Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)

[clearsky]

Hey,

Thank you everyone for your advice. The bit on eating small meals and not having too much of one thing at once was particularly helpful. It feels a lot easier to just be constantly munching on little things that are simple to prepare (like boiled veggies doused in olive oil). Before, I was trying to eat 2 really huge meals a day in hopes of loading up on calories, but spreading everything out is much better. I'm pretty sure I can't take any nuts, but I'll make up for it with oil. That's not a problem right, eating tons of oil, split up between many small meals? I realized that one thing that is holding me back is my general lack of common sense regarding health and eating. I'm sure that its absence has had a big role in getting me to this point, but I know that changing will be instrumental in getting better and staying healthy once I do. I've started to also try to maintain a steady sleeping schedule (which used to be absolutely chaotic), spending time outside in nature, eating slower/chewing more, etc. These are all things my parents had been telling me about my entire life, but they always just went in one ear and out the other.

Also, where do you draw the line on what foods you tolerate or not? I can tell that fruit makes me a bit tired, and eggs gives me some bloating. So I know that I'm not digesting them with flying colors, but they are better tolerated than some other foods. I haven't been able to connect them with larger symptoms. Is it ok to keep eating them in small amounts?

As far as where I stand in terms of stages, I would really like to do the intro diet but it just doesn't feel feasible for me at this stage. I realize that I may not get the full benefit of the diet, but I'm willing to accept that at this point. I know that on Pecanbread it says that people who skipped the intro can go back to it later on for additional improvement. For now, I am just looking to find a stable equilibrium with a manageable number of foods from which I can get enough calories to sustain myself, while keeping advanced foods far out of sight. I think that keeping it real simple, a couple fruits, about 5 kinds of veggies, meats & fish, and lots of oil is the way to go. Lots of juice as well.

Candida is probably an issue, but I don't think I can worry about that right now. I figure my diet is still a lot better for battling Candida than it ever was, so improvement is still being made, and if I can recover the ability to eat dairy and nuts down the road than I can get to tackling the Candida.

Finally, do you guys have any other recommendations on foods that have a lot of calories? There has to be something..

-CS

[Ms Jan]

Finally, do you guys have any other recommendations on foods that have a lot of calories? There has to be something..

What about bananas ? (must be really ripe to be SCD legal)

And avocados as someone mentioned. They can be cut in pieces for a salad, eaten with oil and salt/pepper and fx shrimps (can you have that?), made into a basic guacemole that you can eat with vegetables or meat, or for something easily digestible they can be blended with vegetable soup or chicken broth to be both very filling and calory-heavy.

[clearsky]

Yeah I'm gonna try some basic guacamole with some pork later. I think eggs are out for now..

Bananas gave me trouble before, but they were not ripe at all. Will try again sometime.

[AliB]

Hi Clearsky.

The reason the SCD works well for most people is because it changes the body into an environment that is less hospitable to pathogenic creatures whether microbial or parasitic.

It doesn't happen overnight and can take some time for the benefits to be seen - after all the damage doesn't usually happen overnight either. Just as it takes a while to manifest, it can also take a while to heal.

But, as I have always said, better slow progress than no progress.

It does take a while to get your head around it all - its like learning Celiac then relearning it all over again, but once you get used to it it becomes second nature.

Don't assume that fats will make you fat. Some fats can actually encourage weight loss! Because they make you feel full for longer you may not want to eat so much. But you do need a healthy supply of good fats.

Most find that although a bit of weight loss can be an issue initially as the body adjusts, eventually as the body and the gut heals the weight tends to level out. I need to lose weight and did not lose anything to speak of but now after a year the weight is very slowly receding.

I hope you find some success with the SCD - it certainly has been a great benefit to many of us on the forum and on the internet in general. Because it is so more widely known now there are loads of sites and blogs with lots of recipes that you can tap into.

Bananas can be good - they are a good source of 'specific' carbohydrate along with lots of nutrients - it was bananas that were used extensively in the original 'Celiac' diet years ago by Dr Haas to help Celiacs heal.

