Drinks: The YES List
Chicory Coffee
Filtered Water
Herbal Teas
You should continue to drink lots of water during Phase Two to flush out any toxic metabolites that your Fungus overgrowth is producing. Staying fully hydrated is also a great defense against Fungus Die-Off. At this stage in the diet, you don’t need to drink the Detoxifier drink anymore, but if you chose to do so, you can continue drinking it.
You are still some way from going back to drinking large amounts of caffeinated tea and coffee, but in this phase, there are some very satisfying drinks that you can add back to your diet. Drinking too much caffeine overstimulates your adrenal glands to produce adrenaline and cortisol. The more caffeine you drink, the less effectively it does this, thereby ‘wearing out’ the adrenals and HPA axis over time.
Regular caffeine drinkers often suffer from adrenal fatigue {i.e., adrenal glands that are working well below their optimum level). Overworking your adrenal glands, which are linked to your thyroid, thymus, and brain stem function through multiple feedback loops will lower your defenses against a pathogen like Fungus Overgrowth. Luckily there are some great alternatives to caffeinated drinks that we are going to share with you.
Drink Herbal Teas Instead Of Regular Tea
Herbal teas might not have the caffeine ‘kick’ that regular tea will give you, but they often have numerous other health benefits. The herbal teas that can be particularly helpful for fungus overgrowth sufferers include dandelion, burdock root, and nettle leaf tea. All of these have powerful detoxifying properties that can help your liver and other organs to expel the byproducts of a fungus infestation. However, if there is a particular herbal tea that you like to drink, it should be fine too. Just check your nutrition fact labels and verify that it is caffeine-free.
Dandelion tea is produced from either the leaf or the root of the dandelion plant. Studies have shown that dandelion tea can normalize blood sugars and help digestion. It can act as a mild diuretic, increasing the production of urine and allowing your body to expel toxins more quickly. Dandelion root tea can also promote healthy bowel movements during your Fungus treatment. Both the dandelion root tea and the dandelion leaf tea are excellent choices for fungus overgrowth sufferers.
Burdock root, or yellow dock as it is commonly known as in Chinese medicine, is traditionally known as a ‘blood purifier or cleanser.’ It has powerful detoxifying properties and can be consumed as either a supplement or more commonly as a tea. It has been used for hundreds of years in traditional Chinese medicine and is prized for its detoxifying properties.
Nettle Leaf tea is another tea that can help your body to expel fungal byproducts, but is warned that the taste is not for everyone! It has a gentle stimulant effect on your liver and lymphatic system, as well as increased urination. Drinking a mug of nettle leaf tea each morning is a great way to prepare your body for the Anti-Fungal Diet. Note that nettle root is different than nettle leaf, so make sure to choose the right one. Nettle root has different actions (such as on hormone levels in men especially), so just be mindful of your selection!
Chicory Root Coffee: An Alternative To Regular Coffee
This is a great alternative to coffee that has a very similar, bitter taste. It contains no caffeine but it is still an energizing way to start your day. There are actually a couple of different reasons why chicory is such a useful drink for Fungus overgrowth sufferers.
First, the bitter taste stimulates the production of digestive enzymes in your stomach, liver, pancreas, and small intestine. In general, bitter foods are under-consumed in the Western diet, and in part, this contributes to many of our common digestive issues.
These enzymes help your digestive system to process and digest food more efficiently, enabling you to retain more nutrients from your food and to speed up the elimination of waste products. Second, chicory contains a useful prebiotic named Inulin. This promotes a healthy balance of gut flora by providing a food source for your ‘good bacteria’ to consume.
Chicory coffee is made from the root of the common chicory plant. These roots are roasted and ground before being sold. The ‘coffee’ that you make from chicory will typically be a little darker than your usual coffee blend. You can find chicory coffee online or in many health food stores. Look out for a brand containing 100% chicory, as many chicory products are actually 50% chicory,50% coffee or may have added sugars.
Drinks: The MAYBE List
| Coffee | Tea | Decaf Coffee | Matcha |
| Vegetable Juice | Green Tea | Nut Milk |
Decaffeinated coffee is, of course, another option. It contains very little caffeine (something like 5% of the caffeine found in a regular coffee), which is good for your adrenals and stress levels. However, be aware that decaf coffee does tend to contain quite large amounts of chemicals and pesticides. If you choose to go this route, find the best, organic brand of decaffeinated coffee that you can find, and limit your portions.
