Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)

[wschmucks]

Hi Everyone,

I am joining the SCD club. I am reading the BTVC book now and practicing my yogurt making skills before I start next week. The BTVC doesnt outline the introduction diet or the steps to introducing foods. I found a wonderful chart on PecanBread site that I think I will follow. The book also refrences D throughout but doesnt make much mention of C (which is what i suffer from). Have alot of people with constipation over come it with the SCD? Are there any big first timer mistakes I should look out for?

Also is there a way for us to get our own tab on this site?? Why are we operating on an on-going thread?

I'm excited to join you all!

[psawyer]

Also is there a way for us to get our own tab on this site?? Why are we operating on an on-going thread?

The board administrator has considered that request previously, and has rejected it. This section of the board (Other Food Intolerance and Leaky Gut Issues) mentions SCD as a topic area to help people find this thread.

[AliB]

Hi Everyone,

I am joining the SCD club. I am reading the BTVC book now and practicing my yogurt making skills before I start next week. The BTVC doesnt outline the introduction diet or the steps to introducing foods. I found a wonderful chart on PecanBread site that I think I will follow. The book also refrences D throughout but doesnt make much mention of C (which is what i suffer from). Have alot of people with constipation over come it with the SCD? Are there any big first timer mistakes I should look out for?

Also is there a way for us to get our own tab on this site?? Why are we operating on an on-going thread?

I'm excited to join you all!

Hiya (I can't call you 'wschmucks'! It's too complicated to type!!!)

Welcome to the 'club'. Pecanbread is a very good site with loads of useful info. As the benefit of the SCD is becoming more widely known there are loads of new sites and blogs springing up all the time with loads of scrummy recipes too. We have an SCD recipe thread on the 'Recipes' section.

Most of us have had issues with C at some point - I found that it is dairy that causes mine so I tend to avoid it, even though some is SCD legal. I never knew that dairy did that to me because the gluten reaction was masking it and giving me constant D. I suspect that is why people with IBS often seem to fluctuate between the two - it probably depends which food is predominating within their diet at the time!

My stools were all over the place to start with, but after a few weeks they settled down and are pretty 'normal' now (I started the SCD last March).

As far as starting the diet is concerned, don't assume that just because a food is SCD 'legal' you can tolerate it. Many have digestive systems that are so damaged that even some legal foods can be a problem initially - I couldn't cope with eggs or nuts to start with but after a few weeks I was ok with the eggs, then the nuts a bit later. It is just a case of trial and error. Only you will be able to tell how you are coping.

The other thing I would say is that you have to think of this as a long-term project. It is about re-training your mind and your 'habits'. Those who think of it as a short-term 'fix' will be disappointed and if they go back to eating the way they were before then it is highly likely they will end up back at square one. A trap we can fall into too, is that as we start to feel better we may be tempted to introduce foods that are not helpful to the digestion and slow down our progress. Apart from that - I wish you a happy SCD journey...............

Yes, we all wish there was a separate section, but, well, certainly at present anyway, there is no provision for it apart from this thread. It does make it a bit hard going for some who want to ask specific questions, as although there may well already be an answer somewhere on the thread it can be difficult to find, but there you go. Maybe things will change in the future, who knows? Certainly there are an awful lot of people struggling even on gluten-free and the SCD has been a lifeline for many of us in that situation.

I did think of 'jumping ship' and going over to an SCD forum, but then I thought, well, everyone on there already knows about the benefit of the SCD, and there are so many on this forum it could help who may well never find out about it any other way.

Ali.

[GermanMia]

Thanks so much. I am acquainted with Weleda. I went to their website and looked at their toothpaste selection. The salt one has guar gum and alcohol in it. The others also contain alcohol and xanthan gum. Since corn is another issue for me and alcohol can be a gluten issue unless we are assured of it's origins and guar is not SCD legal, they probably won't work, I'm afraid.

