Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)

[marthamom]

Martha,

Since this will be the first batch of yogurt you've made with whole milk and half-and-half, I'd wait to see what consistency you end up with before pouring any liquid off. My suggestion: when the culturing is finished, mix the yogurt well with a hand mixer or whisk, add any sweeteners/extracts, and move to the containers you'll store it in. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Then test the yogurt and see how you like it. If it's still too thin, you can always drip it, like Ali said. (You can use a coffee filter instead of cheesecloth, if the filter is on hand but cheesecloth isn't.) Just line a wire strainer with the cloth or coffee filter. Sit the strainer on top of a bowl so that there's room in the bowl for water to collect, but the strainer won't be touching the water. Put the yogurt inside the filter and let it sit for anywhere from 2 to 8 hours, depending on how much thicker you want it to be. I usually cover the top of the whole gizmo with a plate or something.

If you let it sit for the full 8 hours, you'll probably end up with yogurt cheese, which has a consistency very close to cream cheese (and can be used in some of the SCD recipes in place of dry curd cottage cheese). You could also drip the batch for 2 or 3 hours, remove part of it to eat as yogurt, and just let the rest drip longer to use as yogurt cheese. It will be easier for next time, too, if you keep all the liquid in a separate container until the batch is like you want it. Then measure the liquid so you'll know how much to remove before mixing up and cooling your next batch.

Good luck with it!

Janie

[marthamom]

Janie,

Thank you so much for all the advice--I'll let you know how it turns out. When you are draining the yogurt, do you do that in the refrigerator, or out on a counter?

Thanks again!

Martha

[pele]

. When you are draining the yogurt, do you do that in the refrigerator, or out on a counter?

Thanks again!

Martha

You can drip it on the counter. I'd wait until it's cooled.

BTW, since I am dairy-free, I've been looking into the possibility of making my own "live" sauerkraut or kimchi and I read that the bacteria eats the sugar in the fermenting process, producing tartness. I guess I knew that, but it never "clicked". Elaine says to culture the yogurt for 24 hours to make sure all of the lactose is gone. The lactose is the sugar, of course, so 24 hour yogurt can get pretty tart.

My other suggestion for your yogurt issues is to double check the temperature and make sure it is not too high or too low.

[AliB]

What you will find Martha, is that when the yogurt has been in the fridge for a while it will firm up a bit more and when you take a spoonful out, the space left will usually fill up with just the whey so you may be able to just spoon some off as you go.

The other thing you may need to consider when starting the diet is that just because a food is SCD 'legal' doesn't mean that your body can cope with it just yet. I think we have all had issues initially with some compliant foods - it usually improves as time goes on so it is worth trying those foods a little later.

I couldn't eat eggs for several weeks, and I also had issues with nuts for quite a while but that has improved somewhat. I am hoping that the Colonic clear-out may help with that and my digestion overall.

[marthamom]

What you will find Martha, is that when the yogurt has been in the fridge for a while it will firm up a bit more and when you take a spoonful out, the space left will usually fill up with just the whey so you may be able to just spoon some off as you go.

The other thing you may need to consider when starting the diet is that just because a food is SCD 'legal' doesn't mean that your body can cope with it just yet. I think we have all had issues initially with some compliant foods - it usually improves as time goes on so it is worth trying those foods a little later.

I couldn't eat eggs for several weeks, and I also had issues with nuts for quite a while but that has improved somewhat. I am hoping that the Colonic clear-out may help with that and my digestion overall.

Thanks so much--this is really helpful.

[mftnchn]

I agree, Martha. The intro is kind of a place to start; a day or two, up to 5, just gives a jump start on the cleansing process. Its also a place to start if you are having symptoms as it eliminates a lot of hard to digest things.

You'll want to tweak it to find at least a small group of foods "safe" for you. Then when you get symptomatic during the healing process just go back to those for a day or two.

[Bee-Jr]

Has anyone had experience with pigeon peas? Are they, or are they not SCD legal? I've seen conflicting information, and it seems that something said that blackeye peas are illegal, but then "peas" are legal (my assumption was that green peas are legal). I think pigeon peas are really more like blackeye peas, but I've never eaten them, so I'm not sure.

