Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)

[AliB]

Fig Girl,

if you ever try sauerkraut, look out for real, lactic acidic fermented one. Storebought ones not always are the real thing because industrially made and canned sauerkraut mostly is fast-fermented which very often makes vinegar acids instead of lactic acids. The taste is different: Real lactic acidic fermented one is not very sour. It's more fruity and only mildly sour. Canned sauerkrat very often is sour like vinegar, nearly impossible to eat raw.

Here in Germany you can also buy lactic acidic fermented vegetable juices in organic food shops. Maybe you find them at your place, too?

Mia. I would love to try making sauerkraut - I wonder whether you would mind talking me through the process?

[pele]

I'm changing the subject a bit...

I've had a bad week. Not fully healed, obviously. Had intestinal pain for a week. fever for one day, been tired, slight runny nose, headache. Since I didn't want to a doctor to put me on antibiotics and order a CAT scan and colonoscopy, I tried eating a lot of garlic, drinking peppermint tea and kombucha, taking probiotics. This morning I felt like I was detoxifying. And now I feel much better. I keep thinking a bunch of y'all would say candida. How would I know?

Now that my appetite is back, I think I'll do something with cashews. Thanks for the ideas.

[mftnchn]

Pele, it does sound like some kind of infection, not sure. when I get pain, fever, fatigue and it is usually a detox from killing lyme bacteria and co-infections.

Ali talks a lot about bad bacteria in the gut...but I also deal with a lot of parasites. I am STILL passing these on occasion--yuck! However, I am encouraged that both my diet and my meds/supplements are addressing some of the issues and making my body less habitable for these nasties.

I'm still not back to as good as I was prior to the contaminated cinnamon (and flavored almonds). Unfortunately I kept using it for 3 weeks or so before figuring it out, and now we are pretty sure it has flour. Needless to say I got rid of it! But it is really taking a long time to recover, that's why I think it was gluten and not just a starch problem. I am getting antsy to add some more variety to my diet, eat more nuts, legumes, and try some raw! After all I have been on SCD faithfully for three months. But the glutening made me relapse, grrrr.

[GermanMia]

Sherry,

8 years on antibiotics - no wonder your gut is very, very troubled. I suppose that will be the reason why you don't improve as fast as you would like to. But I'm quite sure that if you manage to starve the bad microorganisms in the gut that also will make it easier to fight the lyme. I do really wish you lots of strength to keep doing this!

Ali,

making sauerkraut is the easiest thing in the world I'll be delighted to help you!

Pele,

I felt much the same with my renal infection last week. Maybe if you're already detoxifying the body with the SCD a simple infection feels different or worse than usual. And I realised that you become more aware of processes in the body which you didn't feel at all before.

Anyway it's good that your appetite is back - I just made a loaf of cashew bread today (I found affordable cashews in the superstore yesterday!) and look forward to making that cashew cheese tomorrow.

Has anyone of you experiences with stevia? I'm going to buy something for my hubby, but I'm not quite sure which kind of stevia-preparation would be okay. We have some really awful stevia-extract (tastes like overly sweet hay), and I wonder whether I should try stevia syrup or powder?

Also I was quite astonished when I took my last batch of yoghurt out of the freezer last night - it was runny like buttermilk! What did go wrong?? I thought I made it exactly the same way as the first batch which had a very nice firm texture. Then I remembered that I boiled the milk of the first batch by accident and then let it cool. This time I only heated the milk to about 35 degrees Celsius and then stirred in the starter. Could that make such a difference?

Mia

[ArtGirl]

Has anyone of you experiences with stevia? I'm going to buy something for my hubby, but I'm not quite sure which kind of stevia-preparation would be okay. We have some really awful stevia-extract (tastes like overly sweet hay), and I wonder whether I should try stevia syrup or powder?

I buy the stevia powdered extract (NOW brand). It's way cheaper per serving than the liquid extracts. Don't buy the individual packets as they have starch or sugar added to increase the volume so there's enough to go into the packets (pure stevia powder would be only a small pinch that probably wouldn't sell well.)

You can use the powder straight and stir it, or dissolve it in a little. I keep the dissolved stevia liquid a few days to use in tea, etc. It's easier to put into drinks or salad dressings if it's already dissolved. If you're exact in the ratio water to stevia, you'll soon know how much to use for what.

You have to be careful with stevia. A little goes a LONG way. Too much and it can have a bitter aftertaste. I use it primarily on those ingredients that already have a strong or tart flavor, like lemon/lime, vinegar, tea. I know some people who bake with it and I will give that a try (I'm not fond of a heavy honey flavor.)

