Specific Carbohydrate Diet?

[Rachel--24]

I dont worry too much about candida anymore and I dont believe all the hype about it. I believe an overgrowth can occur when things arent right and the immune system is stressed. I think of candida as another symptom but not a cause. My doctor agrees with me on this. In his experience you cant treat candida and expect to get well...you have to find out why the candida is there to begin with and take care of that problem.

My first stool test last summer showed no candida and my recent one showed a light overgrowth but I've had the same symtoms all along. Doesnt matter whether I'm "feeding" candida or not. I had the same symptoms eating large amounts of sugar as I did eating no sugar at all....not even fruits. I didnt have a speck of sugar for 4 months and it didnt change anything as far as the reactions I get. Of course I was getting alot less reactions on the diet because I wasnt eating any obvious corn.

[Green12]

I dont worry too much about candida anymore and I dont believe all the hype about it.

I am beginning to think the same thing about candida. I have been treated for systemic candida, fungus, parasites, basically disbiosis of the gut for 10 years now and it doesn't matter what I eat or what I do it never gets any better. I have done everything my health care professionals have told me to do, followed the strict diets, taken the supplements to kill them off, done the cleanses to get them out, colonics, enemas, researched all of the books- all of this over and over and over again and I am in the same state of health.

[danikali]

I am beginning to think the same thing about candida. I have been treated for systemic candida, fungus, parasites, basically disbiosis of the gut for 10 years now and it doesn't matter what I eat or what I do it never gets any better. I have done everything my health care professionals have told me to do, followed the strict diets, taken the supplements to kill them off, done the cleanses to get them out, colonics, enemas, researched all of the books- all of this over and over and over again and I am in the same state of health.

Same here!

[Green12]

Same here!

It's like the hamster running on a wheel, he runs and he runs and he runs, faster and faster and faster, trying so hard to make progress- but he never gets anywhere. That's how I feel! I'm sure you do to!

[Rachel--24]

Julie,

I was on the candida boards for several months and one thing I noticed is that not a single person "cured" themselves of candida. I think that pretty much says it all right there.

I told my new doctor what I thought anout candida and this is what he told me. He said that for several years he treated people for candida and he was successful as far as reducing symptoms as long as the patient adhered to the program. As soon as they went off the diet symptoms would always come back. For the past 5 years he doesnt focus on candida as a cause anymore. He finds that when he identifies the "true" underlying cause (which is often gluten) the candida problem resolves itself on its own.

[miamia]

Well its comforting to hear that I am not the only one who has gone in circles with the candida thing. I am still working on trying to identify anywhere in my diet I may still be getting corn. I really want to focus on that and not the candida thing- whichc seems ot be getting me no where. I've spent so long trying to heal that and leaky gut and a zillion other things and really gotten no where so at least this is a new thing that I have not tried yet I ma just hoping it will do something.

Miamia

Julie,

I was on the candida boards for several months and one thing I noticed is that not a single person "cured" themselves of candida. I think that pretty much says it all right there.

I told my new doctor what I thought anout candida and this is what he told me. He said that for several years he treated people for candida and he was successful as far as reducing symptoms as long as the patient adhered to the program. As soon as they went off the diet symptoms would always come back. For the past 5 years he doesnt focus on candida as a cause anymore. He finds that when he identifies the "true" underlying cause (which is often gluten) the candida problem resolves itself on its own.

[dlp252]

Ha, I did the candida thing as well. The one thing it did was to help me NOT get so many sinus infections, but as soon as I'd start adding stuff back, wham, I'd get a sinus infection again. I too think it was something other than candida...gluten was definitely a part of the problem, as was casein, but there's obviously something else...now I just have to figure that out.

[Green12]

It looks like we could have a little club, the ANTI anti-candida rebellion or something like that!