[pele]

clearsky

Can you get a recommendation and find a really good doctor in your area? Maybe a functional medicine doc or someone who has one foot in the alt medicine world and truly knows about food issues?

I'm worried about you. Throwing up in the middle of the night--eyebrows falling out. You need to find out what is going on.

[wschmucks]

Hey,

Thank you everyone for your advice. The bit on eating small meals and not having too much of one thing at once was particularly helpful. It feels a lot easier to just be constantly munching on little things that are simple to prepare (like boiled veggies doused in olive oil). Before, I was trying to eat 2 really huge meals a day in hopes of loading up on calories, but spreading everything out is much better. I'm pretty sure I can't take any nuts, but I'll make up for it with oil. That's not a problem right, eating tons of oil, split up between many small meals? I realized that one thing that is holding me back is my general lack of common sense regarding health and eating. I'm sure that its absence has had a big role in getting me to this point, but I know that changing will be instrumental in getting better and staying healthy once I do. I've started to also try to maintain a steady sleeping schedule (which used to be absolutely chaotic), spending time outside in nature, eating slower/chewing more, etc. These are all things my parents had been telling me about my entire life, but they always just went in one ear and out the other.

Also, where do you draw the line on what foods you tolerate or not? I can tell that fruit makes me a bit tired, and eggs gives me some bloating. So I know that I'm not digesting them with flying colors, but they are better tolerated than some other foods. I haven't been able to connect them with larger symptoms. Is it ok to keep eating them in small amounts?

As far as where I stand in terms of stages, I would really like to do the intro diet but it just doesn't feel feasible for me at this stage. I realize that I may not get the full benefit of the diet, but I'm willing to accept that at this point. I know that on Pecanbread it says that people who skipped the intro can go back to it later on for additional improvement. For now, I am just looking to find a stable equilibrium with a manageable number of foods from which I can get enough calories to sustain myself, while keeping advanced foods far out of sight. I think that keeping it real simple, a couple fruits, about 5 kinds of veggies, meats & fish, and lots of oil is the way to go. Lots of juice as well.

Candida is probably an issue, but I don't think I can worry about that right now. I figure my diet is still a lot better for battling Candida than it ever was, so improvement is still being made, and if I can recover the ability to eat dairy and nuts down the road than I can get to tackling the Candida.

Finally, do you guys have any other recommendations on foods that have a lot of calories? There has to be something..

-CS

I second that on the fats/ oils. It really is recommended that you avoid them early on because they are hard to digest. Adding oil doesnt necessarily mean you will be giving your body what you need and therefore not loosing weight...make sense? I really do think it is important to start with stage #1 as Elaine said, it really isnt the true SCD without it. That is where you will start to understand your intollerances: I didnt really see any improvements until around week 5 or 6 and now I can tell a bit more easily if I am or am not tollerating a food. Before I had no idea. Because you dont know exactly what the issue is that is creating all of your problems it is important not to discount anything like Candida. You should try to cover all of your basis-- what if all your symptoms are from Candida, and you are putting it on the back burner. Pick a few very simple foods (i would do plain avocado-- not gauc, which has several components- so if you react poorly you wont know from what), and stick to them for a while without any deviations. My foods are the nut muffins, yogurt, jello, chicken, beef, pork, carrotts, zuchinni, apples and bananas. That is pretty much what I have lived off of for the past 2 months. I have found that keeping a routine helps me manage and detect symptoms-- one day i might not feel well after a banana, but I know its not FROM the banana because I have had 60 bananas the past 2 months with no reaction. Make sure you are peeling, deseeding and cooking EVERYTHING. I thought this was silly at first, but did it any ways and now i think it really helps. Good luck!

[rinne]

I agree, I have come to understand that what I once thought were cross contamination issues were really more digestion issues.

I continue to eat foods that I sometimes feel I am reacting to if I also eat them and feel I have no reactions to them, does that make sense? lol Some things, like cheese, I continue to have problems with all the time and so it is only every two months or so that I try to reintroduce it. I love cheese and I am grateful for my goat milk yogurt dripped into cream cheese.