Re: frozen yoghurt..... I didn't know you could just freeze it without it separating when thawed. Doesn't frozen yoghurt have to be prepared in an ice cream maker and kept stirred as it freezes?

[AliB]

Ali,

making sauerkraut is the easiest thing in the world I'll be delighted to help you!

Thanks Mia - I'l PM you on that - unless anyone else is interested in which case you might as well post the instructions on the thread!

Also I was quite astonished when I took my last batch of yoghurt out of the freezer last night - it was runny like buttermilk! What did go wrong?? I thought I made it exactly the same way as the first batch which had a very nice firm texture. Then I remembered that I boiled the milk of the first batch by accident and then let it cool. This time I only heated the milk to about 35 degrees Celsius and then stirred in the starter. Could that make such a difference?

I'm wondering whether you did actually heat it enough. The fact that it was runny may indicate that either another bacteria got into the mix, or your starter didn't work properly. Did you use the same starter as before? Was the heat maintained during fermentation? Some instructions say to boil the milk, others to heat it almost to boiling. 35 degrees doesn't sound hot enough - that's only about 70 degrees fahrenheit and boiling is 100 degrees so it might not have been hot enough to kill any stray bacteria. Did you let it cool to body temperature before adding the starter?

Freezing may well destroy the bacteria so I personally would always make it and eat it fresh. The probiotic bacteria needs to be live in order to work. Freezing it may also change the structure of the yogurt.

[GermanMia]

ArtGirl,

thanks for the information! I'll try the powder.

Ali,

just give a sign and I'll explain what you need and what to do

Err - sorry, my English... I wanted to say "refregerator" not freezer I put the yoghurt into the refregerator overnight. But I suppose you are right, I should have heated it much more. The starter was simply one cup of the last batch. The taste is - well, okay, but not exactly delicious. Very tart. Today I made my monthly stock of bread and muffins and used up most of the runny stuff - if it's baked any unwelcome bacteria will be killed... Funny enough it works when I mix some yoghurt with the normal curd cheese you can buy here (which is not fermented by bacteria and contains lactose). I mildly heat the curd, stir in the yoghurt and put it into the yoghurt maker. Good luck, I suppose.

Mia

[AliB]

Ok Mia. So first you get your cabbage........any type? Does it need to be scrupulously washed? I watched a video on YouTube and the woman cut 2 large cabbages from her garden then proceeded to cut them up, but it didn't mention anything about washing them.

I don't grow any so would have to buy them. Should they be organic or would any cabbage be ok?

I thought I would ask about this on the thread as there may be others out there who would like to try making it too.

[ArtGirl]

I thought I would ask about this on the thread as there may be others out there who would like to try making it too.

Why not start a new thread for the sauerkraut instructions. Putting it here would bury it deep within this SCD thread and there are probably many who aren't SCD who would like to make their own sauerkraut.

You could put a link to the new thread here so someone who reads thru this thread in the future can find it.

Just a suggestion.

[mftnchn]

Mia the temperature does make a difference I think. I try to heat mine to 84 degrees Celsius, then let it cool to 38-40 or so and add my starter.

I'm not sure what you are putting in the freezer, but the bacteria can't grow unless it is warm enough for them.

Yes, 8 years is a long time, though my doctor has been careful all along with the choice of abx, the use of antifungals, and giving probiotics. I do not test as having candida overgrowth, and I don't test has having much bad bacteria. Tests are limited of course.

I do have parasites, because I have seen many

[GermanMia]

Ali and ArtGirl,

I'll start a new thread, then, for making sauerkraut

No, you don't need organic cabbage. It even may be better not to use organic cabbage because the organic varieties very often are too dry, too many fibres and not enough glucose for proper fermentation.

And no, no need to wash; you just discard the two cover leaves. The rest I'll explain in the new thread.

Sherry,

no, it was the refregerator, not freezer... English for runaways

But you're right about the temperature. I had thought it wasn't necessary to heat pasturized milk again to 85 degrees but that evidently was wrong.

Isn't there anything you can do about the parasites? Because I know they are much worse than candida, and it is very likely that most of your problems result from their existence.

Mia

[mftnchn]

Mia, the Enula I am on helps. I have also done several rounds of herbal anti-worm treatment, which also helped. I saw the largest amount though just a few days into the SCD.

I don't want it to go any faster than my body can handle--or more naturally fight them off, because I have learned that they absorb heavy metals like mercury and release them when they die. I have had a hard time detoxing and moving out mercury (though that seems better now) so I don't want to do this too quickly.

