Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)

[clearsky]

Hi Fig girl,

I'm presently taking Solaray's B12 sublingual - it was all I could get in my local health food store here in Copenhagen, and I had run out of the Nature Made's B12 I was taking in the US (not sublingual, but they seemed to work for me anyhow). Problem with Solaray is that they contain sorbitol, so they're not SCD legal, and really too sweet for me being on a totally non-sugar diet. Someone on another thread recommended Natural Factors B12 sublingual, they apparently don't have any artificial sweeteners, so I might try to check and order those.

I also used not to be able to eat late. Since I went on the SCD it has helped though, and I am less sensitive. I don't know if you've tried it, but what could help me was to sleep with my head very high, drinking a lot of water, or taking a few drops of diluted peppermint oil; it's all about getting the food as far through the system before sleeping ...

Hi Clearsky,

Welcome! Wish the internet had been there for me to find the SCD at 23 yrs too. And great that you see benefits so quickly. It takes a little time for the body to get used to the diet in the beginning, then it settles and it becomes much easier to see the direct link between any new food and various reactions. Do keep it totally simple in the beginning, that makes the food identification process easier. Like you, I had never had GI symptoms before going on the diet (head aches/vomiting/brainfog/ arthritis/ were my main problems), but initially I got bloated and a few weeks into it I got three days of heavy D. Since then, I've been fine. So hopefully your body is just adjusting to the new diet.

With fruits, have you tried eating them alone or first in a meal? Fruits are most easily digested on an empty stomach. I have no problems with fruit except if they're too sweet (have you tried grape fruit or kiwi ?); but I know many on this thread can't digest them.

As to NSAIDs, do be careful. I took Naproxyn for three months like 15 years ago, and it ruined my stomach totally. If you have to take them, probably it's a good idea to do so with the yoghurt, or some strong probiotics. While the body is cleansing, it can give a lot of additional joint pains, I experienced that myself. Hopefully after a couple of weeks it should get better. But it could also be if you get too much red meat (that's a joint-killer). Have you tried if you can eat almonds or other nuts; I did so from the beginning, except during intro, and that helped me keep down the need for meat.

And Whitney, happy birthday, what a great gift to have your health improve so dramatically! Good for you - enjoy Paris !

Jan

I feel really grateful that I found this at a young age.. I have worries about how it will affect my social/romantic life going forward but I'm just trying to take it one day at a time. Luckily, this is my last semester before graduating, so I have a lot of time to devote to cooking and increasing my knowledge.

I definitely think rampant NSAID use contributed to the current state of my gut. It's just a vicious cycle (lol).. my joints hurt so I take NSAIDS.. which hurts my gut.. which makes my joints hurt. That's interesting about red meat, I didn't know that. I could definitely see that contributing to my additional pain since going gluten-free, but as of now I can't think of any way to reduce it without losing too much weight. I'll try some more nuts today.. I already tried the almond nut butter (hopefully I tolerated it okay) and I'll go for the macademia nut and cashew now.

I've been eating fruit on its own, 2-3 hours after a regular meal. A lot of fruits seemed to give me trouble when I was just gluten-free, so I'm trying to be really careful. I think juice is okay though. I remember some talk back in the thread about Welch's grape juice becoming illegal because the formula changed, do you know anything about that?

As for my eyebrows, they seem to be skin-related. I usually have dry/flaky skin and it seems that the skin under my eyebrows is flaking up like crazy. Kind of silly, but this symptom bothered me so much more than all the others (my dad has really thin eyebrows now and I don't want to end up like him! ). I felt like it really put pressure on me to come up with some kind of answer quickly, before they all fell out. Some days are worse than others, but they have been falling out less since I started SCD (fingers crossed).

CS

[wschmucks]

I feel really grateful that I found this at a young age.. I have worries about how it will affect my social/romantic life going forward but I'm just trying to take it one day at a time. Luckily, this is my last semester before graduating, so I have a lot of time to devote to cooking and increasing my knowledge.

I totally agree. I just turned 25 and was a my symptoms started my last semester in college and just got worse and worse, finally diagnosed Celiac 2 years later. I just tell people i dont eat out because of food allergies. It makes it easier than going through the whole story, which they might not even want to hear. And girls like a guy who can cook :-) My boyfriend has been amazing about all of it and i think that being on a diet/ having a disease like this helps you weed out people of low quality-- if someone is really bothered by your health/ diet...they arent going to be a good partner in life. But Id be lying if i said i didnt worry about it too. Can you imagine doing all of this without the internet!!