[wschmucks]

So I ran out of my Magnesium Citrate last week, and thought I would be able to get it in France....NOPE. no one has it. I ordered in online but it will take a few weeks to get here. The day I stopped taking it I immediatley fell back into my old health pattern and have regressed almost completely. This is so diapointing. I went 2 days without a BM and then started doing water enemas. I dont want to use stimulant laxatives because thats what I have been trying to go off of by starting this diet. I have continued to do a water enema every morning to keep my system clear, but what has also increased in huge levels is my brain fog. Its been AWFUL. I will mention that 3 days ago I ate some magnesium pills with sorbitol and manitol (not allowed substances), so....maybe its residual from that?? I have a Dr appointment on Wednesday, maybe theyll have something else for me over here in France that they didnt in the US. Otherwise I am going to ask him for some sort of medication to help me with the brain fog, because it leaves me 100% unable to function (I got lost for 2 hrs today, because i couldnt pay attention to where I was going). I was on Lexapro a few years ago to help me with chronic fatigue like symptoms--which really was perminenet brain fog (I was undiagnosed then). I worked SOOO hard to get off of that medication, but I am emotionally at a point where I can no longer cope with feeling like this.

In the mean time I have moved way back to stage 2, being very liberal with my food intake (which still leaves me feeling disgustingly bloated and full). I;m going to start doing a candida/ bacterial/ parasite type routine. I started by eating 2 cloves of Garlic today (not fun) and having garlic/ ginger tea. I'm also going to add oil of oregano tomorrow (when the store opens) and just see what if anything happens.

The notable point is that since the magnesium brought in extra fluid in my intestines (which gave me D-- so i can assume it was cleaning out my intestines), the water enemas only get my colon. So there may be food particles stuck in my intestines that the magnesium was getting out, that the water enemas arent. Brain Fog is usually associated with having increased levels of toxins in your body-- which is #1 when you begin to get constipated. Sooo maybe the brain fog is an indicator of how well my digestion is working and not the symptom of a food intollerance.

I did have a question: How long do I do the garlic/ oregano routine? I thought I read 3 weeks? I went back and tried to search and now I cant find the article I was reading.

[Ms Jan]

So I ran out of my Magnesium Citrate last week, and thought I would be able to get it in France....NOPE. no one has it. I ordered in online but it will take a few weeks to get here. The day I stopped taking it I immediatley fell back into my old health pattern and have regressed almost completely. This is so diapointing. I went 2 days without a BM and then started doing water enemas. I dont want to use stimulant laxatives because thats what I have been trying to go off of by starting this diet. I have continued to do a water enema every morning to keep my system clear, but what has also increased in huge levels is my brain fog. Its been AWFUL. I will mention that 3 days ago I ate some magnesium pills with sorbitol and manitol (not allowed substances), so....maybe its residual from that?? I have a Dr appointment on Wednesday, maybe theyll have something else for me over here in France that they didnt in the US. Otherwise I am going to ask him for some sort of medication to help me with the brain fog, because it leaves me 100% unable to function (I got lost for 2 hrs today, because i couldnt pay attention to where I was going). I was on Lexapro a few years ago to help me with chronic fatigue like symptoms--which really was perminenet brain fog (I was undiagnosed then). I worked SOOO hard to get off of that medication, but I am emotionally at a point where I can no longer cope with feeling like this.

In the mean time I have moved way back to stage 2, being very liberal with my food intake (which still leaves me feeling disgustingly bloated and full). I;m going to start doing a candida/ bacterial/ parasite type routine. I started by eating 2 cloves of Garlic today (not fun) and having garlic/ ginger tea. I'm also going to add oil of oregano tomorrow (when the store opens) and just see what if anything happens.

The notable point is that since the magnesium brought in extra fluid in my intestines (which gave me D-- so i can assume it was cleaning out my intestines), the water enemas only get my colon. So there may be food particles stuck in my intestines that the magnesium was getting out, that the water enemas arent. Brain Fog is usually associated with having increased levels of toxins in your body-- which is #1 when you begin to get constipated. Sooo maybe the brain fog is an indicator of how well my digestion is working and not the symptom of a food intollerance.

