Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)

[AliB]

Mm. Sherry, that sounds good - what spices do you add? Can you post it on the Recipe thread?

One thing I would add is that the whey that is dripped out also contains bacteria and good stuff so for anyone not quite sure what to do with it - don't throw it down the sink. It can be drunk as is or added to smoothies, etc.

[marthamom]

So I think you were all may have been right about the fruit---today is my second day with no fruit or juice except for a little bit of cooked pineapple (just baked with a little water for about 45 minutes). So far I have not had nearly as much bloating and gas (I hope it's not just in my head.....I really want to figure this all out!). I've just had scrambled eggs for breakfast, some meat and cooked vegetables for lunch, followed by a little pineapple, some chicken soup when I'm feeling hungry in the afternoon, and then some version of meat/fish/cooked veggies for dinner. Not very exciting, but I think maybe I'm onto something.....I definitely look forward to being able to expand my diet, but I'm willing to wait if it seems like things are progressing.

It's interesting too, because at the very beginning I had trouble with the gelatin I made with the Welch's grape juice, and I thought it was the gelatin, but now I'm thinking that it probably was the grape juice that was giving me trouble.

Another thing I have started doing is cooking my scrambled eggs with a little olive oil in the pan---I was using PAM, but I noticed the other day that there is soy lecithin in it......what do you all use for that kind of thing?

Take care,

Martha

[clearsky]

Olive oil does not take to heat very well, as its chemical structure is changed and loses its healthy properties. I highly recommend Virgin Coconut Oil, it is thyroid-boosting, anti-fungal/bacterial/parasitic and tastes great to boot.

[mftnchn]

I just read on another SCD forum that other people have had trouble with Welches. Someone posted that it is now made from concentrate, and isn't the same juice that Elaine approved of before. I haven't verified that, but just wanted to pass that on.

Ali, I'll try to get to posting that recipe a bit later. I think, but am not sure, that it is based on an Indian recipe. What I remember is that it has shredded cucumber, that you drain. Then mix into yogurt with finely diced garlic. Can't remember if you add anything else, maybe vinegar? Then you drain it. When thick enough, add salt and pepper to taste. I think this is good with veggies, on meat, and with almond crackers or bread.

[pele]

I cook eggs and burgers in coconut oil, lots of it sometimes.

Martha, if you are really no lnger bloating, I think adding in fruit one at a time might be a good idea. It could have been the Welch's, or just too much too soon.

Last summer when I was newer to the diet, I ate a lot of blueberries and they made my gut grumble. They are also legal on the diet and I decided to eat them anyway because they were in season and were good. It doesn't seem to have done any damage! Now I have about 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries most mornings, no grumbling.

[pele]

OK I just read up on Welch's on BTVC-SCD Yahoo groups that Welch's new formula contains ascorbic acid made from corn sugar. According to the group moderator this doesn't necessarily make it illegal but some people may react.

[AliB]

I just read on another SCD forum that other people have had trouble with Welches. Someone posted that it is now made from concentrate, and isn't the same juice that Elaine approved of before. I haven't verified that, but just wanted to pass that on.

Ali, I'll try to get to posting that recipe a bit later. I think, but am not sure, that it is based on an Indian recipe. What I remember is that it has shredded cucumber, that you drain. Then mix into yogurt with finely diced garlic. Can't remember if you add anything else, maybe vinegar? Then you drain it. When thick enough, add salt and pepper to taste. I think this is good with veggies, on meat, and with almond crackers or bread.

Oh, it's made like a cucumber raita you have with curry?? Yes, that would make sense. I just looked that up on Delia online. I have made it before but not for some time.

[mftnchn]

Thanks, Pele for checking out about the Welches.

Martha, I think extra fruit causes more bloating for me, at least more gas. I seem to be okay with some, so I'm going to try to monitor the amount that works best. One thing, my last testing showed lower levels of good bacteria, so it might be that I don't have enough balance yet enough to handle too much fruit.

[marthamom]

Thanks so much, everyone. I will definitely stay clear of the Welch's from now on. I think I'll stick with just the cooked pineapple for the rest of the week and then maybe try introducing a new fruit next week and see what happens.

Thanks also for the suggestion about coconut oil---I just bought some today and will give it a try. It looks different than I imagined....looks actually like more of a solid than a liquid oil....is that right?

