Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)

[GermanMia]

Ali,

maybe it's easier to have salads when you mix them with something warm. I'm a southerner - my dad came from Romania - and so I'm freezing with any temperatur which is below 25 degrees celsius So I figured out that I'm happy with salads to which I add something cooked: fried mushrooms, for example, or grilled chicken or shrimp, baked pumpkin... At the moment even cold SCD yoghurt is too cold for me, so I mix it with some honey, banana and then top it with cooked apple and raisins like I would do with hot cereal.

Or I prepare chicken-carrot soup and dump one or two ladles of the hot soup into a dish with raw veggies so that the veggies don't get cooked but are slightly warm. Like hot gravy with raw veggies.

ArtGirl,

one of the most important things with SCD is the logistics You have to prepare enough things like yoghurt, stock, muffins, cookies etc. so that you always have something ready and don't need to cheat. Due to my work I cannot stay in the kitchen all day but have to go out very often; so I always have bananas, apples, dried fruit, muffins, boiled eggs, carrots and grape juice with me. Next thing I'll do will be cookies which I can stock without freezing. It's better now, but in the beginning I needed to eat something each hour, so I had some really desperate moments until I got organized with all that stuff. Now I have everything I need, and I must say that all those things taste so good and I feel so well fed and satisfied that I don't miss the SCD illegal foods.

Good luck

Mia

[AliB]

Ali,

maybe it's easier to have salads when you mix them with something warm. I'm a southerner - my dad came from Romania - and so I'm freezing with any temperatur which is below 25 degrees celsius So I figured out that I'm happy with salads to which I add something cooked: fried mushrooms, for example, or grilled chicken or shrimp, baked pumpkin... At the moment even cold SCD yoghurt is too cold for me, so I mix it with some honey, banana and then top it with cooked apple and raisins like I would do with hot cereal.

Or I prepare chicken-carrot soup and dump one or two ladles of the hot soup into a dish with raw veggies so that the veggies don't get cooked but are slightly warm. Like hot gravy with raw veggies.

ArtGirl,

one of the most important things with SCD is the logistics You have to prepare enough things like yoghurt, stock, muffins, cookies etc. so that you always have something ready and don't need to cheat. Due to my work I cannot stay in the kitchen all day but have to go out very often; so I always have bananas, apples, dried fruit, muffins, boiled eggs, carrots and grape juice with me. Next thing I'll do will be cookies which I can stock without freezing. It's better now, but in the beginning I needed to eat something each hour, so I had some really desperate moments until I got organized with all that stuff. Now I have everything I need, and I must say that all those things taste so good and I feel so well fed and satisfied that I don't miss the SCD illegal foods.

You're right about having the salad with hot food - I fried up a little ham and some mushrooms and had those with the salad and it was good. I often have salad when I eat out and that normally comes with hot food so I'm ok with that.

I like the idea of the cooked apple with the yogurt - funny I'm ok with that cold. The soup with raw veg sounds interesting too. Might try that.

When you were saying about having enough to eat I was thinking of a conversation I had earlier this evening with a friend. My great-grandpa used to say (apparently) that garden pests, like caterpillars, would only eat as much as they need in order to get enough nutrients to get through the metamorphosis process. If the soil is good the nutrient level is higher so they don't need to eat as much to get the nutrients. If it is poor they would need to eat a lot more.

Makes me wonder if that is why I sometimes don't seem to be able to stop eating. I don't get the feeling of fullness. That may well be because I am not getting the nutrients my body needs, or maybe I am getting them but they are being hijacked by the beasties. I mentioned this before that I reckon that is why those very obese people who cannot stop eating have such a problem. Not only are they probably consuming a lot of empty nutrient-starved foods, but they undoubtedly have copious quantities of rogue bacteria that are hijacking what little nutrition they do get, hence the constant compulsion to eat.

Hopefully, as we start to heal and rebalance, our bodies are then able to absorb more nutrition and we then can function quite happily on less food, and the appetite is more easily satisfied.

