Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)

[pele]

Also, I have been eating cooked apples with no problems. However, I haven't had cooked fruit for almost a week now. I had eaten some fresh fruit on/after Thanksgiving, and didn't seem to have a problem - but also ate fresh fruit yesterday and the day before. Very gassy, figured I need to keep with cooked, which I like fine anyway. So I cooked up some apples with cinnamon, nutmeg and honey and ate that as a snack this afternoon. My face felt a little warm. Upon looking in a mirror, my cheeks are bright pink. My co-worker confirmed. Does this mean anything? Do I wait so many days before trying cooked apples again? Also, I have a slight headache.

/

Hang in there. I couldn't eat apples for years, cooked or raw. Now, after 8 months of SCD, I am eating not only applesauce but whole raw apples! Yay! The ones I am eating are locally grown and unsprayed (swiped 'em off the neighbors' trees). I couldn't care less about not eating wheat, but boy did I miss apples.

[Guest Jsn7821]

Is there a list of where I could see what foods are allowed on the SCD?

After getting sick and doing an elimination diet, I haven't added any carbs back in at all, and I am feeling the best I have all year. Right now I am doing vegetables (except starchy ones like potatoes), meat (fish, chicken and bison), and goat yogurt... Nothing else so far other than a few supplements. I am planning on adding new things in every ~3 or 4 days to see how my system reacts. I think I need more protein since I am pretty young (20) and fairly active. I want to add in nuts (once I find a good source for them.... I haven't been able to find a place that looks trustworthy), and if possible beans/lentils. Are those allowed on the SCD? What other protein sources could I try?

[GermanMia]

Hi Jsn7821,

look at www.pecanbread.com for the legal / illegal foods. Some legumes are allowed. If you have no D and no more bloating, you might try them, but be a little careful. Are you able to eat eggs? They're a very good source of protein.

Pele,

I really do hope I'll get rid of the fructose malabsorption after some time so that I can eat apples again, too! At the moment I really feel uneasy with so few fruit and veggies. My gut seems to be okay with lots of protein and fat and few fruit and veggies but I don't think my kindneys are happy. I constantly have kind of pressure in the head like having high blood pressure - which I never had except after the kidney operation last year. Maybe I'd better be less careful with the fructose and just try some more green stuff.

[mftnchn]

Hi Jsn7821,

look at www.pecanbread.com for the legal / illegal foods. Some legumes are allowed. If you have no D and no more bloating, you might try them, but be a little careful. Are you able to eat eggs? They're a very good source of protein.

There's a legal/illegal list on Open Original Shared Link

Hope that helps.

The book Breaking the Vicious Cycle is the standard text.

[bigapplekathleen]

Hi everyone,

I noticed in a lot of posts on this thread that people are talking about SCD diet being low-carb. I guess it COULD be, depending on what you eat, but if you follow the diet suggestions in BREAKING THE VICIOUS CYCLE, the diet is actually pretty high in carbs. The book does a great job of explaining the premise behind the diet and why following it fixes a lot of intestinal issues.

I have never felt better than when I have stayed on this diet, but it's hard to stay on it when everyone else around you is eating lots of other stuff...

with that said, however, I have been sick enough in 2008 that I am back on the SCD. It's been a week now and I feel a lot better already.

Does anyone know of a place where we can order SCD-legal breads, muffins, etc? (rather than make everything from scratch at home?)

Thanks!

Kat

[ShayFL]

I get my flours from here and they have some ready made goodies:

Open Original Shared Link

Here is another place:

Open Original Shared Link

[pele]

Well, I went to the NP last week to get the results of lab work.

A year and half after my first test, my Vitamin D level is finally in the normal range--43, reference range 32-80. For the first year I took 1000 units per day. Nothing happened. I sunbathed some this summer and fall, and took 2000-5000 units per day. The NP says I should get my level up to around 50 for optimal health.

My blood cholesterol is, um, high. Ratio is good, lots of HDL. Triglycerides great, "cardiac risk" very low.

