For someone starting out on a nutritional regime, the road ahead can seem long and uncertain. Recommended changes in diet may be radical, affecting family and social life, and the cost of supplements reaching on into an indefinite future can be daunting, involving sacrifice and financial planning. Does the programme really have to be so strict and so demanding? In the end, is it really going to prove worthwhile?

If you are in the process of weighing up the possible pros and the undoubted cons, or if you simply need assurance that the nutritional advice you have decided to follow really is likely to bring some benefits, I suggest that you read the following accounts collected from several of my clients who, like you, had to adjust to a new way of eating, find money for supplements and consultations, frequently coping with die-off reaction from candida toxins and withdrawal symptoms from caffeine, and all the time wondering whether this really was the right thing to do and whether, in due course, they would actually reap some benefits!
I feel certain you will be encouraged and who knows? Your name might well be one of those appearing in my next collection of testimonies!

Erica White

CLIVE
a young man from Essex, had been diagnosed by his doctor as suffering from M.E. eight years previously, at the age of nineteen. He describes himself as going from happy and fit to being depressive, ache-ridden and permanently tired. On doctor’s advice he took anti-depressants and gave up sport. He says: "These things didn’t seem to make any difference and my life took a downhill turn. I stayed feeling dreadful for about three years during which time I had to give up a university course.
For some unknown reason I gradually started to feel a little better but was still feeling worse rather than better for most of the time and needed large amounts of sleep. After a further five years of being very up and down I met Erica while servicing her computer! I started on the anti-candida diet which seemed very daunting at first but I was determined to get myself fully fit again.
After the first three months I was starting to feel a bit better but not great. The die-off reaction of the antifungals was hard to handle because just as I was starting to feel better it would knock me down again. Fortunately with time these bouts got less frequent which made things easier.
After a year on the diet I tried relaxing it for a month and had no side-effects so gave up the antifungal supplements. Going back on the diet for a further year, as Erica advises, has been no problem because I have found that I now prefer soya milk and soda bread to their ‘yeasty’ equivalents.
I feel confident that I have kicked my M.E./Candida problems and am feeling fully fit for the first time in eight years. I can go to bed late and get up early without suffering the next day. Standing up and concentrating for long periods causes no problems and I can now say that I feel content with my life and don’t worry much at all. It is great to feel so fit again after such a long time."

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ELISE
from Aberystwyth, had suffered from M.E. for eight years but also from other health problems all her life. She writes:
"Two and a half years ago, after having my baby, I simply didn’t get better. I’d eaten anything and everything during the pregnancy, and felt well at the time even though I know now that I had probably suffered seriously with candida since eight years ago, which was when M.E. set in. Out of desperation I contacted Erica and started immediately on the diet and vitamins and minerals she advised, adding caprylic acid (to kill yeast) and acidophilus supplements (to restore the friendly bacteria) a month later. Post-natal depression was severe for three months; belching, little appetite and fatigue due to die-off were severe, compounded by little sleep. Erica’s supplements dealt with the post-natal depression also, so that within eight months I felt almost normal, but with not much energy. Although die-off was severe, at least I could control it by the dosage of antifungals and vitamin C intake. My lifelong problems started to disappear - after ‘flaring-up’ quite badly - such as cystitis and thrush, and by the first summer I was well, although still very tired.
Last summer I started to play badminton and was pleased with my level of fitness - the first time to have been fit in fifteen years! It takes a long time, but perseverance pays off when you have help to know what you’re doing."

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JILL
from Swansea, had been medically diagnosed as having M.E. for more than two years. After she had followed my advice, I was thrilled to receive this letter:
"Just a few lines to say many thanks for all your help and support since I started treatment for candida.
Before starting treatment I had been diagnosed M.E. (of unknown cause - no virus was found) and had become so ill that I was bed-bound and house-bound for two years.
Before my illness I was an NHS Senior Physiotherapist and played a lot of sport, tennis and squash to a very high standard. I was amazed that the medical profession couldn’t help me - all I was told was "rest"!!
In my prayers I asked God to give me a sign if he was able to help me. Within days I saw your "Beat Candida Cookbook" advertised and after reading it I knew what was wrong with me! I started on a candida regime and slowly but surely I started to improve. I knew I was on the right track!!
During the times I felt discouraged along the way, you were always there with encouragement, help, support and enthusiasm. Your personal approach is invaluable to me and your other clients.
After six months of treatment, I have more energy, my head is clearing and my brain is working properly again! I can walk further and have started driving again short distances, also gentle swimming once a week. My quality of life has improved beyond recognition - it’s wonderful!!
All my friends and family are amazed at my improvement. Every day I thank God."