[ArtGirl]

ArtGirl,

one of the most important things with SCD is the logistics You have to prepare enough things like yoghurt, stock, muffins, cookies etc. so that you always have something ready and don't need to cheat.

I can see that from reading this thread. I already do a lot of preparing foods, but not necessarily SCD legal. So will need to do that the week after returning from my trip.

I'm excited to begin. Just limiting and nearly eliminating refined sugars has increased my energy and nearly normalized my stools. I think a few months on SCD will do me wonders. I already make a soup almost like the SCD chicken/carrot soup and love it.

This week I'm going to try making coconut milk yoghurt. Just have to find the starter, or maybe I'll order it online.

[fig girl]

Ali,

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

Thanks Mia! I'll check out the thread - i haven't been on in a few days and i'm catching up so i'm so glad you've posted it since i wanted to know how to make it too.

fig

[fig girl]

I'm changing the subject a bit...

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

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

[/quote

Pele - glad your appetite is back. I had a set back a few weeks ago when i came down with a cold. Mine seemed to be worse than normal so i also wondered if part of my feeling so bad wasn't from a detox also. I didn't go to the Dr. either because i didn't want to have to take antibiotics and i don't think i needed them now. I hope my immune system is a little stronger from fighting it off w/out antibiotics.

[ShayFL]

I made a delicious SCD legal Pumpkin Smoothie this morning. It is getting cooler, so next time I am going to heat it on the stove for a yummy warm drink.

[fig girl]

From this thread by AndreaB

Open Original Shared Link

The cashews are put in a blender with hot liquids and honey and blended until smooth.

The sliceable cheese calls for gelatin. She omits it if she's making a sauce. I don't because I like the added protein.

I make up the sliceable cheese, let it set up in the refrigerator, and cut it into small blocks, wrap separately and freeze. Then I can take out just what I need.

My very favorate way of using it is as a creamy sauce for meats. I cook the meat with onion and sometimes celery (especially for chicken) and just before serving I melt the "cheese" in the pan, mix up with the drippings and heat only till hot - it doesn't boil well - just dries it out. It makes a nice base for casseroles, meat and/or vegetables.

I take some with me to Chili's restaurant and when they bring me my plain, unseasoned hamburger patty and put a couple slices on that while it is hot.

There's lots of uses for it. I've tried it on pizza, but it's not quite the same as real cheese. But some like it.

[/quote

Thanks ArtGirl for posting this! I think i'll try some cashews this week. Great ideas! I haven't eaten at a Chili's in a while so i think i'll try their unseasoned hamburger patty and bring my own cheese also. Do you ask for the hamburger patty just unseasoned and do you order anything else along with it? I've ordered their steamed veggies before and maybe i could get them unseasoned also. I'll save the cashew and sauerkraut recipes to my favorites....can't wait to try them out. I get so excited about introducing new foods.

[GermanMia]

Ali,

I'm pretty sure that those beasties are the reason for not getting satisfied. In the beginning I never had the feeling to be full either. I do feel full now sometimes but get hungry again soon after. Very often I still feel weak and somewhat empty, like a car without fuel. Or maybe hollow is the right word. But if I listen to my body there is a clear feeling of nutritional satisfaction. That is, when I ask myself if it really is eating that I want, I come to the conclusion that it's not. So if I just tell myself that I don't have to eat now, after a while I get over this fake hunger.

ArtGirl,

if you already feel better after removing refined sugar from your diet then you'll certainly come to like SCD The foods I have now are so much tastier than the store bought trash...

Mia

[ArtGirl]

I haven't eaten at a Chili's in a while so i think i'll try their unseasoned hamburger patty and bring my own cheese also. Do you ask for the hamburger patty just unseasoned and do you order anything else along with it? I've ordered their steamed veggies before and maybe i could get them unseasoned also.

I can get only get a few things at Chilis (I have to stay away from corn/dairy/egg as well as gluten).

