Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)

[fig girl]

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!

[fig girl]

Sorry, i accidentally posted before replying!

Hi Juli,

I feel the same exact way - no one i know eats like me (besides you girls!) so I'm the black sheep too! But that's ok, we'll be a lot healthier in the future!

[fig girl]

Hi Jan,

yes, I know exactly, what you mean with eating chicken soup for the rest of your life when it only helps! I just feel the same way. Vomiting is the worst thing I can imagine, so I wouldn't do the gluten challenge either.

It is possible that gluten intolerance can cause fructose malabsorption - it did it in my case - so maybe you should be a bit careful about that for some time, too. The good thing is that it will go away.

Hi Mia and Jan,

I never really had problems with C or D before starting SCD either but after SCD i will have C some now - i think from getting much less fiber. I have nausea too but luckily don't throw up but i remember as a child waking up sometimes in the middle of the night and having to vomit. I figured it was that i ate too much of something but never knew what or why. I remember being in my Sunday school class and we were all standing in a circle singing and all of a sudden i had to vomit right there! I remember being so embarassed...they probably had to throw the hymn book away!

Thanks Mia for posting about the fructose malabsorption and i'm sorry you're having problems. I still can't eat cooked apples or pears but i think i'm going to try some raw apple soon. I'm wondering if it's the cooked fruit that's the problem and maybe i need the enzymes in the raw? Carrots, ripe bananas and avocados are fine. Raw blueberries seem to be ok as long as i eat a little at a time. This week i tried a little raw strawberry and it seemed ok although i've been having some joint pain this week. A week ago we had grilled some chicken breasts with skin and i ate some of the skin and the next day i had nausea and D - first time since starting SCD. Also, the night before we ate out and i had grouper and i think they put an egg wash on it along with a little either cayenne or paprika and i'm only seasoning with salt and pepper. So, i'm sure it was a combination of all of those. I also feel much better only eating what i can tolerate and i'm going to do that this week and try something new after about a week or so.

[fig girl]

I need to vent. Today I was accused of being anorexic because I am skinny. I eat as much as my system can handle, believe me. Then I was accused, by the same person, of being obsessed with food. And told that being gluten-free works for me because I think it does. Like this is all in my head. And told that people are always trying to blame their problems on something outside of themselves.

Grrr. I felt like asking her to eat some rat poison then tell me that those stomach pains were just coming from her negative emotions.

I hate this "blame the victim" mentality.

Seriously, what can you say to people like this?

I'm sorry Pele that this person said this to you. It's amazing how some people can be so ignorant and have no compassion. I wouldn't know what to say either although the rat poison thing sounds good! As Rinne mentioned i've learned to try to avoid people like this also. I would think this person is the one with the problems - sounds like they are insecure in themselves and tries to make other people feel bad to try to make them feel better. Hope you're feeling better and try not to let it bother you too much.

[chatycady]

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.

I eat 2 eggs everymorning. That's 14 a week! Then a double serving of meat at lunch and supper. I will make a hamburger dish that has a pound of hamburger in it. And will finish it off in one day. I have finally gained a couple of pounds and think the SCD yogurt is what has helped. The yogurt really helped me with the hunger pangs.

I also snack on dill pickles, olives, carrots, celery and apples. I have been known to kill a jar of dill pickles at one sitting. I crave salty things which may be related to adrenal problems. But tests were okay.

I have low blood pressure so think the salt will help, not hurt me! THe added fat has made my skin softer and hair shinier - or it could be all the olives I eat.

[pele]

I eat 2 eggs every morning. That's 14 a week! Then a double serving of meat at lunch and supper. I will make a hamburger dish that has a pound of hamburger in it. And will finish it off in one day.

Wow, more than I eat! Although I eat 2 eggs a day also plus what I use in baking. Thanks, it helps to know that I'm eating "normally" for this diet. Olives sound really good, think I'll get some.

[pele]

I'm sorry Pele that this person said this to you. It's amazing how some people can be so ignorant and have no compassion. I wouldn't know what to say either although the rat poison thing sounds good! As Rinne mentioned i've learned to try to avoid people like this also. I would think this person is the one with the problems - sounds like they are insecure in themselves and tries to make other people feel bad to try to make them feel better. Hope you're feeling better and try not to let it bother you too much.