Nobody said this was going to be easy, but I am honestly having a lot of trouble using this diet with all the additional restrictions. About the time something qualifies as gluten free, it isn't SCD legal. About the time it satisfies SCD, it doesn't quite make it for gluten free since I also seem to be extra sensitive about ppm. Then my additional food sensitivities take away the majority of great recipes that are being shared and in cookbooks. I am really going to have to figure out a creative and satisfying menu for myself because this week's diet ended up monotonous, way too high in fruit and nuts and not at all balanced. I know this can be done, but as of now I'm doing a lot of just not eating at all because it's easier. I need to buckle down and really plan this thing.

Gentleheart, I'm so sorry - you're completely right. As I use this toothpaste nearly all my life, the last time I looked at the ingredients was more than 20 years ago when I had no clue that there was something like food intolerances... Thanks for the hint, anyway... Seems like I should go find something else, sigh.

[GermanMia]

Juli - this shows that what is declared healthy not necessarily has to be healthy for everyone...

My husband and I work as food coaches, and boy do I have difficulties to explain to people why "normal" healthy nutrition with lots of fruits and veggies doesn't work for me!

Just right now I found that I have a histamine issue, too. Last year I only had the DAO tested which was normal. But as I react to nearly everything that conatins lots of histamine or provokes the production of histamine, I also had the histamine tested and it showed that my body produces much too much of it. So no more Papaya, no nuts, no avocado, no cheese except a little goat's cheese, no more spinach and not too many eggs. That leaves basically only fresh fish, meat, SCD yoghurt, corn salad and a little zucchini or broccoli. I really wonder what to do now. After two days trying this I lost two more pounds and I certainly cannot afford to lose another one.

[julirama723]

Mia--oh yes, I'm definitely sick of people extolling the virtues of weight watchers and lean cuisine. I am the lone freak who eats vegetables and whole foods while everyone else here at work eats a frozen meal when they want to be "healthy."

That's a shame about the histamine reaction! As for the weight loss, maybe you can cook your veggies in butter or olive oil? That would add some calories. Can you eat cauliflower? I make mashed cauliflower as a potato substitute and I actually like it better than the real thing.

---------------------

So far so good with this bare bones plan. After a couple of weeks with this, I'm not sure that yeast actually is a problem? I keep going back and forth on this one. I think the fructose malabsorption is a definite yes, but still undecided about candida. I did eat some coconut (before I knew about the fructose thing) last week and it caused a small bit of gas and D, so I'm leaning more towards a problem with fructose than anything else (I mean, along with gluten intolerance, grain intolerance, casein intolerance, etc.)

I've been having no troubles with raw foods (that I know of) though I will say I have not been going to the bathroom as much as I feel I should. I wonder if it's because the majority of what I'm eating are vegetables, which have a high water content? My foods are nutritionally dense, so there isn't much "waste" to speak of? Any thoughts on this?

[Lovey25]

Mia--oh yes, I'm definitely sick of people extolling the virtues of weight watchers and lean cuisine. I am the lone freak who eats vegetables and whole foods while everyone else here at work eats a frozen meal when they want to be "healthy."

That's a shame about the histamine reaction! As for the weight loss, maybe you can cook your veggies in butter or olive oil? That would add some calories. Can you eat cauliflower? I make mashed cauliflower as a potato substitute and I actually like it better than the real thing.

---------------------

So far so good with this bare bones plan. After a couple of weeks with this, I'm not sure that yeast actually is a problem? I keep going back and forth on this one. I think the fructose malabsorption is a definite yes, but still undecided about candida. I did eat some coconut (before I knew about the fructose thing) last week and it caused a small bit of gas and D, so I'm leaning more towards a problem with fructose than anything else (I mean, along with gluten intolerance, grain intolerance, casein intolerance, etc.)

I've been having no troubles with raw foods (that I know of) though I will say I have not been going to the bathroom as much as I feel I should. I wonder if it's because the majority of what I'm eating are vegetables, which have a high water content? My foods are nutritionally dense, so there isn't much "waste" to speak of? Any thoughts on this?

julirama723, I love love love the things that you've said here. I am so saddened by our culture's definition of healthy. It almost always is linked to being super skinny -- no matter what means will get you there. In reality, however, health is nutrition and nutrients!!!!!! When will this idea catch on??? My friends still don't get that a 3-month Weight Watcher's diet isn't going to make them feel better. A lifestyle change to whole foods and nothing processed will make them feel better and it will always always give them the results they want -- and permanently. No yo-yoing here.

