candidas diet: chili-spiced beef

after my partner, mark was placed on ridiculous amounts of prednisone and cipro for a stubborn sinus infection, he came down with an even worse condition, an oral yeast infection.  because of the residual steroids and antibiotics in his system, antifungal meds didn't work.  as a result, research led me to changing our entire way of eating and once again, brought me back to alternative methods of healing. namely, the use of herbs and supplements.  after a couple of weeks and seeing his doctor for a check-up, the doctor confirmed we were on the right track and said, "you've got it (candidas) on the run.  just keep doing what you're doing.  as a bonus, mark's triglyceride level was normal for the first time in 40 years!  there is our absolute proof that his high triglycerides were not the result of consuming fats, but of consuming sugars.

what we're doing is the following:

* oil pulling morning and night with pure, organic, raw coconut oil.  coconut oil has specific acids that destroy yeast.  
* wild oregano oil 3 times daily. we're using oreganol brand soft gels.  oregano oil is one of THE best antipathogens available.  (it helped my daughter's c.diff go into remission)
*a really good brand of probiotics that includes multiple strains of good bacteria.  3 capsules daily.
*aloe vera juice-2 oz. a day  this helps white blood cells to combat infection.
*salt water rinses using pink himalayan salt or other mineral laden sea salt.
*DIET-this is SO important.  we've cut out sugar, yeast, alcohol, wheat, corn, soy, starchy vegetables, ham, bacon (and all processed meats such a cold cuts and hotdogs), and fruit from our diet.  every time you eat anything of this nature you are feeding the yeast.  as a result, your problem won't go away.  

read labels!  it's amazing when you really look into what's in your food products what you'll actually find.  very few packaged foods are free of sugar, soy, wheat or other ingredients that may be adding to your problem.  many are hidden under names like dextrose, maltodextrin, potato starch, etc.  educate yourself!

basically we live on meat, (beef, chicken and pork, certain vegetables and a grains, (barley, brown rice, quinoa, oat bran).  no ham, bacon or processed meats like bologna, pepperoni, hot dogs or even sausages because these all contain sugar and/or starch.

what i want to do here is share the way i have changed my cooking habits.  luckily for mark and me, i like to cook and be creative in my cooking, so although this has been challenging it has been a creative outlet for me as well.  i've only been at this for a few weeks, so bear with me as i discover new ways of doing things.  some of the recipes and tips here might be well suited to those who are not only battling a yeast overgrowth, but whose diet is also gluten free, sugar free or paleo in nature.

to begin with, here is a recipe i've used several time prior to this diet simply because it's so tasty. even better, it's easy and made in the crock pot!

chili-spiced beef

2 lb boneless beef roast
4-6 cloves minced garlic
1-2 jalepenos (i usually use one)
1 large onion, chopped
1 Tbsp chili powder (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp salt (pink himalayan or celtic sea salt)
2 Tbsp lime or lemon juice

chopped fresh basil as garnish of desired.
i like to serve this over brown rice.

in a 5-6 quart crock pot or slow cooker combine ingredients and cook 7-8 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high.  you can add veggies such as green beans the last few minutes of cooking if you wish to make this a one pot meal.  

spoon beef and sauce over rice and enjoy.