewer's yeast, which you can find at a health food store.
If it doesn't bother you, eat a couple tiny bites of moldy cheese, such as blue cheese or brie the following day. Try a couple of tablespoons of vinegar, perhaps mixed into your salad dressing. Record your responses to these foods over several days. It's important not to add more than one thing at a time so you can be sure you've really tracked down the culprits.
If consuming these yeasty foods triggers symptoms, stay away from them for several weeks. Then you can experiment further. Your sensitivity may diminish as you eliminate the yeast overgrowth.
Truly yeast-free diets are impossible to come by because you'll find yeast and molds on the surfaces of all fruits, vegetables and grains. Once you've discovered that you're sensitive to yeast, you'll need to be your own judge as to how well you tolerate food that may contain some yeasts or molds.
Now take the fruit challenge:
You have avoided all fruits during the first three weeks of your special diet. Now, to see if they bother you, you can do the fruit challenge. Here's how:
Take a small bite of a banana. Ten minutes later, eat a second bite. If you have no reaction in the next hour, eat the whole banana.
If you tolerate the banana without developing symptoms, try strawberries, pineapple, apple or citrus fruits the next day. If you show no symptoms following these fruit challenges, chances are you can eat fruit in moderation. But feel your way along and don't overdo it.
Chances are you will find you can eat freely ...
- all fresh vegetables
- all fresh fruits (in moderation)
- whole grains (in moderation)
You must continue to avoid ...
Sugar, maple syrup, honey, corn sugar, date sugar and sugar-containing foods, packaged and processed foods of low nutritional quality that contain sugar, and hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats and oils.
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| Yeast Infection Diet |
You may find you feel "mad at the world" because you aren't getting the foods you crave. You may act like a two-pack-a-day smoker who quit smoking "cold turkey." Here's why: People who suffer from hidden food allergies are often addicted to the foods causing their problems. To find out more, you can check out Yeast Infection Diet.