Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)

[PufferBelly]

Hi. Thank you for helping me.

I'm scared because I don't really know how to cook. I only eat things that I microwave. Do you think I can still do this?

If I don't eat yogurt should I take probiotics? I don't think they sell them here.

[chatycady]

I too have given up on Dr's. But I was still having muscle cramps and was starting to go backwards a little bit. So I made an appointment with an Endo and found out I was very low in vitamin D again! Guess I didn't take enough through the winter - so now I'm on mega doses. I think it will solve the muscle cramps. All that delicious yogurt I was eating probably wasn't getting absorbed - a real bummer!!

I hadn't been to a dr in 2 years - because I was tired of getting bad news with no solutions. I will stick with the SCdiet, it is an excellent diet for EVERYONE. My sister is researching diet for her Rheumatoid Arthritis and she says what she has found is basically another form of the SCdiet. She eats tons of SCD yogurt too.

So maybe a person should go to a Dr. once in a while, if you feel your are slipping backwards, but I also feel we need to be our own professional and learn and try (experiment) with whatever it is to get better.

I stumbled across the SCdiet which is a God send. maybe someone will stumble across a cure for them - through unconventional means.

[pele]

Hi. Thank you for helping me.

I'm scared because I don't really know how to cook. I only eat things that I microwave. Do you think I can still do this?

If I don't eat yogurt should I take probiotics? I don't think they sell them here.

Don't worry about the yogurt. I have been dairy-free since the first month of the diet. Kombucha is my probiotic of choice right now.

You don't need to be a great cook, but you do need to take time to prepare your own food. You can't just stop off at the convenience store and pick up lunch!

Making the intro chicken soup takes time, but doesn't require talent. Make a big batch and freeze some.

It is very easy to toss some ground meat, eggs, or a chicken breast in the frying pan for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Cook enough for two meals if you're going out or need to take lunch to work. Steam or saute vegetables or eat raw vegetables or fruit. Roast a whole chicken or chuck roast and slice up leftovers, freeze in individual packages for quick lunches. Canned tuna is legal and easy. Peanut butter which contains nothing but peanuts and salt is legal.

I never go out without packing food. This is important for celiacs anyway, but makes life easier on the SCD. Nuts, dried fruit, a banana or apple don't take much time. I also pack carrot and celery sticks.

Can you order probiotics from the Gluten-free Mall?

[pele]

I too have given up on Dr's. But I was still having muscle cramps and was starting to go backwards a little bit. So I made an appointment with an Endo and found out I was very low in vitamin D again! Guess I didn't take enough through the winter - so now I'm on mega doses. I think it will solve the muscle cramps. All that delicious yogurt I was eating probably wasn't getting absorbed - a real bummer!!

Are you taking D3? D2 is the prescription kind and doesn't stay in the system for long.

[Ms Jan]

Jan, so glad you are finding the anti-parasite treatment useful. I'd still recommend the Metametrix test at some point. I did 4 rounds of the herbal Humaworm, but the Metametrix still found one stubborn identifiable one, plus one unidentifiable. I know the herbal treatment plus SCD cleared out a lot for me, because I saw it. But even 6 months of SCD hadn't impacted the strongyloides infection.

Thanks - Yes, I'll definately go for the Metametrix test at some point. I just have this strange sense that I should cleanse as much as possible first with herbs - and get as strong as I can. Then afterwards opt for the test and to take whatever drugs might be necessary at that point to kill the rest. Perhaps, it's a feeling that my body can only deal with a certain amount at a time. And right now I'm in a good process so better take this as far as I can, before I move on to the next stage.

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience with both the Humaworm and the Strongyloides. My regimen is a concoction of the various anti-parasitic herbs that I combine myself (a lot of the same which are in Humaworm), but I do think I'll probably end up right where you did - with a remaining infection of one or two parasites. So it's very helpful to know how your process has been developing.