I had bought a bag of dried pigeon peas before I started SCD, and I'd really love to cook them up into a "baked beans" type of dish this weekend (with reduced tomato juice, maple extract, honey, lean ground beef, some minced onion, and maybe a slice of crispy-fried streak-of-lean), but I don't want to screw up the world by doing so. Navy beans are legal, right? I could always use them instead.

Interesting, and I wanted to share, that on Wednesday night before bed I told my husband that I really felt that my digestion was going to wake me in the middle of the night. My belly was doing the "rolling and tumbling" thing pretty noticeably, making noises and such. But I went to bed, went to sleep, and was never disturbed by my digestion at all. Next morning, no more noises and tumbling. Strange, but certainly better than before - normally, with indications like that, I would have been in and out of the bathroom all night long.

Hope everyone is doing well this morning. Also wanted to share, I did get a chance to read some of the beginning of this thread yesterday. Lots of excellent information there, so many thanks to the "old-timers" who have been posting here a long time. I'll read it all, eventually.

Regards,

Janie

Edited to add: Found this article at URL Open Original Shared Link. Interesting to me to read these particular comments from someone who is apparently an M. D. (although not so sure about the "harmless" part, and also, I thought metronidazole was an anti-fungal medication? Are there fungi in the lower digestive tract?) Still, part of the article is interesting to me because it confirms some of Elaine's premises about single and multiple sugars and chains of starches.

Begin quoted article:

TREATMENT FOR INTESTINAL GAS

Report #6761 3/17/96

Here's some help for those of you who have too much gas.

We used to think that fiber was the main cause of intestinal gas, but now we know that most intestinal gas comes from the fermentation of starch and sugars and is almost always harmless (1). Carbohydrates are made up of sugars either as a single one alone or chains containing from 2 to millions. Starch contains chains of thousands of sugars. Milk contains a double sugar called lactose. If your intestines can split the double sugar into single ones, they are absorbed. However, many people cannot split the double sugar, so it can't be absorbed and it passes to the lower intestinal tract, where bacteria ferment it to cause gas. No human can split the double, triple or quintuple sugars or some starches in beans/ and some grains and vegetables. These sugars cannot be absorbed so they pass to the lower intestines where bacteria ferment them to cause gas.

The foods that cause gas contain carbohydrates that cannot be absorbed. If milk gives you gas, don't drink it or buy Lact-Aid milk with the double sugar already split. If beans give you gas, use canned beans, drain the fluid that contains the sugars/ and wash them before cooking. If dried fruits give you gas, eat fresh ones. If bakery products cause gas, avoid them and eat more vegetables. If all of these measures fail, your doctor can prescribe an antibiotic called metronidazole for one week, which can temporarily kill the bacteria that cause the gas.

By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News

DM Owens er al. Arthritis and Rheumatism 1995(Jan);122:107.

End quoted article.

[Ms Jan]

Hi All,

I just had my first sweets in months: made the coconut candy balls from the SCD book (only honey, coconut flour and chopped nuts). And they were great! Somehow felt I needed the sugar, particularly for my brains, and now when I sense my heart beating strongly and the blood running faster, I realize that probably it was my entire body demanding it.

To help fight candida, I'd cut out honey and any kind of other sweets when I started the SCD three months ago - except for bananas and the occasional pineapple. Also I used to get horribly sick from anything sugary. So it's very strange for me to 'demand' sugar without it being an actual craving - and so far I feel my body will manage to digest it (I sure hope so !!!). But I guess I'll see over the weekend ....

Has anyone experienced something like this, after going non-sugar for a while?

[mftnchn]

No, not the same experience. I don't test high for candida in spite of long term antibiotic therapy, so haven't restricted honey hugely. But what I am understanding is that the monosaccharride is absorbed high up in the small intestine. So would think you shouldn't have so much trouble with it impacting candida, although that is just my thoughts. I think Elaine did say to restrict it for awhile if you are high in candida.

I do seem to need the energy from the honey, as I'll crave food even after a veggie/meat meal.

[pele]

Has anyone had experience with pigeon peas? Are they, or are they not SCD legal?

Hope everyone is doing well this morning. Also wanted to share, I did get a chance to read some of the beginning of this thread yesterday. Lots of excellent information there, so many thanks to the "old-timers" who have been posting here a long time. I'll read it all, eventually.