I think the major problem was my inability to digest carbs (showed in testing) which has been feeding these nasties. So I think I am on the right track now.

[MissCici]

Question for all of you more experienced SCDers:

I can't have cow's milk. Could I make the yogurt with goat's milk yogurt? Anyone tried this before?

Thanks!

Cici

[ShayFL]

I would say yes Cici. I am using goat milk just fine.

[GermanMia]

Sherry,

you're right - just listen to your body. Surely starving the carbohydrate-fed things will help and there is no need to weaken the body more than necessary.

Ali,

I opened a new thread in the "gluten-free recipes" forum called "Making sauerkraut". Sorry if my English is a bit clumsy - if you have further questions, just ask!

MissCici,

there are several remarks concerning yoghurt made from goat milk, coconut milk and nut milk somewhere in this thread. Did you look here:www.pecanbread.com/new/yogurt1.html

Mia

[aprilh]

I'm changing the subject a bit...

I've had a bad week. Not fully healed, obviously. Had intestinal pain for a week. fever for one day, been tired, slight runny nose, headache. Since I didn't want to a doctor to put me on antibiotics and order a CAT scan and colonoscopy, I tried eating a lot of garlic, drinking peppermint tea and kombucha, taking probiotics. This morning I felt like I was detoxifying. And now I feel much better. I keep thinking a bunch of y'all would say candida. How would I know?

Now that my appetite is back, I think I'll do something with cashews. Thanks for the ideas.

Did you just start the intro?

I'm still not back to as good as I was prior to the contaminated cinnamon (and flavored almonds). Unfortunately I kept using it for 3 weeks or so before figuring it out, and now we are pretty sure it has flour. Needless to say I got rid of it! But it is really taking a long time to recover, that's why I think it was gluten and not just a starch problem. I am getting antsy to add some more variety to my diet, eat more nuts, legumes, and try some raw! After all I have been on SCD faithfully for three months. But the glutening made me relapse, grrrr.

So frustrating, Sherry! Doesn't take much to set us back sometimes!

Ali and ArtGirl,

I'll start a new thread, then, for making sauerkraut

No, you don't need organic cabbage. It even may be better not to use organic cabbage because the organic varieties very often are too dry, too many fibres and not enough glucose for proper fermentation.

And no, no need to wash; you just discard the two cover leaves. The rest I'll explain in the new thread.

Cool! I'll check out the other thread. I have not been much of a sauerkraut person, but my hubby loves it. Would be a good way to incorporate some good guys into his system.

[pele]

Did you just start the intro?

Hi April

No, I have been on the SCD for 6 months. I have been feeling much better since early August, so last week was a setback. The funny thing I realized is this: the fatigue, blahs, gut inflammation and unpredictable digestion were all my default settings for years, even after a year on a gluten-free diet. Only recently have I felt better, and fortunately, the setback seems to have faded. and I feel pretty good again, not quite where I was two weeks ago, but close. Wish I knew how to prevent it from happening again.

[AliB]

Hi April

No, I have been on the SCD for 6 months. I have been feeling much better since early August, so last week was a setback. The funny thing I realized is this: the fatigue, blahs, gut inflammation and unpredictable digestion were all my default settings for years, even after a year on a gluten-free diet. Only recently have I felt better, and fortunately, the setback seems to have faded. and I feel pretty good again, not quite where I was two weeks ago, but close. Wish I knew how to prevent it from happening again.

Pele, do you have ANY idea what might have triggered it? I suppose it might have been something like a virus. I started to feel better and regain some energy just after I went gluten-free but within a couple days I was hit by a virus and went back to square one - I have never got backup to that point since. I am pretty sure that when the immune system is under stress like that it becomes diverted from the constant battle with the beasties and the little beggars get the upper hand again!

Funny, I didn't realise until all this happened that the regular dreadful weakness I would get in my belly was actually due to my digestion, not my weight! I always put it down to being overweight and having to carry my stomach around like a permanent pregnancy!

It's weird, I was saying the other day on one of the threads about how some bacteria are avid consumers of our vital nutrients and how sometimes taking supplements, instead of feeding us, actually ends up feeding them and making them stronger. I remember one evening some years back I took a combination of calcium Pantothenate, Kelp and Zinc. The next morning I bounded out of bed thinking 'YES - I've cracked it!'. I took the same combination the next evening, and the next, and the next, but it never happened again. Between the first dose and the second the little beggars had probably thought their ship had come in and had grown to consume the extra goodies. Arrrgh!!!