Sooo, does this mean I am now absorbing fats? According to conventional med, yes, and I should go on a low fat diet and take statin drugs. According to the naysayers, fat intake, including saturated fat and eggs, does not increase blood cholesterol. And high cholesterol is NOT an indicator of cardiac health. Half of thoes who have heart attacks have low cholesterol. Some doctors even claim that folks with high cholesterol live longer. Cholesterol is necessary to manufacture hormones, something that has been in short supply in my bod in the past several years. So, I feel great. More energy, stronger. I am going to enjoy my cholesterol. It's mine, all mine and no drug company is going to take it away.

[GermanMia]

Hi pele,

that's great!!! Just don't let someone talk you into taking drugs which only make oxidative stress...

[aprilh]

Well, I went to the NP last week to get the results of lab work.

A year and half after my first test, my Vitamin D level is finally in the normal range--43, reference range 32-80. For the first year I took 1000 units per day. Nothing happened. I sunbathed some this summer and fall, and took 2000-5000 units per day. The NP says I should get my level up to around 50 for optimal health.

My blood cholesterol is, um, high. Ratio is good, lots of HDL. Triglycerides great, "cardiac risk" very low.

Sooo, does this mean I am now absorbing fats? According to conventional med, yes, and I should go on a low fat diet and take statin drugs. According to the naysayers, fat intake, including saturated fat and eggs, does not increase blood cholesterol. And high cholesterol is NOT an indicator of cardiac health. Half of thoes who have heart attacks have low cholesterol. Some doctors even claim that folks with high cholesterol live longer. Cholesterol is necessary to manufacture hormones, something that has been in short supply in my bod in the past several years. So, I feel great. More energy, stronger. I am going to enjoy my cholesterol. It's mine, all mine and no drug company is going to take it away.

I love this!

I have high cholestorel too and dr's have given me A LOT of grief about my decision to NOT take statins. I believe there is more to cholestorel than the number. Like underlying inflammation for example.

I am getting ready to take a new test called Berkeley Heartlabs. It digs down into the deeper issues of cholestorel heart related stuff to see if you are "at risk". Only 2 docs in my area are ordering this type lab but I believe they will become more common as time goes on.

[mftnchn]

Pele, on the Vitamin D, what my docs are saying based on the newest guidelines, is that 50 is the low end of the range, not 32 (thats the old standard). My doc wants my level at 80.

I'm kind of testing this out: Last year I felt better from Aug to Nov, then started getting much worse in Dec. through the winter. Started D supplementation at a pretty low amount. In May when I started getting sun in short sleeves, I had a 3 week die off reaction. With that based on my levels the doc asked me to kick up my D significantly and see what happened. I got rapidly better. So I'm just now hitting the December time, with my supplementation up there and my level at around 80 or so.

So far other than a cold, am doing fine. In my opinion the D has been very important.

[ShayFL]

My cholesterol was high once. But once I optimized my thyorid meds it has been normal ever since. High cholesterol does not equal heart disease. I have ZERO heart disease in my family history on either side. So when I got one high reading I didnt even think about it. My last labs said my risk is at the very lowest end. My C-reactive protein is perfect.

[DMarie]

Interesting about the Vitamin D. My doctor out of the blue ran a check on my Vitamin D levels earlier this year. Found out it was quite low. So I have been taking 1200 units a day since. I just went for lab work this morning; Vit D was one of the items being checked, so will be interested to see if it has improved any. What causes Vit D to be low? Are there other items that should be checked? Can mineral levels, such as calcium and magnesium, be checked via bloodwork?

The issue with the apples seems to either have been a fluke occurrence OR it was due to my sauteeing them in coconut oil. I have eaten since, without cinnamon and honey, various kinds, and no problems (sauteeing them in butter). I have also had cinnamon since. Isn't coconut oil supposed to have anti-fungal properties?

Pele - I was wondering how strict you have followed the SCD diet? I know that we both have questioned some of the same things - and I know that you have had improvements. Do you go off-diet for any particular thing? I am mostly compliant; but have eaten canned green beans and did not boil down my 100% Prune Juice when using the first bottle.

Mucous kind of comes and goes. Sometimes it will seem kind of bad for part of a day, then I have periods of time when I am comfortable.