Any ways I squealed with delight today in the gorcery store when I found...what I think is the DCC i looked it up online and I think its called Faisselle here... it looks like it, but it tastes a little more sour. By chance does anyone know? (I know thats a long shot).

[Ms Jan]

Hi Clearsky,

Having suffered terrible joint pains and needing the NSAIDs I know what you mean. But if your problems are anything like mine, most will be taken care of by the diet. And certainly, the rice you ate before going on the SCD will have worsened it tremendously as well. Anything that creates toxins will contribute to the arthritis pain, besides the red meat: alcohol (particularly red wine), sugar, all additives, most carbohydrates (which the SCD takes care of anyway), coffe/black tea and to me it was dairy as well. then of course, one can pick and choose a bit which of these are the worst to live without - fx. I find it really difficult to give up coffee, whereas I miss none of the other items. Today, I have very little pain left and only in my left hip, which are believed to be from a traffic accident I once had, and not due to the arthritis.

If you need substitutes for the red meat, all fowls are okay, and well-cooked lamb and veal definately are less toxic than a rare steak ...

Arthritis and various skin conditions, incl. psoreasis, are often linked. All artificial colors and additives make my skin flaky. Again, hopefully the SCD will help you out here within a short period of time. I have problems with cashew nuts, but they might work for you. Otherwise try macadamia, pecan or brazil nuts.

As to grape juice, I make my own by simply blending a peeled grape fruit with some water. That makes a delicious and very refreshing juice - with no additives whatsoever.

Yes, Whitney is right about the dating/guy cooking. And the more comfortable you are yourself with your diet, the less a problem it'll be visavis friends/girls. Invent interesting things: picnics or hikes where you pack the food with small delicious SCD compliant surprises (you can even add packages of things for the girl that you can't eat yourself); or invite the girls to a wine bar or out to music/movies instead of dinner. If you're really creative about what to do on dates, you'll end up being the one they all want to go out with - and certainly, any girl of depth will only be supportive of your diet anyhow. (But I guess all this is easier said, when one is 44 ...)

My boyfriend is a supertaster, meaning he can't eat bitter things, particularly vegetables - so we can hardly eat any of the same foods. And he even has to leave the kitchen when I cook my broccoli or brusselsprouts, since the smell makes him sick. But we have a lot of fun about it, teasing each other, cooking each our meals, then sitting down to eat together, feeling strange shopping for each other etc. The important thing is to respect and never question the other person's predicament. And as long as you respect your own situation, most other people will too ...

Jan

[wschmucks]

" I remember some talk back in the thread about Welch's grape juice becoming illegal because the formula changed, do you know anything about that?"

I read that on the Yahoo groups for SCD but I remember it finishing out that it was ok to drink and I was drinking it too (just moved to France) before I left and it seemed fine. And it was great in the Gelatin.

[AliB]

Hi everyone, and welcome 'Clearsky'. Sorry I haven't been around - got distracted by the Parasites thread and other personal stuff so have had 3 pages to catch up on.....

It was interesting that on the Humaworm site it stated that the diet doesn't need to be changed when following the course. I would beg to differ. I think the SCD works so well because it removes so much of the rubbish - and it is the rubbish that pathogens and parasites love to eat. So following the SCD has to benefit us whether we have issues with parasites or not.

Even if we elect not to do a parasite cleanse the diet has to help in its own right.

Clearsky there is an SCD recipes thread in the 'Recipes' section on the forum. I am not sure when it was last posted on so you may need to trawl through the section for it, but there are quite a few yummy recipes on there which you may find helpful. I am trying to remember if the procedure for yogurt-making is on there or not, but that is on the BTVC and Pecanbread sites anyway.

I know that some recipes I have made have gone down a treat with non-SCD friends and family - and they have been surprised that they are SCD recipes.

I made a dessert last night - a kind of variation on Naomi Devlins' Vanilla Pumpkin Pie Recipe (Open Original Shared Link). I couldn't be bothered to make the base so just mixed the filling together and sprinkled a thick layer of Ground almonds over the top like a crumble. Yum. I'll post that one.

[pele]

" I remember some talk back in the thread about Welch's grape juice becoming illegal because the formula changed, do you know anything about that?"