Yesterday I was at a seated dinner birthday party with 100 people. And I had really worried about how to deal with the food, and almost canceled because of it. I'd brought a bag of nuts, a banana and my 'safety' peppermint oil. But it was no problem at all. I drank only water all evening, and managed to eat a little melon from the starter, then a tiny piece of steak (my first beef in months) and some salad. And today I'm feeling fine!! I did take two digestive enzyme capsules which probably helped, but still. This is real progress for me.

[PufferBelly]

THank you. I eat a lot of peanut butter. I'll make sure I get the right kind.

Do you think I should try Humaworm? How can I tell what I need to take?

[Ms Jan]

Hi Pufferbelly,

anti-parasitic treatment is not in itself any part of the SCD, and shouldn't be undertaken unless you really are convinced that parasites are your problem. And if you start on too many things at the same time, you will loose track of what causes which effects.

So if I were you, I'd start slowly with the SCD intro, gradually built a basis of foods you can have, and then see after two or three months where you are at.

[Bee-Jr]

Good morning, all,

I think I have come face-to-face with the fatigue some of you spoke of. I am on day 9 of SCD.

On April 23 my doc gave me a prescription for six days of prednisone for an eczema outbreak. Most of the time I was taking it, I felt like Wonder Woman. But I finished the meds on April 30, 4 days ago, and since that Friday, May 1, I have not felt like doing anything. Talk about crash-and-burn! I am so tired I can't sleep, so it's going to be hard to feel better.

Can't really tell whether part of this might be related to the aftermath of the steroids, but I have a feeling (based on what I've read in this thread) that extra fruit and honey will help. So in addition to my eggs for breakfast today, I had 6 oz. of tomato juice, 1/2 cup of mandarin oranges, and 1 tbsp of honey in my hot tea. I have a banana to eat after my bean soup at lunch, and will make sure to drink a glass of grape juice after dinner tonight. I can also have tea with honey again tonight. But for during the day today, the banana is all I have with me.

Any advice as to whether that is a sufficient level of fruit and honey to wake me up a little? Do I need to step it up even more? Will caffeine help or hurt? (I have had two cups of coffee, a HUGE cup of hot tea, and a 16 oz. glass of cold tea already today.)

Oh, PufferBelly, if you want some help getting started in your kitchen, I'll be glad to help. I'm sure others will, too. I have two grown daughters and have had many "help me, I'm lost in this kitchen" phone calls! (I'm also new to the SCD, but certainly not new to cooking from scratch.) Just let me know.

Thanks,

Janie

[marthamom]

Hi Everyone,

So it's now 6 on the SCD, and I'm feeling a bit discouraged.....maybe I am expecting way too much too soon, but I really don't feel much better. I've read about people noticing such dramatic improvement in days, and I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong. How long did it take all of you to see improvement?

I did two full days on the intro diet---scrambled eggs, grape juice, plain broiled beef patties and fish fillets, chicken/carrot soup, grape home-made gelatin. Then I added cooked apples, cooked vegetables, and some natural peanut butter. I have tried two batches of the yogurt, but I'm having trouble with it for two reasons---it still seems really really tart to me (maybe I'm just used to all the sugar in my old yogurt!), and it also seemed to bother my stomach on the days I had it. So I really haven't had much of the yogurt.

I'm just feeling like I don't know if I should go back on the intro diet for longer, have more yogurt, have no yogurt, take probiotics, etc......or just be patient!?!? I just would love to know how soon to expect real improvement. I was diagnosed with celiac in September 2008 and have been gluten free since then, but blood test and symptoms still showing not tremendous improvement, which led me to look at SCD. My main symptom has never been diarrhea, but rather bloating, gas, belching, and a tendancy toward constipation. It seems like the diet is really geared toward getting rid of diarrhea, so I'm wondering if it will be as useful for someone with my symptoms....

thanks for any advice/moral support!!!

martha

[AliB]

Hi Martha.