I do about 85% raw at this point and have been for a few weeks. (I'm also anti-Candida and gluten-free and dairy-free). Anywhoo... your comment about your poo... I thought the same thing when starting the raw foods. It took me about three to four days to get my bowels (sorry! ) adjusted. But then everything started working properly. But, at first, like you said, I was thinking, well, if there's no waste, then there's no poop right? Maybe it's different for everyone, but in my experience, things should start working within a few days.

[wschmucks]

Hiya (I can't call you 'wschmucks'! It's too complicated to type!!!)

Welcome to the 'club'. Pecanbread is a very good site with loads of useful info. As the benefit of the SCD is becoming more widely known there are loads of new sites and blogs springing up all the time with loads of scrummy recipes too. We have an SCD recipe thread on the 'Recipes' section.......

........

I did think of 'jumping ship' and going over to an SCD forum, but then I thought, well, everyone on there already knows about the benefit of the SCD, and there are so many on this forum it could help who may well never find out about it any other way.

Ali.

Hi Ali,

Thanks for your post. You can just call me Whitney or W-- lol-- wschmucks is alittle confusing. Thanks for your message. I def understand it is a long term commitment and if it makes me feel better that is just fine with me :-) I am going to follow the introduction proposed by PecanBread and see how that goes. I am not really sure how to handle my medications im taking to releave my constipation. Maybe start the diet and after a week maybe start to taper my medication very slowly? Thanks for letting me know about the recipe section, thats very helpful! I got my yogurt machine this weekend and had my first batch this morning with honey-- and it was great. Does Whole Foods carry the curdled cheese? Also, it doesnt make much reference if the nuts and nut flour need to be from raw nuts? Does anyone know? Thanks for your help!

[julirama723]

Lovey--yeah I'm the black sheep of everyone I know. It seems all the women where I live are into low-fat, a million hours of cardio, pre-portioned/pre-prepared/processed meals. Where as I'm the crazy one who eats low-carb and whole foods and lifts weights with the boys. They all think I'm a crazy hippie I'm sure. Like you said, health is more than just being skinny. In fact, skinny isn't always healthy!

[AliB]

Juli - this shows that what is declared healthy not necessarily has to be healthy for everyone...

My husband and I work as food coaches, and boy do I have difficulties to explain to people why "normal" healthy nutrition with lots of fruits and veggies doesn't work for me!

Just right now I found that I have a histamine issue, too. Last year I only had the DAO tested which was normal. But as I react to nearly everything that conatins lots of histamine or provokes the production of histamine, I also had the histamine tested and it showed that my body produces much too much of it. So no more Papaya, no nuts, no avocado, no cheese except a little goat's cheese, no more spinach and not too many eggs. That leaves basically only fresh fish, meat, SCD yoghurt, corn salad and a little zucchini or broccoli. I really wonder what to do now. After two days trying this I lost two more pounds and I certainly cannot afford to lose another one.

Oh Mia, that must be so frustrating! Something must be triggering the histamine somehow. Why the heck would it be doing that? Could it be a microbe that is triggering a response? You seemed to be improving - has anything changed?

I Googled 'natural antihistamine' and a few ideas came up. Do you take any extra Vitamin C? It is apparently a good natural AH. That popped up a lot.

Open Original Shared Link

You could be in a bit of a loop in that although the fruit and veg would give you extra vitamin C, because you may be low to start with you can't get past the histamine response in order to be able to absorb the vitamin C! The type of vitamin C may also make a difference and the addition of bioflavonoids - hesperidin, quercetin, rutin, etc., may also help. Ironically the fruits that are triggering the response also contain natural anti-histamine and flavonoids.

Other things were - green tea, 1/2 spoon salt daily in a glass of water, drinking enough water - 6-8 glasses a day, grape seed extract, butterbur, magnesium, L-Histadine, nettle, dong quai, ginko and milk thistle. How effective any of them are I haven't a clue, however, you might find it useful to try the Milk Thistle for a few weeks as it is a good liver cleanser and support and anything that supports the liver is worth considering.

