Carol is in her fifties, holds a Ph.D. and is author of at least one cookbook that we know of for special diets. She writes:

Life is full of ironies, isn’t it! While growing up on a farm in eastern Nebraska, wheat supported us and paid for my college tuition. I married into a wheat-farming family and began my ritual of making delicious, homemade bread.

But, since my teens, recurring sinus infections required frequent, prolonged doses of antibiotics - sometimes a year at a time - and worsened as I grew older. Ironically, I eventually learned that avoiding wheat eliminated the sinus infections, but I still didn’t feel well.

I suspected candida as the reason, but I couldn’t find anyone who would talk to me about it. In fact, I remember lying on an examining table, with a nurse whispering in my ear, “You’re full of candida”. Yet no official diagnosis appeared on my medical chart and her secretive demeanor puzzled me.

And, now comes the fortuitous part. I was doing a book signing at a local health food store and a nutritionist told me of her work and Dr. Crook’s writings. I began the road to recovery with Diflucan and a yeast-free diet as my allies.

Today, I maintain a constant rotation of anti-fungals and an occasional month of Diflucan when circumstances, such as surgery, require antibiotics. I know the yeast-free lifestyle is just that - a way of life that I will follow forever.

While you're here, read an excerpt from The Yeast Connection and Women's Health.

©2003 Professional Books, Inc.