I did have a question: How long do I do the garlic/ oregano routine? I thought I read 3 weeks? I went back and tried to search and now I cant find the article I was reading.

Sounds just horrible. And brain fog is so disturbing!

But it must be possible to find magnesium citrate in France - I bought Solaray's here in Denmark a few days ago, and normally we're much more limited than what can be found in Paris.

Did a little internet search - and here are a few possibilities:

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

This one is from the NATURALIA health food stores that can be found all over Paris (see here for locations: Open Original Shared Link ); and I don't know which brand you use, but here at least they have Solgars, and maybe others. Naturalia is great also for organic produce, herbal teas and other supplements. In fact, for my own brain fog and head aches I used to always buy their peppermint teas. Can't remember the brand name, but it's in small green bags - not 'tea bags', but a bag of loose tea leaves - that comes in lots of different kinds and costs a few Euros a bag, ... you can't go wrong (infusion poivre mente). Their Verveine is also good against brain fog.

Anyhow, for the magnesium I think your best shot would be Naturalia. But as you might have already discovered, the pharmacies are run individually, and their product base thus differs widely. So if you have the energy you might also give asking in the pharmacies a try ...

As to the garlic /oregano oil routine, unfortunately I think there's no set time frame. It just depends on what is working for you. Normally, with candida you should be able to feel an almost immediate effect, but in order for it to last, it's necessary to keep taking the remedies for a prolonged period of time. So go for it at least until your health is stabilized again.

One note of caution: I found that the oregano oil was too 'antibiotic' in effect for my strand of candida, and I have fared much better with olive leaf extract and the caprylic acid. But it's a bit of a trial and error unfortunately ... And don't forget your probiotics.

Good luck !

Jan

[wschmucks]

Thanks for the help Jan! I do know where that store is. The thing about the Citrate that has helped is that it isnt as easily absorbable, so when it isnt absorbed, it acts as a laxative. I think Chelate is more absorbable?? I'll do some research. But I did figure out that Oxilate is also very unabsorable, so I'll go back to all the pharmacies and see if they have that. I just still cant get over the brain fog-- i dont understand why its there!!! I'm not leaving the Dr without something to treat it when it comes up-- I really feel it could be dangerous, I feel like I am drunk. All of the stores are closed today here (they Celebrate Easter on Monday., but everything was opened on the ACTUAL easter, go figure!) So I will try out the stores first thing tomorrow AM. It just seems everything is upsetting my stomach, and I know it isnt the food in particular, its just the state of my stomach (which is at least reassuring). I just fear that I am loosing more weight. I dont have a scale here, but when I left the US i was about 111 pounds, and I'm 5'7, so its starting to get scary small.

I did find one on that link you sent me Jan for Mag citrate but with 1,000 mg of Calcium. This is twice as much and the magnseium....do you think it would inhibit the Mag from doing its thing? Would it be ok for me to take 3,000mg of Calcium a day?? I'll do some research. (I poked around and the Calcium has a constipating effect).

I am praying that at my appointment on Wednesday the Dr says "ahh yes, I know exactly how to treat this!"-- LOL, wouldnt that be a miracle!

[Ms Jan]

Hey, that's a difficult one. I know that when in normal healthy balance one is supposed to take magensium/calcium in a 2:1 ratio (can't remember which should be double though ). And since I've never really tried taking any significant amount of calcium, I just don't know about the effect ... hopefully someone else on this thread can help out here with some insights ...???

Yes, brainfog certainly is dangerous! When I'm hit too hard I always try to stay in door, as I get scared of the traffic, wondering if I'll remember to look properly when passing the road and stupid things like that. And if I do have to go out even just for basic groceries, I'm almost certain to make mistakes and buy the wrong things or count the money wrong ... It's actually really scary how much it can completely alter ones' ability to function. So do watch out ...

Hopefully your doctor can help you on Wednesday. But if not, you're definately right about having to purge all toxins from your body as that's what messes up the mind. And besides the 'danger', walking and getting fresh air can be very helpful. And if you can find Japanese peppermint oil, it normally helps me a lot. Just put a few drops in a glass of water and drink a couple of times a day. It also helps soothe the stomach and digestion (and is mildly anti-parasitic).