The disbiosis issue (candida, fungi, parasites, various pathogens) has been ingrained into my head for so long, it seems almost like it's the diagnosis dujour in the alternative health field, I don't know about the main stream medical world because I have no experiences there. Not to say I don't think it's valid, but for me personally I think about a quote I came across recently that sort of turned on the light bulb in my head.."if you do what you always do, you'll get what you've always gotten" . I wasn't getting better, so it's time for me to switch things up.

I've changed my eating and I'm not focusing on the candida and other things, I've let that go. I've been having fruit everyday for the last week and a half or so, the biggest no-no with candida, and I feel fine, no symptoms, no problems. I'm looking into other allergies, especially the corn allergy, as the root of my problem and my solution for better state of health.

[danikali]

I just have to add my two cents from my experience. I agree so much that the candida is just a side effect or a symptom of something bigger. For the first time in almost two months, I am back to having fruit everyday, and a lot of it, and my symptoms are better than they were ON the SCDiet. I'm not saying that it doesn't work, because I KNOW it does for a lot of people, but not me. I have been back to eating fruit, veggies, fish, meat, rice and potatoes and I'm (knock on wood!!!!!!!!!!!) starting to feel better everyday, and just because I am eating these things again hasn't caused me to get a yeast infection again or anything. Actually, almost the whole time on the SCDiet, I had a yeast infection! Go figure! Now that I am off, the yeast infection is gone. I'm also looking into the corn thing a lot because now that I'm starting to feel really good eating the things I just mentioned, I am also keeping out corn and it's deriatives, because I never did that before. I am hoping that the corn issue is what was causing those annoying lingering symptoms to stick around. It's only been 4 days, but I'm praying this is it.

[dlp252]

I may try eliminating corn derivatives myself. I don't usually eat obvious corn anymore, but I'm sure it's in a lot of the stuff I DO eat in the form of derivatives. I usually eat frozen fruit which I get from Whole Foods...mostly it's stuff that has been peeled, but I do buy frozen cherries...would they wax those? The only other fruit I eat semi-regularly is bananas and sometimes apples, which I usually get unwaxed--even before I knew about all this I never liked the thought of eating waxed fruit, lol. I also eat a lot of salt...I use sea salt at home, but not at work... So I'm thinking corn may not be my main problem, but it certainly could be a part of it.

I was going to try to eat nothing but meat and veggies this week, but I was weak, and have been eating other stuff.

[Rachel--24]

I I usually eat frozen fruit which I get from Whole Foods...mostly it's stuff that has been peeled, but I do buy frozen cherries...would they wax those?

I dont think they would wax those but pretty much all frozen stuff contains corn anyways as a preservative.

[dlp252]

Do they have to list preservatives on the labels? I'm pretty sure these don't have preservatives, but I have to double check.

[miamia]

Ok I know there was a seperate post on corn which "Ill go look for but I did some research and for all of us who are trying to avoid it I found this:

This is the list of “corn-free” foods that I take with me shopping. This is not a guarantee of corn-free but foods that I in conjunction with others have investigated and haven’t had problems with. Since we all have different sensitivities, use this more as a guide and less as a bible. Some of these foods I haven’t tried and have relied on others experiences as some of these are not available in my area. Read labels and be cautious. If anyone has had problems with anything listed here.. please let me know. (Thanks to Mistoviolet for starting this list)

_______

Baby Food:

Alimentum (Ready To Feed) Baby Formula

Baking Products:

Gold Medal Flour (unbleached)

King Arthur Flour (unbleached)

Hodgson Mill Flour (unbleached) (CC)

Arrowroot Powder

Potato Starch

Tapioca Starch

Knox Unflavored Gelatin

Cream of tartar (Use ½ tsp cream of tartar and ¼ tsp baking soda to replace 1 tsp of baking powder)

Featherweight Baking Powder (potato starch)

Hodgson's Mill Yeast

Red Star Active Dry Yeast (note: Grown on corn but company swears the final product has no corn after testing)

Ah-Laska unsweetened cocoa powder

Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder

Enjoy Life foods chocolate chips

Dagoba Chocolate Drops

Kosher for Passover chocolate chips

Sunspire chocolate chips?