I'm going to my gastro on Friday and will mention that I've been following SCD and think I'm noticing some improvement on it.....I've never talked about it with her before and hope that she doesn't "pooh pooh" it (not that it would make me stop following it, but it would be nice to have her support).

Hope everyone has a great week.

martha

[fig girl]

Hi everyone,

I hope you're all doing well. I reacted to the WElch's grape juice too - well, it was either the Welch's or the gelatin. I had made the gelatin with Welch's grape juice in the beginning of the diet and it didn't agree with me. I was going to test them each by themselves but never did. Thanks Pele for posting the info - sounds like it would have been the grape juice to bother me.

The only fruit i'm able to tolerate right now is ripe bananas. I'm going to try some pineapple and blueberries pretty soon i think.

Has anyone tried l-glutamine supplement to help with intestinal healing? I had done a search on the forum and found some information. I think i may have mentioned before but my dog has EPI (exocrine pancreatic insufficiency) and i got some for her to take to help with her intestinal healing - she currently has SIBO and is on the antibiotic metronizale (i think that's how you spell it). Anyway, was wondering if it'd be beneficial for me also. From what little research i've done though i think i read where some can be fermented from veggies and i think corn was listed. I've emailed the Company that i bought the l-glutamine from and they're going to get back to me on what it is manufactured from. I have a Dr's appt. on Monday and i'll ask her about it before trying it.

Michelle

[fig girl]

Hi All,

Last week I was sick again for three days - so annoying! Also because I've really been improving lately, and I couldn't identify any slips at all in staying within the diet & safe foods, which is very strict for me. So I came down to it being stress, having pushed me over the edge this time, since I had had too much on my plate for my present energy levels. I wondered if any of you have tried that: that external stress can create the same symptoms as wrong foods ?

Also, all kinds of gluey substances make me sick immediately, even all natural peanut butter, home made nut flour foods, eggs etc. Since it seems to have more to do with the substance of the food rather than with the particular kind, I wonder if it's to do with the microvilli not being ready to move along gluey substances ? Or maybe it's to do with the size of molecules, as I gather that smaller molecules more easily penetrate a damaged intestinal wall? It's even almost impossible for me to eat any fish without getting sick, except for canned tuna - and it's the same feeling, that the molecules are too small to be broken down by my system. Anyone has any ideas about this or similar experiences?

Whatever poisons me, wrong foods, gluey substances, stress, it's all the same reaction: like a toxic build up that my body (liver?) can't deal with, and then I get poisoned, get nauseous, terribly headachy, feverish and start throwing up. And it only stops after 72 hrs, when I'm totally cleared out. The only good thing I noticed this time was that I recovered half a day faster than normally, I didn't get as dehydrated as I used to during these bouts before the SCdiet, and then that my recovery was much faster. So the diet is working, also when I'm at my worst ...

Still think that impairments of my liver might add to my digestive problems; I'm having that checked starting next week together with a whole run of the GI system.

One exciting thing: I made my first batch of yoghurt over the weekend - fermenting for 36 hours in the oven - and it came out all right . Even tastes very good. I got a stomach ache after eating some the first time, but today I've had some more and I seem to digest it better. But I probably should use another kind of milk than cow's. I tried to find coconut milk wihtout any additives but couldn't find any. Any suggestions? (I have a real taste problem with goat's cheese, and think that the same would go for goat's milk, so I prefer other options ... )

Hope you're all doing well

Jan

Hi Jan,

Glad you're feeling better and that your yogurt turned out well. I just wanted to say i hope your tests go well and you find out some answers. I've got to have my colonoscopy this year (i have to have one every 3 yrs) and i think i'm going to change gastro dr's since he only would prescribe nexium when i went to him for my stomach pain before being diagnosed by my GP. I had emailed the President of the nearby GIG support group (which is a little over an hour away so i haven't made it to a mtg yet but hopefully will in the future) to see if she could recommend some in the area and she gave me 3 names and they're all in my PPO thank goodness . I'll call each of them and ask if they are familiar with celiac/gluten sensitivity and try to pick the most knowledgeable sounding one. I've got to start figuring out what i want tested. I've never had an endoscope so i'll more than likely have one done along with the colonoscopy.

Hope things are going well for you!

Michelle

[pele]

Coconut oil is solid below 70 degrees F. I don't refrigerate it, and if I need it in liquid form, I put the jar in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.