I read that on the Yahoo groups for SCD but I remember it finishing out that it was ok to drink and I was drinking it too (just moved to France) before I left and it seemed fine. And it was great in the Gelatin.

If it hasn't been declared illegal, it should be. It is now made from concentrate, which these days can be as refined as HFCS. When I quit drinking Welch's, my residual digestive issue's disapeared.

[pele]

. Some of my labs came back and he said my vitamin D is low, and I'll find out the rest on Monday. I guess I should try to get some more sun, since I don't think my skin has any malabsorption problems

I hope you start taking a substantial Vitamin D3 supplement right away. If your doc gives you a prescription for Vit D2, don't bother. I had to take 5000-7000 units per day before my low Vit D level started to budge. Check out these links. It's very important!

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

[clearsky]

Hey guys, thanks for all the advice.

I'm nearing the end of Day 4. After initially feeling great, I've been getting muscle aches, lethargy and excess mucous for past couple of days. It feels like I have a cold (not sure if I really have one or it's just withdrawal). Joints and eyebrows are looking alright though.

I was at the natural food store and I found a supplement that has tons of D3 and Glucosamine, MSM, et al. It is SCD compliant so I figured it was just what I needed. I also picked up some Turmeric, which I'd been using for a while but stopped because I didn't know if Nature's Way is gluten-free.

I tried some Macademia Nut Butter and it's really good. I think it made me feel tired though. I always felt like nuts had that effect on me, not sure if it's just because they are high in fat or because I'm not digesting them well.

As far as social issues go, I agree that I need to become more comfortable with everything. I've been mostly avoiding my girlfriend since all of this started - she's been very supportive but I feel that it would be easier if I just toughed it out on my own.

CS

[wschmucks]

I would stop taking ALL supplements for the first month. You dont know what is in them and they might actually be part of the problem. You kind of have to strip yourself down and just live off of the food then start over by adding one thing at a time. Go to PecanBread.com, they outline steps for how to start the diet, nuts shouldnt be added for at least a few weeks.They also have tons of easy recepies and tell you which stage you can eat them at. I know you dont have digestive symptoms so maybe you could move steps a bit quicker, but it is important to start from the begining otherwise you'll never know if you're feeling as good as you could feel. Nature's Way is gluten free-- but always double check and Tumeric is good and actually helps with inflamation.

I have a question that might sound odd...How do you know, when you are at the grocery store if a wine is "dry"? I love wine and I have cut down to 1-2 times a week because of the diet. But when I am buying it at the store what is a sure way to know that it is dry?? Sugar content is not on the bottles....so unless it says "dry" which they mostly dont...then how do i know!!??

[AliB]

Coo Whitney you will have to get to know your wine whilst in France!

The french word for dry in the wine sense (or more accurately 'lacking sweetness') is 'sec' so a wine will either be 'sec' (dry), 'demi-sec' (medium-dry or semi-sweet - so somewhat higher in sugar), or perhaps even 'extra-sec' which is pretty self explanatory.

Certain types of wine are going to be drier than others depending on the type of grape they are made from and the soil they are grown in.

A regional wine like Bordeaux can be sweet or dry depending on the growth area and type. Sauternes and Muscats will always be sweet because the 'noble rot' a kind of fungus draws the moisture out of the grapes and concentrates the juice and the sugars.

Chardonnay is usually dry, Chablis tends to be very dry, Graves is often dry or demi-sec.

At least now you know the word for dry and the following might help a bit too.

Open Original Shared Link

Alternatively you could ask an assistant - preferably one who speaks English (Parlez-vous l'anglais s'il vous pla

[rinne]

I've read 13.5 percent alcohol for the dry wine, in Canada (I'm thinking it is everywhere?) there is a scale of 0 - 5 and 0 is the driest.

Hope this helps, think I'll see if I can talk my sweetie into picking some up.

[Ms Jan]

Consider 'Sec' dry, 'Tr

[wschmucks]

Thanks for the help guys. I'll go back to the store and check it out today. I do speak a little french but have avoided talking to people if possible (I'll get over it I know..).

The other night I messed up on the diet :-( I thought I had found french farmers cheese and I made cheese cake out of it-- my favorite. it came out a little watery but I had a small slice any ways....I started to feel very brain foggy (almost drunk). Maryln from the yahoo groups site sent me a link to a French SCD site (its very basic, only info about the diet-- wish it had more info), but it did say that you cannot get farmers cheese in Europe :-( so what i ate was not SCD. I threw the rest out and was anxious all night that I would return to my sickly state. The next day I did feel a little lathargic and brain fog-ish, other than that I felt ok though. Its hard knowing what Im eating!! Although EVERY grocery store here has almond flour. I found that interesting!