Hershey’s Unsweetened Baking Chocolate

Scharfenberger chocolate bars

Trader Joe's Super Dark chocolate bar

Frontier - alcohol-free flavorings

Boyajian’s Pure Citrus Oils

Homemade Vanilla : One pint potato vodka with 2 vanilla beans – set for 4-6 weeks before use.

C&H pure cane sugar

C&H brown sugar

Domino sugar

Domino light brown sugar

Florida Crystals Organic Cane Sugar 14oz and #3 containers (CC)

Locally produced honey (preferably from a farmers market, where you can double check the source. Some store bought honey contains corn syrup to lower costs)

Pure Maple Syrup (make sure its 100% maple syrup, not flavored)

Grandma's Molasses

Baking Mixes:

Chebe bread mixes

Golden Potato Pancakes

Namaste waffle and pancake mix (careful with their other mixes - they contain xanthum gum and the owner swears it's corn-free. We react to it however.)

Gluten-Free Pantry - Danielle Chocolate Cake Mix

Mrs. Roben's bread, muffin, cake mixes. www.allergygrocer.com (check ingredients. Many but not all are safe)

Beverages/Juices:

Minute Maid Frozen Orange Juice (freezer)

Simply Orange Original Orange Juice (fridge)

Horizon Juice Boxes

Knudsen Just Black Cherry (or other flavors, check labels)

Kalahari Reserve Rooibos Tea, regular and chamomile

Reed's Premium Ginger Brew

Steaz Green Tea Soda

Virgil's Root Beer

Potato Vodka (great to make your own vanilla with vanilla beans)

Rum

Breads:

Chebe Bread

Cybros Rice Breads

French Meadow Bread (all products) - including bagels & pizza crusts (CC)

Foods By Gorge - English Muffins

Some whole wheat Pita bread (Avoid ascorbic acid and dough conditioners)

Candy/Bars/Dried Fruit:

St. Claires Candies - all varieties

Panda Original Licorice

Old Timey Peppermint Twists (Cracker Barrel)

Piedmont Candy Company sticks

Dagoba Chocolates (CC)

Rapunzel Chocolate Bars (CC)

Scharfenberger Chocolate Bars

Fannie May? Cadbury? Russel Stover's Low Carb candies? (check labels before trying)

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Truffle Bar

Save The Forest Organic Trail mix bars: Cranberry Crunch??

Sun Rype - Fruit to Go

Trader Joe's fruit leather: Grape, Blackberry, Apricot

SunMaid Raisins

Trader Joe's Dried Cranberries

Canned Goods:

Del Monte "Lite" canned fruits

Canned fruits in "juice" (juice can be strained and used to drink)

Mott's Natural Applesauce

Mott's Organic Applesauce

Mott's Snackpack Applesauce (ascorbic acid is from fruit)

Contadina tomato paste (plain)

Cento tomato paste

Whole Foods 365 tomato paste

Cento Crushed Tomatoes

Dei Fratteli Tomato Puree

Organic Tomatoes

Pomi Tomatoes

Del Monte No-Salt Green Beans

Rocal vaccum packed beets

Full Circle Peas

Divina Olives and Roasted Peppers

Kroger No-Salt added canned vegetables

Publix Greenwise canned vegetables

Amy's Refried Beans

Natural Value Refried Beans (Black or Pinto)

Eden Foods- Rice and Beans (all varieties)

Libby's Pumpkin

ShariAnn's Pumpkin Puree

Cereals:

Barbara's Brown Rice Crisp Cereal (CC)

Barbara's Breakfast O's Cereal (CC)

Cascadian Farms Clifford Crunch (?)

Erewhon Raisin Bran

Nature's Path Crispy Rice

Nature's Path Heritage Bite Cereal

Nu World Foods Amarath Cereal Snaps - Cinnamon and Regular

Whole Foods Woven Wheats

Quaker's All Natural Oats (not the Quick Oats)

Safeway's Rolled Oats?

