Specific Carbohydrate Diet?

[Guest gfinnebraska]

That's great!! I feel good, but I do notice that the lbs. slowly creap back on when I go off of the SCD. SO, for my waistline's sake... I need to keep to my SCD!!

[Nancym]

Ok, I'm going to sit down with the book this weekend, do my shopping and get started.

I noticed the web site says coconut milk is ok, is that true from the start? Or is that later on? Anyone know?

[PreOptMegs]

I totally agree about the weight... when strictly following SCD, I got to my skinniest I have ever been. Now the lbs have creeped back a bit, but then again I am lifting weights and working out so I give myself a couple lb buffer...

[PreOptMegs]

A lot has been said lately about gaining weight on this forum. How have my fellow SCDers done as far as that goes? I definately lost weight with this diet, but I had to limit cheese, peanut butter....

[Nancym]

I have a good 20 pounds I'd like to lose and I have been dieting for about 3 years trying to lose around a total of 65. Since I've been on SCD I've still been stuck and unable to lose, but it is a slightly lower low than before. I've got no metabolism.

[Guest gfinnebraska]

Hang in there nancy!!! It will start coming off. I go "off" the SCD when I go to a function or am invited out, but go right back on asap. The weight will come off if you stick to it.

[Jstd]

I started the SCD today and am hoping my book will arrive tomorrow.

I do have a question .... Do you have to do hamburgers during the intro? Is it possible to do chicken breast, turkey burgers or another protein?

I am not the biggest fan of red meat.

Thanks for the help.

[Nancym]

I kind of skipped the whole intro part, for the most part, because I didn't have that much diarrhea. But every time I over do something my body tells me.

I had chocolate yesterday and I've felt miserable ever since. Tired, headachy, and my stomach/intestines objected.

[PreOptMegs]

JSTD- You can definately do chicken or turkey, tuna, or fish (if it isn't packed with broth which contains soy) in the intro, and yes, I would definately follow the diet especially the introduction part. I didn't have any "D" either, but it is important to get a good start on this diet since you are going for intestional health here.

[corinne]

Just found this website. I have collagenous colitis and it's been getting much worse over the past year. Medication wasn't working. I couldn't get out of the house until almost lunchtime. My mother is celiac and since collagenous colitis has a strong link to celiac, I decided to try gluten free. It didn't help at all. The more rice I ate, the worse I felt.

I started the SCD 5 weeks ago and I have had NO symptoms at all for four weeks except when I introduce some new foods. My diet right now is very limited. I had strong reactions to yoghurt, dry curd cottage cheese, fish, nuts. The ok foods so far are beef, chicken, pork, diluted grape juice, eggs and well cooked carrots, beets, zuchini and peaches. Pretty boring, but I feel so good it's worth it.

I started with well cooked carrots and I've been introducing new foods about twice a week. I'll try a good portion of the new food, then wait about 3 days to see if I have any reaction. I hoping that I can expand the okay foods quite a bit after things settle down.

I ran 2 miles first thing this morning which felt fantastic!

[PreOptMegs]

Okay so just in the past couple of weeks, my body has been acting totally crazy again. I feel like I have no control over my weight/body. I just got my TSH back and they said it was 1.35, which I think is okay, but I am convinced it needs to be checked again. As soon as basketball is over I am going to have to get back on SCD 100%. This was the only diet that has made me feel good and look good over the course of several months. I am so frustrated right now!!! Also, some of my other problems right now are that I have a bowel movement once every 4+ days even though I eat tons of fiber (popcorn, brown rice, peas, red potatoes, apples, carrots....) And to top it all off, I have not had a period in 2 yrs!! The worst part is that my weight is all over the map again, which just makes me so mad and my energy is in and out!

[Nancym]

Okay so just in the past couple of weeks, my body has been acting totally crazy again. I feel like I have no control over my weight/body. I just got my TSH back and they said it was 1.35, which I think is okay, but I am convinced it needs to be checked again. As soon as basketball is over I am going to have to get back on SCD 100%. This was the only diet that has made me feel good and look good over the course of several months. I am so frustrated right now!!! Also, some of my other problems right now are that I have a bowel movement once every 4+ days even though I eat tons of fiber (popcorn, brown rice, peas, red potatoes, apples, carrots....) And to top it all off, I have not had a period in 2 yrs!! The worst part is that my weight is all over the map again, which just makes me so mad and my energy is in and out!

