Author: Dr. Blake Myers

The MEVY diet (Meat, Eggs, Vegetables, and Yogurt) is a low carbohydrate diet that largely deprives Candida of their primary, desired energy source (glucose) and is simultaneously nutrient dense.

The acronym also serves to make it easy to remember primary food categories to focus on during the early stages of Candida treatment.

For those eating a vegetarian diet, and especially those who are vegan, modification can be a bit more challenging. This article will share what you can do to make the MEVY diet plant-based with regard to protein sources – remembering the purpose of the M and E in MEVY is to get high quality, complete protein sources that are, for relative purposes, carbohydrate free.

A plant-based diet is only healthy if it’s done wisely and intentionally – providing an abundance of whole foods and necessary amounts of macronutrients such as protein and healthy fats.

Rule #1 for plant-based MEVY diet modification: Get rid of the fake meat products.

Rule #2 for plant-based MEVY diet modification: Eliminate the breads, bars, and other process products.

Rule #3 for plant-based MEVY diet modification: Discard sauces and condiments with high sugar content.

Vegetarian Modification

If you are a lacto-ovo-pescatarian, the alterations are relatively straightforward. Instead of meat, you’ll simply need to increase fish, eggs, and perhaps a few low carbohydrate cheeses such as goat cheese and parmesan. If increasing fish in your diet, omega-3 rich fatty fish is preferred, but always balance this with potentially high mercury content. Choose small fish like sardines when possible.

As you are more selective in your diet, say for example you are a vegetarian that only animal product you eat is eggs, you will likely need to begin incorporating other low carbohydrate, plant protein sources.

For the purposes of this article, I will focus on vegan modifications and vegetarians can bring in those recommendations as needed, depending on your unique dietary preferences.

Vegan Modification:

While there are many high protein options on a vegan diet, here you need to specifically consider which of those options are lower in carbohydrates. While you likely can’t “starve” Candida out of your system with dietary alterations, you can make a lot of impact by decreasing its desired food source – glucose.

The following are categories of plant-based protein sources that are higher in protein content. Under each category are listed a few specific examples of foods in that category.

Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds are both an important part of any healthy whole foods diet, whether vegan or not. However, for vegans, there is a lot of added benefit in terms of nutrient density when you add in a variety of these.

Nut and seed butters are particularly beneficial because they are easier to digest and absorb more of the nutrient content, and they’re convenient.

Nuts:

• • Almonds
  • Brazil nuts
  • Pistachios
  • Pecans
  • Peanuts
  • Pine nuts
  • Macadamia nuts

Seeds:

• • Sesame
  • Sunflower
  • Pumpkin
  • Chia
  • Hemp

Legumes

This is the primary category of high protein foods for vegans. The main problem you may encounter here is that there are a lot of starches and carbohydrates in legumes and it could conceivably slow recovery since Candida will readily consume these for energy.

I strongly recommend you consume beans, lentils, and products made from them – sprouted first. This means you need to get into a rhythm of always having a couple of jars with sprouts going so that you can have them available on a daily basis. Otherwise you will be hungry and potentially reaching for something less than ideal for your anti-Candida diet. Sprouts can be eaten raw when fully sprouted, or cooked.

Beans:

• • Garbanzo/Chickpeas (Hummus)
  • Soybeans (Especially tofu; This is one of the best protein foods for vegans and has been associated with health benefits, including potential support for breast health in women.)
  • Mung
  • Adzuki (One cup of sprouted is 31g of protein!)
  • All other beans and peas are generally ok but sprouting is important. The above list are some good go-to options.

Lentils:

• • All variety of lentils are good options

Protein Powders

• • CanXida ReCharge (Excellent vitamin, protein, and digestive support formula) This link is a deal on 5 bottles of ReCharge.
  • Pea, hemp, and brown rice protein powders are the best options for protein powders

Fermented Non-Dairy Yogurt

Search for plain flavor, non-dairy alternatives with no sugar added and a variety of lactobacillus and bifidobacteria species. This will be mentioned by the nutrition label.