Aldi's store brand Rolled Oats?

Cream of Buckwheat (can substitute for corn meal)

Lundberg Cream of Rice Cereal

Rice and Shine (can substitute for corn meal)

Quinoa Flakes (can substitute for corn meal)

Matzo Meal (can substitute for corn meal)

Chips & Crackers:

Lundbergh Rice Cakes

Cheecha Krackles

Kettle Cooked Sea Salt Chips

Quineau Qrenchies (www.allergygrocer.com)

Shoestring Potato Sticks (Cracker Barrel)

Stacy's Pita Chips (plain and cinnamon flavor)

Terra Chips

Carr's Water Table Crackers

Barbara's Brown Rice Crisps

Barbara's Wheatines

Mary's Gone Crackers

Kosher for Passover - any Matzoh's (Ingredients should be wheat or matzoh flour and water only)

Manischewitz Matzohs (crackers)

Sesmark Brown Rice Crackers

Suzies Organic Crackers

Trader Joe's Woven Wheats (contains salt)

Whole Foods Stoned Wheat Crackers (CC)

Newman's Own Spelt Pretzels

Vitaspelt Spelt Pretzels

Condiments:

Daddy Sam's BBQ sauce.

Heinz Organic Ketsup

Orphee Mustards (www.allergygrocer.com)

Robbie's Worchestershire sauce (robbiesnatural.com)

Trader Joe's Alcohol-free Soy Sauce

Kame Rice Wine Vinegar

Cookies:

Nana's Gluten-Free Cookie Bars and Cookies.

's Shortbread Cookies

Dairy Products or Equivalent:

Cabot Salted and Unsalted Butters (CC)

Mother's Margarine (Kosher for Passover)

Organic Valley Butter

Purity Farms Ghee (butter)

Spectrum Palm Fruit Oil

Trader Joe's Unsalted Butter

Cabot (full fat) Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, Tomato Basil Cheddar in wax or Hayssen film (The kind with a “lip” down the center back and on each end.) cheeses (CC)

Kirkland Cheddar Cheese (contains annatto, possibly in corn alcohol)

Jack Cheese

Safeway Brand Medium Cheddar Cheese (west coast)

Sara Lee Cheeses

Tillamook Cheese in 8 oz, 10 oz and 1 lb sizes. (NOT 5 lb, 2 lb, or 2.5 lb these are dusted on the outside of the package with corn starch, which is then rinsed off. May contain residue.) CC

Trader Joe's Pepper Jack Cheese

Eggs

Organic Valley Whole Milk (CC)

Imagine Original Rice Dream (CC) -not enriched only

Imagine Original Soy Dream (CC) - not enriched only

Dannon Plain Yogurt

Organic Valley Yogurt

StoneyField Farms Plain Yogurt

Frozen Foods:

Amy's Kitchen Macaroni & Cheese (CC)

Imagine Vegetarian Pepperoni Pizza stuffed sandwich (CC)

Imagine Vegetable Pot Pie stuffed sandwhich (CC)

Van's Wheat Free Waffles (CC)

Cascadian Farms Frozen Fruit

Trader Joe's frozen wild blueberries

Wymans Frozen Blueberries and Raspberries

Bird's Eye frozen vegetables (check label, citric acid is clearly labeled if used)

Trader Joe's Big Chunk Vegetables

Daas Ice Cream - Strawberry, Chocolate, and Coffee flavors only.