When out of balance I also drink like a deciliter of aloe vera juice first thing every morning (I feel it's very cleansing). But it isn't SCD legal.

So perhaps your best bet might be to go back on the SCD intro diet for a few days until your system settles down again.

Btw, if you had wine recently, that might have been what pushed your system over the edge. Alcohol and sugar are almost the same molecules, so many people who don't tolerate one, can't have the other either (like myself in fact, I get the worst reactions of all exactly to alcohol). Don't know if that might be your case - just a thought ...

Hope you work something out !

Jan

[Ms Jan]

Forgot to add that if you need anything absolutely urgently, there are some 24 hr pharmacies all over Paris.

There used to be one on rue de Rivoli, not too far from St Paul - but they're probably all listed in the 'Pages Jaunes' - or can be located on the internet.

[wschmucks]

Thanks for all of your help and concern Ms Jan. I really appreciate it. I am on day 2 of the garlic routine and its going well. I have figured out that if I chop the garlic, cover it in honey, put on spoon and swallow-- its MUCH better than just chewing on the clove (silly me!). Today was "ok" Im splitting up my meals so I dont get too full. I had an idea-- has anyone used activated charcoal? I know peacan bread talks about using it to detoxify. It take toxins and gas out of your digestive tract and I thought that if i am getting the brain fog after I eat (and terrible bloating) maybe that might do the trick? I know some people say it causes constipation, other say it actually treats it. But lets be real...its not like im going on my own any ways- lol. Let me know if you all have thoughts and I'll try to get some tomorrow when I head out on my Magnesium hunt. Off to bed, its 10:45 here!

[RiceGuy]

Well, I haven't been following this thread at all, so sorry if this is old news or something that doesn't work for the SCD.

I found that a sublingual methylcobalamin (active form of B12) helps with brainfog, amongst many many other benefits.

As for magnesium, I've read conflicting information about which forms are more or less absorbed, but I do know that citric acid intensifies the laxative effect. The oxide form seems to be the most effective at a given dosage. Try five parts magnesium to one part citric acid.

Not to start an argument here, but, I know many on the SCD eat nuts, meats and other high protein foods. I've read that protein can ferment in the gut, creating ammonia, thus feed yeasts. So I wonder if this may be the key to why I was able to get rid of candida relatively easily, even while consuming VERY large quantities of complex carbs (pasta, potatoes, baking powder biscuits, rice, etc). Cutting simple carbs like sugars is obvious, but it seems to me there's something more. Something important. With so many having such a difficult time with it, I keep looking back at my experience, trying to figure out what I did right. I didn't eat much high protein foods - mostly eggs and peanut butter. Rarely did I eat any beef, turkey, or tuna. Hardly ever ate yogurt, no honey since that's sugar, no vinegar or fruit. It was even before going gluten-free! I did eat a lot of margarine though, but I've not read anything about fats and candida.

So either the caprylic acid I took as incredibly potent, or the overgrowth was minor (even though symptoms were horrible and wide-ranging), or what I had wasn't the same as what many others are dealing with, or ?? Aside from the protein thing, I'm at a loss to explain it.

[Ms Jan]

Hi Rice Guy,

I think there are three issues at play: For one, caprylic acid seems to be very potent against candida. I've tried almost all the recommended remedies in recent years, and was able to keep candida at bay with a combination of herbal medicines, but it was only when I started taking the caprylic acid (in fact partly on your recommendation on another thread - Thank you ! ) did I very quickly get on top of it. The second part, I believe has to do with the particular vulnerability of the individual body/digestive system. Because the more burdened the body is with other problems, leaky gut, other immune diseases, toxic build up, other unidentified food intolerances, parasites etc, the easier a ride the candida has, and the more difficult it is to fight it. The underlying condition simply undermines the treatment. And finally, I believe the strand of candida is important too. I do think that the caprylic acid has worked so well for me, exactly because it fits my form of candida. But I don't know, perhaps it just is the best remedy ... any other experiences/ thoughts on this?