, I thought metronidazole was an anti-fungal medication?

Metronidazole (flagyl)is used against c. diff., a nasty drug-resistent gut bug. see:

Open Original Shared Link

Pigeon peas are not mentioned in the BTVC book or website. The only beans I have found on the legal list are navy, kidney and black. Here is a link to the website in case you don't already have it:

Open Original Shared Link

I've been posting here for a year, so I guess that makes me an old-timer. Wow! When you get sick of reading the thread, check out Elaine's emails at:

Open Original Shared Link

[pele]

I just went wandering in search of new SCD recipes and found this website:

Open Original Shared Link

The site's author has Crohn's and is on the SCD. The recipes are SCD legal and gave me lots of new ideas.

[GermanMia]

Hi All,

I just had my first sweets in months: made the coconut candy balls from the SCD book (only honey, coconut flour and chopped nuts). And they were great! Somehow felt I needed the sugar, particularly for my brains, and now when I sense my heart beating strongly and the blood running faster, I realize that probably it was my entire body demanding it.

To help fight candida, I'd cut out honey and any kind of other sweets when I started the SCD three months ago - except for bananas and the occasional pineapple. Also I used to get horribly sick from anything sugary. So it's very strange for me to 'demand' sugar without it being an actual craving - and so far I feel my body will manage to digest it (I sure hope so !!!). But I guess I'll see over the weekend ....

Has anyone experienced something like this, after going non-sugar for a while?

Hi Ms Jan,

yes, I've experienced something similar. As unfortunately I'm fructose intolerant and can't have honey nor any fruits or veggies except very few cranberries, rhubarb, corn salad and some chard, broccoli or zucchini, I got huge problems with my blood sugar level soon. Somehow my body is not able to live on proteins and fat only - the Atkins mechanism doesn't work with me So I was forced to reintroduce a small amount of "illegal" stuff, like some rice syrup and a bit of rice or some tapioca. Which really surprised me because I thought tapioca was the most horrible starch-stuff in the world, but it works fine with me when I cook some rhubarb with rice syrup and tapioca and mix in a bit scd cream.

I do think by the way that the first problem I had was the fructose, not the gluten, because at the age of 8 I was very sick and had to keep a fructose-free diet. As they always told me that it was something with my liver (some markers high like with an alcoholic), I always thought low-fat was the idea of that diet, but thinking of it I realized that in fact it was low-fat AND no-fructose, and I felt great with it. Only after going back to normal half a year later I started feeling sick again after every meal. Especially sweet things used to make me sick - I remember feeling terrible after every single birthday party...

As all my body fat has melted away - even the fat between the organs! - and after six months of restricted diet I still feel faint all the time, my doc sent me to a hospital for three days to do further testing. The docs were great, but the kitchen was horrible - they are specialised in gastroenterology but the only thing they got was "gluten free". My food always was labled as "gluten free, fructose free" but what I got was peas, carrots, potatoes, tomatos, marmelade - ! No meat or fish at all but oats porridge one time - oats in Germany are NOT gluten free because they always are cross contaminated! Luckily it was only three days...

I really do hope that this will bring some idea about what the heck goes wrong in my metabosism.

[AliB]

Hi All.

Well, I finally had the Colonic on Thursday. My BP had shot up again in the morning but we went ahead with it anyway as I was desperate. I felt bad the rest of the day and the pressure feeling inside my ribs up under my left armpit was so bad I was sorely tempted to go to the Hospital. Terry persuaded me to try and sleep which I did manage to do eventually and by the morning I felt a little better and the swelling was easier.

I popped to the Doc yesterday and had the BP checked and it had gone down to 140/88 which she was happy with.

Typical me though, trying to run before I can walk - I had a dinner last night. Roast chicken with veg but although it wasn't a huge amount it was still too much for my digestion and the swelling flared up again as did the BP.

Oh dear. So I have taken it easy today with an apple for breakfast and some SCD basic chicken and carrot soup for lunch which was delish, especially with a little coriander, a couple of tomatoes and some broccoli stalk. I am wondering if the constipation was suggestive of a magnesium deficiency. With all the stuff I have been doing over the last month or two, perhaps it has resulted in that.

