Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)

[Ms Jan]

To all of you who have problems digesting dairy, it might be worth looking at this link for the GAPS diet, which is largely SCD without any dairy - and the explanation for eliminating dairy is given here:

Open Original Shared Link

[AliB]

Yes, Jan, I found that butter was the one thing that I could tolerate all the way through. Mind you, I have today been out and bought some organic butter - more expensive, but I have just re-read Arabella Melville's 'Persistent Fat and How To Lose It' book (23 years old but still very relevant) and one of the points it highlights is that fat is a toxin store.

That also goes for the fats we consume too and I hadn't really thought about that.

The more I think about all of this, the more I am coming to the conclusion that for many of us our health issues stem from our livers' inability to cope with all the toxins we are constantly bombarded with.

I feel sure that is why, although the SCD does work, it is slow. Not for any reason other than the fact that although the SCD is a very healthy diet, it takes time for the body to clear the backlog of toxins in the system. Some may clear quicker than others - depending on their body's ability to detox efficiently - or not.

I don't think you have to be overweight to have a toxin issue, but losing weight does seem to release toxins - probably why it is usually recommended not to lose weight too fast.

I was on the Byetta for 3 months and in that time I lost over 20lbs. Not a huge amount in that time period, but the drug itself was giving me a toxin overload and I suspect that my body just finally threw in the towel. The digestion collapse was just a progression of that. It couldn't cope as the gluten I was still consuming was just adding to the constant burden.

Add into that the blood pressure tablets, the Metformin for my Diabetes and the Insulin (natural I know but still entering the body in unnatural ways and although mine isn't now, I was on a genetically manufactured insulin for a while which undoubtedly didn't help) and it probably wasn't surprising that my liver became overwhelmed. All drugs are toxic.

We have a friend who had ME (or CFS). She has been bedridden for 5 years - incredibly debilitated. Couldn't cope with light or noise, has had no interaction with anyone, barely even her family in all that time. Couldn't hold a conversation, couldn't go out, couldn't even get to any clinics for treatment. Awful.

Just over the last few months she has started to emerge from her prison. A little foray around the village for a few minutes on a motorised scooter, a brief telephone call, has made and sent friends a little card.

Again, I am sure it comes down to a build-up of toxins. She was a very clever china restorer, but had to give it up because she started to react to the paints and glazes. It undoubtedly comes back to a gradual and silent overload until suddenly everything collapses and can cope no more.

Allergic reactions are almost certainly down to the same problem, when the liver just cannot cope with detoxing certain substances.

Liver cleansing may help but so little is really known about how the liver works, that we don't know how the toxic build-ups affect it.

Taking the oil and lemon juice would help to clear out the bile producing section, but how beneficial it is to the rest of the liver is unknown.

Twenty to thirty known functions are undertaken by the liver, but I suspect it may well actually be in the hundreds. It is the powerhouse of the body, the control room.

The only way to support it is to reduce as much as possible the toxic burden on it, and therefore the rest of the body. The more efficiently the liver works, the more efficiently the digestion works, the more efficiently the body works.

[pele]

Have you tried the So Delicious Yogurt made by Turtle Mountain that is a coconut milk yogurt that is soy, dairy and gluten free? It is a little on the expensive side but very good and convenient in a pinch.

Hi glutengal

Welcome!

Unfortunately, Turtle Mt Coconut Yogurt contains several ingredients on the SCD "illegal" list, like cane juice, guar gum, and rice starch. SCD legal yougurt is made by fermenting milk for 24 hours to remove all lactose. Those who don't use dairy products try fermenting coconut milk, cabbage juice, cabbage, almond milk, etc., with mixed results. Do you have any recipes for fermenting any whole foods without sugar that you can share?

Here is a link to more info on the SCD:

Open Original Shared Link

[pele]

I feel sure that is why, although the SCD does work, it is slow. Not for any reason other than the fact that although the SCD is a very healthy diet, it takes time for the body to clear the backlog of toxins in the system. Some may clear quicker than others - depending on their body's ability to detox efficiently - or not.