In any case, I do think you're right about one having to be careful with any food that easily ferments in the body. I can eat nuts (though no cashews), but not too many, and I still can't have anything baked from nut or almond flours. It's simply too processed for me. And 3 months on SCD, I still can't eat other meats than boiled chicken. It's fine with me though, I'm quite happy and healthy on my sauteed vegetables ...

And Hi Whitney,

I never tried the charcoal and hoped someone else would come up with something. Did you try it? And how did it go with the doctor? Did he have any ideas about what to do with the brain fog, or are you still struggling with it?

And if Clearsky is still reading along,

I saw a documentary yesterday about young people loosing their body hair, due to an auto immune disease - that makes the body attack the hair roots in a kind of misunderstood immune response (not dangerous, the hair loss was the only consequence). Since auto immune diseases are linked, perhaps the celiac has pushed other immune triggers in you, leading to the loss of your eye brows. Don't know, just a thought, but it might be worth keeping an eye on at least if the SCD is not helping you out ...

Jan

[wschmucks]

Well the Dr was interesting....

He didnt look at all of my medical records only the patholgy report and blood test for Celiac, where he says he doesnt think i have celiac because my problem is C not D.

I said great! So then you know what I have!?....lol-- running blood tests and another stool sample, which is fine by me, I wanted a more thorough thyroid test and a bacteria test done for the stool sample. He also asked me if i wanted an AIDS test because I was on the pill....Yes, that is the type of dr appointment this was.

He did perscribe me an anti-spasmatic, which is something i havent tried and a miralax type of medication which even though i told him 3 times i didnt eat sugar and had to explain that I dont eat it because it cannot help my digestive situation (he laughed OUT LOUD), he then perscribed me medication with sugar. So im not taking it because i still have my mirlax-- not that it helps me any ways!

The brain fog has left the building! I feel fairly certain it was from 1 or 2 thing both the same source. #1 I didnt have a BM for 2 days, and/ or #2 taking the Magnesium that had sugar in it-- both would cause problems with bacteria/ candida. So I have started my Garlic/ Oregano routine with the charcoal. I received my Magnesium in the mail- YAY! but now...its not performing as well...Im worried about a bacteria/ candida situation causing more constipation so I'm going to have to try to make a schedule with water enemas and the Magnesium so I can not completely create a lazy colon. Im going to do this for about 3 weeks then start to really integrate for fiberous (purred lentils etc) foods slowly. The one thing i have noticed on this diet is that I dont feel like i have to go-- meaning there is no bulk. I think once I get rid of anymore bacteria I can work on adding bulk and possibly get this figured out!

But I am still praying there is a Thyroid problem or somthing in the stool sample (which by the way-- WHY do Drs keep asking me for stool samples when they know I CANT GOOOOOO!)

[Ms Jan]

Sounds like an all Kafka'esque Doctor-experience ! It's those kind of experiences that has led me to more and more often try to handle things on my own. I also think that celiac/gluten intolerance is much less recognized in Europe compared to the US. I've been tested for a trillion things in Denmark in a life time and particularly since those debilitating headaches/vomiting hit me five years ago, and not one doctor suggested celiac. And even after a health practitioner in Virginia dx me with celiac last year, my own doctor just says it can't be since I don't have D ...

So yes, go with what you know and what your own body experiences tell you. And at least it's great the brain fog has gone.

C has never been a major problem for me, so perhaps I don't know what I'm talking about - but the few times it has hit me, eating watery fruit/vegetables has generally helped: cucumber, tomatoes squash, pine apple, grape fruit, strawberries etc. And lots of them.

And for sure, stay away from sugar. I also thought that if you can swallow the garlic chopped in spoon fulls just with lots of water, it might be better than covering it with honey. Because the honey feeds the candida, so if candida is bothering you a no sugar period could be helpful ...

Jan

[RiceGuy]

He didnt look at all of my medical records only the patholgy report and blood test for Celiac, where he says he doesnt think i have celiac because my problem is C not D.

I don't know how you put up with such incompetence!

