Welcome Joe.

> I was looking at the SC diet [Specific Carbohydrate diet] and see that they
> recommend dairy, some legumes, etc., but Paleo seems to be the best one.
>
Couldn't agree with you more.  I've been experimenting with variations
on all these diets for several years and find it's an individual thing,
depending on your particular problem, and what stage of healing your gut
is in.  Although I haven't done dairy for well over a decade, many of
the SCDers have problems with it.  Even with the lactose fermented out,
there are still casien and whey protiens that plague most with
candida-imposed leaky gut syndrome.

> I also think I may have been very deficient in Magnesium, and am taking Mg
> amino acid chelate now.
>
Good idea.  Candida is notorious for sucking the magnesium, B vitamins
(especially biotin), and a host of other nutrients out of you.  But I'm
guessing you already know that, or are at least in the process of
learning that.  Personally (and many folks on the Yeast-L list would
agree), a hydrochloric acid supplement has been the second most
effective thing after the paleo diet for me.  Candida provide themselves
with an alkaline environment, weakening your stomach's HCl production in
the process.  And although your magnesium supplement is desperately
needed, it is alkaline (ever notice that antacid abuse is partly to
blame for helping candida along, and that antacids are composed of--you
guessed it--magnesium and calcium, two very alkaline minerals), thus
further hindering your HCl's ability to break down those intact proteins
that feed your dysbiosis and give you all those nasty leaky gut
symptoms.

> It seems
> to me that this diet would be a far better treatment than anything else.
>

I agree with Richard here:

> Candida overgrowth is notoriously hard to treat with diet and
> probiotics alone. Best to submit to a one month course of antifungals
> to address the root of the problem then use diet and probiotics to 1)
> re-establish the favorable intestinal flora and 2) prevent a relapse.
>
As incredibly strict as I have been with my diet for well over two years
now--paleo, plus allergy rotation, plus blood type (eased up on this one
a bit), plus limiting starchy roots--, and as much as it has helped to
do so, candida becomes too well-established for our battered immune and
endocrine systems to handle.  I was very stubborn about taking
prescription antifungals for several years, and thought my immaculate
adherance to my paleo diet would 'save' me.  Now, with exhausted adrenal
function, I dearly regret my descision.  I learned too late that, once
candida are starved of the carbs you've been feeding them, they get a
tighter grip on your gut walls and start feeding more intensely off your
mucosa and digging deeper into your gut layers (they change their diet
too).   But that's just my story, not everyone's (though adrenal
exhaustion is common and the net result of untreated candida).  Depends
on the degree of immune dysfunction, I would guess.

Again, I agree with Richard here, but I'll refrain from elaborating on
it to save space.  (I've babbled enough as it is already--sorry.)

> My opinion is that Candidiasis is one of those things caused by an
> abuse of medicines (antibiotics) and that it takes a equal and
> opposite abuse of medicines to set it to rights (antifungals).
>
>    ...Richard.
>
> p.s. All the usual disclaimers apply: I'm not a doctor and your
> mileage may vary etc.
>
> Another question - do any of you follow the ER4YT diet? I'm thinking about
> avoiding some of those ER4YT foods. I'm a type A+ so they say I should avoid
> eggs, beef, cabbage, etc. The paleo diet is already very restrictive so I'm
> not sure if I want to avoid more foods.
>
> Joe in NH
>
That's your choice, Joe.  I started out on the type O diet a few years
ago and, although it helped immensely, I think it was mostly because it
was a hell of a lot closer to paleo than the high-carb, low-fat vegan
diet I had been on.  Over time, I found it still had too many carbs for
my system to tolerate (rice, parsnips--boy do I miss those 'snips', but
I do much better without 'em).  I've been fermenting cabbage (a type O
no-no) into saurkraut for the probiotic benefit lately too--no
ill-effects yet.  What a lot of folks find helpful is starting out
simple and adding in one new food every few days.  You tend to get a
feel for what food is going to bother you immediately, or give you a
delayed reaction after a few days.  Just an idea--everyone does it
differently to suit their needs or lifestyle or their determination to
beat those little buggers!

Best wishes,
Lois