Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)

[aprilh]

Maybe it's just my imagination because I concentrate on food all the time and don't realise anything else but I have the imagination that even my PMS has already gotten better. Has any of you experiences with this sort of thing? I always wondered if there is a connection between such problems and the celiac / leaky gut thing?

Mia,

I noticed this too! PMS did get better for me.

Leaky gut/malabsorption can cause so many varied problems for people. i definately think there is a connection.

[aprilh]

Hey all! I started some MORE yogurt today. The last batch did not smell good. The temp did not get high enough (or the acidophilus wasn't good, but I don't think so)

I had the heating pad on low so this time I put it on Medium. I have 4 quart size jars in there - 3 with goat and 1 with cow milk. So, far each time I check the temp has been exactly 105 - so that's perfect!

I am so hoping this is going to be the way....I have made so many batches that didn't turn out just right for one reason or another. I am determined to get this right!

If this turns out good, I will have a huge batch of yogurt and won't have to make it but about every week and a half or so.

[mftnchn]

April, glad you are being persistent and hope this time it works very well. I occasionally have a bad batch too, but not too often any more.

Mia and Cici keep us posted on how things go.

Today I am going to try again with almonds, with a local rather than imported variety that is supposed to be raw (I hope.) Eggs seem fine. I miss my muffins so I hope this works.

[GermanMia]

Cici: Don't worry! After a while when you start feeling better it even gets fun to experiment And people round here are so helpful - thanks!

mftnchn: As I had no D when I started, I could proceed quite well with adding raw and cooked veggies of all kinds. Yesterday I even tried my homemade coleslaw with hazelnuts and it seemed to be okay. Raw apples and pears are okay, too, but other fruit still makes problems. Cheese is no problem either nor are baked goods. I cannot for the life of me eat anything like jello so I skipped that and tried dried dates instead and it worked! My body seems to tell me quite clearly now what I should take. I wanted to try natural style peanut butter, but after smelling it I couldn't eat it. This was the same with some other SCD legal things I used to eat but don't want at the moment. So I'll wait till my body says yes.

pele: You're right about the fat - but I don't avoid it because of the low-fat-idea but because I cannot digest fat properly. Bigger amounts of fat make me sick, and I'm still hungry because the fat doesn't reach the bloodstream but goes through. My dr. gave me pancreas enzymes which work quite well, but I still am a bit anxious because last year I had an operation to remove a fat tumor from one of my kidneys (only body fat I ever had - my confused body created a stock in the completely wrong place). Of course it was not a maligne tumor, but if there will come a remission on the same spot they will have to remove the kidney which is not exactly what I want... So I'm careful. But I eat lots of nut flour, at least one egg, olive oil, fatty fish like salmon an tuna, and cheese (swiss or German - I envie you to have all this cheddar because I'm addicted to cheddar, but you don't find a good one in Germany!). Since I added some sweets like bananas, little amounts of honey and some dates, I feel much better. And I hope that perhaps the fat digestion will be restored, too, when the gut heals.

I think that I must have had celiac since childhood as my problems started when I was very young. So I also suspect that I couldn't get children because of that, sadly. At least I will enjoy the rest of my childbearing age without this terrible PMS

Glad to hear that you could develope some muscles. For how long are you on SCD already?

aprilh: This is a relieve, isn't it? Makes the husbands happy, too...

Hope your yoghurt will turn out well!

[mftnchn]

Mia, that's great that it is working well for you.

My experiment today using local raw almonds was pretty good. I am bloating is all. I don't care for the flavor which is stronger and more bitter.

[GermanMia]

mftnchn, I'm sorry about that almond problem. Just make sure there are no bitter almonds mixed in the sweet ones. Lately I read something about bitter almonds in charges of sweet almonds (never had almonds that tasted bitter, though).

I made a batch of egg-free pecan brownies which turned out fabulous - only that I found out I'm allergic to pecans now, too. It used to be only walnuts - I do hope this doesn't spread to almonds and cashews!

And here another question: What about black beans? I thought to remember that they were legal, but I cannot find where I got that information from. And other pulses - do you know about adzuki and urad dal if they are legal or not?

[mftnchn]

I don't know about adzukie or urad dal. You might try a google search as sometimes there are answers from Elaine in the emails before her death.

My impression from reading her emails is that if she had enough information about a food to decide it was on the list. If not on the list, then it is best to avoid unless you do your own thorough research about the food's natural content as well as the biogenetics used.

Well Chinese almonds are more the bitter type. There are two varieties, a very small one and a medium sized one. I am going to look more to see if I can find the imported ones in a raw form.

[aprilh]

April, glad you are being persistent and hope this time it works very well. I occasionally have a bad batch too, but not too often any more.