We are all different so of course we all react differently. Some see some benefits fairly quickly, for others it takes longer, perhaps several months before they realise that they are feeling better. I found that - I think it took me a good 6 months to start to get the benefit.

I suddenly realised one day that certain symptoms I had before weren't there any more. Sometimes they go so gradually that you don't notice they've gone! I know that several have mentioned that it really took a year before they started to get their energy back although they generally saw other symptoms improve before that.

The diet gradually gets things under control, not least rogue bacteria and pathogens, like candida for instance. That can be very debilitating and it can take some time, even if you are following the 'Candida Diet' to get the beggars under control.

If you can't cope with the yogurt, don't fret about it. Whilst it is of benefit to those who can, some of us have such issues with dairy that even the yogurt can prove difficult to deal with. As long as you are taking some good probiotics that will help. You can try the yogurt again at a later date. It does work out cheaper than taking expensive probiotics, but not all can cope with it initially.

Perhaps later you could try making it with whole milk and even adding some cream which would make it thicker, and try changing the starter - different bacteria creates different results. Personally I use the Total Greek Yogurt that has just lactobacillus and Strep thermophilus with whole milk and that gives a soft, creamy yogurt.

As my digestion has taken a backward step at the moment (not the fault of the diet) I am not coping with yogurt either at the moment so am just sticking to the probios.

Elaine G used the diet to stop D but it can also help C in the long run. As it helps the gut to heal then it can also help the digestion to start working more efficiently so some do find that their C improves as well.

I think that if Candida is an issue then you have to even be fairly strict with some of the SCD foods initially like honey and yogurt.

To quote Naomi Devlin from a reply to me in October 08 on her blog...........(Open Original Shared Link)

'I've been lucky, it took me about six months to sort things out. I was cavalier at the beginning and didn't cut out all the harder to digest foods. When I got rid of peanuts/peanut butter, coconut, pulses, seeds, dried fruit, honey, alcohol, cheese, butter and yogurt - things calmed down pretty fast.

Now I eat all of the above except pulses and seeds, which I intend to try again in a few months.

I'm pretty good at giving things up, but even so I found it hard to cut my sweet cravings. I got round this by eating a lot of slow cooked food, roasted vegetables and very ripe bananas. A weak spleen is generally to blame for the sugar cravings and eating slow cooked and aromatic food helps strengthen the organ (energetically). Having regular massage and exercise also helps.

The key - as Elaine Gottishall says herself - is fanatical adherance. Even a little bit of something that feeds yeasts, bacteria and remains undigested in the gut will cause inflammation. The cycle of inflammation needs to be broken for your gut to start healing properly.

I would suggest taking caprylic acid, using coconut oil instead of butter, and for cooking (as it is anti-fungal), eating lots of SCD yogurt, taking a good probiotic (three-lac is candida specific and SCD legal) and maybe a course of digestive enzymes with each meal.

Once your energy starts to come back your will power will increase, just hang on in there for now!'

[mftnchn]

Bee-Jr...I wonder if you have some adrenal insufficiency going on?

Puffer...SCD safe probiotics can be ordered online from several sites, it is pretty hard to find SCD compliant ones in stores. Most contain FOS and Inulin, plus not the strains recommended. For a plain acidophilus, I recommend Kirkman Labs.

I totally agree, not to jump into the parasite cleanse. For me, just SCD had that effect and you don't want to overwhelm your system. I'd focus on SCD, learning to cook a few things and have a list of safe foods so you can have a balanced diet.

[mftnchn]

Martha, I got worse before I got better. It was the shifts that let me know I was on the right track. I'd hang in there for awhile if I were you. Give it at least a month before you decide it isn't working. And you could have a lot of healing crisis happening off and on for months. Notice any subtle changes.