I take it from time to time for about 5 or 6 weeks at a time (don't quote me on this but I have a feeling it may have helped my gall bladder and liver clear out a load of stones and crud).

On a personal note, I had a histamine response when I went on the apple fast about 2 years ago, yet I had been eating apples for several days prior without any problem at all, then suddenly, bang - I had an allergic reaction. It was a type of apple I hadn't had before (or since!) but I have eaten apples fine since then. I have one or two every other day in my smoothies. Weird.

I did wonder if it was to do with the acid/alkaline balance in my body and whether too many apples had just tipped it over the top. I also had a reaction to a lemon juice and Apple Cider Vinegar drink a day later yet had had no problem with that either up to then. I used to get allergic reactions to fruit years ago (peach family is a real no-no!) and as a consequence have, until now, eaten very little of it over the years but then maybe I was low in Vit C and certainly the Candida beastie was, I am sure, alive and well back then, and who knows what effect that had!

I wonder if there is any way that you could get your blood pH tested to see if it may be too acid or alkaline and whether that might give any clues? Foods often apparently give an opposite pH result in the body than you would expect. It seems that although fruits like lemons are acid, they leave an alkaline 'ash' in the body, and other foods like meat and dairy make the body acid. Too far one way or the other can cause problems for us.

I think even with fruit and veg we have to be careful sometimes. Traditionally our ancestry may not have come from environments where certain foods are eaten, and I wonder whether that can have a bearing on how well we are able to tolerate certain things too. food travels around the world at breathtaking speed these days and we have access to a huge array of exotic fruit and veg, yet can our bodies really cope with it all? Food for thought.........

[AliB]

Hi Ali,

Thanks for your post. You can just call me Whitney or W-- lol-- wschmucks is alittle confusing. Thanks for your message. I def understand it is a long term commitment and if it makes me feel better that is just fine with me :-) I am going to follow the introduction proposed by PecanBread and see how that goes. I am not really sure how to handle my medications im taking to releave my constipation. Maybe start the diet and after a week maybe start to taper my medication very slowly? Thanks for letting me know about the recipe section, thats very helpful! I got my yogurt machine this weekend and had my first batch this morning with honey-- and it was great. Does Whole Foods carry the curdled cheese? Also, it doesnt make much reference if the nuts and nut flour need to be from raw nuts? Does anyone know? Thanks for your help!

Hi Whitney - that's better!

As far as the medication goes I think you are just going to have to 'play it by ear'. Just watch and see how your body reacts to the changes.

I had IBS for years, mostly D, yet although generally it is fine now I do tend sometimes to veer slightly more towards C. I am still trying to figure out why. Although I don't have dairy in general, the odd things I do have, like cheese, tends to cause that problem and I have been having butter virtually all the way through, so it is possible the casein is the problem (which is so annoying because I can happily avoid anything else but that). I have been trying ghee, but have yet to find a brand I like - I'm still looking.

I think it probably took about 4 - 6 weeks for my bowels to settle down after starting the diet. I remember Pele reassuring me that it would, and she was right. For a week or two there I actually wondered if I was going backwards!

I will have to leave the curd cheese responses to others as I am in the UK and have no knowledge of who makes what in the States! I am not sure what you mean by the nut flour being from raw nuts - it usually is from raw nuts anyway as far as I am aware. If anything has been added it should be listed on the pack. If you have a good 'whizzer' you can always make your own from whole nuts.

[AliB]

julirama723, I love love love the things that you've said here. I am so saddened by our culture's definition of healthy. It almost always is linked to being super skinny -- no matter what means will get you there. In reality, however, health is nutrition and nutrients!!!!!! When will this idea catch on??? My friends still don't get that a 3-month Weight Watcher's diet isn't going to make them feel better. A lifestyle change to whole foods and nothing processed will make them feel better and it will always always give them the results they want -- and permanently. No yo-yoing here.