Mia and Cici keep us posted on how things go.

Today I am going to try again with almonds, with a local rather than imported variety that is supposed to be raw (I hope.) Eggs seem fine. I miss my muffins so I hope this works.

There is a *smell* that the goat yogurt puts off and my hubby says it smells like workboots....so that sort of freaked me out to think i had made a bad batch again. I was so careful in the heating and the 24 hours it stayed at 105 the entire time! YAY!

I think its fine though - despite what he says! It tastes fine. A tiny bit bitter but nothing unusual. So, I mixed some honey in (the hot water with the honey works great - thanks for that recommendation), and fed it to little A and he was happy.

I don't know about adzukie or urad dal. You might try a google search as sometimes there are answers from Elaine in the emails before her death.

My impression from reading her emails is that if she had enough information about a food to decide it was on the list. If not on the list, then it is best to avoid unless you do your own thorough research about the food's natural content as well as the biogenetics used.

Well Chinese almonds are more the bitter type. There are two varieties, a very small one and a medium sized one. I am going to look more to see if I can find the imported ones in a raw form.

Black beans were okay once digestion is good enough to handle beans. I love black beans so that's why I remembered that. Not sure about the others.

[aprilh]

Mia, that's great that it is working well for you.

My experiment today using local raw almonds was pretty good. I am bloating is all. I don't care for the flavor which is stronger and more bitter.

i hope you figure this out or otherwise you'll have to tote bunches of almonds back next time you are in the states.

So, if you didn't have problems with almonds before...wonder what's doing it now?

[fig girl]

Hi everyone,

I've been trying to catch up....been away for a few days on vacation....it was very nice. I was nervous about how to cope with eating but it worked out fine. We only spent one night away and i cooked ahead of time and froze some things and brought them with me...made sure we had a refrigerator in the room. I made some eggless muffins with almond flour and some eggless peanut butter cookies to take with me and i did well with them. Yay! I even used cooked, pureed apples and pears in the cookies and cooked, pureed peaches in the muffins and they didn't give me gas. I was so happy! I also had a dry glass of white wine with dinner Fri. night....i know it's probably way too soon for that but really enjoyed it, i haven't had any in so long. I didn't even drink the whole glass and so far so good....fingers crossed! We ate lunch at a restaurant that can prepare gluten free and my flounder was dipped in an egg wash before cooking and i was nervous about eating that but it didn't bother me (i kind of scraped some of it off but ate some). I've been delaying trying eggs again but this gave me a little hope that maybe they'll be ok.

Sherry - i hope you get the almond problem figured out too and hope you can have muffins again soon. I made some almond milk yogurt and it was a different taste and it separated and didn't make a whole lot...hope i did it properly! I've been eating it mixed in with pureed pears or plum. I like the goat milk yogurt taste better. I was being so strict and eating the same things over and over i was glad this week to be able to add some different things....thanks for posting that you had almond flour 5 days in....it gave me courage to go ahead and try it! Hopefully i've healed a little more. I've been constipated too for the last 2 days...i finally went today thank goodness! My body probably isn't used to not eating some raw fruit and veggies.

April - Sounds like you've gotten your yogurt making process down, that's great! I made another batch of goat yogurt yesterday and it'll soon be finished fermenting and i'll move it to the fridge. It's on 110 degrees and has been the last 4 hours so that's good i guess...it was right at 100 when i put it in the pot and i turned my heating pad up to high for a little while last night and it finally rose to 105. I think i may set my pot of warm water on my heating pad a little sooner than i do so it can get to 105 - 110 quicker or maybe turn it to high for just a bit while heating up the goat milk. Can't wait to have some in the morning...they almond milk yogurt isn't bad i just like the taste of the goat milk yogurt better. Thanks for mentioning about drinking more water for the neck and back pain....i get that some too and i know i haven't been drinking enough water....could be part of my constipation problem too!

Welcome Mia and Cici! You've joined a great thread....everyone is so helpful here and i've learned so much. I've only been on the SCD for about 2 weeks but am feeling really good. It's so nice to be able to chat and share things with everyone on here. I agree with everyone about preparing things ahead of time and freezing when you can. I feel like I live in the kitchen these days but it's getting better...i'm learning to manage my time better. The first week i was pretty tired probably from die off and getting used to the diet and staying up a little later cooking. I feel much more comfortable about preparing things now and am excited and looking forward to trying new recipes.

[pele]

Glad to hear that you could develope some muscles. For how long are you on SCD already?

Mia

I just passed the six month mark on the SCD. I have noticed real improvement in the past 7 weeks or so. NO D in this time, and, hopefully I'm not providing TMI, but far less bowel urgency. I'm beginning to feel normal, whatever that is.