[AliB]

Hi Michelle. It was interesting your mention of your dog and the SIBO. At the end of the day animals, particularly pets, are exposed to a lot of the same chemicals that we are, but most importantly, most dog (and cat) foods contain wheat and other horrible stuff. As these animals are carnivorous it is not surprising that they are getting similar issues to us. Their guts can't cope with it either.

It just goes to show that we humans too should not eat the stuff in the quantities that we do, especially in its current form. It is no wonder that gluten intolerance is on such a rise.

[marthamom]

Marthamom

I suggest eliminating the welch's grape juice first. Today's product is made with concentrate which could be as refined as high fructose corn syrup. It is NOT the same juice that Elaine approved. The apple cider could be a problem if it is adulterated.

I find some kinds of fruit bother me, some don't. I usually do okay with fruit I pick locally from wild sources or my own garden, and do worst with non-organic melons and mangoes.

Can you eat honey? If so, eat a spoonful when you get that treat craving. It is legal. Sweet mint tea can be very satisfying.

Elaine says give the diet at least 3 months. I had major gut improvement after 9 or 10 months (and after I quit welch's!). So 6 weeks is short.

I'm glad you checked in. Its been quiet here.

Pele, I just wanted to let you know that right now I'm sipping a cup of mint tea sweetened with honey, and you're right--it's really good! So much so that I actually think I might be able to wait until a normal lunch hour to eat my lunch (my work friends joke that i'm often eating lunch while they're all still eating breakfast!). So thanks for the suggestion!

martha

[clearsky]

Hi everyone,

I hope you're all doing well. I reacted to the WElch's grape juice too - well, it was either the Welch's or the gelatin. I had made the gelatin with Welch's grape juice in the beginning of the diet and it didn't agree with me. I was going to test them each by themselves but never did. Thanks Pele for posting the info - sounds like it would have been the grape juice to bother me.

The only fruit i'm able to tolerate right now is ripe bananas. I'm going to try some pineapple and blueberries pretty soon i think.

Has anyone tried l-glutamine supplement to help with intestinal healing? I had done a search on the forum and found some information. I think i may have mentioned before but my dog has EPI (exocrine pancreatic insufficiency) and i got some for her to take to help with her intestinal healing - she currently has SIBO and is on the antibiotic metronizale (i think that's how you spell it). Anyway, was wondering if it'd be beneficial for me also. From what little research i've done though i think i read where some can be fermented from veggies and i think corn was listed. I've emailed the Company that i bought the l-glutamine from and they're going to get back to me on what it is manufactured from. I have a Dr's appt. on Monday and i'll ask her about it before trying it.

Michelle

Same as me, I can have Bananas (though I suspect they cause C), but everything else gives me trouble. Tried pineapple today actually but didn't fare too well.

I tried L-glutamine around when I first started SCD. It just made me feel really tired and I stopped after a couple days. Maybe I'll give it another go sometime. The brand I had was Jarrow, I remember looking into it and confirming that the ingredients were good to go.

CS

[fig girl]

Hi Michelle. It was interesting your mention of your dog and the SIBO. At the end of the day animals, particularly pets, are exposed to a lot of the same chemicals that we are, but most importantly, most dog (and cat) foods contain wheat and other horrible stuff. As these animals are carnivorous it is not surprising that they are getting similar issues to us. Their guts can't cope with it either.

It just goes to show that we humans too should not eat the stuff in the quantities that we do, especially in its current form. It is no wonder that gluten intolerance is on such a rise.

Hi Ali,

That's exactly what my vet said - dogs have similar digestive systems as humans. Abby and I have similar digestive troubles....like Mother, like 4-legged daughter! We'd been feeding her Purina EN prescription kibble (with grains and who knows what else) since she was diagnosed as that was about the only food she was tolerating ok. After being diagnosed as gluten sensitive and starting the SCD i realized she would probably do very well on a better and probably similar diet. I had been wanting to switch her and finally did at the beginning of the year to a raw diet and after her first meal on it her poops had never looked so good! I was thrilled! So now she's on a grain free diet like her Mommy and she's looking and feeling much better.

Feeding her raw is much more time consuming and later on i may try the grain free kibble which would be convenient for traveling or if i'm in a pinch, but I'll continue to feed her the raw. She loves it....the grain filled kibble she ate before she wasn't too thrilled at meal time but now she can't wait and licks her bowl clean. It's like she knows what's good for her and what she should be eating. Sure wish i'd been able to realize that earlier in my life! But, i'm on the right track now!