I think you hit on something profound, here, Ali. Yes, it works because it is a healthy diet. I think that's an important thing to remember.

And everyone comes to this point with different degrees of toxicity and different healing abilities.

I have Gilbert's Syndrome, which apparently slows down the detoxing process in the liver. However, the detoxing goes on all day, every day, and things will get better if we put less garbage in.

[mftnchn]

I have no problem eating my own home-dehydrated fruit made from local, unsprayed fruit, but when I ate store bought organic raisins they made me a little bit sick. It really makes me wonder what the heck is in commercial dried fruit besides fruit.

Sherry, did you make your own fermented cabbage juice? And if so, what did you use for a starter?

And Sherry, I assume you are gluten intolerant and ate gluten for many years. Do you think some of your gut problems are due to areas of the small intestine that have not healed yet and are unable to assimilate food and nutrients? I suspect some of my gut is like the Pacific Ocean off the NW coast--some dead zones.

Yes, my purchased local raisins could have additives-likely do. In this country there is no way to know.

I used my probiotic (Kirkman acidophilus) for the initial batch of cabbage juice although the recipes say you don't need starter. I soak my cabbage leaves in water with apple cider vinegar and salt (supposed to help remove pesticides), then in clean water.

Certainly the small intestine healing is an issue. In some ways there are signs of improvement. The problem for me is that there are many complicating factors. Lyme disease itself can attack the gut and it has also made me very susceptible to other pathogens like parasites. The antibiotics which I can't get off of or I relapse (almost 9 years) have taken their toll. I don't detox well, and in fact my mercury levels are increasing in spite of rigorous treatment. (tests for stored mercury are sky high, highest normal is something like 150, mine is in the high 300s). Maybe some genetics at work there?

Today I'm not feeling as well, so I think yesterday's raisins and perhaps the yogurt might have impacted me. I'm going to stick to the low oxalate and use cabbage juice instead of yogurt, and avoid the raisins. Since I have typically fluctuated in and out of symptoms it can be really hard to decide if something helps or not. I'm sure about SCD because the initial impact was dramatic. But other dietary changes have been harder to track.

[pele]

Sherry, I am pretty sure there is no way to know what is in the food in this country, either.

Are you on thyroid meds?

[mftnchn]

Yes, I've been hypothyroid for years. Do well on Armour.

[hippo33]

i started the diet 3 days ago and its killing me i feel tired im in the canadien army so i run a lot and lift a lot of weights i have eaten fruits ,veggies , almonds,peanut buter,meats,honey and it still feels like thers somthing missing its almost like u can kill for junk food wich i cant eat can anyone give me suggestions?

[AliB]

Hi Hippo - welcome to the thread.

It is very common to feel pretty horrible for a few days. There may well be a load of die-off going on of the unwanted beasties - yeasts and microbes - in your gut. I think most of us have experienced similar situations to a greater or lesser degree.

It does get better. It can take some weeks for everything to really start to settle down - I know my stools were going through the gamut from D to C and back again before it all settled.

You will probably crave carbs and rubbish because your body, and quite likely the beasties are begging for their food fix but if you can hang in there it does get better. You may find that if you can add a bit more fat into your diet that may well counteract the craving. Organic Coconut oil is good if you can find some, or even butter.

I am suggesting organic because I have realised that non-organic fats, like most non-organic stuff can contain toxins picked up from chemical spraying or animal feeds and drugs. The less toxic burden you put on your body the better.

A lot of us are struggling with our digestions and health in general because our livers are not able to cope with the level of toxins we are being bombarded with every day. The more toxic we get, the more we react to foods and substances, the harder it becomes to keep weight off (or conversely we are unable to gain weight), or lose weight.

Anyway, all I would say is try and hang in there - it may take time for your body and your liver to heal, but most of us on the diet would emphatically endorse its benefits, however long it takes.

