Twenty years ago, when gut health was still a fringe concept, I started learning about Candida, fungal overgrowth, and the microbiome. I experimented with anti-Candida protocols and Gluten Free food plans, long before testing or functional medicine was mainstream.
At that time, the conversation lived in obscure corners of the internet, with few people such as Dr. Mercola, a pioneer in holistic nutrition, making this information accessible. I taught myself to cook while reading about the medicinal components of food and herbs in Prescription for Nutritional Healing by Phyllis A. Balch.
Fast forward to today: I now see clients navigating food plans with hopes of improving their health, healing “leaky gut,” and seeking ways to increase energy. Foods are available to meet the need of almost any food allergy, intolerance, gastrointestinal, or autoimmune issue. Despite this, its easy to default to restrictive diets, in place of food behavior change to meet these goals.
Restriction Is Not the Same as Lifestyle Change
Recently, I worked with a client who decided to follow an anti-Candida diet. She had a history of disordered eating but felt ready to give this protocol a try. For three months, she followed the plan closely, taking supplements, avoiding “trigger” foods, and scaling back exercise. She eventually reached the reintroduction phase—but here’s where things became interesting.
Instead of feeling ready to add foods back, she grew anxious. Restriction felt safe; flexibility felt overwhelming.
Objective Assessment of Food Logs
When I revisited her food logs with fresh eyes, the distinction became clear.
- Outside of breakfast, many of her meals still relied on processed snack foods.
- Whole-food meals were inconsistent.
- The biggest change she had made was removing foods—not truly replacing them with nourishing options.
Avoiding foods is the easier part. Building meals that fit your routine, preferences, and long-term health goals requires a different skill set: planning, shopping, cooking, and managing the realities of a busy schedule.
Behavior Change Is More Complex Than It Looks
What seems like a simple adjustment (“stop eating X, start eating Y”) often involves ten smaller steps—like finding new recipes, carving out cooking time, or rethinking weekday versus weekend eating. Without support in those granular steps, clients often fall back on restriction alone.
Moving Forward
With this client, the next step wasn’t about more restriction—it was about building. We created practical meal plans and recipes, helping her move from avoidance to nourishment. That’s where sustainable health lives.
The takeaway: Diets that focus only on removing foods often fail to create lasting change. True transformation comes from learning to build meals, habits, and systems that carry you through the seasons of life—not just a season of restriction.
