Hi Avalina,
Of course, since most of us visiting this forum are on the NSD, we're going to tell you that the NSD is better!
It's interesting to me that your bowel and ear symptoms improved by eliminating fruit. But, you were also eliminating other things, too (right?) . . . so was it the fruit? . . . or was it the refined starch as in white flour? . . . or was it the yeast base from your beer . . . ??? Or was it everything all together?
The Candida diet sounds excellent for people that don't need to avoid starches -- much better than the Standard American Diet of refined foods, loads of sugar, etc. --plus the fruit prohibition is only in the beginning per your remark. Eventually you can add it back in. What if you try a combination by trying the NSD, but avoiding fruit right now as well? Then you can still eat your veggies, meat and yogurt (although some people have problems with dairy). I'm not familiar really with the Candida Diet, but I'm wondering if the premise is somewhat similar to the NSD in that we're aiming for the elimination of harmful bacteria and a healthy balance in the intestinal tract. Could it be that you have levels of more than one harmful bacteria? (The premise of the the NSD & the klebsiella bacteria can be found under the Diet Centre on the opening page).
What I know is that I feel great on the NSD -- when I stick to it pretty closely. I can have starchy foods from time to time -- there is a threshold of error so to speak -- but starchy foods on a regular basis are a problem. The NSD pretty much eliminates my arthritic symptoms. I do continue to have chronic but intermittent congestion in my right ear -- so I'm wondering about whether I should experiment with fruit to see if that would have any effect. Although, on the other hand, I have been buying Bing cherries lately (oh, so good!), and have been feeling great except for a bit of ear congestion this week (it hasn't been as bad in recent months as it was -- it's been much more intermittent rather than constant). I also get iritis, and haven't decided yet how much impact the diet has on that since I've been on a maintenance dose of medication since before I started the NSD, although I'm trying to wean off since I'm developing a cataract, now. So anyway, your ear and fruit relationship is interesting to me, but I'm pretty sure that were I to eat even those very good whole grains that you mentioned, I would have pain in my hips/SI joints/spine/ etc., etc., etc.
There may be some around that have tried both diets -- so will be able to help more than I have. I'm just being windy here
-- avoiding housecleaning is really what I'm doing
Take care, Avalina, and best wishes as you figure out what to do!
Paula