I order a plain hamburger or chicken sandwich without the bun, with strict instructions for no seasoning.

And steamed veggies without any butter or seasonings.

Things I bring with me to add to my meal:

My own seasoned salt (sea salt with added powdered onion and garlic)

Cashew cheese, catsup and/or rice to add to the meat (of course, rice is out now that I'm going SCD)

Ghee to put on the veggies.

Sweet potato (hot out of mye oven, wrapped in foil and a towel and it stays warm)

A bread or biscuit

By the time I get thru with my plate of plain meat and plain veggies it is a gourmet meal!

ArtGirl,

if you already feel better after removing refined sugar from your diet then you'll certainly come to like SCD The foods I have now are so much tastier than the store bought trash...

I have high hopes. I seem to have quite a lot more energy now and had been so very sluggish a couple weeks ago.

Made some almond muffins gluten-free/EF/DF

I experimented with the basic muffin recipe. No yoghurt - I used about 1/4 cup cashew cheese. No egg - I used the gelatin/water egg substitute. No butter - used coconut oil. I was really suprised that the muffins actually rose and didn't fall. They tasted pretty good (considering the "cheese" had onion and garlic powders in it - I'll have to make some special "cheese" without those ingredients for baking with).

I'm off today to get the starter for my coconut yoghurt. I'll be really happy if it turns out well.

[AliB]

I made Naomi Devlin's Vanilla Pumpkin Pie this evening for dessert. Oh boy - so scrummy. I made a thicker base with extra ground hazelnuts and almonds, added an extra egg and some apples to the filling mix and blended them along with the other ingredients and reduced the honey a little, and served with yogurt and coconut cream it was wonderful.

Here is the recipe if anyone would like to try it.

Open Original Shared Link

Naomi's site is an enjoyable read and there are some lovely recipes on it, some of which are SCD compliant. I can't remember who posted the original link to it but thanks anyway!

[ShayFL]

That pie does look yummy!! I made my own recipe for pumpkin pie using homemade coconut cream, pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, honey, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. I make an almond flour crust with butter, almond flour, salt, eggs and a bit of the yogurt. It is very very good.

I was in hog heaven today at the store as it is SQUASH SEASON!!! I got spaghetti, butternut, buttercup, acorn and calabasa. I have never had calabas before, so I baked some for lunch. They are HUGE so the store cuts them into manageable chunks. It was delicious...creamy and had a slight corn flavor. I dashed a bit of salt and some butter on it. Yum!!

[pele]

That pie does look yummy!! I made my own recipe for pumpkin pie using homemade coconut cream, pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, honey, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. I make an almond flour crust with butter, almond flour, salt, eggs and a bit of the yogurt. It is very very good.

I was in hog heaven today at the store as it is SQUASH SEASON!!! I got spaghetti, butternut, buttercup, acorn and calabasa. I have never had calabas before, so I baked some for lunch. They are HUGE so the store cuts them into manageable chunks. It was delicious...creamy and had a slight corn flavor. I dashed a bit of salt and some butter on it. Yum!!

We grew pie pumpkins, buttercup squash and spaghetti squash in the garden. I have been making a simple baked custard with 2 cups cooked mashed squash, 3 eggs, 1/3 cup of honey, a sprinkle each of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

What did you put in the pumpkin smoothie? And BTW, Shay, we love you.

[mftnchn]

Pele, I am thinking of doing that custard as well but with yogurt added so it is more like a regular pumpkin pie recipe. Not yet though. I might not be handling squash as well as I'd like.

[GermanMia]

Ali,

I love Naomi's site, too! Her story how she came to SCD sounds pretty much like my own... I'm totally addicted to the pumpkin pie porridge - instead of almond flour I add two tbsp of coconut flour which tastes wonderful.

Sherry,

perhaps you try that pumpkin pie porridge first if you want to try squash? It's without eggs and honey, just pumpkin, carrot and a bit cooked apple. You don't even have to add almond flour. This was one of the first things I added to my carrot soup and chicken intro.