Michelle

[fig girl]

Same as me, I can have Bananas (though I suspect they cause C), but everything else gives me trouble. Tried pineapple today actually but didn't fare too well.

I tried L-glutamine around when I first started SCD. It just made me feel really tired and I stopped after a couple days. Maybe I'll give it another go sometime. The brand I had was Jarrow, I remember looking into it and confirming that the ingredients were good to go.

CS

Hi clearsky,

I think bananas did the same to me in the beginning and they probably still do a little but not as bad. So maybe the C will subside a little for you as well. I like to mash ripe bananas up with some avocado and pour in some SCD goat yogurt for my desserts...it's really good. I'm sorry that the pineapple didn't agree with you. I'm going to wait a little longer and continue with my safe foods before trying it. I went to a wedding this past weekend and had a glass of wine (which was a dry chardonnay) but before ordering it i had tasted what my sister had and she had been eating some crackers so i may have glutened myself....i didn't even think of it until right after i did it...ugh! It was either gluten or the wine because the past few days i've had a rumbly, gassy tummy and have had a little brain fog and fatigue. I'm very sensitive so it could have been either or a combination of both.

Thanks for mentioning the l-glutamine. I had looked at the Jarrow and thought it may be ok so it's good to know it is. I think i'll ask my Dr. about it but may wait a while to try it if she thinks it's ok.

Michelle

[pele]

Martha-

I make mint tea a quart at a time and put it in the fridge. Tazo makes a mint/tarragon tea that's very good.

[Byte Me]

Hi,

wow this is a really long thread. I apologize if the questions I have have already been answered, but I am extremely exhausted and at this point cannot sift through so many pages.

I have had trouble eating for months. I posted several days ago about it and was directed to this forum. On the 8th, I went to the E.R. as I was unable at that point to even drink water without being in excruciating pain. I explained my history and symptoms to the E.R. doctor, and unfortunately, nothing was able to be done in there other than refer me to a specialist. Fortunately though, this doctor's mother in law has celiac disease and he understood my frustration with doctors who won't listen. Today, I finally got an appointment with a GI who will see me without insurance, and will allow me to make payments as I can. The problem is, the appointment is not until Tuesday, and then I'm not even sure there will be any solution to what I'm experiencing now.

The E.R. doctor did prescribe me Bentyl to help with the severe stomach pain, and though I had very little faith in it, it has helped...a couple of hours after taking the first pill I started passing what appeared to be rotting, undigested food (very sorry for the TMI) and the pain has subsided. I am able to drink watered down grape juice and homemade strained chicken broth as described by the SCD. I have been doing that for 3 days now. I am still unable to tolerate anything near a solid food, though. Last night, I ate maybe a tablespoon of pureed carrots boiled in the broth, and was in extreme pain for hours.

I have looked over the legal/illegal list, and the foods allowed in the stages (what is available online, anyway, I have ordered the book but do not have it yet) and I don't know what to do. Nothing in the intro stage can I tolerate other than what I'm already doing. My energy levels are extremely low, except for maybe 90 minutes or so after drinking broth. It does make me feel better. Surely there is something else I can try? My body is asking for something more, but I have nothing more to give it that I know of. I am terrified of food right now. I have to go back to work over the weekend - no possible way I can pay my bills if I don't work at least a few hours. I don't know if I can do it on just broth and watery juice though.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Some other liquid that would most likely be easily tolerated, and maybe provide a bit more energy, or add to what I am getting from the broth?

I sincerely appreciate any suggestions/advice.

Jenn

P.S. Thank you to AliB, I tried to reply to the wonderful PM you sent me, but the system would not allow me to send it.

[Ms Jan]

Hi Jenn,

Glad to hear that the chicken broth is doing some good, and that you found a doctor who might be able to help you.

If the pureed carrots are bothering you, it might be due to an intolerance. I don't put carrots in my chicken soup, since I can't digest them at all. Instead I use cellery, which I seldom eat, but they add a good taste to the broth.

As to other food suggestions:

- try boiling a few simple vegetables together, like squash, onions, broccoli etc, and blend them, and boil up the soup slightly afterwards, for a basic vegetable soup. If you make it very weak with lots of water, and just add salt and pepper, you might be able to tolerate it.

- sauteed or steamed kaleflower and broccoli are the two foods I'm able to digest almost at any time. I tend to use half water half extra virgin olive oil to make it tasty but not greasy, and if you use coconut oil (virgin and pure) it might be easier to digest. again you can also add more water, let it boil/steam for longer and either it eat soft like that or blend it into a soup.