[purple]

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to say a few things...jump in and jump out kinda thing. Hope you don't mind. I just finished reading the whole thread (Clearsky inspired me-thanks!)

I have been a "lurker", I had to laugh out loud when I read that. I felt like someone was watching me read your diary and got caught I bet there are many lurkers around here too!

I am a "normy", not celiac nor other issues that I know of except I love those carbs, cookies, chocolate, pizza...you know, the bad stuff.

I have 2 girls ages 17/20 that are both gluten intolerant...I was shocked to read about the breast feeding and soy formula section. I have lots of researching to do on that. The girls have been intolerant for 1 year. Celiac does not run in our family and both dd's were formula fed..hm...makes my head spin. I have been interested in parasites and enzymes for a couple of years but the gluten thing was all new to me. I want my kids healthy before more things happen to them.

I made 9 pages of notes. Next I am going back over them and will read many of the links you all posted...thanks for posting those.

I want to get this old body (48) into good health, like Ali said once, before it breaks down and things go wrong. I love to bake..darn...bittersweet...think healthy...new way to do it...lose the fat...rid the bugs...its okay! I have started to improve one day at a time...making better choices and healthier baking/eating.

For starters, that coconut yogurt sounds amazing but 2 questions...if I use canned CM, how many ounces do you use? And what kind of yogurt maker do you like, I don't need to ferment it the 24 hours. I like the thermos idea, sounds easy. Bought lots of almonds to try out your recipes with. If I find a yummy recipe I will post it on the recipe SCD thread. I have 2 in my head I will be experimenting with, hope they are good.

I've been wanting to try to eat this healthier way for a couple of years, ever since I bought some books "What Would Jesus Eat" and "Prescription For Nutritional Healing" (have 2 or 3 more but can't remember the titles, I loaned them out)

I have been helped and inspired and taught and motivated b/c of you all (esp. Ali). Thanks to all of you and your pain, suffering, sharing, good/bad news, getting healthy, recipes....you are an inspiration to each other and to lurkers like me!

I'll be sharing your findings with others...ripple effect...so others can learn. I thought that was bogus about the eggs and cholesterol, "they" just want to sell those pills.

It's good to hear how many of you are much healthier than when you started. I am so glad that you stayed with it. I am proud of those that are new and are taking charge of their health. My heart hurt for you when you got sick from something you did or ate. (don't drink any white glue..ha)

Don't give up, our bodies are designed by our Creator to heal themselves given the right "tools" to do so and you are on the right track!!!

God bless you!

Sherri

[pele]

Hi Sherri

Those chocolate chip cookies in your picture don't look SCD legal! Maybe you could make them with honey, almond meal and raisins.

I haven't made coconut yogurt in a while, but maybe I will since my raw milk experiment was a miserable failure ( fatigue, brain fog, tinnitus, post nasal drip).

I used one 14 oz can of Natural Value Coconut milk, about a tablespoon of honey, heated to just a simmer. Cool to around 100 degrees F, add the contents of 4-5 probiotic capsules, pour into sterilized jars. I do not have a yogurt maker. I place a heating pad, set on medium, on a safe surface. Then a large sauce pan with a few inches of warm water. Place the jars with tight lids in the warm water, cover and let stand for 8-10 hours. The result is thinner than yogurt, but tastes good.

Hello to all of you other lurkers out there!

[purple]

Hi Sherri

Those chocolate chip cookies in your picture don't look SCD legal! Maybe you could make them with honey, almond meal and raisins.

I haven't made coconut yogurt in a while, but maybe I will since my raw milk experiment was a miserable failure ( fatigue, brain fog, tinnitus, post nasal drip).

I used one 14 oz can of Natural Value Coconut milk, about a tablespoon of honey, heated to just a simmer. Cool to around 100 degrees F, add the contents of 4-5 probiotic capsules, pour into sterilized jars. I do not have a yogurt maker. I place a heating pad, set on medium, on a safe surface. Then a large sauce pan with a few inches of warm water. Place the jars with tight lids in the warm water, cover and let stand for 8-10 hours. The result is thinner than yogurt, but tastes good.

Hello to all of you other lurkers out there!