Thanks to everyone for the support. I am over it, and I can't really avoid one of my best friends!

I think you got it right, I suspect she was feeling bad about something and took it out on me. That's one of the things friends are for.

[wschmucks]

Hi everyone,

today is my first offical day on the SCD. I am following the suggested Intro diet provided by pecanbread.com. They dont mention the dry curdled cheese or yogurt in the steps they outlined (it isn't terribly complete, but offeres some good guidelines).

I am doing the yogurt-- but wasnt sure if the dry curddle cheese is something that I can include in the first 5 days of intro? How did you all proceed??

[rinne]

Hi.

I introduced too much dairy at first and have since backed off on it, now I limit myself to the goat yogurt which I seem to tolerate better.

[chatycady]

Hi everyone,

today is my first offical day on the SCD. I am following the suggested Intro diet provided by pecanbread.com. They dont mention the dry curdled cheese or yogurt in the steps they outlined (it isn't terribly complete, but offeres some good guidelines).

I am doing the yogurt-- but wasnt sure if the dry curddle cheese is something that I can include in the first 5 days of intro? How did you all proceed??

I have been on the diet for 5 months and still struggle with DCCC. It has a little lactose in it. I think 1% or so and it bothers me. So I make the yogurt cheese and use it instead. Go slowly on the yogurt, is my advice. I love the stuff and eat it at every meal. I'm hoping the calcium will improve my osteopenia.

I hope the diet is as successful for you as it has been for me. It's been a life saver!!

[julirama723]

I eat 2 eggs everymorning. That's 14 a week! Then a double serving of meat at lunch and supper. I will make a hamburger dish that has a pound of hamburger in it. And will finish it off in one day. I have finally gained a couple of pounds and think the SCD yogurt is what has helped. The yogurt really helped me with the hunger pangs.

I'm also a huge egg eater! I eat almost 2 dozen eggs per week, either hardboiled, scrambled, or used as an ingredient. They're quick and easy and cheap and taste good. I eat hardboiled eggs with sea salt for breakfast in the mornings, and sometimes for dinner I'll have scrambled eggs with veggies. I also make a "mock danish" with pumpkin and eggs and cinnamon that is DELICIOUS and I'll eat that for dessert sometimes.

I'm somewhat worried that I'm going to develop an intolerance to eggs. I have no idea what I would do if that occured!

What's funny is that one of my co-workers was amazed by how many eggs I eat. She said she loves them but can't eat them because of "all the cholesterol." I was like geez lady, keep the eggs, ditch the crappy carbs and see what happens to your cholesterol!

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

I'm still having great success with my foods. I think it is indeed a fructose malabsorption problem. I'm sticking with my vegetables, meats, fats for a while, though I might try a few chunks of fresh fruit in a month--we've chosen a fresh fruit platter as dessert at our wedding reception!

[wschmucks]

I was wondering if any of you have used the SCD to help you over come Constipation. This is my primary symptom and the book really only talks about D. It uses D as an indicator for when moving to the next step in appropriate etc. I think it takes longer to heal from Chronic C then from D-- as I would expect it to be several months before I'd see my C go away. How should I know when to move to the next step of the diet without the indicator of D?

They do adress C on the website but it seems to be for those who on the diet suddenly encounter C. The medicine I have been taking to help ease the C also has Aloe in it which is a forbidden substance, as is Amitiza (which I also take), because of sorbital as an inactive ingredient. I was going to try to east off of these...becasue I honestly will not go-- at all-- ever-- if i do not take them (trust me...I wont- lol). The website says Aloe is forbidden because it can help create mucous so I would think it would be ok to decrease my dose during a period of time....Again....Any thoughts? But at the same time, if i am ingesting the illegal products in these drugs...then I am not going the diet properly. Does anyone know if MiraLax is ok? It doesnt have any inactive ingredients that arent compliant-- but the chemical structure doesnt look as simple as those in the book...

Any thoughts or advice would really be helpful!

(BTW I already do alll the recommended C things...exercise, drink LOTS of water, eat healthy etc. AND i have never had a problem with dairy with my BM are concerened)

Thanks

[AliB]

I also make a "mock danish" with pumpkin and eggs and cinnamon that is DELICIOUS and I'll eat that for dessert sometimes.