It seems that so many of us are deplete in magnesium anyway that it is not that unlikely. I have taken a tablet this morning and am just researching to see if I can get hold of some magnesium chloride which seems to take up better in the body and help the digestion. It seems that a lack of it can restrict the production of some digestive enzymes.

You'd think all magnesium is the same, but apparently not.

Open Original Shared Link

The colonic was interesting to say the least. A lot of toxins and Candida was eliminated and I'm not sorry about that, and I did feel better the next day, but the lady reckoned it would probably take 3 or 4 sessions before I really start to get the benefit - so I will reserve judgment until after the end.

Oh Mia, I know what you mean about Hospitals' idea of Gluten-Free. When my Mum had been given a tentative diagnosis of Celiac in the Hospital shortly before she died, the meals were awful. Some dork in the kitchen kept sending the menu back with 'Glutton-free' written across the top and the meals were things like dry, shriveled slices of beef and chewy plastic veg with no gravy. It was disgusting. If we hadn't taken some food in for her I swear she would have starved. They managed to finish her off anyway through neglect and that was yet another aspect of it.

[PufferBelly]

Hi.

I can't read all these pages. Can someone please tell me what the SCD diet is?

I have a lot of tummy pain still even though I've been gluten-free for 5 months now. I just want to be able to eat without being scared of eating.

[pele]

Hi.

I can't read all these pages. Can someone please tell me what the SCD diet is?

I have a lot of tummy pain still even though I've been gluten-free for 5 months now. I just want to be able to eat without being scared of eating.

Welcome!

Yeah, it's a lot of pages, and maybe not so much good info an what the diet is.

The SCD is based on the principle that gut problems involve a vicious cycle of damaged gut, undigested food and bad bacteria. By eliminating certain foods, specifically those with complex sugars which cannot be digested, the bad bacteria are starved and the gut has a chance to heal.

SCD legal foods include meat, fish, eggs, yogurt, butter, cetain cheeses, certain beans, honey, nuts, vegetables and fruits, with many conditions! Illegal foods include all grains, soy, corn, sugar and many other things.

See the breaking the vicious cycle website at:

Open Original Shared Link

or get a copy of the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle

[mftnchn]

I'll add to the good summary above that because celiac damages the villi in the small intestine, it impacts the ability to produce carb digestive enzymes. The undigested carbs feed bad bacteria, and all of this keeps the damage going.

The diet removes the carbs that are not being digested, and then the other goal is to use easy to digest foods to allow the gut to heal. Some people heal enough to eventually be able to add some carbs back in.

The diet also removes many of the foods that seem to cause sensitivities for celiacs beyond gluten, and thus acts kind of like an elimination diet.

So sorry about your tummy pain, and hope you find something that helps. You might also consider asking your doctor to run the Metametrix Microbial Ecology panel--to see if you have picked up parasites or what imbalances you might have in the intestinal bacteria. This test checks for their DNA so is much more accurate than most parasite tests out there. Celiacs are more prone to parasites due to the compromised gut and immune system.

[Ms Jan]

Hi Ms Jan,

yes, I've experienced something similar. As unfortunately I'm fructose intolerant and can't have honey nor any fruits or veggies except very few cranberries, rhubarb, corn salad and some chard, broccoli or zucchini, I got huge problems with my blood sugar level soon. Somehow my body is not able to live on proteins and fat only - the Atkins mechanism doesn't work with me So I was forced to reintroduce a small amount of "illegal" stuff, like some rice syrup and a bit of rice or some tapioca. Which really surprised me because I thought tapioca was the most horrible starch-stuff in the world, but it works fine with me when I cook some rhubarb with rice syrup and tapioca and mix in a bit scd cream.

I do think by the way that the first problem I had was the fructose, not the gluten, because at the age of 8 I was very sick and had to keep a fructose-free diet. As they always told me that it was something with my liver (some markers high like with an alcoholic), I always thought low-fat was the idea of that diet, but thinking of it I realized that in fact it was low-fat AND no-fructose, and I felt great with it. Only after going back to normal half a year later I started feeling sick again after every meal. Especially sweet things used to make me sick - I remember feeling terrible after every single birthday party...