- mashed avocado or banana could also be an idea, but it sounds to me like you might have a sugar problem, so I don't know about the banana.

- Mint tea tend to soothe the stomach, so perhaps you could try to drink this.

Hope you find something to eat.

Jan

[Ms Jan]

Hi Jan,

Glad you're feeling better and that your yogurt turned out well. I just wanted to say i hope your tests go well and you find out some answers. I've got to have my colonoscopy this year (i have to have one every 3 yrs) and i think i'm going to change gastro dr's since he only would prescribe nexium when i went to him for my stomach pain before being diagnosed by my GP. I had emailed the President of the nearby GIG support group (which is a little over an hour away so i haven't made it to a mtg yet but hopefully will in the future) to see if she could recommend some in the area and she gave me 3 names and they're all in my PPO thank goodness . I'll call each of them and ask if they are familiar with celiac/gluten sensitivity and try to pick the most knowledgeable sounding one. I've got to start figuring out what i want tested. I've never had an endoscope so i'll more than likely have one done along with the colonoscopy.

Hope things are going well for you!

Michelle

Thanks, fig girl. I had both blood and fecal tests done on Tuesday, so now I'm just waiting for the answers. The specialist said that he did think that celiac, and the fact that I had carried it for a lifetime without treatment, was the basic course of my trouble, but also that I might have other problems as well, particularly with my liver. So we'll see. At least, I do feel very well these days.

How did your testing go? And how's the diet working for you by now?

I'm getting tired of my diet sometimes. Not because of the SCD, but because my food choices within the SCD are still so limited here after four months of it: no dairy, no eggs, no meats except chicken, no fish except for canned tuna, no nut flour products only whole nuts, no honey, and no spices but salt and pepper - and naturally no alcohol and just limited amounts of coffee and tea. But since I get so very sick every time I stray, I have no choice but to continue. And then I try to focus on how well I feel as long as I do stay strictly on my safe foods.

This thread also really helps me to stay on course, seeing both how much the SCD has helped many of you, but also how long it took for various levels of healing.

And Ali B.,

How's your cleansing doing? Yesterday I began on a liver cleansing programme that'll last two weeks. I hope it'll support the SCD in clearing out my system, so I can end up tolerating more foods.

I've given up on the yogurt and also on adding other new foods for the moment, considering that I need to improve more before I think I can tolerate it. And I just don't have the stomach to be sick for more days right now. Need to add to this strength I finally feel is building up in me.

Jan

[AliB]

Hi Jenn - welcome to our 'little' thread! I think Jan has covered pretty much the things you can try - I understand it is frustrating.

I was fortunate initially because removing gluten from my diet helped a lot but it still took several weeks before my digestion started to come back. I removed gluten and dairy on the last day of Jan 08 as I had also been in extreme pain every time I ate and had running diarrhea. Both the pain and the diarrhea stopped within hours, but I was still reacting to most foods in some way or other. The Medical Profession had not been of any help to me either!

By March I realised that gluten and dairy were not the whole answer which was when I picked up on a mention of the SCD (bless you, Pells) and haven't looked back.

Yes it has made a huge difference, but no it doesn't work overnight. It is frightening when you can't eat as we always fear that we will starve to death!

It sounds as if your gut is extremely compacted. If the waste can't get out then the toxins will just be mooching around your body doing damage. Because your gut is so damaged it can't digest the food properly. You may also be bothered with SIBO or Candida which can create problems of its own too.

The important thing is to try and find a few foods that you can tolerate - or at least break them down into soups or broths that you can tolerate. Chicken, turkey and meat broths - especially when cooked for several hours are full of nutrients and those are what your body needs. Foods that are easier on the digestion but very nutritious.

Have you been tested for things like Helicobacter? That can create havoc in the stomach. The little beggars excrete Urease which can dilute stomach acid. That can lead to an incomplete breakdown of food and low stomach acid may also mean that not enough digestive enzymes are triggered to further digest the food properly in the upper intestine and so the chain goes on. The undigested foods are nectar to other microbes like Candida. Unfortunately Helicobacter does not always show up in tests, particularly blood tests and my Doctor told me it can take several tests to pick it up. I understand that the breath test can be a more accurate way of finding it but over here in the UK they will only use that to tell you if it has gone after treatment - go figure!