Juli - can you post that recipe on the Recipes section pleeease? Sounds good. Not fair to dangle the carrot and leave us hanging in mid-air!

Ali.

[AliB]

I was wondering if any of you have used the SCD to help you over come Constipation. This is my primary symptom and the book really only talks about D. It uses D as an indicator for when moving to the next step in appropriate etc. I think it takes longer to heal from Chronic C then from D-- as I would expect it to be several months before I'd see my C go away. How should I know when to move to the next step of the diet without the indicator of D?

They do adress C on the website but it seems to be for those who on the diet suddenly encounter C. The medicine I have been taking to help ease the C also has Aloe in it which is a forbidden substance, as is Amitiza (which I also take), because of sorbital as an inactive ingredient. I was going to try to east off of these...becasue I honestly will not go-- at all-- ever-- if i do not take them (trust me...I wont- lol). The website says Aloe is forbidden because it can help create mucous so I would think it would be ok to decrease my dose during a period of time....Again....Any thoughts? But at the same time, if i am ingesting the illegal products in these drugs...then I am not going the diet properly. Does anyone know if MiraLax is ok? It doesnt have any inactive ingredients that arent compliant-- but the chemical structure doesnt look as simple as those in the book...

Any thoughts or advice would really be helpful!

(BTW I already do alll the recommended C things...exercise, drink LOTS of water, eat healthy etc. AND i have never had a problem with dairy with my BM are concerened)

Thanks

Hi Whitney - well done for jumping in to the diet - I hope it works as well for you as it has for those of us who have, and still are, benefitting from it.

Elaine devoted a page to C - not sure if you have come across it.

Open Original Shared Link

I am a little confused - if C is your primary problem, how do you know that dairy isn't causing it or at least contributing?

[celiac-wife]

My husband has been doing the SCD for 2 weeks now and has noticed a huge difference. He has neuropathy and his pain level went from a 10 down to a 1! He's going to an allergist tomorrow and we're hoping they can do a blood test for food intoleranes. He has lost 8 pounds and he really doesn't want to lose any more. I know some people have been on this diet for a long time. Does your weight keep dropping? Any ideas on what he can do to keep the weight from dropping?

Thanks!

[pele]

My husband has been doing the SCD for 2 weeks now and has noticed a huge difference. He has neuropathy and his pain level went from a 10 down to a 1! He's going to an allergist tomorrow and we're hoping they can do a blood test for food intoleranes. He has lost 8 pounds and he really doesn't want to lose any more. I know some people have been on this diet for a long time. Does your weight keep dropping? Any ideas on what he can do to keep the weight from dropping?

Thanks!

Howdy

I am on the skinny side and have been doing this for 10 1/2 months and have lost about 5 pounds. My weight is pretty stable at the moment. My problem was overcoming a deeply ingrained sense that fat is bad and carbs are good. I was not used to eating fat and have been gradually increasing it over the months.

So I would suggest buying higher fat cuts of meat for starters. Chicken thighs instead of breasts. Skip the "lean" burger. Instead of steaming things, saute in butter, olive oil or coconut oil. I have also found avocados, red lentils and winter squash to be very filling when I'm hungry. I like to make a simple custard with 3 eggs, two cups of cooked squash or pumpkin, 1/2 cup of honey and some spices like cinnamon and cloves. Mix it together and bake at 350 until it sets. Nuts also have lots of calories. I grind them and mix with a bit of honey and flavoring, roll into balls and freeze for snacks. Tell him to eat whenever he is hungry!

In the long run, I think you will find this diet not only healthy, but pretty simple.

[pele]

!

What's funny is that one of my co-workers was amazed by how many eggs I eat. She said she loves them but can't eat them because of "all the cholesterol." I was like geez lady, keep the eggs, ditch the crappy carbs and see what happens to your cholesterol!

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

Is your coworker aware that studies have shown there is no relationship between egg eating and cholesterol levels? And for that matter, no studies have shown that high cholesterol indicates or leads to heart disease in women?

I hope you are able to buy free range fresh eggs. I get mine from someone nearby and I love to see the hens running around the yard. Boy, are those eggs good. Deep orange yolks. Last time I bought store eggs, I ended up feeding them to the dogs.

And I wonder, too, about developing an egg intolerance, but I can't give them up. Maybe that intolerance stuff is a thing of the past, the gluten days of old.