I ate nuts on Saturday and noticed some differences yesterday (as in looser stool and could see the nuts; mucous seemed a bit more yesterday than Saturday when it was minimal). I know I shouldn't eat them yet, but I had roasted some raw cashews to make cashew butter - and they smelled so good! I use the cashew butter in muffins (made from bananas, cashew butter, eggs, baking soda and apple cider vinegar). The muffins seem to agree with me, and I usually only eat 1 at a time (on occasion will have 2 in a day).

Sherry - how is the olive oil working? The psyllium is working well for me - but would just as soon try the olive oil if I think it would work. I did boil down my prune juice today as recommended on the Pecanbread site (I think that is where I got that from)...not sure why they say to boil it down. Perhaps to concentrate it so you take less??

[AliB]

Well, I went to the NP last week to get the results of lab work.

A year and half after my first test, my Vitamin D level is finally in the normal range--43, reference range 32-80. For the first year I took 1000 units per day. Nothing happened. I sunbathed some this summer and fall, and took 2000-5000 units per day. The NP says I should get my level up to around 50 for optimal health.

My blood cholesterol is, um, high. Ratio is good, lots of HDL. Triglycerides great, "cardiac risk" very low.

Sooo, does this mean I am now absorbing fats? According to conventional med, yes, and I should go on a low fat diet and take statin drugs. According to the naysayers, fat intake, including saturated fat and eggs, does not increase blood cholesterol. And high cholesterol is NOT an indicator of cardiac health. Half of those who have heart attacks have low cholesterol. Some doctors even claim that folks with high cholesterol live longer. Cholesterol is necessary to manufacture hormones, something that has been in short supply in my bod in the past several years. So, I feel great. More energy, stronger. I am going to enjoy my cholesterol. It's mine, all mine and no drug company is going to take it away.

Thanks for the laugh Pells - I absolutely agree with you that this Cholesterol hype is a load of twaddle.

The Diabetic doc I have just parted company with offered them to me when I had hardly got through the door - my level was 3.8. If that is high, what the heck is normal! I told him where he could put his statins (figuratively speaking you understand) and that they are not the 'magic bullet' they have been hailed as.

A friend of us suffered with memory loss issues after taking them so you won't catch me on them at all. It is bad enough having to have the insulin and metformin. I have been able to drop the BP tablets since gluten-free and SCD and I am not going back there again.

Getting the bad carbs and sugar out of our bodies will undoubtedly prove to be the best move we have ever made and those that say what you eat doesn't matter can go take a running jump. Funny how it is the ones who tell you how wonderful statins are who are also the ones who say it has nothing to do with bacteria and what you eat is immaterial - but then they are getting paid to give you the drugs, so they would say that wouldn't they!

[pele]

Interesting about the Vitamin D. My doctor out of the blue ran a check on my Vitamin D levels earlier this year. Found out it was quite low. So I have been taking 1200 units a day since. I just went for lab work this morning; Vit D was one of the items being checked, so will be interested to see if it has improved any. What causes Vit D to be low? Are there other items that should be checked? Can mineral levels, such as calcium and magnesium, be checked via bloodwork?

Pele - I was wondering how strict you have followed the SCD diet? I know that we both have questioned some of the same things - and I know that you have had improvements. Do you go off-diet for any particular thing? I am mostly compliant; but have eaten canned green beans and did not boil down my 100% Prune Juice when using the first bottle.

Hi Dawn

I would say I am very compliant with the SCD. I did not do the intro, I think partly because my edition of BTVC does not emphasis it. I read on healingcrow that Elaine said she went back and forth on the necessity of an intro, so each edition of the book differs in that regard. Otherwise, my cheating consists of using a tablespoon of tamari sauce about twice a month, and I used 3-4 cans of organic tomatoes back before this year's garden. Once in a great while a few mung bean sprouts, and occasionally turkey bacon which contains more salt then sugar. So my cheating isn't eating grains or candy bars. It's not much.