Whilst all the chemicals and pollution we are exposed to also does its bit, by far the biggest culprit is the high-carb, high-sugar Western diet in triggering gut damage. Humans have never ingested carbs in the quantity that people do today, and never have the carbs they have had been processed like they are today. Add in to that the genetic manipulation of grains like wheat that now has something like 13% gluten protein rather than the 2% that it would have had a few centuries ago and it is not surprising that we are all in such a mess.

Whilst some guts can cope with it to a certain extent, many can't. And even those who don't have obvious gut problems will usually develop some kind of other health problem at some stage so it does impact in one way or another.

I hope you manage to find a way through the health problems that you are suffering at the moment. I think for many of us, even with the help of the SCD we have still had to try and figure out what is going on. Because we are all individuals we all have individual issues and what can help one doesn't necessarily work for another and that is what makes it such a minefield.

What ever else we have tried, and what ever else has helped, whether things like Liver cleansing, parasite cleansing, colonic therapy, Candida treatments, etc., I think that everyone on the thread will agree that the one constant support has been the diet, and has certainly been a big help towards health restoration and in a lot of cases that includes our sanity too!

[AliB]

From Rhoger1.

Hi All, I've just started the SCD diet and working my way through the process. It doesn't seem too difficult since I've been Gluten and Dairy free already trying to find out what is causing my GI issues (stomach pain, D, Loose stool, etc).

Need some advice.

1. Is it ok to Take Probiotics (Flora Q2). I;ve been reading that Bifo, etc is an issue, but not exactly sure what's allowed here.

2. Is Oscal Calcium pills ok to take...don't see anything on the label that would cause concern, but there are allow of ingredients that I'm not sure about.

3. I've read some threads that talk about slowing easing into new foods. Is there an available plan. I have the Breaking the Vicious cycle book, but doesn't provide a weekly, monthly or food introduction clear plan.

4. I've read both sides about bad bacteria and how to kill it by eliminating sugar. Some thoughts are Di and Mono sugars only and some threads talk about all sugars (fruit, etc). Any guidance on what to do here for the first few weeks (ie avoid all fruits, etc) to kill off potential bad bacteria.

I've been on the diet for about 1 week and still have not properly formed BM...loose but no D.

Any guidance, lessons learnt would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Rhoger. Welcome to the world of the SCD...........

First thing first. How long have you been gluten and dairy free?

You can take probiotics if your gut copes with them ok. The brand does make a difference. Quite a few use Kirkman's which is SCD compliant. Some do find that they do better without Probios for a while, so the most important thing with all this is really trying to get in tune with your body and 'listen' to its responses and reactions.

Personally I don't know of the calcium pills as I am in the UK but they don't normally contain things that are no good. Others on here may be able to help you with that.

No, the Diet does not contain any plans and I suspect that is because we are all different and need to go at different paces. Some only need to do the intro for the few days as suggested, others need to do it for longer, some don't need to do it at all - it really depends on your degree of damage and where it is. Again, it comes down to learning how your body responds to different foods.

Although nuts are SCD 'legal', I couldn't cope with them properly for several months. Others find they are ok with them, some still can't cope with them a year or more later. You just cannot run before you can walk with this diet. We all want to be better tomorrow and to be able to go back to 'normal' eating, but really of course, it was 'normal' eating that triggered the damage in the first place and that will have taken some time to manifest, so reversing it is also going to take time. The body is very good at healing - but only if we give it the right resources and the right time to do it in.

The trick is to just take it slowly - try introducing different foods - one at a time and with a few days in between and see what happens. You will soon know if your body doesn't like something. Ease of it and perhaps try it again in a few weeks time. I couldn't eat eggs initially which was really annoying as they are such a staple, but after about 2 months I was able to eat them as long as they were well cooked, and now I have no problem with them in any form. Baked nut goods were challenging until about 8 or 9 months into the diet - but I have now got so used to not having them that I rarely think about them or even bother to make them, except for an occasional treat.

If you are aiming to destroy things like Candida then you would be best following the Candida diet for a while. The SCD will do it, but it takes longer. It concentrates more on healing the gut damage first but the beasties get dealt with as a side effect as most of their food sources are removed anyway. As the gut heals, food is then digested more efficiently which robs them of the nice scrummy undigested stuff, so they have no choice but to die back.