Thanks for your reply, pele

Yeah, I want to make some yummy SCD cookies soon. My dd helped me find a pic with purple in it and I love to bake cookies, so the original tollhouse cookie pic hit the spot...Ha Ha.

Thanks for your instructions on the yogurt. I have to decide and find a heating pad and jars or a yogurt maker. I will be eating lotsa yogurt with all the experimenting I will be doing and some SCD cookies. Tonight I had a choice for a snack of my usual popcorn (gotta cut down until that craving is gone) but I chose yogurt, apple, cinnamon and nuts and it was so delicious. I love yogurt with fruit and nuts (actually that was my dinner).

Take care,

"Lurker"

[wschmucks]

Are we allowed to use caned coconut milk?? I didnt think we were?

Also I got an email from Maryln the organizer of the Yahoo sent me a link about wine basically saying that most wines are OK unless it states it is sweet. It said that because of the fermentation process the sugar is converted to alcohol. That most red wines are fine, she posted a link too, let me know if anyone is interested and i will try to find it again.

[pele]

Are we allowed to use caned coconut milk?? I didnt think we were?

The legal list on BTVC.info just says coconut milk is legal after 6 months, doesn't specify canned or not. Naturalvalue and some types of Trader Joes contain only coconut milk. Some brands contain guar gum and other illegal additives.

I am tryin to create a coconut pudding recipe with coconut milk, eggs, honey and vanilla. Anyone tried it? Any ideas?

[AliB]

Hi Pells, I would have thought it would come out more like a custard. Nice though and worth a try. The more eggs you use the more set it would be. Have you thought of adding almond flour/ground almonds to it to make it more solid?

Does this help?

Open Original Shared Link

There are other recipes on the net too if you search. I put in the four ingredients and came up with quite a few. If you turn up anything good pop it in the recipes thread?

[pele]

Hi Pells, I would have thought it would come out more like a custard. Nice though and worth a try. The more eggs you use the more set it would be. Have you thought of adding almond flour/ground almonds to it to make it more solid?

Does this help?

Open Original Shared Link

There are other recipes on the net too if you search. I put in the four ingredients and came up with quite a few. If you turn up anything good pop it in the recipes thread?

I have tried a couple of times with different results. Next time I'll add some nut flour. I made it on the stove and maybe baking would work better. It tasted good but texture was strange. If I come up with anything decent I will post it on the recipe thread.

And BTW, does anyone know why sprouts are illegal? Even lentil sprouts? I heard recently that sprouts are considered a fermented food with lots of good bacteria.

[purple]

I have tried a couple of times with different results. Next time I'll add some nut flour. I made it on the stove and maybe baking would work better. It tasted good but texture was strange. If I come up with anything decent I will post it on the recipe thread.

And BTW, does anyone know why sprouts are illegal? Even lentil sprouts? I heard recently that sprouts are considered a fermented food with lots of good bacteria.

I thought I read somewhere that the sprouts can mold easily...sorry I can't find it now.

[clearsky]

So the last few days have been pretty eventful. My foray with nut butter was disastrous and I finally saw the connection between them and increased symptoms, especially brain fog, fatigue and joint pain. But even after removing nuts, I still don't see a significant improvement in joint pain or eyebrow loss on the SCD. I also got really discouraged because I am continuing to lose weight. To put things into perspective, I am 6 feet tall and I have dropped down into the 130s. So this is a significant constraining factor for me. Because I absolutely cannot eat nuts or dairy, there is a huge limit on the amount of calories I can eat while still being SCD compliant.

I started thinking that maybe the SCD wasn't right for me, so I tried eating some brown rice and it made me so tired that I immediately fell asleep. The day after that, I decided to start over on the SCD with the intro diet. I made a beef bone broth yesterday that tasted pretty good. It had nothing in it other than beef and sea salt. After my second serving of it, I started to feel a lot of discomfort in my stomach and eventually woke up in the middle of the night and vomited heavily. I also had pretty bad D.

I see three possible causes:

-The meat was spoiled

-My body is rejecting meat because I've been having way too much of it

-My body couldn't digest all the fat (the meat and soup was pretty fatty)

At this point, I am really not sure what to do. I believe in the SCD and would like to follow it, but it simply does not provide enough calories. Even drinking tons of juice and adding olive oil to everything doesn't help. I'm starting to think that heavy meat consumption is what has been making my joint pain continue despite going gluten-free and eventually moving to the SCD. If I can't even eat meat, than there simply is nothing for me to eat. My doctor is being a dick and pretty much trashed the SCD. I am feeling pretty cornered as there seems to be no solution that manages to satisfy all the constraints.