Mia

[GermanMia]

New question: I found that "apple cider" is legal - what is meant by apple cider?? In German apple cider is something containing alcohol (2 to 4 percent). I don't think that's what is meant? Is it the freshly made apple juice in the pre-alcoholic stage? Unfiltered apple juice?

We do have this kind of natural style apple juice but also filtered and pasteurized apple juice with no sugar added. Would that be legal, too?

Mia

[mftnchn]

Hi Mia,

I have been eating plain baked squash, and that is what I am wondering about not agreeing with me. It is the only thing I have been eating that is different the last several days and I am seriously bloating. Could be something else causing the problem though.

The apple cider refers to pressed apple juice with nothing added that has the pulp still in it so it isn't clear when you look at it in a glass, versus apple juice which is clear. This can be "fresh" in the sense that it is not fermented, although sometimes "cider" does mean somewhat alcoholic. We usually clarify that if it is alcoholic.

[ShayFL]

Oh oh oh...I found a REAL TREAT. Coconut Cream without any additives. Not even water. No gums. No preservatives. Nothing SCD illegal.

Open Original Shared Link

It is concentrated so you just add water. I cannot wait to get it. I have been making my own (used to use canned) and while it is good, it gets tiring. Geez....I already make so much from scratch. It will be nice to have something easy. With this I can make more curries, pies, custards, etc. Yippee!!

Here is the Pumpkin Smoothie Recipe:

1/2 cup pumpkin (you can use fresh baked/boiled for SCD legal)

3/4 homemade almond milk (1/2 cup plain raw almonds, 1 cup water in blender and then strained) I didnt measure this. Just whatever milk I made I used.

1/4 tsp. cinnamon (I doubled this. I like more spice!)

1/8 tsp. nutmeg (doubled in mine)

2 tsp. honey or to taste (I dont like overly sweet so this was enough for me.)

4 ice cubes

Puree in blender until smooth.

I am going to try it warm next time. Leave off the ice cubes and heat up on stove. A dollop of whipped coconut cream on the top....yummy yummy!!

P.S. I love you guys too.

[confused]

i have deicded to bite the bullet and start this plan on nov. 1st. So any tips on getting started would be welcome. Im guessing since my leaky gut is so bad, i best start at phase 1 for a long time, right lol

paula

[ShayFL]

I didnt start at phase 1, but my GI symptoms were mild. If they were bad, I would have started there.

It has helped me just by sticking with the legal foods and avoiding the illegal. I have the occasional sweet potato or plantain. The rest is SCD. I bought 2 cookbooks as well as printing off recipes on line for free. Also came up with some of my own.

The food is good and it is healthy.

Hope you feel better soon!

[aprilh]

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

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

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

This is very interesting! I don't disagree with that concept!

Something else I read recently that is contributory to Diabetes is low vitamin D.

[aprilh]

I am very far behind on reading all the posts!

Guess what I made over the weekend? I don't know!

I made 2 quarts of goat yogurt, 1 quart of raw cow yogurt, and 1 quart of what I think is sour cream? I used 1/2 and 1/2 and it turned out really thick like sour cream or cream cheese. I have never tried that before. Does anyone know? It's yummy and would be great in soup or as a spread....

I have gotten my yogurt making down using the heating pad, a large pot with warm water, and 4 quart jars.

My chiropractor wants me to teach a class to her patients! That's sort of exciting!

[AliB]

New question: I found that "apple cider" is legal - what is meant by apple cider?? In German apple cider is something containing alcohol (2 to 4 percent). I don't think that's what is meant? Is it the freshly made apple juice in the pre-alcoholic stage? Unfiltered apple juice?

We do have this kind of natural style apple juice but also filtered and pasteurized apple juice with no sugar added. Would that be legal, too?