It sounds to me that you aren't tolerating the dairy for now. You could try goat milk yogurt, as many tolerate it better than cow milk. Try just a spoonful, and see if you can handle it. The autistic kids that are so sensitive start with 1/4 tsp and work up. If you don't handle even that, I'd go with just probiotics (SCD safe), and re-try the milk in a month or 2 and see if you can tolerate small amounts.

[marthamom]

Martha, I got worse before I got better. It was the shifts that let me know I was on the right track. I'd hang in there for awhile if I were you. Give it at least a month before you decide it isn't working. And you could have a lot of healing crisis happening off and on for months. Notice any subtle changes.

It sounds to me that you aren't tolerating the dairy for now. You could try goat milk yogurt, as many tolerate it better than cow milk. Try just a spoonful, and see if you can handle it. The autistic kids that are so sensitive start with 1/4 tsp and work up. If you don't handle even that, I'd go with just probiotics (SCD safe), and re-try the milk in a month or 2 and see if you can tolerate small amounts.

Thank you so much. I know that it can take time...patience just isn't my strong suit! I will try the goat milk yogurt and see what happens. Do you know if it's easy to find goat milk? And do you have any recommendations for SCD-safe probiotics?

Also, I'm wondering if digestive enzymes might be good for me.....know anything about them?

Thanks again,

Martha

[mftnchn]

Yes, my guess is that enzymes might help. My doctor prescribed prescription enzymes for me, a pretty high dose. Carb enzymes (supplements) didn't help much.

I can't help with over the counter enzymes, I haven't tried that. Others have though and may have suggestions for you.

Probiotics: Kirkman acidophilus. Lucy' kitchen has something as well, and I also have one from GI ProHealth that is SCD safe. It's nice because it is a combo of organizms, but still SCD compliant. It can take awhile to get it, but the Kirkman comes really fast.

Goat milk: its available in Portland both in the Fred Meyer and Trader Joes. I like the brand called Meyenburg or something like that, Trader Joes seems to have a stronger taste/smell.

Hope this works for you.

[Bee-Jr]

Good morning, all,

I think my train of thought yesterday about adding more honey and fruit may have been off the mark. Don't know why it suddenly came to mind, but I did some reading last night about candida, and think I may need to modify the SCD a bit to also deal with candida. There's definitely something else going on, because the egg drop soup I succumbed to on Saturday night set off an inflammatory response that still has my fingers swollen.

Depression, brain fog, adult-onset food allergies, and many, many other symptoms of candida...that's me. I took a questionnaire last night and arrived at a score that was through the roof as an indicator of candida overgrowth. Have no idea how reputable these other websites are, or if their questionnaires are worth anything, but have a feeling there is a candida problem.

I think this also means that, yes, there could be adrenal insufficiency as well. Don't know much about that, but I think it's possible, and perhaps the fact that I pick up EVERY VIRUS THAT COMES WITHIN MILES OF ME these days might be an even stronger indicator. Am I correct about that?

So anyway, can someone spare a little time to help me decide what else to cut from my diet? I know I should cut out honey; must I cut out fruit as well? Tomatoes/tomato juice? Coffee and tea? (No, please, not the coffee and tea!) I did a search on candida, but the way the search results come back in the forum, I could spend my life looking for specific answers within those threads.

I would like to retain the SCD yogurt if at all possible, as I believe it is helping me, but I swear I think I had even better results with the yogurt made from a starter that also contained bifidus, L. casei, and L. rhamnosus. Comments?

Also, I know Elaine's book says navy beans are legal, but I ate a bowl of my own homemade navy bean soup for lunch yesterday, and my belly is still rolling and tumbling from it. Also had some other unpleasant effects - you can imagine, I think, without my being too specific. Not fun, neither for me nor others near me. Yuck.

Thanks for any advice or feedback.

Janie

[Ms Jan]

As to enzymes, I'd gone for natural foods such as ginger for a while, but recently felt I needed to take something sometimes. And I have surprised myself by reacting very well to GHT Active Digestive Enzymes. I haven't checked whether all ingredients are SCD legal though ...