Rice Dream Cocoa Marble Fudge "Ice Cream" (CC)

Meats:

Welshire Farms Bacon

Hebrew National Hotdogs

Hans All Natural Hotdogs

's Chicken and Hotdogs

Applegate Farms Oven Roasted Breast

Boar's Head Deluxe Low Sodium Rare Roast Beef

Boar's Head Oven Roasted Low Sodium

Boar's Head Proscietto

National Hebrew

Foster Farms Chicken and products (unseasoned and unbreaded, includes frozen)

Young Farms

's Burgers

Bumble Bee “Solid White Albacore” In Water

Starkist Low Sodium Tuna

Whole Foods 365 Brand Tuna in Water

Misc. Foods:

Jill’s Jams & Jellies www.jillsjam.com (fruit, cane sugar, apple based pectin) Read labels: only the jams with only those ingredients are corn-free. (CC)

St. Dalfour Jams & Jellies

Once Again - peanut butter, crunchy

Trader Joe's Sunflower Seed Butter

Suzanne’s Rice Mellow Creme (www.allergygrocer.com)

Pasta & Grains:

Annie's Organic Macaroni and Cheese (contains salt)

DaVinci Organic Pasta

Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Pasta

Tykinada Rice Pastas (penne, spaghetti, etc)

Whole Foods Whole Wheat Pasta

Ancient Grains Quinoa

Erewhon Twice Rice

Lundberg Rices

Soups & Broths:

Amy's Vegetable Barley Soup (CC)

Imagine Organic Creamy Broccoli Soup (CC)

Imagine Organic Creamy Butternut Squash Soup (CC)

Imagine Organic Creamy Tomato Soup (CC)

Imagine Creamy Portabello Mushroom Soup (CC)

Imagine Organic Creamy Potato Leek (CC)

Imagine Organic No-Chicken Broth (CC)

Imagine Organic Vegetable Broth (CC)

Imagine Organic Free Range Chicken Broth (CC)

Spices:

McCormick spices - all corn-free except mixed spices or spice blends. (CC)

Various Brands (check ingredients)

Sea Salt (iodized has corn)

Do they have to list preservatives on the labels? I'm pretty sure these don't have preservatives, but I have to double check.

[Rachel--24]

MiaMia,

I saw this list too. Thanks for posting it. I guess we're both researching on the same sites.

Just wanted to point out that some of the stuff is not gluten-free so not all of it is ok for us but alot of it is.

Ooooh...I just wanted to say I found the ricemellow creme at my local grocery store...yummmm.

Also passover marshmallows and chocolate chips...they're year round here. I ate 2 bags of marshmallows already.

[danikali]

MiaMia,

I saw this list too. Thanks for posting it. I guess we're both researching on the same sites.

Just wanted to point out that some of the stuff is not gluten-free so not all of it is ok for us but alot of it is.

Right now and probably for a while, I'm going to stick to mostly natural things. I just want to get my system back in order before adding anything processed. (besides rice cakes!)

But thanks for the info. I'm going to e-mail it to myself so I have it for when the time comes. I'm so excitied to have pasta again, even though this SCDiet has even taught me to appreciate fruit and rice cakes and potatos a lot more. From mostly eating ONLY meat and carrots on and off for weeks, I feel like a whole new world has opened up for me with the things that I've been eating these past few days! haaha

[Green12]

Just wanted to point out that some of the stuff is not gluten-free so not all of it is ok for us but alot of it is.

That is the added challenge, figuring out what is both gluten free and corn free.

p.s.- are you still ok with the hagen dazs ice cream Rachel? I was reading something very contradictory about the ingredient labeling at the corn forum. very frustrating stuff....

[jerseyangel]

Rachel--what's ricemellow creme? A topping? It sounds good!

[Rachel--24]

That is the added challenge, figuring out what is both gluten free and corn free.

p.s.- are you still ok with the hagen dazs ice cream Rachel? I was reading something very contradictory about the ingredient labeling at the corn forum. very frustrating stuff....

Julie, I read that post too. How can they get away with that....I dont know what to believe about that but I switched to Breyers chocolate instead. I dont trust Haagen Daz now.

Rachel--what's ricemellow creme? A topping? It sounds good!

Jersey,

Yeah...I guess its a topping. Thats what I've bben using it for. I spread it on my pancakes or on top of muffins. It tastes like marshmallow creme but it has no gluten, no animal products, no GMO's, no fat, no cholesterol, no refined sugars, No corn sweeteners, No cane sweeteners, No added salt, No preservatives and no artificial additives. Phew!!! That was alot of no's!!

