Customer Reviews

The Yeast Connection: A Medical Breakthrough

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At 29, I suddenly started feeling sick all the time. Doctors tested me for everything under the sun but found nothing. They "diagnosed" me with "Fatigue of unknown origin". By pure chance, I happened upon The Yeast Connection and it explained everything. I followed his diet recomendations and felt better almost immediately. I can't imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't figured out how my diet and lifestyle were making me sick. I have cut out processed food and sugar, and now eat a diet mainly of organic whole vegetables and whole grains and I feel terrific.

If you have intense sugar cravings, get sick a lot, are depressed, or are tired all the time, read this book. If you have been on birth control, taking a lot of antibiotics, or eating a diet high in sugar and processed foods, read this book. If doctors can't figure out what is wrong with you, read this book.

The book isn't that well organized and a lot of information is repetitious. But it's well worth muddling through. The information is priceless.

This book and it's companion cookbook literally saved my life, after years of getting no help ~ or getting sicker ~ from the established "medical profession." I changed my diet and in three days the pain disappeared, and a week later I tossed away my cane and bounded up the stairs. I couldn't believe it, it was a miracle. I still can't believe it; all because of changing the foods I ate.

Now, years later, when I go off the no-sugar, no yeast diet, the pain and stiffness and depression returns and I have to stop and think... ahhh, I've been eating sugar = candida yeast infection! So back I go and all is well. This change in eating habits has saved untold thousands of people like me from suffering and pain and "given us our lives back." Why don't doctors tell us? I will never understand this.

How did I hear about this book & the problem of candida yeast infection? Three friends, from different parts of the country, told me about it, and I visited a nutritionist who backed up everything Dr. Crook says in the book. Et Voila! I was cured.

It is very hard at times not to feel great bitterness towards the "regular doctors" who wasted my time and money, and left me suffering for so many years, yet who have little or no training in basic nutrition.

It is not this way in Europe; here they seem to know only how to prescribe surgery or useless medications, some of which made me sicker, but I have to continue to remind myself that this is the training of the AMA. I hope things change, and soon.

In the meantime, a note of importance:

I developed the initial candida yeast infection was drinking "100% pure fruit juice." I drank it all day or night long, for three years, sitting in front of my computer working. I was a computer programmer at the time. Turns out any bottled fruit juice turns into fructose sugar during processing, and I was making myself sick by believing that the "100% pure juice" was healthy for me. How wrong that was. That's how I got sick.

After going on the anti-candida yeast diet for a few months (during which I lost 40 lbs as well! The fat just melted off me), all was well. Then I started drinking cartons of orange juice purchased from the grocery store. Joint pain, exhaustion and suffering again! I was told by a woman shopping alongside of me that processed orange juice was causing my returning joint pain, and she was right. She knew because she had been through the same thing. She was an angel from above! Now I only drink juice that is fresh squeezed, and stick to the rest of the diet, and I have no more problems whatsoever. (I have problems only when I go off).

I have recommended this book to many, many people and all have received a great deal of relief. If only I had been told about it sooner, it would have saved me three years of exhaustion, pain, suffering & immobility. It even hurt to breath some days, and doctors did not help at all. I tried everything.

The diet is simple: no sugar, no dairy, no yeast, no wheat, only organic foods and water to drink. It's not "easy" at first, but mayonnaise, eggs and chicken are allowed, spices, curries, rice syrup (really sweet), fresh corn tacos or chips take the place of many kinds of foods. Health food stores have lots of "gluten and dairy free foods, so you will shop there to your heart's content. Plus I had immediate results within three to seven days.

This diet was like putting "Miracle Grow" on roses with yellowed & blackened leaves half dead from lack of proper nutrients, and seeing green and healthy results, literally overnight! I still can hardly believe it. After four months, people said it was as if I was twenty years younger, and they were right!


Thank you, Dr. Crook! You have saved my life.

I recommend this book and it's change in diet with acupressure massage, and a bit of prayer and meditation. With Grace on our side, all will be well.

Since buying this book I have figured out that I am not crazy. About 7 months ago I had a stomach flu and had all the symptoms of a kidney infection. Being that I am only 24 I listened to all of my peers and took some antibiotics that one of my friends had. Sadly, it was amoxicillen. Well, since my immune system was down it caused the yeast in my body to grow. This book taught me that. I went from being a healthy 24 year old to a miserable ball of nerves within two weeks. I thought the stomach flu was just lingering but, after about two months I figured it was something else. I was sick for atleast 4 hours everyday. To make a long story short, I soon found out after that, that my aunt has had Candita for eight years. She suggested I research Candita, and this was the book I stumbled apon. After reading the book I realized that the reason I was feeling so ill is because I was consuming so much citric acid. The reason for that was that the diet my doctor put m! ! e on was to bring my digestive system back up, it included apples, bananas and a slow integration into other fruits. About a week after I started the Fruit-free, Suger-free, Yeast-free diet. I felt 150% better. It has been about 6 months since I started that diet and can slowly work some foods I couldn't have before into my diet. I am not cured but, I can atleast function now. I am starting to feel like a 24 year old again.