This has happened quite often over the years. Nothing is ever sustained. I can't beat the little beggars and other than the SCD I don't know what to do. We don't seem to have any stool testing over here, well we don't seem to have much (well, reliable anyway) testing for anything over here, and I don't know how to find out what is going on in there. I know I haven't been as disciplined as I would wish on the SCD but I hoped after 9 months I might begin to see a better improvement - there is some but I can't get the energy back.

I am pretty frustrated.

[mftnchn]

Cici, I have been making yogurt from gqat milk all along. I keep cow's milk for small amounts of cheese. I am casein sensitive but handle alittle ok.

Pele Elaine mentions the brief setbacks as part of the process. I read an inquiry to her in the emails and she said she didn't know what caused this, had not been able to discover the reason for sure. She said she had some guesses but the explanation was complex, and was only a guess so she didn't say.

Ali, that is frustrating. When you do just intro...is there no difference than with the full SCD diet? In terms of testing, I think lyme would be important. It causes major gut issues in some people. CarlaB had terrible gut problems until treating Bartonella co-infection, then the digestive stuff immediately cleared up.

[GermanMia]

Ali,

from what you tell I'm pretty sure you have some kind of infection in your body. Sherry is right - lyme, for example, could be a reason for intestinal trouble. But not only lyme. Only recently I understood that my recurrent renal infections cause this dreadful weakness. I wondered why sometimes I don't mind being underweight at all - I do sports, jogging, working from 7 pm to 11 am and don't mind - and then all of a sudden I feel to weak to climb the stairs. One of my best friends is an excellent naturopath and he told me to check if I'm too acidic. And indeed I am. I used dipsticks (litmus) to check the ph of my urine and it turned out way too acidic. My friend told me that as long as the body contains too many acids it will be a wonderful place for all kinds of infection germs to live. So I work on getting more basic (i.e. alkaline) by eating as much vegetables as I can, drinking herbal teas and taking alkaline minerals. Maybe it would help if you look into this a bit?

Sauerkraut, by the way, is a good food to become more bsic

Mia

[AliB]

Ali,

from what you tell I'm pretty sure you have some kind of infection in your body. Sherry is right - lyme, for example, could be a reason for intestinal trouble. But not only lyme. Only recently I understood that my recurrent renal infections cause this dreadful weakness. I wondered why sometimes I don't mind being underweight at all - I do sports, jogging, working from 7 pm to 11 am and don't mind - and then all of a sudden I feel to weak to climb the stairs. One of my best friends is an excellent naturopath and he told me to check if I'm too acidic. And indeed I am. I used dipsticks (litmus) to check the ph of my urine and it turned out way too acidic. My friend told me that as long as the body contains too many acids it will be a wonderful place for all kinds of infection germs to live. So I work on getting more basic (i.e. alkaline) by eating as much vegetables as I can, drinking herbal teas and taking alkaline minerals. Maybe it would help if you look into this a bit?

Sauerkraut, by the way, is a good food to become more bsic

Mia

Hi Mia, yes I am pretty sure that there is some infection going on somewhere although I am also now wondering if I have a problem with Helicobacter or some other pathogenic bacteria. I did have a blood test for it fairly recently which came back negative but I read on the web last night that blood tests often come back as a false negative. I wonder whether to ask my doctor for the breath test which may well be more reliable.

They are pretty useless but I may go back to my Doctor's surgery to see if there is any way I could be tested for pathogenic bacteria. I don't hold out much hope and may have to end up trying to fund a private stool test or something. There is the hospital for Tropical Diseases in London but apart from that I don't think there is anything else available. Would the stool test pick up or test for everything anyway? Haven't a clue. You would think in this 'enlightened' era it would be so easy to be able to find out what is behind our problems.

[AliB]

Funnily enough, I have just this minute read an article in the Daily Mail about a woman who has made 1000 visits to the doctor over the last 20 years and has just finally had her health problems diagnosed as down to a bacterial infection of Actinomycosis. So there's another one I haven't heard of before. How many are there?

That was interesting about Carla's bacterial infection and how she is better since it has been dealt with.

There are so many things coming out now that just convince me more and more that so many of our health issues are due to pathogenic bacteria. But unless doctors are looking for them, they are impotent.