I do about 85% raw at this point and have been for a few weeks. (I'm also anti-Candida and gluten-free and dairy-free). Anywhoo... your comment about your poo... I thought the same thing when starting the raw foods. It took me about three to four days to get my bowels (sorry! ) adjusted. But then everything started working properly. But, at first, like you said, I was thinking, well, if there's no waste, then there's no poop right? Maybe it's different for everyone, but in my experience, things should start working within a few days.

Hi Lovey, welcome to the thread. You are so right - I have started to get so suspicious now of stuff out there and cast a critical eye over it all - even raw food is not always good. Our supermarket shelves are packed full of fruit and veg that has been 'ready prepared' for all those lazy people who just want to open a pack and boil the brains out of it. As soon as the fruit and veg is cut open you start to lose the enzymes and some of the nutrients, so goodness knows of what benefit it is by the time people eat it!

I have noticed I don't 'evacuate' so much when I eat mainly raw. I have found though that I need to drink a lot more fluid - maybe because of the extra fiber. I always add at least a large glass of water to the mix when I make smoothies, but although I am not always able to follow it well, I do know that I feel better when I eat mostly raw, and judging by the fact that I then don't get the 'whole body pounding' thing it must be a lot less stressful on my digestion too, but then that may be the benefit of the enzymes too.

As I have mentioned earlier in the thread, the problem we have here in the UK is that it is so cold and miserable this time of year - it's so not salad weather! It's been one of the coldest winters here for years and it hasn't finished yet. Coming on top of a Summer that was more like a 'not quite Winter', cold food is hard to cope with when all you want is stuff to keep you warm.

[chatycady]

Good evening all;

I joined our local celiac group tonight. An endocronologist spoke about autoimmune diesases and celiac. It was excellent. There were a number of celiacs there who are still sick, so I think I found my calling! Maybe in a month or two I'll have a chance to get the word out to them about SCD.

As I looked around the room about 50% of the people looked healthy. The rest were very pale and sickly looking. About 1/2 said they felt great after going gluten free the other half asked how long it will take to feel better on a gluten free diet. Some are really suffering. That could still be me if I hadn't found this thread!

Maybe I'll demonstrate how to make yogurt!

[Lovey25]

Good evening all;

I joined our local celiac group tonight. An endocronologist spoke about autoimmune diesases and celiac. It was excellent. There were a number of celiacs there who are still sick, so I think I found my calling! Maybe in a month or two I'll have a chance to get the word out to them about SCD.

As I looked around the room about 50% of the people looked healthy. The rest were very pale and sickly looking. About 1/2 said they felt great after going gluten free the other half asked how long it will take to feel better on a gluten free diet. Some are really suffering. That could still be me if I hadn't found this thread!

Maybe I'll demonstrate how to make yogurt!

chatycady,

I totally agree with you! Disease has totally given me purpose. I am so into nutrition and natural living and healing that I am considering going into it for a career. I'm looking into going into Holistic Nutrition. Thank you Disease!

[pele]

Good evening all;

I joined our local celiac group tonight. An endocronologist spoke about autoimmune diesases and celiac. It was excellent. There were a number of celiacs there who are still sick, so I think I found my calling! Maybe in a month or two I'll have a chance to get the word out to them about SCD.

As I looked around the room about 50% of the people looked healthy. The rest were very pale and sickly looking. About 1/2 said they felt great after going gluten free the other half asked how long it will take to feel better on a gluten free diet. Some are really suffering. That could still be me if I hadn't found this thread!

Maybe I'll demonstrate how to make yogurt!

I don't know about your local group, but I have heard that most of the folks who attend the meetings of my local group have been spotted at supermarkets with shopping carts brimming with gluten.

[pele]

Also, it doesnt make much reference if the nuts and nut flour need to be from raw nuts? Does anyone know? Thanks for your help!

Hi Whitney, welcome.

You can roast nuts yourself, but Elaine recommended buying them raw, since some nuts are commercially roasted with starch coating.

Also, each version of BTVC has different info on introducing the diet because Elaine never made up her mind on the subject. IMO, if the intro in pecanbread is too hard, just go ahead and eat other legal foods. Elaine was most concerned with an intro diet in people whose diarrhea is "brisk". Some of us here began the diet by eliminating "illegal" foods, others followed a strict intro.