As all my body fat has melted away - even the fat between the organs! - and after six months of restricted diet I still feel faint all the time, my doc sent me to a hospital for three days to do further testing. The docs were great, but the kitchen was horrible - they are specialised in gastroenterology but the only thing they got was "gluten free". My food always was labled as "gluten free, fructose free" but what I got was peas, carrots, potatoes, tomatos, marmelade - ! No meat or fish at all but oats porridge one time - oats in Germany are NOT gluten free because they always are cross contaminated! Luckily it was only three days...

I really do hope that this will bring some idea about what the heck goes wrong in my metabosism.

Hi Mia,

Thanks for your reply and explanations. Yes, I do think we need a little sugar to keep the body running, I mean it needs some fuel to burn - and particularly for you who have no body fats at all.

I'm luckily not fructose malabsorbant, just can't deal with the sugars of most fruits presently, so I stick to grape fruits, a few kiwis, pineapples and yesterday I had some stawberries without any problems.

As a kid, I'd also almost fall asleep whenever I ate, which meant I didn't like to eat. Particularly, the standard lunch pack (two open sandwiches) I threw out every day for several years, until my teachers ganged up with my parents to force me to eat. I'd been to the hospital several times for being too skinny/sick like at the age of 8-10 years old, but all the doctors 'found out' was that 'I should eat more'. No one ever realized that my avoiding the food I was served had to do with what was in that food: gluten! Luckily at least, this was long before anorexia was a label, so at least no one ever suggested an eating disorder - because I wanted to eat, only not all those things that made me sick, something that I see clearly now but evidently didn't know how to explain as a kid. Later on I put on the weight when I 'learned' not to listen to my body, and just started stuffing myself with exactly all those foods I shouldn't eat .... thus, I guess laying the grounds for all the problems I am struggling to reverse now. Strange, isn't it that my instinctive reaction as a kid was so much more right on the spot, than my 'learned' behavior as I grew up. Well, this has finally taught me to listen very carefully to my body before anything else!

Really sorry to hear how much you're suffering. A wild shot: have you ever considered the option of parasites? (normal parasite tests aren't worth a lot, but Sherry has recommended the Metametrix Microbial Ecology Panel that to me sounds very reliable). Because it sounds as if you've got something preventing your entire digestive system from operating - when your so very restricted diet isn't enough to improve your situation. There must be something else going on.

It might not be relevant for you at all, but personally I have started to see a whole new level of healing since I added a strong herbal anti-parasitic regimen to my SCD/anticandida treatment. So if nothing else works, perhaps it's worth considering ... Only it sounds as if your system is so fragile that you should probably have the doctors on board before doing anything in terms of parasites ...

Really hope your tests will show up with something useful for you.

Good luck!

Jan

[GermanMia]

Ali,

sorry to hear your mother's sad story. Good thing you are working things out for yourself so that you won't end up like that, too!

I had some colonics several years ago, and I felt similar to what you describe after the first time. But it got better, and that was a time when I felt really great - no wonder, I ate nearly no carbs and for sure not the slightest bit sugar at that time Hopefully that will help you improve further!

The body's ability to resorb magnesium depends on the form in which the magnesium is offered. Magnesium is an anorganic element, chemically, and our body cannot use most anorganic stuff. So you need an organic form of magnesium which would be magnesium citrat or gluconat.

Ms Jan,

yes, as a kid you listen to your body and not to what is said to be convention.

Thanks for the parasite idea! In fact I had such a testing even before I discovered the fructose malabsorption, because a friend of mine has relations to some institute for tropical illness' research in the Netherlands. I think it must be the test Sherry mentioned which I made. It came back negative.

Now I got tested for adrenal insufficiency and lack in B-vitamins and most dietary minerals. You're right, it actually feels like my system didn't extract enough fuel from what I offer.

Maybe something to laugh - although I wasn't quite sure whether to laugh or to cry:

I agreed seeing a psychiatrist, too. Actually here in Germany most gastro-problems are very easily called psychosomatic, which is one of the reasons why it took me 30 years to get rid of nausea... Now I thought, well, get through with it, talk to a shrink and get the certification that your problem is not psychological and you don't have to argue anymore.