[GermanMia]

In fact there are studies which show that high intake of starches and sugars - carbs - leads to high colesterol. My egg and fat intake is *very* high, and my cholesterol is even "too low". Well, that might be because my fat digestion is not very good, and I know that too low "good" cholesterol will disturb hormonal regulation, but that's another thing.

Anyway there is no reason to worry about high cholesterol levels except if you don't take in enough antioxidants. The problem is not the cholesterol itself but the oxidation of cholesterol.

[julirama723]

pele and Mia--I tried explaining that to her, that eggs won't raise her cholesterol (and I used myself as an example) that it's really carbs that are the root of most evils. I wish Taubes's book had been out at this point, so I'd had something "mainstream" to quote! She of course poo-poo'ed me, and claimed that eating her Trix yogurt and toast each morning kept her healthy. (I felt my blood sugar go haywire just listening to her talk.)

I used to have alarmingly high cholesterol (for my age), when I was eating a carb-based diet. Now I'm as healthy as a horse, and I eat so many eggs I'm about to become a chicken! (Minus these dratted food intolerances.)

I buy my eggs directly from the Hutterites when I can, and when I can't I buy them from the store, but the local grocery also gets their eggs from the Hutterites!

Posting the mock danish recipe now...

[wschmucks]

Hi Whitney - well done for jumping in to the diet - I hope it works as well for you as it has for those of us who have, and still are, benefitting from it.

Elaine devoted a page to C - not sure if you have come across it.

Open Original Shared Link

I am a little confused - if C is your primary problem, how do you know that dairy isn't causing it or at least contributing?

Hi Ali,

I have seen that page and am curious about "the muffins" she asks you to introduce...WHICH MUFFINS!? I spend probably half my day yesterday trying to figure out WHICH muffins? its alittle vague. There are a few muffin recipes but they all include nut flour...which only on day 3, I wouldnt think I would be ready for???

Well im not 100% sure about the dairy-- but my dairy intake was very limited when the C started, and then i went vegan for an entire year and had no changes in my C. I was also vegan for the first 2 months of being gluten-free and then did a diary test...where I added dairy in large quantities for 2 weeks, then went 100% off for 3 weeks and all of my C symptoms remained exactly the same. So this leads me to beleive that its not the dairy...any thoughts? Should I try testing it differently?

If anyone has any thoughts or information about "the muffins" that would be great!

Thanks Guys!

[DMarie]

I need to vent. Today I was accused of being anorexic because I am skinny. I eat as much as my system can handle, believe me. Then I was accused, by the same person, of being obsessed with food. And told that being gluten-free works for me because I think it does. Like this is all in my head. And told that people are always trying to blame their problems on something outside of themselves.

Grrr. I felt like asking her to eat some rat poison then tell me that those stomach pains were just coming from her negative emotions.

I hate this "blame the victim" mentality.

Seriously, what can you say to people like this?

That is so aggravating (and ridiculous)! I don't think there is much you can say. People are just going to be stupid some times!!! Although - would be interesting to see what her response is to your suggestion for her to try rat poison and get back to you on it...

[DMarie]

I was wondering if any of you have used the SCD to help you over come Constipation. This is my primary symptom and the book really only talks about D. It uses D as an indicator for when moving to the next step in appropriate etc. I think it takes longer to heal from Chronic C then from D-- as I would expect it to be several months before I'd see my C go away. How should I know when to move to the next step of the diet without the indicator of D?

Any thoughts or advice would really be helpful!

C is a BIG issue for me too. I have continued to take psyllium, even though it is illegal, because if I didn't take it I, like you, would never go. I do take magnesium, but right after going SCD I had to reduce my daily dosage down from 1200 mg a day to 500 mg a day. I figure I wasn't absorbing much of it before, but now I am - which means I can't tolerate as much.

I have never been a big veggie or fruit eater. So for me - as long as I eat ALOT of veggies with lunch and dinner - I find it much better. But, sometimes I don't eat enough - and the same problem. Even if I just eat a double serving at one meal but don't eat as much at another - that's enough to have an effect. I might eat eggs and a couple of muffins for supper (I love mushrooms in my eggs) - which would mean a veggie lite meal - and so that is how I end up light (because in my mind a bunch of veggies don't go with my eggs, but I guess I will have to retrain myself on that one - but can only do so much retraining at a time! )

I was confused on the muffins too. I took that to mean the almond muffins from BTVC. I think that those are considered more advanced, so the recommendation was just one in the morning for the purposes of helping things along - that was how I understood it.