On another topic, I am still starving half the day, and this morning doubled my usual meat serving at breakfast. It made a big difference, but I still wonder: how much meat do you guys eat? My meat/eggs total is around a pound a day--seems like a lot, is it? I wish I had a side of beef cut and wrapped in the freezer--do others feel this way? I weigh a few pounds less than I did when I started this diet last April.

[GermanMia]

Mia--oh yes, I'm definitely sick of people extolling the virtues of weight watchers and lean cuisine. I am the lone freak who eats vegetables and whole foods while everyone else here at work eats a frozen meal when they want to be "healthy."

That's a shame about the histamine reaction! As for the weight loss, maybe you can cook your veggies in butter or olive oil? That would add some calories. Can you eat cauliflower? I make mashed cauliflower as a potato substitute and I actually like it better than the real thing.

---------------------

So far so good with this bare bones plan. After a couple of weeks with this, I'm not sure that yeast actually is a problem? I keep going back and forth on this one. I think the fructose malabsorption is a definite yes, but still undecided about candida. I did eat some coconut (before I knew about the fructose thing) last week and it caused a small bit of gas and D, so I'm leaning more towards a problem with fructose than anything else (I mean, along with gluten intolerance, grain intolerance, casein intolerance, etc.)

I've been having no troubles with raw foods (that I know of) though I will say I have not been going to the bathroom as much as I feel I should. I wonder if it's because the majority of what I'm eating are vegetables, which have a high water content? My foods are nutritionally dense, so there isn't much "waste" to speak of? Any thoughts on this?

Feeling like the lone prophet in the desert, isn't it? Actually I'm regarded as kind of hippie here, too - but things are getting better. Six years ago we were completely alone when we went jogging, but now half the village seems to be jogging or walking, too. That's an improvement, people slowly stop laughing and start thinking, maybe...

I'm afraid I can't eat cauliflower. The thing is that veggies either contain too much fructose or histamine (or provoke histamine).

I do eat lots of olive oil and camelina sativa (maybe not known in the US and UK?), which has an excellent ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids plus tocopherol so it is very resistant to oxidation and highly stable. But that's the other thing - I don't digest fat properly even if I use enzymes and extra HCL.

Concerning your low waste as you say, maybe you should drink more water. Ali mentioned that. If your nutrition is high in fibre, you need enough liquid. Otherwise the fibres will have the adverse effect of causing C. Minimum free water intake should be 0,03 litres per kg body weight per day.

[GermanMia]

Oh Mia, that must be so frustrating! Something must be triggering the histamine somehow. Why the heck would it be doing that? Could it be a microbe that is triggering a response? You seemed to be improving - has anything changed?

I Googled 'natural antihistamine' and a few ideas came up. Do you take any extra Vitamin C? It is apparently a good natural AH. That popped up a lot.

Open Original Shared Link

You could be in a bit of a loop in that although the fruit and veg would give you extra vitamin C, because you may be low to start with you can't get past the histamine response in order to be able to absorb the vitamin C! The type of vitamin C may also make a difference and the addition of bioflavonoids - hesperidin, quercetin, rutin, etc., may also help. Ironically the fruits that are triggering the response also contain natural anti-histamine and flavonoids.

Other things were - green tea, 1/2 spoon salt daily in a glass of water, drinking enough water - 6-8 glasses a day, grape seed extract, butterbur, magnesium, L-Histadine, nettle, dong quai, ginko and milk thistle. How effective any of them are I haven't a clue, however, you might find it useful to try the Milk Thistle for a few weeks as it is a good liver cleanser and support and anything that supports the liver is worth considering.

I take it from time to time for about 5 or 6 weeks at a time (don't quote me on this but I have a feeling it may have helped my gall bladder and liver clear out a load of stones and crud).

On a personal note, I had a histamine response when I went on the apple fast about 2 years ago, yet I had been eating apples for several days prior without any problem at all, then suddenly, bang - I had an allergic reaction. It was a type of apple I hadn't had before (or since!) but I have eaten apples fine since then. I have one or two every other day in my smoothies. Weird.