So anyway, can someone spare a little time to help me decide what else to cut from my diet? I know I should cut out honey; must I cut out fruit as well? Tomatoes/tomato juice? Coffee and tea? (No, please, not the coffee and tea!) I did a search on candida, but the way the search results come back in the forum, I could spend my life looking for specific answers within those threads.

I would like to retain the SCD yogurt if at all possible, as I believe it is helping me, but I swear I think I had even better results with the yogurt made from a starter that also contained bifidus, L. casei, and L. rhamnosus. Comments?

Also, I know Elaine's book says navy beans are legal, but I ate a bowl of my own homemade navy bean soup for lunch yesterday, and my belly is still rolling and tumbling from it. Also had some other unpleasant effects - you can imagine, I think, without my being too specific. Not fun, neither for me nor others near me. Yuck.

I've been going anti-candida also, so I cut out all sweet stuff, incl. honey and sweet fruits. The only fruit I kept was bananas, pineapples, kiwis and grape fruits, which for some reason all seem to be fine for me. Also I've been cutting out beans, and all flour based foods. Got major setbacks the few times I tried making any of the SCD baked foods, so I realized I should just stay with the nuts, and avoid nut flours, at this stage. And the only meat I eat is chicken. So since I have problems with eggs, what I live on is basically: sauteed broccoli, cauliflower, green beans etc, boiled aspargus, avocado, sometimes with a little canned tuna, chicken soup, and nuts. Lately, I've been able to expand the diet a bit, but I really feel that I heal the best on this limited number of foods. I've tried to stop drinking coffee, but keeps coming back to it, so now I've just limited my intake, and also drink only green teas. Alcohol is out, of course. And I don't eat any dairy at all, not even the SCD yoghurt.

As supplements to the diet, I take caprylic acid and liquid olive oil against the candida. And the probiotics Threelac.

For me I believe it has been essential to limit the number of foods my digestion has to deal with, but I imagine for someone else which foods work best might be very different depending on the specific gut bacteria. So you might have to do a bit of trial and error ...

Hope you get better.

Jan

[Bee-Jr]

I've been going anti-candida also, so I cut out all sweet stuff, incl. honey and sweet fruits. The only fruit I kept was bananas, pineapples, kiwis and grape fruits, which for some reason all seem to be fine for me. Also I've been cutting out beans, and all flour based foods. Got major setbacks the few times I tried making any of the SCD baked foods, so I realized I should just stay with the nuts, and avoid nut flours, at this stage. And the only meat I eat is chicken. So since I have problems with eggs, what I live on is basically: sauteed broccoli, cauliflower, green beans etc, boiled aspargus, avocado, sometimes with a little canned tuna, chicken soup, and nuts. Lately, I've been able to expand the diet a bit, but I really feel that I heal the best on this limited number of foods. I've tried to stop drinking coffee, but keeps coming back to it, so now I've just limited my intake, and also drink only green teas. Alcohol is out, of course. And I don't eat any dairy at all, not even the SCD yoghurt.

As supplements to the diet, I take caprylic acid and liquid olive oil against the candida. And the probiotics Threelac.

For me I believe it has been essential to limit the number of foods my digestion has to deal with, but I imagine for someone else which foods work best might be very different depending on the specific gut bacteria. So you might have to do a bit of trial and error ...

Hope you get better.

Jan

Thanks, Jan,

I think your idea of limiting the number of foods is excellent. I have put together a list and will try eating just these foods for a week:

Proteins: Chicken/Beef/Pork/Salmon/Eggs

Dairy: SCD yogurt/Cheddar cheese (at least two servings of yogurt per day)

Fruits: Tomato juice/Banana (limit to one per day of each)

Vegetables: Green beans/Green peas/Carrots/Onions/Yellow Squash (limit green peas and carrots to once per day)

Nuts: Sunflower seeds/Almonds

Oils: Butter

Beverages: Water/Green tea (at least 64 oz of water per day)

Also think I will make my next batch of yogurt with a starter that uses "all six" cultures (the Stonyfield mix). It will be a few days before I need to do that, so I should be able to see how the food restriction will go before I throw a different yogurt into the mix.