The more I think about it the more I am convinced that my diabetes is due to a pathogen living in my pancreas and liver. The breakdown of my pancreas happened gradually over a period of time. Why? If I am carrying a pathogen in there then its activity and the resulting infection would undoubtedly cause a gradual failure to occur. Just maybe insulin resistance occurs not because the cells can't take it up, but because the pancreatic damage by the bacteria causes the insulin structure to change into a form that renders it unable to be used properly. What if type 1 diabetes is also caused by a pathogen, but one that causes a sudden and very rapid collapse of the insulin producing cells?

The pancreatic damage may also have contributed to my weight problems over the years too. If my body cannot utilise and burn the carbohydrates efficiently then weight is obviously going to be an issue. Maybe Medical science has found different bacteria within the Pancreas, but they may not be aware that it is the bacteria that is causing the problem. What if the immune system is destroying the cells in an attempt to destroy the bacteria that it perceives as a pathogen that are living on them?

It's times like this that I wish I was a bacteriologist!

[GermanMia]

Hi Ali,

you really should think so. Not like it couldn't be done - there's the knowledge and the methods, but they don't do it. It's the same here. I had my stool tests made in the Netherlands - in the Rotterdam Haven Hospital - and my German doctor doesn't take the results seriously! Sometimes I'd like to thump him on the head, but no use.

I had to fund for the tests privately, too, but it wasn't as expensive as I thought. About 150 Euro last year - could have been worse.

And yes, the breath test is said to be more reliable than the blood test for helicobacter.

I don't know about the tests you could make in the London Hospital, but I can see if I find someone to ask. Maybe my naturopath friend, who is Dutch and has lots of international connections, can tell me something that may help you. What I know is that he could get about everything tested with this test in that Dutch lab: Pathogenetic germs of any kind, including helicobacter, parasites, candida and other kinds of fungus (aspergillus etc.), tissue transglutaminase for celiac, tumor markers and the condition of the normal flora, too. I think there are other markers which I forgot or which I needn't. Anyway it is possible to check nearly everything you can think of in those tests. Just have to find a lab which does it...

[AliB]

Ali,

from what you tell I'm pretty sure you have some kind of infection in your body. Sherry is right - lyme, for example, could be a reason for intestinal trouble. But not only lyme. Only recently I understood that my recurrent renal infections cause this dreadful weakness. I wondered why sometimes I don't mind being underweight at all - I do sports, jogging, working from 7 pm to 11 am and don't mind - and then all of a sudden I feel to weak to climb the stairs. One of my best friends is an excellent naturopath and he told me to check if I'm too acidic. And indeed I am. I used dipsticks (litmus) to check the ph of my urine and it turned out way too acidic. My friend told me that as long as the body contains too many acids it will be a wonderful place for all kinds of infection germs to live. So I work on getting more basic (i.e. alkaline) by eating as much vegetables as I can, drinking herbal teas and taking alkaline minerals. Maybe it would help if you look into this a bit?

Sauerkraut, by the way, is a good food to become more bsic

Mia

I did the phMiracle 'Alkalizing Diet' about 2 years ago. I did lose some weight, the External Candida symptoms cleared up, the IBS went away, but after 4 - 5 weeks I had to stop the diet as my stomach got so sore....I did wonder if I had overdone the alkalizing with the wheat grass 'green drink' and the minerals. If I did that again I would not take those things and would just stick to the veg and a some protein (maybe it just alkalizes the body too fast without giving it time to adapt).

Certainly I am sure the vegetables are the best thing, both raw and cooked - I know I need to eat a lot more of those than I do. The SCD recommends at least 3 salads a week, but when the weather is cold and miserable I just can't stomach cold food. As the Summer has been non-existent here this year I have had absolutely no motivation to eat salads which is quite frustrating.

I keep buying salad veg and putting it in the fridge then end up throwing it away when it goes rotten. Duh!

It's tea-time here so I am going to go down and make a salad.............

[ArtGirl]

I had to stop the diet as my stomach got so sore....I did wonder if I had overdone the alkalizing with the wheat grass 'green drink' ...

Wheat grass is contamined with gluten (so is barley grass). Could be your sore stomach was from the gluten and not the alkalizing. Of course, one can overdo almost anything.

I tried the alkalizing diet, too. But that was BGF (before gluten-free) so while it helped some, did not have the effect I had hoped for. Now I know why. I still think the theory is sound.

My basic problem with any diet is that I don't stay with it very long. One reason I'm waiting to start the SCD is that I want to have a couple months where I know I won't have to go off it for any reason. It's hard enough to stay with a strict eating plan but nearly impossible if one keeps "cheating" for whatever (even good) reason. At least, that's been my experience with myself.