[pele]

And here another question: What about black beans? I thought to remember that they were legal, but I cannot find where I got that information from. And other pulses - do you know about adzuki and urad dal if they are legal or not?

Although aduki and urad are not mentioned by name, it sadly seems that the cool ethnic beans are illegal, only the boring ones like navy beans are okay. Black beans are to be used cautiously. Fortunately lentils are legal, so I take that to include red lentils. This is one of the areas of the SCD that leaves me wondering.

[pele]

Canned vegetables are a problem because of undeclared sugar. What I read was that Elaine had a friend in the food processing business and found out that as veggies were processed the pH was checked and sugar added down a chute to correct pH but that was never put on the label.

Okay, this is one of my SCD pet peeves. No surprise to anyone who's read my earlier posts.

We are relying on decades old, second hand anecdotal evidence. Can anyone do better? Are there really laws that say canners can add undeclared sugar and starch? If so, why aren't diabetics raising holy heck?

Anyone want to investigate further? I'll contact the Muir Glen people and let you know what they say.

[mftnchn]

I know it is really weird. I had some almond flour I brought back with me, and I think the problems started about the time I ran out of it and started using local, but am not sure as it could be something else causing this too. It is such a clear change from before, I thought doing intro would restore the good pattern but it didn't seem to make any impact.

I think it is partly due to the stuff on the almonds, but I think there has got to be another factor going on. I'm just going to wait it out and stay on the diet with the softer all well cooked foods (about stage 3 on pecan bread) plus one muffin a day.

[MissCici]

I have symptoms for at least 3 years. No real diagnosis yet. Nausea, vomiting, bloating, belching, stomach pain, etc. I've been working with my doctor on food allergies based on my Immunolab report. Wasn't seeing any relief in symptoms, so he referred me to a naturopath. That is who wants me to try to SCD.

We'll see how this goes, I guess. I have an appointment with the Mayo clinic in December that I have rescheduled several times. A part of me really wants to go see them, but I also want to try what I can first.

Cici

[mftnchn]

Cici I hope this works for you. Since you are gluten-free I am assuming your doctor didn't do celiac blood tests? Maybe you could do the gene tests to see if you have the major genes for celiac?

Do you only have abdominal symptoms or other symptoms as well?

[aprilh]

I have symptoms for at least 3 years. No real diagnosis yet. Nausea, vomiting, bloating, belching, stomach pain, etc. I've been working with my doctor on food allergies based on my Immunolab report. Wasn't seeing any relief in symptoms, so he referred me to a naturopath. That is who wants me to try to SCD.

We'll see how this goes, I guess. I have an appointment with the Mayo clinic in December that I have rescheduled several times. A part of me really wants to go see them, but I also want to try what I can first.

Cici

CiCi,

I say go for it. It really is a good diet. You might see the light at the end of the tunnell and won't need to be subject to more poking and prodding by the Mayo.

[pele]

I have symptoms for at least 3 years. No real diagnosis yet. Nausea, vomiting, bloating, belching, stomach pain, etc. I've been working with my doctor on food allergies based on my Immunolab report. Wasn't seeing any relief in symptoms, so he referred me to a naturopath. That is who wants me to try to SCD.

We'll see how this goes, I guess. I have an appointment with the Mayo clinic in December that I have rescheduled several times. A part of me really wants to go see them, but I also want to try what I can first.

Cici

Cici

You might enjoy reading Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food. It is about the transistion to the western diet of processed food and the subsequent rise of chronic disease. It validated what I felt after four months on the SCD, and might help you see why the diet makes so much sense.

So how's it going? Have you started the diet yet?

[Deb P]

Hello All,

I have been on the SCD for 6 months and I too am starting to feel normal. (as Pele said what is normal) I have been reading this thread faithfully and have found great support and info. Thank you one and all! Here is my issue, I just lost my job. I was never rich but getting by. I need some advise on staying on this diet on a budget$. I can not eat on a few dollars a day as I was in my junk food days. Help!

It is funny with all the stress of this event I have never thought about not staying on the diet once ( you, know party in your mouth, comfort food, ect..).

Thank you agin for being there,

Deb

[MissCici]

I guess you could say I'm starting SCD today. It isn't all that different from my ImmunoLab plan, so I will be adding SCD principles to what I've already been doing. My doctor said rice will be allowed in the new version of the book and that I should be okay with potatos, too. Biggest changes for me right now will be no corn and he wants me to keep my fruits to just berries for a few weeks.

I'm also going to start on 3 anti-parasite meds and do 4 1hr IV antibiotic treatments.

I am having intense abdominal pain, so hopefully all of this will start to give me some relief. I've been sick for at least 3 years, but the last couple of weeks have been awful.