Mia

Oh yes Mia, I had that problem too - over here in the UK cider is alcoholic! Of course cider is made from pure pressed apple juice and it seems that it is that that is referred to as cider in the States and Canada. I'm sure we would all be delighted if the alcoholic type was SCD legal but sadly that is not the case - boo hoo!

[mftnchn]

I have gotten my yogurt making down using the heating pad, a large pot with warm water, and 4 quart jars.

My chiropractor wants me to teach a class to her patients! That's sort of exciting!

April, fantastic!! I haven't done the 1/2 and 1/2, I can't get anything like that here. It sure sounds good.

Shay, so does your coconut cream but I don't dare try it

Paula, good for you!!! Preparation ahead of time is really important so you have enough food for your days on intro when you could very well have die off/detox (you know what that is like!). Other suggestions are read the book, look over www.pecanbread.com, and you also might look over this site: Open Original Shared Link which has an approach similar to SCD and very specific intro instructions.

Everyone, I am still struggling with big C (not every day at least now) and bloating which has been much worse for several days. Its very frustrating as I am still eating mostly just the same things. I suppose I have a very lengthy response to that gluten I was getting unawares, so I am am hopefully waiting.

Sherry

[pele]

i have deicded to bite the bullet and start this plan on nov. 1st. So any tips on getting started would be welcome. Im guessing since my leaky gut is so bad, i best start at phase 1 for a long time, right lol

paula

Paula

You will be so happy after you get going on the diet. It's really not as strange as it seems. Once you eliminate corn, soy, grain and sugar, there are pretty much NO processed foods you can eat, so you eat meat, fruits, veggies, nuts, honey, eggs, yogurt, butter, cheese, olive oil and herbs and spices. Simple.

Like Shay, I did not start with the intro since I wasn't in a state of severe intestinal distress. I just eliminated the things that are not allowed.

After nearly 7 months on the SCD, I am happier with my diet than I have ever been, and when I read posts on other parts of the forum where people are obsessing over gluten-free junk food I just can't believe it.

Welcome to the thread.

[GermanMia]

Hi Sherry and Ali,

thanks for the apple cider / juice info. Usually I don't like apple juice or cider but a friend of ours who is a hunter gave us some game which I wanted to make an apple cider stew of. It's a British recipe, Ali , so it indeed had to be the alcoholic kind I think I'll try to do it with the American kind - the alcohol would cook away anyway.

Before I started the SCD I had bloating, too, when I had pumpkin, Sherry. Strangely I could tolerate it just cooked and mashed with carrots and apples, no spices added, just a little coconut oil.

You said that you already eat yoghurt, don't you? Maybe it's the yoghurt which makes the bloating? Perhaps try one day without it? I do hope for you to come round this soon!

Paula,

pele is right, this diet is not nearly as strange as it seems. The only thing is that you have to make a lot of things from scratch - no fast food

April,

you seem to have a great chiropractor! Good for you - that will be exciting.

Everyone,

today I have an appointment with my dr. to check my kidneys, if there's still some kind of infection. I still feel so weak and tired sometimes that I barely can climb the stairs, and I know this is no side effect of the diet because I had that before the diet, too. It was gone after I took antibiotics in April and I felt great until about July when my digestive problems started again and got worse every day. Now with the diet the digestive problems are much better, but I still have muscle pain in the thighs, and all my muscles are exhausted as soon as I just squeeze a lemon and half of the day I feel like I'd faint the next moment.

I know this sounds weird, but I do feel so stupid - except for beeing thin I never look ill or even as exhausted as I feel, and for some reason even if I have an infection my blood doesn't show any sign of that. In spring the blood was perfectly normal, but then luckily there were bacteria in the urine. Now there are no bacteria which can be made visible by dipsticks, but I still feel like in spring when the infection was diagnosed. It's not only that you feel completely foolish when the dr. tells you that there is nothing to be found - it's so frustrating not to know what else to do.

Sorry for whining - I just hope to have any result which I can work with.

Mia