A week is very soon to be experiencing any major changes and you will find that your body and your stools go through several different changes as your body adjusts and detoxifies. Elaine suggested that three months is a better period to see the benefits of the diet. When you consider that it can take up to two or three years (or even more for some) for the gut to fully heal, then one week is a mere drop in the ocean! In truth, most of us have seen good results within the first year, and many find that symptoms can disappear so subtly that they may not even notice they have gone until some time later (that happened to me!).

The fact that you have had no D is progress, albeit small.

Little steps.........

Ali.

[Byte Me]

As to other food suggestions:

- try boiling a few simple vegetables together, like squash, onions, broccoli etc, and blend them, and boil up the soup slightly afterwards, for a basic vegetable soup. If you make it very weak with lots of water, and just add salt and pepper, you might be able to tolerate it.

- sauteed or steamed kaleflower and broccoli are the two foods I'm able to digest almost at any time. I tend to use half water half extra virgin olive oil to make it tasty but not greasy, and if you use coconut oil (virgin and pure) it might be easier to digest. again you can also add more water, let it boil/steam for longer and either it eat soft like that or blend it into a soup.

- mashed avocado or banana could also be an idea, but it sounds to me like you might have a sugar problem, so I don't know about the banana.

- Mint tea tend to soothe the stomach, so perhaps you could try to drink this.

Hope you find something to eat.

Jan

Jan, thank you so much for your input. I was able to eat about half a jar of organic babyfood squash about 10 hours ago, nothing but squash & water in the ingredients, and with no pain! I also feel better today than I have in a week or more.

The info about cauliflower and broccoli was surprising to me..i love those foods but it seems like they would cause a lot of gas? Maybe it's different when they are really boiled down? I don't think I've ever eaten those any way but just barely steamed. Anyway, I am willing to give it a try, but I have a question...do you recommend the broccoli stalks, the "trees", or both?

I think I will avoid bananas at this point because they have given me trouble off and on my whole life, except when cooked in banana pudding, but I have no clue how I would manage something like that with no starches or thickeners. As for avocado, any advice on picking one out? I have only bought one avocado ever, and I think it was a bad one, it just grossed me out to the point that I never even tried one again (expensive, too). Again, though, I am willing to try!

Hi Jenn - welcome to our 'little' thread! I think Jan has covered pretty much the things you can try - I understand it is frustrating.

It sounds as if your gut is extremely compacted. If the waste can't get out then the toxins will just be mooching around your body doing damage. Because your gut is so damaged it can't digest the food properly. You may also be bothered with SIBO or Candida which can create problems of its own too.

Have you been tested for things like Helicobacter? That can create havoc in the stomach. The little beggars excrete Urease which can dilute stomach acid. That can lead to an incomplete breakdown of food and low stomach acid may also mean that not enough digestive enzymes are triggered to further digest the food properly in the upper intestine and so the chain goes on. The undigested foods are nectar to other microbes like Candida. Unfortunately Helicobacter does not always show up in tests, particularly blood tests and my Doctor told me it can take several tests to pick it up. I understand that the breath test can be a more accurate way of finding it but over here in the UK they will only use that to tell you if it has gone after treatment - go figure!

I hope you manage to find a way through the health problems that you are suffering at the moment. I think for many of us, even with the help of the SCD we have still had to try and figure out what is going on. Because we are all individuals we all have individual issues and what can help one doesn't necessarily work for another and that is what makes it such a minefield.

What ever else we have tried, and what ever else has helped, whether things like Liver cleansing, parasite cleansing, colonic therapy, Candida treatments, etc., I think that everyone on the thread will agree that the one constant support has been the diet, and has certainly been a big help towards health restoration and in a lot of cases that includes our sanity too!

Ali, thanks for the welcome

I plan on asking Tuesday when I see the GI if he will test for H. Pylori and SIBO, but I am feeling a little hesitant to bring up the subject of Candida, as I don't want to be put on some prescription junk for that. Or is prescription junk the only way to get rid of it?

I do think you may be onto something about my gut being compacted. I won't go into detail but um, odd things have been appearing.

Another question...I was skimming somewhere, and I am pretty positive I read that the Welch's grape juice on the shelves today is not the same as when the book was written. Is this true? I have stopped drinking the watered down juice and switched to plain water instead.. interestingly, the D has subsided since I stopped. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

I plan on trying to get to the local health food store in the next town today, for some organic cider, I can't find that in the grocery store at all...unless Simply Apple counts? I don't think it does. I am also going to try and find some plain coconut milk and attempt the homemade yogurt with that. I do not think I can do goat's milk. I bought some about a year and a half/two years ago when I was having trouble with dairy, and oh my gosh, the smell...it smelled like the goat had bathed in the milk. I couldn't get past that awful odor!