So what happened was that the psychiatrist came in and told me that the first thing he saw on my file was that I have baby-sitted my parents since I was 13. (My father was quite old and suffered from coronar heart disease, my mother was quite old, too, ill all the time and alcoholic) So - OF COURSE all my problems are psychosomatic, can't be something else. Kids with celiac who keep their diet are feeling quite normal, so gluten and fructose intolerance cannot be the reason. I pointed out that those kids don't malnourish their bodies for 30 years, but no, he insisted it was absolutely impossible that my problem could be anything but psychosomatic - !

Great - really big help. If I look back, I just laugh because it was so ridiculous, but there were some hours when I could have cried with frustration. Just opposite of what I wanted - now if any doc reads my file, he'll tell me go see a shrink and I'll be happy again. Wonderful.

[Ms Jan]

Mia,

wow, your story of the psychiatrist is really scary. Don't they realize how many pshychological symptoms are in fact GI related?! I mean, it could very well be that your mother's alcoholism stemmed exactly from some digestive insufficiency that created the craving for stimulants in her brains. And then you might very well have inherited the digestive problem but somehow have had the wherewithal to steer clear of addictive substances. so it's the other way around: you're more sane than anyone!

I say so also because I almost went on anti-schizofrenic drugs at some point, because I was hallucinating and had other weird symptoms - and since we have a lot of schizofrenia in my family (incl. my mother), as well as other mental diseases such as suicidal depression, paranoia and drug addiction, I thought well, I better stop early going down that route. But the more I looked into it, the more I realized that drugs wasn't the way for me and that there was something else going on, and once I identified that the hallucinations were related to my eating habits, I got on to the right track. It has been a long journey to figure out all the connections, but now I feel saner than ever !! And so happy I never got into drug therapies that would have disabled my abilities to identify the food connections. Just wish I could convince a number of my family members to look at their diets as well ... but it's really difficult to make anyone see the connection if they don't have digestive problems, nor have started down this road on their own.

And of course, eventually if we're malnourished for a whole life time because we can't break down the foods we get, eventually our brains will come up with symptoms as well. It's all a question of cause and effect, so one better get the cause right ... good for you, you didn't fall for the psych.med trap !!

The father of a friend of mine was so sick at some point that the doctors put him on astronaut food for one full year. Apparently this food is so particularly made without any bacteria, and with an exact composition of what the body needs without any 'digestive challenges' that it allows the body to cleanse itself from all toxins. Then after a year, he started introducing different foods and thereby found out exactly which foods he was allergic to and which not. A long process because he had a myriad of food allergies, but he wouldn't have survived otherwise. And eventually, he was able to live normally just avoiding the foods that he had now identified.

Perhaps if nothing else works for you, astronaut food could be an idea ...

And Ali,

Sorry to hear you're struggling so much. Particularly since I feel the anti-parasite treatment is really hitting home for me. It's not easy, but together with the SCD I feel I'm crawling up the health ladder step by step. Have thought about the question of discipline, since Elaine's book stresses this so much, and I can see how the few times I've strayed (like my recent bacon episode) immediately made me sick as a dog. Do you know if you're sticking strictly enough to the diet, or might you relate your set-backs to moments when you're too adventurous?

Certainly hope you find a more stable health situation soon.

Sometimes I feel it's like one has to get to the bottom of the pit to make improvements. Like someone suggested earlier that those set-backs are a kind of healing crisis that in fact brings one forward to the next level. And I do think that for me it has been the case, as if the setbacks are reminders of what my body absolutely won't tolerate and it makes me even more careful about the diet, yet at the same time enabling me to move forward and expanding with other safe foods - like I've now introduced honey and strawberries, so far without any adverse effects Hope I'm right and that this will continue.

And sure hope that you both find something workable as well.

Jan

[GermanMia]

Jan,

I totally agree with you that many of your family members would get better if they had a look into their diet. My mother for sure had lots of intolerances - gastro problems were the starting point of her alcoholism: She had pain in the chest that nearly drove her crazy, and as nobody found the reason for that pain, she started drinking alcohol to fight the pain. When she was diagnosed with stomach ulcera it was too late. She was completely addicted to alcohol and not able to come off it even after stomach surgery. At that time helicobacter was unknown in Germany, so they tried to get rid of the ulcera surgically... Her doc just wanted to send her into the psychiatric hospital because of her imaginated pain. She broke down and agreed but claimed one more medical check before she went into psychiatry. It was luck - the surgeon told her that one week later she might have been dead because her stomach was about to perforate. That much for psychosomatic illness...