I did wonder if it was to do with the acid/alkaline balance in my body and whether too many apples had just tipped it over the top. I also had a reaction to a lemon juice and Apple Cider Vinegar drink a day later yet had had no problem with that either up to then. I used to get allergic reactions to fruit years ago (peach family is a real no-no!) and as a consequence have, until now, eaten very little of it over the years but then maybe I was low in Vit C and certainly the Candida beastie was, I am sure, alive and well back then, and who knows what effect that had!

I wonder if there is any way that you could get your blood pH tested to see if it may be too acid or alkaline and whether that might give any clues? Foods often apparently give an opposite pH result in the body than you would expect. It seems that although fruits like lemons are acid, they leave an alkaline 'ash' in the body, and other foods like meat and dairy make the body acid. Too far one way or the other can cause problems for us.

I think even with fruit and veg we have to be careful sometimes. Traditionally our ancestry may not have come from environments where certain foods are eaten, and I wonder whether that can have a bearing on how well we are able to tolerate certain things too. food travels around the world at breathtaking speed these days and we have access to a huge array of exotic fruit and veg, yet can our bodies really cope with it all? Food for thought.........

Ali - you're right, this is frustrating! And yes, I'm wondering, too, if it could again be kind of microbe which I'm unable to detect. As I work with people and very often with sick people I came in contact with dozens of colds, flues, stomach bugs, bronchitises and sinusitises over the last month... First I didn't realize it was asthma which was returning (it had been gone for months!) but thought I had catched a bronchitis finally. But then it turned out to be asthma indeed. Ack!

Thanks for the ideas! Stupid me, I knew about the vitamin C but plain forgot it. I use to take a fruit and vegetable blend called Juice Plus which is the big thing for people who cannot eat fruits and veggies because it contains all micro nutrients of fruits and vegetables but not the sugar and the acids. It has a brillant bioavailability, so I'm positive that I get everything that my body can resorb.

But that's the point - as my general resorption of what I take is so poor I suppose you're totally right, there has to be some deficiency. I think I'll try adding some extra vitamin C.

And I already take something to clean the liver, too, but I think I'll add some milk thistle (learned something new again, in German this plant is called Mary thistle ). By the way I think it very likely that you had your liver cleaned of stones and crud that way. The stage before the stones become solid stones cannot be detected, but of course there is a lot of muck already before it soildifies. And this non-solid muck can be cleaned out.

I don't suppose that a blood ph test would be of much use because if your blood shows an acidosis (or alkalosis) it is *very* late. Blood is a buffer solution which means that it will keep the ph stable as long as possible. But anyway, my urine ph mostly is acidic, athough I take alkaline minerals. Just let's hope my kidneys didn't give in so my blood is acidic, too. My kreatinine is at the upper end but not too high yet...

Just yesterday my naturopath friend called me and told me he was in contact with a doc who is dealing with exactly the problem I seem to have. There was no time for a longer discussion but he told me that man had suggested some further tests which might lead to something. Seems to have to do something with vitamin B resorption. Well, let's do some research

[AliB]

I weigh a few pounds less than I did when I started this diet last April.

Pff - wish I did!!! It is clinging on for dear life - little short of starvation would shift it I reckon, but then I am on insulin so maybe it would take even more than that - come to think of it, if I was starving I wouldn't need the insulin.........

[rinne]

Hi Everyone,

I am joining the SCD club. I am reading the BTVC book now and practicing my yogurt making skills before I start next week. The BTVC doesnt outline the introduction diet or the steps to introducing foods. I found a wonderful chart on PecanBread site that I think I will follow. The book also refrences D throughout but doesnt make much mention of C (which is what i suffer from). Have alot of people with constipation over come it with the SCD? Are there any big first timer mistakes I should look out for?

...

Hi.

C was always my issue, a week into the diet it stopped being an issue as long as I eat what my body is capable of eating at this point in my healing, when I included cheese it was too much and the C returned but nothing like it was in the past.

It was a revelation for me, I am in my fifties, have taken laxatives more often than I thought good for me and truthfully had reached the point where I thought I would never have a normal digestion let alone regular BMs.

It was enough to convince me that the SCD was going to work for me.