Like everyone else here - I love eggs and would LOVE to eat them every day. But I am afraid of developing an intolerance to them - which would be awful. So, I allow myself eggs in baked things (which seems to be okay) and then one meal a week where I have an omelet or scrambled eggs.

[wschmucks]

"C is a BIG issue for me too. I have continued to take psyllium, even though it is illegal, because if I didn't take it I, like you, would never go. I do take magnesium, but right after going SCD I had to reduce my daily dosage down from 1200 mg a day to 500 mg a day. I figure I wasn't absorbing much of it before, but now I am - which means I can't tolerate as much....."

Thanks for responding! Do you think that even though you have used the psyllium you are still benefiting from the diet? I dont want to do the wrong thing and ruin my chances of healing, but I also dont want to spend several month feeling awful (as i do right now...not having had a BM).

Also, I found a recepie on pecan bread for non-nut bread. I think i wll make that with beats-- which she recommended in teh constipation section too. Since I have not responded well too high fiberous foods (like psyllium) I want to try to keep the nuts out.

Let me know how you think you've progressed with keeping the Psyllium in your routine.

Thanks again!

[fig girl]

pele and Mia--I tried explaining that to her, that eggs won't raise her cholesterol (and I used myself as an example) that it's really carbs that are the root of most evils. I wish Taubes's book had been out at this point, so I'd had something "mainstream" to quote! She of course poo-poo'ed me, and claimed that eating her Trix yogurt and toast each morning kept her healthy. (I felt my blood sugar go haywire just listening to her talk.)

I used to have alarmingly high cholesterol (for my age), when I was eating a carb-based diet. Now I'm as healthy as a horse, and I eat so many eggs I'm about to become a chicken! (Minus these dratted food intolerances.)

I buy my eggs directly from the Hutterites when I can, and when I can't I buy them from the store, but the local grocery also gets their eggs from the Hutterites!

Posting the mock danish recipe now...

I used to have high cholesterol too until I went gluten free in Jan. of 08 (my LDL and HDL was high but my ratio was good so my Dr. never recommended meds thank goodness). In July of 07 my cholesterol was around two hundred thirty something and July of 08 it was around one hundred and seventy something (can't remember exactly) but i do remember it had dropped 54 points and i had only been gluten-free for 6 months. I ate more eggs after starting gluten-free also. I was so thrilled for it to have gone down since every year it seemed to creep up and I'm anxious to see where it's at in July of this year. I'm hoping it's still good!

[fig girl]

"C is a BIG issue for me too. I have continued to take psyllium, even though it is illegal, because if I didn't take it I, like you, would never go. I do take magnesium, but right after going SCD I had to reduce my daily dosage down from 1200 mg a day to 500 mg a day. I figure I wasn't absorbing much of it before, but now I am - which means I can't tolerate as much....."

Thanks for responding! Do you think that even though you have used the psyllium you are still benefiting from the diet? I dont want to do the wrong thing and ruin my chances of healing, but I also dont want to spend several month feeling awful (as i do right now...not having had a BM).

Also, I found a recepie on pecan bread for non-nut bread. I think i wll make that with beats-- which she recommended in teh constipation section too. Since I have not responded well too high fiberous foods (like psyllium) I want to try to keep the nuts out.

Let me know how you think you've progressed with keeping the Psyllium in your routine.

Thanks again!

Hi wschmucks and dmarie,

I wasn't sure what the muffins were either until i think Sherry had posted about the nut muffins helping w/constipation. Dawn - eating a good bit of veggies helps me also and since I've added a salad it has helped. Yesterday i started drinking more water and using crohnsboy.com's protocol (thanks Rinne for posting this!) and it has helped me. I had a good BM yesterday and today. He mentions taking fish oil - does anyone take this? I'm thinking it may help with my bm's and inflammation. GI Pro Health has some that says scd legal although it says the vitamin e is from soy. I used to take flax seed oil before scd but may try the fish oil.

I'll have to look for that non-nut bread recipe as I'm not tolerating any nuts right now.

Michelle