That astronaut food thing sounds quite reasonable. I can imagine that it would help to sort out allergies and intolerances pretty well.

Now I'll have to wait for the results of the tests and hope that they will help me to do something above keeping diet...

[PufferBelly]

I don't think my doctor will test anything else for me. He thinks I'm a hyperchondriac and won't do anything

Do you have to eat yogurt? I don't like yogurt.

Are there foods you can get that are already made?

[GermanMia]

I don't think my doctor will test anything else for me. He thinks I'm a hyperchondriac and won't do anything

Do you have to eat yogurt? I don't like yogurt.

Are there foods you can get that are already made?

Hi,

welcome to the thread :-) Don't let your doc talk you into feeling stupid, just listen to your Body and try to figure out what diet will help you.

Yoghurt isn't a must; but eating things which are high in probiotics might be helpful to restore your gut flora. There are recipes for yoghurt made from coconut milk which maybe don't taste like yoghurt at all, perhaps that's helpful?

And look here: www.scdbakery.com

As I'm from Germany, I can't tell if that's an option, but I happened to stumble over it at the beginning of my own SCD experience.

Good luck - you will get lots of support here.

Mia

[Ms Jan]

I don't do the yoghurt, and still the SCD is helping me a lot. I do take a lot of probiotics though.

About ready made food, the whole concept is kind of about doing your own freshly made food. But it's very easy to make since the more simple you keep the diet the better. For example, I live largely on sauteed vegetables, and once in a while the chicken soup. And of course nuts and a few fresh fruits. But everyone is different, so start out with the intro diet for a few days and see which foods you are comfortable with and then take it from there.

Jan

[AliB]

I don't think my doctor will test anything else for me. He thinks I'm a hyperchondriac and won't do anything

Do you have to eat yogurt? I don't like yogurt.

Are there foods you can get that are already made?

Hi. I don't like tart yogurt but I love the creamy SCD yogurt made with whole milk and some added cream, especially with some of the whey drained off - it is delish, especially with some added fruit - I love it with blueberries.

The only food you can buy 'ready-made' on the SCD is fresh fruit and vegetables! The whole point of the diet is that it helps the digestion recover by cutting out anything commercially-made or processed. These foods are too complex and generally have not only too many additives but are very carb-heavy, something that a damaged gut often struggles with.

There are some very easy and yummy recipes though and ways of preparing food simply and quickly - even the basic chicken soup is quick to prepare and delicious to eat. There are many recipes on the BTVC website and on Pecanbread, and if you Google SCD recipes there are blogs and sites popping up all over the place as the diet is taking off, and there is also an SCD recipe thread in the Recipes section on the forum.

I enjoy Naomi Devlin's blog - she makes some delicious SCD things (Open Original Shared Link) - the Vanilla Pumpkin Pie is fantastic - I serve it with coconut cream and thick yogurt mixed together. No-one would know it is a 'special diet' recipe and I have been asked for the recipe from those not on the diet who have tasted it.

If anyone has come across anything that is SCD ready-made I am sure they will pass it on, but I haven't personally.

I know that when you don't feel well, having to prepare food can be a trial, but the effort is worth it in the long run - and at least you know what is in it - and what is going into your body.

[mftnchn]

Mia, what a terribly short-sighted mental health professional. Unfortunately these are like doctors. A few are wholistic, many are narrowly focused. In the U.S., the profession is generally moving toward a more wholistic approach. Even then, people aren't trained in the physical side of things. So unless they have personal experience, or know someone who has, they are not likely to understand.

You might find some of Dr. Klinghardt's writings interesting. He talks about all the pieces and how it impacts chronic illness, including the emotional.

Jan, so glad you are finding the anti-parasite treatment useful. I'd still recommend the Metametrix test at some point. I did 4 rounds of the herbal Humaworm, but the Metametrix still found one stubborn identifiable one, plus one unidentifiable. I know the herbal treatment plus SCD cleared out a lot for me, because I saw it. But even 6 months of SCD hadn't impacted the strongyloides infection.

Thanks for sharing your experience about gluten free, diet and psychiatric symptoms. I've learned so much about those being connected since I started reading this board.