Cici

[fig girl]

Hi everyone,

I've done a search on this and it seems Tylenol is scd legal but when i looked at the ingredients on their website some list corn starch as inactive ingred. Looks like the liquid might be ok but it has sorbitol. I have equate brand acetominophen and it lists starch so i assume it's corn starch. Do you guys think it's ok to take? We seen my sister and nephew this past weekend and they were just getting over being sick (head congestion, sore throat) and now lucky me has it! My throat hurts so bad i can't even swallow. I gargled this morning with salt water and some grapefruit seed extract mixed w/water and that helped until about lunch. I'm about to gargle again but think i need some pain reliever for my head and throat. I'm going to make some ginger/lemon tea also and luckily i have some chicken/carrot soup in the freezer i'll thaw and have for dinner. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[mftnchn]

Fig girl, sorry I can't help with the pain med question.

Deb, welcome to the thread--I know you have "been here" for awhile but it is nice to see your post.

Pele, I agree about the info on canned vegetables. Do you think that calling a company is adequate? I'm wondering where in the production process something like this would happen.

Cici, are you talking about a new version of the SCD that includes rice and potatos? That doesn't seem true to the principles of the diet...

Pele and Deb, thanks for posting about the six month mark reflections. I've been discouraged lately with a return of some symptoms that were very much better initially on the diet. I went back to intro and tried various things but have not identified the culprit for sure. I suspect contaminated cinnamon (based on the very light color) and almonds treated with salt and other things not clear (MSG?). I am hanging in there hoping it will clear on its own.

[fig girl]

Fig girl, sorry I can't help with the pain med question.

Deb, welcome to the thread--I know you have "been here" for awhile but it is nice to see your post.

Pele, I agree about the info on canned vegetables. Do you think that calling a company is adequate? I'm wondering where in the production process something like this would happen.

Cici, are you talking about a new version of the SCD that includes rice and potatos? That doesn't seem true to the principles of the diet...

Pele and Deb, thanks for posting about the six month mark reflections. I've been discouraged lately with a return of some symptoms that were very much better initially on the diet. I went back to intro and tried various things but have not identified the culprit for sure. I suspect contaminated cinnamon (based on the very light color) and almonds treated with salt and other things not clear (MSG?). I am hanging in there hoping it will clear on its own.

Thanks Sherry, i took the equate acetaminophen that i had and laid down and feel a little better. I'm drinking the ginger & lemon tea. I'm sorry you can't pinpoint what's causing your symptoms....i hope it clears up soon. I had some pain and gas today but i took some vit. c caplets and i think it was that or i made the basic muffin recipe last night with the almond flour i made from the almond milk and it may have been it...it was a little coarser than what i bought and used on the cookies and muffins i made last week. The carrot/chicken soup for dinner felt good for the tummy and soul

[pele]

Pele and Deb, thanks for posting about the six month mark reflections. I've been discouraged lately with a return of some symptoms that were very much better initially on the diet. I went back to intro and tried various things but have not identified the culprit for sure. I suspect contaminated cinnamon (based on the very light color) and almonds treated with salt and other things not clear (MSG?). I am hanging in there hoping it will clear on its own.

I think you are in a unique situation with international travel and having to deal with food from very different cutures, despite globalization. When I read about your almond problems I wonder if the almonds were treated with wheat prior to roasting or processing. Apparently Planters does this to flavor mixed nuts, so maybe it happens in China, too.

On the other hand, I can tell you that there were times in July when I felt awful, and that had nothing to do with travel or culture, except maybe bacteria culture. I suspect that occasionally we eat something with a load of bacteria in it, whether its deli meat or an unwashed carrot out of the garden. We are probably more vunerable to such things due to long standing gut damage. I, too, tried to identify the culprit--too many raisins? Figs? Gluten from somewhere? The amazing thing is that now, two and half months later, I can tolerate foods I couldn't handle then, like melon and pears. My gut is healing.

So I guess my point is, don't fret too much over whether you ate the wrong thing. Just stay as close to the principles of the diet as you can. It may take longer because of your living situation, but pretty soon you'll be telling us how much better you are.

[pele]

Hi everyone,

I've done a search on this and it seems Tylenol is scd legal but when i looked at the ingredients on their website some list corn starch as inactive ingred. Looks like the liquid might be ok but it has sorbitol. I have equate brand acetominophen and it lists starch so i assume it's corn starch. Do you guys think it's ok to take?

Yes I think its okay to take. Both asprirn and ibuprofin can cause problems for damaged guts. They make me feel like I've swallowed ground glass. Acetominophen doesn't hit the stomach hard. I took it for several days last April following a mishap. It may not be SCD legal but look how small the tablets are. Pain can cause more stress than a bit of corn starch.