Thank you both again for your help, I do greatly appreciate it

Jenn

[AliB]

Hi Jenn.

So glad you've had a better day today. I know what it's like - when you are so bad, anything better than bad is a bonus!

It will be trial and error for a little while, but hopefully you will be able to settle in to some sort of 'comfort zone' food-wise.

As far as prescription 'junk' is concerned my main thought on that is that it is at best normally only a temporary source of relief as, like antibiotics, the beggars get resistant to them. Quite a few have mentioned on the forum here that the first batch worked fine but then when it all flared up again (as it would) the next time it didn't have the same benefit. I had the same problem when I used to take prescrip stuff - Diflucan was absolutely pointless as it didn't touch it in the end.

That is where diet works better - either the Candida diet or the SCD or similar - anything that removes the starchy carbs and sugars from the diet will eventually get the better of them. All the diets take a while to work, but they get there in the end. Changing the diet changes the gut flora and helps to make it more resistant to pathogenic bugs.

I am chuffed to bits. After being on the diet for 15 months, having recently followed some cleansing protocols and had a colonic, taking some probios and vitamins etc., all my family fell prey to a rotten cold over the last couple of weeks - except me! You're talking here to the person who used to catch everything going - and was usually the one who gave it to everyone else! It just shows that strengthening the immune system is such an important aspect.

If you can afford to have a colonic hydrotherapy session or two, you may find that it helps to clear a lot of the compaction and toxins from your colon. Every time you eat, your liver has to process certain aspects of the food and if it can't get rid of the waste properly it will impact on the digestion. It's like trying to flush your toilet into a full-to-the-brim sewage tank! If the liver is clogged it can't process toxins properly and that can contribute to food intolerances too. The more efficient the digestion and less clogged the liver, the less likely you are to have digestive issues. The longer the food hangs around the more likely it will attract 'undesirables'!

If you can tolerate it - taking some Milk of Magnesia or Magnesium tablets at bedtime in or with a glass of warm water can help to 'soften' everything and get it moving. Weirdly, the fact that you have D doesn't mean that your colon is clear. You can have D and still be constipated. The D just manages to get through but the rest is left behind! What is needed is for the whole lot to get through.........

You may well find that your BMs go through a whole gamut of different processes until your body start to sort itself out. I found that and I am sure others would agree. It probably took about 6 - 8 weeks for it to start to settle down, well for me anyway.

There was a discussion on the previous page about Welch's. It apparently now contains corn syrup which would make it non-SCD compliant.

You could use coconut milk to make the yogurt - several have done that - if my memory serves me right I think Michelle (Fig Girl) has made hers with coconut. Goats milk is ok but you do have to get it, and use it very fresh. When fresh I find it tastes and smells just like cows milk, but it does get the goaty flavour and smell as it ages .

I actually think that is a good protection in a way. These days with pasteurization and homogenization, cows milk keeps a lot longer than it really should and I am sure that it is not good to be consuming it when it is old even if it doesn't taste bad. I read somewhere that the fats in the milk could still be rancid but you can't taste it because of what they do to it which is a bit worrying. Free radicals and all that.

I can't help you with the juice as I am in the UK and not sure what is available for you, but others may be able to help with that. The other option is to just eat homemade applesauce and drink water or herb teas. Chamomile is lovely with a little honey if needed. I also like hot water with quarter of a lemon squeezed into it. It's very cleansing and alkalizing and good for the kidneys. Ginger, if you like it can help to settle the stomach. Peppermint tea can help to dispel gas.

The problem with a lot of commercially made juices is that they have to be heat treated to ensure shelf life and destroy bacteria - that means that the valuable enzymes and some of the vitamins and minerals are also destroyed. The juice can then often end up as little but pure sugar. Whatever you decide to use, you are best well diluting it so that you are getting more water than juice. It is surprising how quickly you get used to having it diluted. I rarely drink juice now but could never drink it neat. I usually only need an inch or two in the bottom of the glass to flavour the water and that is plenty sweet enough. As a diabetic I shouldn't have too much sugar anyway.

I hope this helps and I hope you are still having a good day.

Ali