This basic diet has helped thousands of people, which can be found all over the internet. Check out Bee's anti-Candida Yahoo Group. She gives out her info for free and has literally helped thousands of people. In Canada and Europe, Candida is recognized and treated exactly by this method (!) by real doctors. In the USA, MOST of our doctors are not even aware of it. Notice the author has M.D. after his name, however. So, there are some American doctors who are not narrow-minded and arrogant to the point of being negligent.

Like many others in these comments and on Bee's Yahoo Group, I went to several doctors whose diagnoses were ridiculously illogical. They told me I didn't have any allergies, but maybe I was having a reaction to something I ate or a perfume or a dye in my laundry. When I pointed out that they just reviewed my blood test results and said I didn't HAVE any allergies, they paused and looked stunned, then immediately covered up and tried to look professional, saying something completely insane: that maybe it was the way I sit in my chair or hold my mouse or too much time in front of the computer.

Regardless, they were willing to prescribe me steroidal ointment and asthma medication, even though, according to them I didn't have allergies or asthma. Their official diagnosis was literally, "I don't know" and "it's just one of those things."

Seriously!

My conditions were all cleared up in a mere 6 months on this diet:
* psoriasis/eczema (specialists weren't sure) spread all over my body in large lesions and splitting my finger tips
* allergies (though according to blood tests, I was not allergic to anything)
* extreme lethargy/fatigue
* inability to concentrate
* difficulty breathing (specialist said I didn't have asthma, but was more than willing to prescribe 3 different asthma medications to see which I liked best)
* sweating, particularly at night (I would soak my sheets!)
* pale and clammy skin
* depression
* anxiety
* high cholesterol
* chest pains
* heart palpitations / fluttering
* sore joints
* blurry vision

All of these symptoms (and more) are due to candida. There are something like 60 symptoms which can all be cured by the anti-candida diet.

I went on the diet as a "last ditch effort" because it did not seem like something I could stick to AND it went against my principles as a vegetarian to eat meat. The idea sickened me. It also was very counter to the AMA-proposed "healthy diet." However, the more I read about diets, I realized that the "caveman" and "paleolithic" diets made sense from an evolutionary perspective (our brains might have changed a lot, but our bodies haven't changed much at all in hundreds of thousands of years... our earliest ancestors weren't farming. They were mostly eating meat, fish and wild lettuces.)

So, I gave it a shot. Six months later, I had to take another blood test for health insurance. I was pretty worried because I had been eating tons of animal fat and virgin coconut oil for 6 months. To my surprise, my cholesterol had dropped like 40-50 points and was now in the "very healthy" range. Just 6 months prior, my allergist had my blood tested and my cholesterol was exactly one point too high, in the "watch out" range. Back then, I was a vegetarian (and not eating junk, either!). Now, six months later, my cholesterol, t-levels and everything else in my blood was very healthy. I ended up getting the best rate for my health insurance.

Since then, I go on and off my diet according to my whims and depending on how I feel. Whenever I go off for a long time, my psoriasis/eczema comes back and that is the indication for me to stop. I can get rid of it in about a week on the diet. I generally stay on the diet for several months at a time, but when I decide to cheat, pasta and wine and sugary junk is so tempting, that I'll cheat for a while because I feel so great these days, that I feel like the trade-off is worth it until I start feeling bad again. Whenever I do cheat, I can instantly feel the poisonous effects of bad food on my body: brain fog and lethargy. It's unmistakable and instant: for a few hours, I will feel crappy! Eventually, if I go off the diet for too long, all the bad symptoms will come back. In a few days of going back on the diet, though, I will begin to feel like my old self again and less tempted by white poisons: flour and sugar. Yummy junk food is simply not worth feeling like crap.

And according to my blood tests, I was NEVER at risk for diabetes. My cholesterol was one point too high, but my blood sugar was fine. So, please, spare me your quack diagnosis.

According to Bee (on the Yahoo Group), you should stay on the diet strictly for one month for every year you've been sick. She believes most people have been sick their whole lives due to our unnatural diets and that it is a slow process of getting sick. I don't know if I really believe that, but since I'm 36, that means I'd have to stay on the diet strictly for 3 years to be fully cured. I have never done that. I go on it for 6 - 8 months at a time. I know that I'm only hurting myself in the long run by prolonging the condition in a quasi state, but I am so much healthier now, I am 10x the person I have been for the last 10 years or more.

I can wake up at 4am, go to the gym, work all day (without coffee), focused like a brainiac, come home and stay up to 11, 12 or even 1am and do it all again the next day. This diet is healthy. There is no doubt about it.