I received my Magnesium in the mail- YAY! but now...its not performing as well...

If it's not a citrate form, do try it in combination with citric acid, or vitamin C. Even citrus fruit juice can work to some extent. It's the acidity which does the trick, but citric acid works best.

[RiceGuy]

Hi Rice Guy,

I think there are three issues at play: For one, caprylic acid seems to be very potent against candida. I've tried almost all the recommended remedies in recent years, and was able to keep candida at bay with a combination of herbal medicines, but it was only when I started taking the caprylic acid (in fact partly on your recommendation on another thread - Thank you ! ) did I very quickly get on top of it. The second part, I believe has to do with the particular vulnerability of the individual body/digestive system. Because the more burdened the body is with other problems, leaky gut, other immune diseases, toxic build up, other unidentified food intolerances, parasites etc, the easier a ride the candida has, and the more difficult it is to fight it. The underlying condition simply undermines the treatment. And finally, I believe the strand of candida is important too. I do think that the caprylic acid has worked so well for me, exactly because it fits my form of candida. But I don't know, perhaps it just is the best remedy ... any other experiences/ thoughts on this?

In any case, I do think you're right about one having to be careful with any food that easily ferments in the body. I can eat nuts (though no cashews), but not too many, and I still can't have anything baked from nut or almond flours. It's simply too processed for me. And 3 months on SCD, I still can't eat other meats than boiled chicken. It's fine with me though, I'm quite happy and healthy on my sauteed vegetables ...

Well, aside from the carbs, I ate lots of veggies (and still do). Always lots of margarine on everything (which I can't have now of course). It was that partially hydrogenated junk too. I mean, I'd go through a pound of margarine per week! So my diet was largely complex carbs, veggies and fat.

I don't know about possible differences in yeast strains. But I do know it had infiltrated practically every part of my body. I had been so sick for so long, that once I caught on to the fact that it was yeast, I was determined to beat it. I didn't mess around, but stuck to the dietary guidelines as directed. So there was a willpower factor, but I don't know how much influence that might have had, if any.

The caprylic acid did begin to work quite fast (so glad to know it's helping you too). I used three capsules per day, for about two months. I don't recall the potency though, but three was the dosage recommended on the bottle.

I don't recall if I ate a bunch of raw garlic too, but garlic and onion are both very good for controlling candida of course.

Wish I had more answers for you.

[purple]

About the garlic that might be more beneficial. I read that you need to smash the clove in order to release the allicin that kills bacteria and use within the hour. I read a long time ago to just smash with the back of a spoon. I bought a bunch of small garlic cloves to try.

[rinne]

Has anyone tried the caprylic acid with olive leaf extract in a liquid form?

[Ms Jan]

I take both, but separately. About three times a day, I drink a glass of water with around 25 drops of olive leaf extract. And also three times a day, I take two capsules of Solaray's Capryl, which each contains 2,163 mg of caprylic acid.

I do think that the capryl together with some probiotics - and of course a no-sweets SCD - are enough to fight my candida. But the olive leaf extract seems helpful, and I'm anyway taking it for other reasons (against parasites) together with garlic, grape fruit seed extracts and other herbs.

[rinne]

Thanks so much for your quick response, it is the only product available to me which doesn't come in a gelatin capsule and have other herbs in it that I am not sure I want to take. It is helpfu to know that you take them in combination.

[Ms Jan]

Will just add that before I 'found' the caprylic acid, I relied heavily on the olive leaf extract to fight the candida. And it worked rather well, even if it wasn't quite enough for me to get rid of the candida for good. Make sure that the olive leaf extract contains no alcohol - I use the one from the Vitamin shoppe, but there surely are others ...

If you can have raw garlic, that's a great natural candida fighter as well.

Good luck

[pele]

Rice Guy

I want to thank you for your tireless promotion of sublingual B12. Somewhere I read that blood tests may not mean much and a light clicked on in my brain. Oh, yeah, my blood level was normal, but I have every risk factor in the book. I've been using B12 for about 2 1/2 weeks now and it seems to be helping some with the late afternoon fatigue.