TSH of 1.35 is good. But you might want to get your Free T3 and Free T4 checked out (not to be confused with T3 or T4 or Total T3, TT3, etc). I can have a "normal" TSH and my Free T3 will be below range. It helps for me to supplement with a bit of Armour (natural) thyroid. If you're on BC pills or HRT you might have a low T3 because apparently it causes the T3 to not be useable as much.

[PreOptMegs]

I will definately look into that. I just got my TSH read in early December, but I really want to ask my doctor to check it again.

[CMCM]

I was in the bookstore yesterday and came across the SCD book....so having seen a lot of mention of it here I bought it. Absolutely FASCINATING reading....I read the whole thing in an evening. Only problem for me is the inclusion of a fair amount of dairy (especially the yogurt) which I unfortunately have to avoid. Otherwise, I'd love to try the diet for awhile. Has anyone done it minus the dairy products?

[PreOptMegs]

This diet will allow you to be able to eat dairy after you are on it for a few months. Think of it as a "resetting" of your intestional capabilities!

[Nancym]

I was in the bookstore yesterday and came across the SCD book....so having seen a lot of mention of it here I bought it. Absolutely FASCINATING reading....I read the whole thing in an evening. Only problem for me is the inclusion of a fair amount of dairy (especially the yogurt) which I unfortunately have to avoid. Otherwise, I'd love to try the diet for awhile. Has anyone done it minus the dairy products?

Yes! I do it without the dairy. I make yogurt from coconut milk and a bit of honey (add gelatin to thicken it some).

[CMCM]

This diet will allow you to be able to eat dairy after you are on it for a few months. Think of it as a "resetting" of your intestional capabilities!

Perhaps I'm understand it all wrong, but I would think if you are only lactose intolerant then you COULD possibly eat dairy later. But I was tested as casein sensitive, and like with gluten, I should NEVER eat dairy. And like with gluten sensitivity, casein sensitivity never goes away. Maybe I'm wrong about this, though...

Yes! I do it without the dairy. I make yogurt from coconut milk and a bit of honey (add gelatin to thicken it some).

Do you use any particular type of coconut milk? Are they pretty much all the same? And how is the coconut milk yogurt? Do you ferment for the 24 hours as in the book, or since we aren't dealing with the milk casein proteins etc. maybe the 24 hours isn't necessary? How does it taste? Could you give me an exact recipe for how you make it?

[Kasey'sMom]

Yes! I do it without the dairy. I make yogurt from coconut milk and a bit of honey (add gelatin to thicken it some).

Yes, Please. I would love to have the recipe as well. My dd is allergic to dairy and we miss yogurt. I have a yogurt maker and I tried doing it with rice milk but it didn't work.

I've gained weight on the gluten-free diet as well. I think I need to be exercising more...... I'm not really over weight but I wiegh more than I'm comfortable with. The SCD is very interesting but I don't know much about it yet.

[Nancym]

Perhaps I'm understand it all wrong, but I would think if you are only lactose intolerant then you COULD possibly eat dairy later. But I was tested as casein sensitive, and like with gluten, I should NEVER eat dairy. And like with gluten sensitivity, casein sensitivity never goes away. Maybe I'm wrong about this, though...

Do you use any particular type of coconut milk? Are they pretty much all the same? And how is the coconut milk yogurt? Do you ferment for the 24 hours as in the book, or since we aren't dealing with the milk casein proteins etc. maybe the 24 hours isn't necessary? How does it taste? Could you give me an exact recipe for how you make it?

I'll try! I never use exact anything when I cook.

First get some yogurt starter. Whole Foods market carries them or you can order off the internet. I haven't found any that are 100% casein free though. But you only use 5g of it and you can reuse and thus dilute the casein.

I use a Salton yogurt maker which costs about $15 from Bed, Bath and Beyond or Amazon.