If you or someone you know suffers from fatigue, please buy this book. If you know of a child who is autistic or hyper or has learning problems, please buy this book for their parents. Dr. Crook's treatment program is a recommendation of a medicine from a doctor, along with watching what you eat, and other simple measures. Dr. Crook presented an excellent book, full of resources, actual patient scenarios, and changes to implement immediately. The book can be passed on to anyone's doctor easily because Dr. Crook explains that he himself is a doctor & states how he became involved treating yeast. He explains the symptoms of yeast overgrowth in the body, it's causes, and it's cures. The book gives so many cases of patients that it's easier to see how one patient's symptoms may differ from another's - but be related to your specific problem. I was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus and was told by my doctor that only my symptoms could be treated. Epstein-Barr is related to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & I have strugged with tiredness for years. This book has so helped me. I bought it on a Friday & am buying it Monday to take to my doctor. I am a born-again Christian & this book is an answer to my prayer. Please buy it for anyone you know who has suffered with Chronic Fatigue.

'The Yeast Connection' by Dr William Crook has most everything you want to know about yeast (Candida) infection. The author really knows his stuff; his many years of treating patients with Candida are reflected well in this book. However the book is very repetitive, very jumbled and is very dated (written over twenty years ago). But I think for most people interested in the topic this book would be satisfactory overall.

The only content missing from this book is a thorough discussion on (non-prescription) supplements that can be used to combat Candida. The author only references caprylic acid and garlic. In fact there are many others. Instead the author talks endlessly about nystatin, a drug only available through prescription. Sometimes this book reads as if his target audience is doctors versus folks suffering from Candidiasis.


Bottom line: certainly a useful book but I would expect there are better and newer ones out there.

The first time I went on this way of eating (it is NOT a diet) I lost 44 pounds. I felt SO much better! It is a way of eating for the rest of your life. You must be very dedicated and diligent in keeping on this way of eating as you make everything. Fresh vegetables, fruits, homemade breads with flours from the health food stores, that are buckwheat, rice, etc. that have no wheat gluten or yeast in them. It is so worth it, though. Illnesses that you have just disappear! I would recommend this book to anyone that has been sick for a long time, and doctors tell them that it is in their "head", which is what I was told. Or, people with high colesterol, high blood pressure, and many other ailments. I HIGHLY recommend this book! I also strongly suggest that you get the cookbook along with this one, as it has a lot of great different receipes to cook from!

This book opened my eyes to the evil that moldy/yeasty/sugary foods can do to the body. Don't get me wrong, I still struggle with sugar addiction, BUT this book was the first to make me see how all the emotional turmoil I experience each month could be eliminated or minimized with the help of the M E V Y diet (Meat, Eggs, Vegetables, Yogurt). It is amazing how cloudy thinking, mood swings, energy levels, skin, could all be related to something as simple as sugar, but there your are. Thanks to you William G. Crook!

After suffering for many months, years, from various yeast related issues I purchased this book. My mother had used this diet on me as a child for re-occurring yeast infections and it helped. I am sad to say I had this book for a good 6 months before I did anything because I was afraid to give up so much. Unfortunetly for me, things got much worse before better and it was actually my MEDICAL doctor that diagnosed me with candida. Just weeks prior I had taken my 18th antibiotic in 1 1/2 years. Shortly after I finished it I got a severe sore throat and mouth pain. It literally felt as if I was swallowing glass and then my mouth felt as if it were closing. One look in my mouth and throat and I was diagnosed with SEVERE thrush of the mouth and throat. I am now on antifungal treatment and 1 week into my first 2 weeks on this diet. I am still very sick but much better than before AND I have lost 6 pounds. Thank you for writing this book and thank God for doctors who actually acknowledge that this is a REAL issue!

This book is great and yes it will destroy a large amount of fungus in the body, however, you need to realize that diet by itself is not enough to beat candidiasis, most of the symptoms will come back as soon as you get off the diet, this means that the diet does not kill candida completely. In order to kill candida completely, you need to take anti-fungals (after you do the diet for a while), this will ensure that candida won't come back. If you're afraid of medications you can use natural anti-fungals such as grapefruit seed extract or caprylic acid. Nystatin is a very good and safe medication, but here in the US they give it in liquid form which is not very effective, in europe, this medication is given in the form of capsules which is a lot stronger (and sugar free unlike the liquid form).

Another natural remedy which is extremely effective which I'm surprised nobody talks about in this country is "Black Seed" or "Black Cumin", as a matter of fact if you take black seed after following the diet for a while, you will never need to go back to the diet again, it's amazing how black seed recharges the immune system, the problem with black seed is its bitter taste, that's why some people prefer to take it with honey, but since we're dealing with candida here, honey shouldn't be included. please do your own research about it after reading this comment, just make sure you buy fresh (non roasted) black seeds, and make sure you consume it immediately after grinding it in a seed grinder. And finally, black seed can be easily found in middle eastern stores and is very cheap.

Good luck