Anyways these are the ingredients...it does have soy.

Brown rice syrup, soy protein, natural gums and natural flavors.

[jerseyangel]

Thanks Rachel--looked so good till I got to the soy protein. Gosh all these food intolerances are enough to make you head spin !

[Rachel--24]

Thanks Rachel--looked so good till I got to the soy protein. Gosh all these food intolerances are enough to make you head spin !

I know.

I think I need to change my signature because I dont seem to be intolerant to casein or eggs. Now that I've eliminated corn I'm not noticing problems with the other foods. I'm not too sure about the soy though....I havent really had any except for whats in the creme but that didnt seem to affect me.

Just when I thought I had it all figured out....now I'm corn intolerant.

Sheeesh....pretty soon noone is gonna believe me...its gonna be like "Yeah...ok Rachel...what diet are you on this week?"

Whatever, I knew I'd hit the jackpot eventually. I think its finally happened w/ the corn discovery.

[jerseyangel]

I know--I've been following your progress. It does take a ton of trial and error--and I (and lots of others, I'm sure) have been very interested in your search for the root of your symptoms. It had been more help than you know--I know I'm intolerant to corn, and have been avoiding the obvoius sources for quite a while now. I would have the occasional bowl of sorbet w/ CoolWhip and always feel bad the next day. I'm really cracking down on the corn now. You know, I did the same with dairy. I stopped eating it 2 years ago--long before gluten. I allowed myself butter, though, and didn't really feel better until I became strict with it about 6 months ago. I think that cutting down is fine at first, but after a while we can become sensitive to smaller amounts--kind of like what happens with gluten.

[Rachel--24]

Yeah.....I agree about becoming sensitive to smaller amounts as we go along. I know the corn thing had to be there since day one because the first things I remember having strong reactions to were things like gum, toothpaste, anything with salt. I can list a ton of things I had problems with that are gluten-free. I was a big-time sunflower seed eater....like everyday I had to have seeds. When I got sick the seeds would affect me so that I wished I was dead the next day. I havent had any in 3 years now. I never knew why I had to go w/out my beloved David sunflower seeds...it had to be the salt. I can eat raw seeds but its not the same at all....I dont even bother.

Now I'm like hyper sensitive or something. I react to all the Bob's stuff and all this time I thought I was reacting to traces of gluten...nooo...they dont clean the machines after corn runs. They only worry about cc with gluten but not corn.

I've been "corning" myself with everything all this time!!!!

P.S. You can tell I'm feeling better cuz I start posting more....for awhile there I was in such a "fog" I couldnt think long enough to post. I kept wanting to post on the "I LOVE" thread but the darn corn was affecting my brain cells.

[jerseyangel]

Well, I'm happy to see you've come out of your corn-induced fog! Glad to see you posting again!

[Green12]

So what are you guys eating everyday? I am assuming you are not doing SCD anymore???

PreOptMegs, sorry the scd thread has been hijacked by corn allergy issues! I was looking into the scd as well as foods to avoid when one has corn allergies. I had done several similar diets to the scd before, focusing on healing the gut, disbiosis & etc. but never got any better.

While I am not ruling the scd diet out entirely I am more focusing on clearing out corn and possibly other overlooked allergens. All my respect goes out to everyone on the scd- we all have to do what is best for us in order to get well.

As far as what I am eating now, it's limited to a little beef, chicken, turkey, some vegetables and some fruits until I can investigate more thoroughly what is safe with corn allergies. I want to get stable and then add things in slowly, the tricky part for me is that I am not always an immediate reactor and it's difficult to tell what caused the problem and what didn't.

I would like to be able to eat more though because I am losing a lot of weight, and fast.

[PreOptMegs]

Guys, good luck finding things to eat. If you are eating lots of fruits, veggies and meats that you can tolerate, that is a good foundation to any diet. I am sure it is so difficult finding things gluten-free and corn free. Good luck but definately keep us updated!