Green tea is an option which, although mildly caffeinated, actually has some antifungal properties and may help to break down biofilms. It also contains an amino acid named L-Theanine which lowers stress and avoids the typical post-coffee ‘fight or flight’ reaction. The same goes for matcha, a powdered green tea.
We have already discussed nut milk in this chapter. They can be OK as long as you make them at home from non-moldy nuts. If you’re buying them from a store, watch out for toxic ingredients like carrageenan.
Fresh Pressed, Organic Vegetable Juices
Many types of juices will be off-limits during the diet due to their higher sugar content and Glycemic Load. However, green juices made from low-GL vegetables can be a great way to get high levels of nutrients, including antioxidants to combat fungal toxins, into your system. When digestion is compromised, as is the case with many Fungus Overgrowth sufferers, juicing in moderation can minimize the strain on your digestive system.
The vegetables have, in effect, been partially ‘pre-digested’ by the juicer, and the nutrients they contain are already much closer to a form that the body can use. In this case, these nutrients are ready to be absorbed in the small intestine, requiring minimal effort by the pancreas or intestines to produce extra digestive juices to accomplish this.
Such juices are also ‘catabolic’ in nature, meaning that they tend to have a purgative effect in the body. They encourage the flushing of waste materials including dead bacteria, yeasts, and other toxins. They have an alkalizing effect on the body tissues but will not disturb the intestinal pH in such a way that would encourage Fungus growth.
You can use many different vegetables for juicing, but be careful to avoid those whose sugar content is higher. Carrots and beets are good examples of vegetables that you should not use to juice. While on the diet, it is much better to go with lower sugar vegetables such as cucumbers, celery, all the cruciferous vegetables (i.e., broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, mustard or dandelion greens), tomatoes, Bok choi, watercress, kale, spinach, and lettuce.
Radishes are another good option that stimulates the liver and can help your detox. Ideally, you should try to juice with a wide range of vegetables, as this will provide you with more of the nutrients and compounds that you need. A diverse and balanced diet will minimize the chance of any macronutrient or micronutrient deficiency.
A few notes on juicing that you should keep in mind:
1. As with all your vegetables and fruits, choose organic if at all possible for your juicing produce. This will minimize pesticide residues and maximize the number of nutrients provided (as well as avoiding GMO compounds in the foods).
2. Wash all produce thoroughly before juicing to minimize any dirt and pesticide residues remaining on the surfaces. The best way to do this is with a good fruit and vegetable wash (available in many supermarkets) and filtered water.
3. Choose a high-quality juicer that doesn’t heat up the juice. Juicers that heat up the produce as they press it can lead to oxidative damage in your food.
4. Limit your juice to no more than one or two portions of 8-12 ounces daily. This will help you to maintain a modest sugar intake. For hydration, you should also be relying on filtered water (mainly) and also herbal teas.
5. Consider having a glass of fresh juice first thing in the morning to facilitate optimal elimination and get the bowels moving.
6. Fruits generally should be avoided because they typically have higher sugar content. However, some people may find they are fine with using half a green apple in their juice. Pay very close attention to any symptoms that seem to aggravate after you drink a juice sweetened with green apple. If this indeed does occur, you will still need to completely avoid fruits if juicing.
Drinks: The NO List
| Alcoholic Drinks | Coconut Water | Diet Colas | Fruit Juices |
| Sweetened Drinks | Cocoa | Colas |
Unsweetened cocoa contains caffeine, but at much lower levels than regular coffee. In fact, the USDA estimates that it contains around one-eighth the amount. That’s a very small amount of caffeine, and cocoa would ordinarily be added to the MAYBE list. But there’s another aspect to cocoa that you should know about.
It contains significant amounts of phytic acid, an anti-nutrient that interferes with the absorption of minerals from your diet. The other drinks on the NO list are largely self-explanatory. Colas and fruit juices are high in sugar. Alcoholic drinks are a little more complicated, and we’re going to cover those in the next section.