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DEBBIE
from Hampshire, had been diagnosed as suffering from Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome nineteen months before she contacted me. Eleven months later, she wrote:
"I feel like a new person! I am able to tackle mowing the lawn and other household tasks without collapsing in a heap for days afterwards. The improvement in my health and energy has been so remarkable that I don’t regret embarking on this diet at all. A positive outlook, determination and an iron will are all that is needed!"

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FIONA
from Essex, first contacted me, she had been diagnosed with Chronic Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome seven months previously, and was consulting a Neurologist who had prescribed antidepressants. She had been too ill to continue her first year at university but, having first consulted me in January, she was fully fit and able to resume her studies in the Autumn term. She wrote her story for this book during the Christmas holidays, having successfully completed a full and happy term!
"Having collapsed in a university lecture, I was told I would be ill for about two weeks. I waited with great frustration, only to find that three months later I still could not even walk. I had no memory or concentration. Despite feeling exhausted, I could never sleep until the early hours of the morning, and then would wake feeling as though I had run a marathon! I could not cope with light, noise or conversation. I had so many blood tests, the nurses joked that I might ‘dry up’!
In pain and bed-ridden, I wondered what was happening to my body. Glandular fever was then diagnosed, but a few months later I was feeling even weaker. I struggled to get back to university but only managed two lectures in a whole term. I couldn’t manage stairs and when I first went to the supermarket I just wanted to lie down in the middle of the aisle. My muscles still ached, especially when I used them!
Finally, I saw a Neurologist who gave me a brain scan and told me I had a classic case of M.E. He confirmed that my brain did actually exist but that it was working like a ‘faulty computer programme’!
The university tried to encourage me to take a year out to recover. I eventually gave in and later discovered Erica’s nutritional regime with the anti-candida diet. My headaches immediately disappeared; I had forgotten what life was like without them. From then on, my symptoms gradually left.
I am now relaxing the diet, having been on it for a year, and have completed a term back at university (including a game of hockey and an all-night Ball!). Friends are amazed at the speed of my recovery and it feels so good to have my health back. I have been challenged by the amount of sugar I was consuming. The diet has been the key to my recovery (along with the prayers of many friends). I have been really blessed and supported by Erica and her staff, and my eyes have been opened to the basic fact that what we eat will hugely affect our health and general well-being."

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ELIZABETH
In compiling this little collection of encouraging experiences I have to give pride of place to the following, because it is written by a lady aged ninety-one who had suffered for several years with chronic fatigue, sinusitis, thrush and gout. ELIZABETH, from Kent, writes:
"When I started work with you a year ago, I was on the eve of my ninetieth birthday. I count this as an advantage because it made me realise that I may not have very much time left for experimenting, and if relief from candidiasis can be achieved at this age, there is hope for a lot of other elderly people who may think they are too old to do anything about their own problems.
When I started I also had another advantage. I was already a convinced believer that optimum nutrition could and would act as a healing agent and I brought to your programme of treatment a feeling that if I kept to the regime for long enough and strictly enough, I should automatically get some relief, even if not a complete cure. Fortunately, I live alone and so can eat what and when I like, and this, again, is a great advantage for anyone starting such treatment.
For a number of years before beginning work with you, I had had very painful feet, which greatly hindered my walking. Also, I had become completely deaf, so much so that I could hear nothing at all. It felt like being in prison and out of the world. I also suffered from what is now known as chronic fatigue syndrome. I was so tired all the time that I had to force myself to do even the simplest and most necessary things to keep going.
And now, after a year’s faithful adherence to all your suggestions and recommendations, I feel a completely different person. The gout in my feet has completely gone; the catarrh in my ear, which had prevented me from hearing, is definitely clearing up, and I no longer wear a hearing aid as my hearing has improved so much. I am beginning to catch up with all the jobs I should have done long ago in my capacity as manager of a block of thirty-two flats. I also do all my own shopping and cooking and all the other things necessary to keep alive."

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