Got your question, so take down the answer. One thing though; you’ll find a lot of people will come running at me waving clubs, because I’m about to praise some fermented foods to handle Candida efficiently, and that's against the norm. People have been blind too long against certain beneficial aspects of these particular fermented foods due to their tendencies to generalize. They won’t differentiate between cottage cheese and blue cheese; if it’s cheese, you are advised not to touch it even with a pole. The same with Sauerkraut and kefir.
My researches on leaky gut syndrome and gut dysbiosis was not a flight of fancy. Been there, done that. I have no more complaints. Take my advice if you have the guts (pun intended) for trying new things out, else leave it and go the long way towards recovery.
It is an interesting theory. Despite the candida-suffering majority loathing fermented foods, some are absolutely necessary to help the friendly gut bacteria live and prosper. This is how they take over the pathogens, so as a crash course, you may try my recommendation of a tablespoonful of whey, homemade yogurt (with live and active cultures, goat’s milk yogurt recommended) and sauerkraut juice mix initially, before dinner. Apart from building up the gut flora (since it alkalinizes the insides), these will stimulate digestive juices. As you see the benefits, you will gradually work your way up following the ‘1 extra spoonful every week’ over 6 weeks.
Other things that benefit you highly are buttermilk (fermented milk with a sour taste, the tanginess imparted due to its lactic acid content), unflavored goat’s milk and cheese (you get several types of probiotics ranging from thermophillus and bifudus to bulgaricus and acidophilus), dark chocolate (this one needs probiotics to be added), microalgae (spirulina, chlorella and blue-green algae), miso soup (also a digestive regulator, but not for them who already developed gluten intolerance due to very severe infection) and the common green (dill) pickle. Some also go for Tempeh, but due to its soy content, I’d say stay away from it.
A better option is Kimchi or pickled sauerkraut, it is also spicy and used rather as a condiment than proper food in Korea. This one will also give you enough beta-carotene, iron, calcium and vitamins (A, C, B1 and B2) and is good for your digestion. You have to be careful where you do get the Kimchi from, you need it home made, not from the stores as they are not fermented properly.
However, sometimes when people grow really ill from a parasite or a yeast infection, anything apart from yogurt might do more harm than good. The reason behind is a hyper-sensitivity to the myco-toxins these pathogens release and the fermented foods, being chemically the byproducts of the friendly bacteria, trigger similar responses. However, this sensitivity, at worst, is temporary. Another reason is these foods are also very high in ‘Tyramine’, an amino acid that’s a derivative of Tyrosine, another amino acid found in most proteins. This Tyramine has an epinephrine-like action and may lead to adrenal fatigue. It also causes inflammation of the stomach and intestinal linings. In that case, you must reduce your infection with probiotics supplements and other herbs and spices and then you must go for these probiotics-rich foods. If you are doing this and are not seeing any benefit from foods, you must really consider probiotic supplements. The supplements must be coated in an Enteric coat so it can pass through your stomach to your gut. You should also look for the right supplement, do not believe it's great if it just has 100 billion live organisms per serving, because different probiotics have different costs and shelf stability. You're much better off getting less of a good probiotic than more of a cheap one. All in good time.