Will be going to the store at lunchtime to find a caprylic acid supplement, too.

I appreciate your help so much. Thank you again.

Janie

[marthamom]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I just ordered the SCD-safe Scodophilus and ProZymes from GI ProHealth, so I hope those help.

And once my stomach starts to settle down a bit, I think I will try making the yogurt with goat milk and see what happens.

It's just so frustrating to feel like even with this restricted diet, it's hard to figure out what is causing these symptoms....maybe just my body getting used to the SCD?

Feel good everyone,

Martha

[mftnchn]

Depression, brain fog, adult-onset food allergies, and many, many other symptoms of candida...that's me. I took a questionnaire last night and arrived at a score that was through the roof as an indicator of candida overgrowth. Have no idea how reputable these other websites are, or if their questionnaires are worth anything, but have a feeling there is a candida problem.

So anyway, can someone spare a little time to help me decide what else to cut from my diet? I know I should cut out honey; must I cut out fruit as well? Tomatoes/tomato juice? Coffee and tea? \

I would like to retain the SCD yogurt if at all possible, as I believe it is helping me, but I swear I think I had even better results with the yogurt made from a starter that also contained bifidus, L. casei, and L. rhamnosus. Comments?

Also, I know Elaine's book says navy beans are legal, but I ate a bowl of my own homemade navy bean soup for lunch yesterday, and my belly is still rolling and tumbling from it.

I think it is important to recognize that there are many other causes of the symptoms associated with candida. Candida is only one of the organisms likely out of balance due to gut damage. Parasites can be present causing similar symptoms. Food sensitivities are secondary to gut damage, not necessarily candida. Heavy metal toxicity can also cause the symptoms you mention, and goes along with poor detox ability, and infections. As celiacs, our malabsorption issues also contribute. I have lyme disease, and it causes major brain fog issues as well as many other similar things.

Therefore, I'd suggest finding a balance in the dietary approach. My doctor suggested pushing probiotics, stopping sugar (reducing honey in our case), and have one serving of fruit per day. We are already not absorbing nutrients well, so highly restricting our already restricted diet isn't too wise, IMO. My thought is, reduced honey, have one serving of fruit. Push probiotics. Further limits of diet only in response to clear intolerances.

Elaine says the principle isn't just "legal" or "illegal" but whether you tolerate the harder to digest foods. Beans are quite hard to digest, and you are probably not ready for them. Perhaps wait a month and then just try a 1/4 cup or so rather than a bowl.

The Metametrix panel I have mentioned several times checks for all parasites, candida and fungi, and all the normal and abnormal bowel flora. I find it helps not to have things be purely guesswork. My symptoms would also suggest candida, but all my testing for candida comes out just fine, including this one. It is other things that show as problems.

Probiotics: the bifidus is kind of a question whether it is needed or not as I understand it. That said, it is likely that each of us needs a different mixture of probiotics, and I have read on this and other boards a lot of variety in each person's response to each probiotic. My MD who put me on SCD told me to avoid probiotics with inulin and FOS especially for the first 3 months. I'd recommend the pure acidophilus first, that seems to be a basic need.

[mftnchn]

I'm on tons of treatments and supplements (prescribed by my MD). Lots of malabsorption problems and also infections. I wouldn't dare try this treatment on my own.

[pele]

Hi Everyone,

So it's now 6 on the SCD, and I'm feeling a bit discouraged.....maybe I am expecting way too much too soon, but I really don't feel much better. I've read about people noticing such dramatic improvement in days, and I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong. How long did it take all of you to see improvement?