As far as Vitamin D--it is estimated that 86% of American adults are deficient due to lack of exposure to the sun. Cases of ricketts are being found in northern cities like Seattle. Government guidelines recommend 400-800 units per day, woefully inadequate. Some doctors recommend 5000 units per day. American women hace the highest calcium intake in the world, mostly from dairy and supplements, and yet have the highest fracture rate in the world. My advice--get out in the sun without sunscreen for short bursts, don't get burned, eat sardines, brocolli and kale, and use Vit D supplements made from fish oil, like Carslon's Norwegian Cod Liver Oil. Vitamin D is very, very important. Look it up on google.

And to everyone else: Thanks for enjoying and responding to my post. I'm glad I put it here, among friends!

[Guest Jsn7821]

Farts!

I've been fairly gassy lately (especially in the evenings around my SO - or when I'm in the car)... does this tell me anything about my diet it? In the least, it's annoying and I would like to try and modify my diet to reduce the gas... if possible. Recommendations?

I'm not 100% sure what's directly linked to it, meat does it a little (but I don't think that's causing it). I had a bunch of carrot juice today and that seemed to make it worse, but it was still there yesterday without the carrot juice. Or maybe it's the goat yogurt, which I have been steadily increasing ever since I introduced it a week ago....

Could my supplements be behind it...? Glutamine or D3 maybe? My gas has a similar smell to my pee - sort of smell "vitaminy", like how your pee can smell like Vitamin B after eating lots of asparagus...

[GermanMia]

Hi Jsn7821,

it could be the carrots. Must not but can. Carrots contain mannitol, which like sorbitol can cause problems in people who either have a sorbitol intolerance or don't absorb fructose well. Maybe start with greens which are low in fructose like spinach, corn salad, avocados (okay, that's a fruit :-)) if you can manage avocados. Did you ever have trouble with products containing sorbitol?

[Guest Jsn7821]

I've actually never heard of mannitol or sorbitol. After a quick visit to Google, it sounds like sorbitol is a sugar supplement - which I have never (intentionally) had. I couldn't find much information on mannitol in carrots ...

I juiced the carrots (so I probably had ~6 of them, which is quite a bit), and then used the pulp to make patties later in the day. I think it was the juice more so than the pulp, since I remember feeling my stomach rumble a little bit around noon before I had the pulp. Hmm...

[ShayFL]

Carrots are VERY high in Fructose. Most people have a "cap" as to how much fructose they can absorb at one time. Seems like you went past your cut off.

Open Original Shared Link

I personally can only eat limited quantities of fruit or I **fart** non-stop. I eat about 2 - 3 servings of fruit per day tops!

[chatycady]

I've been on the diet for a couple months now and finally have found the answer to all my symptoms. I purchased the yogurt maker, almond flour, and then revamped my pantry! I am sleeping through the night, have normal BM's, and tons of energy. For the first time in many, many years I feel wonderful!!!

I have been gluten free/dairy free for about 2 years but still struggled. I tried many, many different gluten free bread recipes and different gluten free foods eliminated all sorts of foods and found it just wasn't working for me. Then I came across this link and the SC Diet.

I can now make bread, cookies, bars with almond flour and honey (Yum!). Eat lots of SCD yogurt and now hope that Santa will bring me an ice cream maker for Christmas!

I am also hoping that 2009 will be the year of complete recovery. I hope to find my osteopenia to improve or at least stay the same. I also am hoping to stop the B-12 injections.

Anyone who is struggling with the gluten/free diet should look into the Specific Carbohydrate diet. This should be recommended by ALL celiac Dr's when their patients aren't improving on the gluten free diet.

BUY THE BOOK! Spread the news! There is hope!

Chaty.

[ShayFL]

How wonderful Chaty!! So glad you are feeling BETTER.

[mftnchn]

Thanks for the posts, I am going to track my symptoms with carrots and fruit and see what I can notice.

Also I am very intrigued Shay about the thyroid medication and cholesterol. I have a higher "good" cholesterol, and have been on thyroid for years. Can you mention what changes seemed to help?

Chaty, wonderful news! Thanks for posting! I agree that this should be recommended more often, I am thankful that my doctor prescribed SCD.