I think we have to stop thinking of our digestion as a "food/fuel tube" we fill and when whatever we have filled up with doesn't go through we add something to push it through. If we are not digesting and then pooping obviously our digestion is impaired and we need to change our diets.

There is a product on the market which is extremely popular, a friend told me the other day that her doctor said she would have to take it for the rest of her life. Many, many seniors take this product daily, it is considered safe. It is a product which creates bulk - that push I referred to. I am not going to say what the product is because I think it is a product from hell, I have taken it in the past and it was as if crushed glass was moving through my body. It was agony and I mean that seriously. Now you can't actually purchase that product anymore, they have changed it, added flavouring to it along with something else that you can only find out if you are a doctor or pharmacist, what could that be? I don't know but I suspect another ingredient from hell.

[julirama723]

As far as fluids go, for the most part I drink only water. (Very occasionally I will drink hot tea.) I drink about a gallon of water per day. I don't think I'm dehydrated, because I usually have to get up once or twice in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom! So it's a puzzle. When I have gone, the BMs have been "normal" but they seem to be few and far between.

[AliB]

I think we have to stop thinking of our digestion as a "food/fuel tube" we fill and when whatever we have filled up with doesn't go through we add something to push it through. If we are not digesting and then pooping obviously our digestion is impaired and we need to change our diets.

I love that description Rinne! As humans we have become so dependent on the Medical Profession to give us a 'pill for all ills' that no one seems any more to realise that if you are not pooping properly its because you are causing it yourself.

We seem far to quick to fob it all off a 'age' or 'just a part of life' simply because 'everyone else' appears to have similar problems, when the truth of the matter is that 'everyone else' has the same problems because they are all eating the same rubbish food! Duh!

If God had meant us to live on pies, fries, burgers, bagels, cakes, cookies and candies he would have had them grow on trees!

[AliB]

As far as fluids go, for the most part I drink only water. (Very occasionally I will drink hot tea.) I drink about a gallon of water per day. I don't think I'm not dehydrated, because I usually have to get up once or twice in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom! So it's a puzzle. When I have gone, the BMs have been "normal" but they seem to be few and far between.

I think Juli that it takes time for the body to readjust itself. There is a health guru here in the UK who has a thing about poop. She was saying that apparently people in say, Nigeria, will go at least once a day and will do about 3 or 4 times the quantity of us over here.

But then they probably generally eat a lot more raw food than we do and if they eat carbs are likely to be plant-based rather than grain-based and will have very efficient digestive systems. They also have been used to eating that way all their lives, whereas we haven't. Our systems are often very clogged and that can take time to sort out, so maybe we have to be a bit more patient.

Mine is not as good as I would wish, but it is a lot better than it was and is improving all the time. It has been damaged and that is not going to repair overnight. I do hope though as time goes on and as I try to incorporate more raw food into my diet that that will help it even more.

I have had a bad few days - I had the cold and still don't feel too good. I woke up with a hypo this morning around 7am and have felt 'out of it' ever since. Feeling under par has led me into eating carbs and sugar which is stupid - no wonder I had a hypo. 'It', whatever it might be, is trying to pull me back down again and I need to fight it.

Back on the smoothies tomorrow, I reckon.

[rinne]

Thanks Ali.

The "perfect poop" I have read that this is when you have your poop emerge in one long stool which has bulk to it, I'm not talking something that looks like toothpaste, not lumps, not watery, not mucousy.... This will occur after you feel the urge to poop and not require any great effort.

[julirama723]

Ali--yes I suppose you're right, I'll just have to be patient. I'm just always worried that I'm doing something wrong. If I know I'm doing the right thing, I can be patient, just as long as I know I'm doing things correctly.

Carbs and sugar, so addictive! Actually, you know I thought I was totally addicted to all carbs, but once I removed gluten from my diet, those compulsions were basically gone. I was able to eat one gluten-free Christmas cookie and not devour the entire plate or constantly think about them for the remainder of my day. It's scary to think that GLUTEN was causing so many compulsive eating behaviors for my whole life!

I'm sure you've posted it before, but what do you make your smoothies with?