At first, I saw losing weight as a "taking a step backwards to take two forward" kind of thing. But at this point I have nothing left to lose, but I could see myself dropping to the 120s pretty soon. What do you all think??

[julirama723]

Hrmm, thinking about your dilemma clearsky...I have some ideas, but can't remember your specific intolerances at the moment. Perhaps some of these ideas would help? Ignore the ones that don't apply!

Eat smaller meals more frequently--This might lighten the load on your digestive tract so it's not being "slammed" with a lot of food at once. You might find that eating well balanced mini-meals/snacks with fat in them throughout the day will increase your calories without adding to a malabsorption issue.

Eat a little bit of healthy fat with each meal--can you eat eggs, avocados, mayo, olive oil? I'm not talking about bathing in the stuff, I just mean maybe a teaspoon or tablespoon worth of the fats per mini-meal. (Have a boiled egg with mayo, fresh veggies sauteed in olive oil, and avocado can be eaten a variety of ways, either as guacamole [which might be a little spicy for you right now] or chopped fresh in a salad or with scrambled eggs in an omelette.)

Don't eat too much of any one thing--at this time of healing, your body can be easily overwhelmed. Eat small bites of this and that, and rotate your foods if possible.

A question about the nuts, did you try legumes like peanuts, or nuts like pecans and walnuts? Sometimes people have problems with tree nuts and not all nuts. (My husband is the opposite, he can eat tree nuts like cashews and peanuts but can't handle almonds, pecans or walnuts AT ALL.) What about seeds or seed butters? I know there's a product called Sunbutter that's made of sunflower seeds. This might not be SCD legal, but I'm sure you could grind your own.

I'm just throwing some ideas out there...

[wschmucks]

Hi Clersky,

This diet takes 100% commitment for an extended amount of time before you get results. And you have to be absolutley fanatical about it. You need to start with the intro and then move very slowly up the scale. You dont have to eat just meat-- fish and chicken are in too. The first month you eat alot of eggs and meat, this made me feel worse at first and i have NO energy AT ALL. But your body is going through a HUGE change, so of course its tired, its working hard! I have experienced weight loss too-- I'm 5'7 and around 110. But i cannot go through life miserable every day, so I have put that on the back burner and am tacking every day at a time (i am not trying to minimize your point, just want you to know you arent alone, and if you itemize the problems they are easier to tackle on at a time without feeling over whelmed)

You mentioned no dairy, can you do goat milk? If you can that would be really great to make yogurt with, also goat cheese. I know that my stomach handles meat better if I mix i with other things, like lean ground beef in an omlett with lots of veggies. This has been a good thing for me to eat when my stomach hurts. Adding fats are good but-- its really just calories that you need, the fat might make you feel sick. Try to eat 5 meals a day like Julirama mentioned. I would TRY to stick with the intermediate diet for about 3 weeks and not venture out of it (nothing advance), and THEN revaluate. Some reactions are very delayed. For example: I am sure i probably digest some things better than others, I have kept logs for the past 2 yrs, and because my symptoms are so delayed I really dont know what does what (although this diet is really starting to help me figure it out). I think you can do this! But you have to give it a good shot and keep within the beginners stage, because you are a beginner. It took me about 6 weeks to think the diet was helping me.

[Ms Jan]

Hi Clearsky,

Good suggestions from the others.

Definately go for many small meals, and chicken/ chicken soup rather than the beef. I still have some problems digesting even weak chicken soup, but if I make sure to get some natural enzymes like ginger, raw garlic, grape fruit, or some green vegetables just before eating it, I seem to digest it much better. And yet, I keep having to stay with small quantities at a time.

Your situation sounds pretty difficult, though, and it might also be a good idea if your doctor would give you a thorough check up for other potential problems. If you don't have a direct food allergy, the issue with nuts/almonds could also suggest candida or parasites, don't know if you've checked out any of these?

As to weight, I've kept mine stable by ingesting a lot of coconut oil - simply eat it by the spoon. Of course it helps that I like the taste ... . If you can digest it, that might help you as well ...

Patience and perseverance are definately keys here - start out with the intro, and then it gets easier a few weeks into the diet. But of course, you shouldn't make yourself more ill in the process ...

Good luck!

Jan