Hi MM

Everyone is different but I'll tell you my story. When I went gluten-free, I noticed a huge difference in 48 hours, but one year later I was not healed, I still had unpredictable digestion and occasional D, so I started the SCD. I didn't notice a big drastic improvement right away, but the diet felt right and I stuck with it. It took a couple of months to notice much difference and probably 9-10 months for my digestion to really settle down. It is still improving after 13 months.

One of the early things I noticed was that my fingernails and toenails started growing in thicker. My tongue and gums felt better, especially in the morning. I started to feel stronger and leaner, my skin got smoother. All of this while I was still gurgling inside. I was able to determine that I am casein intolerant and eliminated dairy. That was like washing the windshield, opening the curtains, turning a light on...

So if your body is telling you that eliminating grain, sugar, corn, soy and processed food is putting you on the right path, then listen to your body. You do need to give ithe diet 2-3 months to know if its working.

[pele]

I want to mention to all the newbies who are having digestive ills: Have you considered that you may have pancreatic insufficiency and lack digestive enzymes? According to Dr. Green in Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic, this is one of the leading causes of not getting well. There is a feedback loop in the small intestine, when food enters, the pancreas is signaled to release digestive enzymes. When the villi are damaged, this feedback loop fails. You may need to take a potent, high quality enzyme mix for awhile.

[pele]

I finally made a fantastic coconut pudding. The recipe is on the dedicated SCD recipe thread.

[pele]

Good morning, all,

IDepression, brain fog, adult-onset food allergies, and many, many other symptoms of candida...that's me. I took a questionnaire last night and arrived at a score that was through the roof as an indicator of candida overgrowth. Have no idea how reputable these other websites are, or if their questionnaires are worth anything, but have a feeling there is a candida problem.

I think this also means that, yes, there could be adrenal insufficiency as well. Don't know much about that, but I think it's possible, and perhaps the fact that I pick up EVERY VIRUS THAT COMES WITHIN MILES OF ME these days might be an even stronger indicator. Am I correct about that?

Thanks for any advice or feedback.

Janie

Did we already talk about Vitamin D? You are describing what could be symptoms of severe Vitamin D deficiency. Have you been tested? It wouldn't hurt to start taking 5000 units of D3 per day.

[Ms Jan]

To all the newbies, just want to add that do be careful with internet questionnaires etc. They could really make you come out with anything. So don't take them as your only source of dx. I've worked with my body/health for so many years, and have been tested for so many things, that I sometimes forget that even though the doctors haven't helped me much, I have in fact in the process had a number of potential diseases eliminated as options. And I have had both leaky gut & candida diagnosed at some point. Not to say that you can't do a lot on your own if your MD's are getting you nowhere - which is what I have also ended up doing - only that it's worth reading up on the information and double-checking everything so that you become really certain about what's going on ...

Now I don't think most natural anti-candida treatments could be harmful, even if it turns out you don't suffer from candida. But if you start on it before having settled into the diet, you might not be able to read your body reactions accurately, thus not picking up on other things that might be going on (like other intolerances, vitamin deficiencies etc). And if various symptoms are popping up in the beginning of the diet, they aren't necessarily a symptom of anything but the gut adjustments taking place. I've fx never suffered from D/C (just headaches/vomiting) but after 8 days on the SCD, I had three days with heavy D and weeks of bloating. It was like after a month or so that my body seemed to settle into the diet, and since then it has been slowly going forward, with a few setbacks though whenever I get too adventurous diet wise.

But everyone is different, and the most important thing I've learned in my life long health struggle is exactly to get to know my own body well enough to read everything that's going on.

Now today I've woken up with a headache , and I'm convinced it origins with my eating a little piece of steak at a dinner on sunday - since this was my first beef on the diet. Evidently I'm not ready for red meats just yet! So annoying since I've otherwise been feeling so good ...

Good luck!