[AliB]

Farts!

I've been fairly gassy lately (especially in the evenings around my SO - or when I'm in the car)... does this tell me anything about my diet it? In the least, it's annoying and I would like to try and modify my diet to reduce the gas... if possible. Recommendations?

I'm not 100% sure what's directly linked to it, meat does it a little (but I don't think that's causing it). I had a bunch of carrot juice today and that seemed to make it worse, but it was still there yesterday without the carrot juice. Or maybe it's the goat yogurt, which I have been steadily increasing ever since I introduced it a week ago....

Could my supplements be behind it...? Glutamine or D3 maybe? My gas has a similar smell to my pee - sort of smell "vitaminy", like how your pee can smell like Vitamin B after eating lots of asparagus...

What you eat foods with can make a big difference on how the stomach reacts to it. I have been reading today in the 'Raw Food Detox Diet' about how the stomach digests different foods.

Fruit ideally should be eaten on its own. It is the fastest off all the types of food to pass through the stomach - most between 20 - 30 minutes, bananas a little longer. They deliver energy to the cells rapidly and efficiently and because it is non-taxing on the digestion, is less likely to drain energy from the body. It is better to eat your fresh fruit half an hour before your meal instead of for afters!

Vegetables can be eaten with both starches and protein, but starches and protein should never be eaten together. The stomach needs alkaline to digest the carbs and acid to digest the protein so the two tend to cancel each other out and the meal can be stuck in the stomach for 8 hours or more, getting nowhere fast, which is extremely taxing on already beleaguered digestive systems.

I remember doing the 'Hay' diet years ago, but my husband and I experienced a lot of gas so we stopped it. Knowing what I now know I suspect that had we stuck with it it would have settled eventually. I have a friend who has eaten the 'Combining' way for years.

I do think though that we can experience all sorts of weird things when we change diet. The body often goes through detox which can throw up strange symptoms. Sometimes it is just a matter of hanging in there until it has sorted itself out.

I had weird things going on for several weeks when I first started the SCD - my stools went through the whole gamut of changes from D to C and back again, even the typical Celiac pale and floaty, but it settled eventually. Remember me panicking about it Pele? You told me back then (is it really 9 months ago???) that it would settle, and it did.

[AliB]

Chaty - that is wonderful. It is so greatly encouraging and uplifting when different ones are able to see such an improvement for the first time in years.

Well done you........

(Just wish I could put your comment at the top of all the forum sections so that those both old and new who keep posting about their continued health problems could see it first before they add yet another question or plea for help - and then I wouldn't have to keep replying and repeating myself every five minutes!!!) (I think I will have to type out a 'standard' response that I can just cut and paste in every time I see another one - Go to the SCD thread and read Chaty's enthusiastic testimonial, etc., etc.)

[mftnchn]

Interesting about the Vitamin D. My doctor out of the blue ran a check on my Vitamin D levels earlier this year. Found out it was quite low. So I have been taking 1200 units a day since. I just went for lab work this morning; Vit D was one of the items being checked, so will be interested to see if it has improved any. What causes Vit D to be low? Are there other items that should be checked? Can mineral levels, such as calcium and magnesium, be checked via bloodwork?

Sherry - how is the olive oil working? The psyllium is working well for me - but would just as soon try the olive oil if I think it would work. I did boil down my prune juice today as recommended on the Pecanbread site (I think that is where I got that from)...not sure why they say to boil it down. Perhaps to concentrate it so you take less??

Vitamin D can be deficient because we don't absorb from our food and because we don't get enough sun. Ca and Mg can be checked by blood but one of the problems is that blood and tissue levels of various nutrients, vitamins and minerals can be different. My doc tests in more than one way for various levels. Vit D is done by blood levels, and it is good to check both the 25 and 1,25 Vitamin D levels.

My sense is that the olive oil overall works. I haven't had consistent results but that might be because of my current busy schedule and away from home in an extremely dry climate (so maybe not drinking enough water). So the jury is still out.

I can't help with the prune juice, I can't get that where I am so haven't done it.

[mftnchn]

Great post, Ali!