I take 2 cans of light (you could use full fat) coconut milk (I get mine at Trader Joe's, doesn't contain any preservatives or additives).

I add about 1 Tablespoon of Honey, sometimes instead I'll take a piece of fruit and puree it into the coconut milk. This gives the bacteria some carbs to eat.

Heat the fruit/honey/coconut milk mixture to boiling to kill any stray bacteria.

Meanwhile put 1/4 of water into a bowl and empty a packet of gelatin onto the water. Let it "soften". Stir it a bit. When the coconut milk comes to a boil, stir in the gelatin until dissolved.

Pour coconut mixture into your yogurt container and let it cool down to around 100 degrees. If I'm in a hurry I'll put the container inside a bigger container filled with ice cubes and water.

Once it is cooled, add the culture and stir thoroughly.

Put in your yogurt maker and let it go. I usually do mine for about 24 hours. The more sugary stuff in there, the longer I let it go, hoping to reduce the carb content as the bacteria eat the sugars and turn it to lactic acid, and of course, they breed and raise the good bacteria count!

After done culturing. Put in fridge. It'll solidify (more or less) as it cools. If you don't add gelatin it'll be about the consistency of kefir and tastes great in smoothies!

SCD makes the claim to cure intolerances. I don't believe it, however I *do* think the diet is very healing.

I think it tastes good! Its not as wonderful as greek yogurt, which is my favorite thing, but it is an acceptable alternative.

[CMCM]

I adore Greek yogurt. I used to make my own....after the yogurt was done, you put it in cheesecloth over a straner and all the liquid drains out and the yogurt gets thick. Have you tried anything like that with coconut milk yogurt?

Also...you didn't say....does it have a coconut flavor?

[Nancym]

I adore Greek yogurt. I used to make my own....after the yogurt was done, you put it in cheesecloth over a straner and all the liquid drains out and the yogurt gets thick. Have you tried anything like that with coconut milk yogurt?

Also...you didn't say....does it have a coconut flavor?

I didn't think it would work to strain because it doesn't really separate into whey and curds like yogurt does. But I haven't tried it. I think with the gelatin there it just wouldn't drain anything out.

It doesn't taste much like coconut milk because the lactic acid gives it quite a tang.

[CMCM]

I didn't think it would work to strain because it doesn't really separate into whey and curds like yogurt does. But I haven't tried it. I think with the gelatin there it just wouldn't drain anything out.

It doesn't taste much like coconut milk because the lactic acid gives it quite a tang.

Hmmm....since we're not dealing with actual milk here, I wonder if it's still necessary to let it go for 24 hours??? I don't like sharp tasting yogurt....previously I would considerably shorten the time so I could get a mild flavor. I wonder if it would be the same with coconut yogurt.

[Nancym]

Hmmm....since we're not dealing with actual milk here, I wonder if it's still necessary to let it go for 24 hours??? I don't like sharp tasting yogurt....previously I would considerably shorten the time so I could get a mild flavor. I wonder if it would be the same with coconut yogurt.

I don't think even at 24 hours it was all that sharp, not like the milk gets. But try it! You can stop it after 12 and see what it tastes like.

I just dumped out a batch... grrr! I had put my coconut milk mixture in the sink filled with cold water and ice and the container turned a bit and took on some of the water/ice. Well, I didn't think anything of it and let it culture. The next day I thought... I can't eat that! What if I had had some raw chicken or something in the sink and had just cultured salmonella for 24 hours? I'm glad I thought of that before I ate it!

Another observation, 1 pkt of gelatin might be too much. This batch had set up to the consistency of jello. It was just a wee bit too firm. Maybe just "most of a packet" would be better, say... 3/5ths or 3/4ths.

[CMCM]

Nancy...thanks for all the tips. I'm going to Trader Joe's today and get the milk, so maybe I can start it tonight. I still have some starter powder in the fridge, so I'll use that.

[PreOptMegs]

I am so excited that so many people are going to try this diet. I am in my last week of games for basketball, so I will be able to start SCD over this weekend and continue it through the summer. I love this diet and I cannot wait to do it again.