[hippo33]

Hi Hippo - welcome to the thread.

It is very common to feel pretty horrible for a few days. There may well be a load of die-off going on of the unwanted beasties - yeasts and microbes - in your gut. I think most of us have experienced similar situations to a greater or lesser degree.

It does get better. It can take some weeks for everything to really start to settle down - I know my stools were going through the gamut from D to C and back again before it all settled.

You will probably crave carbs and rubbish because your body, and quite likely the beasties are begging for their food fix but if you can hang in there it does get better. You may find that if you can add a bit more fat into your diet that may well counteract the craving. Organic Coconut oil is good if you can find some, or even butter.

I am suggesting organic because I have realised that non-organic fats, like most non-organic stuff can contain toxins picked up from chemical spraying or animal feeds and drugs. The less toxic burden you put on your body the better.

A lot of us are struggling with our digestions and health in general because our livers are not able to cope with the level of toxins we are being bombarded with every day. The more toxic we get, the more we react to foods and substances, the harder it becomes to keep weight off (or conversely we are unable to gain weight), or lose weight.

Anyway, all I would say is try and hang in there - it may take time for your body and your liver to heal, but most of us on the diet would emphatically endorse its benefits, however long it takes.

thank Alib ill do my best im shure it will be worth it

[pele]

Yes, I've been hypothyroid for years. Do well on Armour.

I did well on Armour, too (past tense). You might want to check out:

Open Original Shared Link

and

Open Original Shared Link

and

Open Original Shared Link

I strongly urge anyone on Armour to read these sites immediately!

[mftnchn]

Welcome, Hippo.

I second what Ali says, the cravings right at first can be very high. Mine subsided in a week or 2, but at first it feels pretty awful. Jello, fruit juice (legal), and especially the fats can be helpful. With your level of exercise, you may need to snack regularly. Perhaps drinking juice instead of water initially? Raisins and nuts, mixed with seeds if you can tolerate them. All three are more difficult to digest but you may need the calories. Some vegetables like carrots, peas, beets seem more filling to me. (The other legumes allowed are more advanced foods.)

Also you didn't mention making the SCD yogurt. This could help a lot. Also cheese (protein and fat), especially DCCC which is soft.

Let us know how it goes.

[mftnchn]

Wow, thanks Pele. Perhaps that could explain my fatigue!!! The timing fits for when I got worse, and the timing each day could relate. Another "maybe answer" to try.

[Ms Jan]

Have got a really heavy day today. But the only thing I can think of having eaten different from normally is a portion of boiled red lentils that I had yesterday morning (made it myself, so no question of cc). It is SCD-Legal according to the list.

Anyone else having problems with red lentils?

[AliB]

I think Jan that it can depend totally on us as individuals whether and what we react to. It could just be that your liver cannot process the normal by-products of consuming lentils for some unfathomable reason.

The fact that you have said in your signature that you have suffered with fairly obvious 'poisoning' symptoms for years must indicate that your liver has issues with clearing toxins from your system. Perhaps it is at liver level, perhaps it is at gut level, who knows?

I am the same. I have actually stopped taking the herbs and vitamins at the moment because I am wondering if all it does is just add to the toxic burden in my liver. All these things have to be processed by the liver and perhaps it is too much for it at present.

All I have been taking is one multivitamin, half a gram of vitamin C, milk thistle, echinacea and goldenseal, so it wasn't a huge amount but I know that some of these things, particularly the vitamins are often synthetic so am going to drop them for a bit to see if it helps.

My glands don't seem to have come up quite as much today so I will see how they are later. It was interesting that for a few days after having the colonic I wasn't getting the horrible taste in my mouth when I awoke. I know she said that quite a lot of toxins were cleared out.

[Ms Jan]

Hi Ali,

Thanks. Think you're right that it could be overburdening of the liver, maybe from toxic by-products produced by the lentils feeding some of the bad bugs. Am a little better by now - after a full day sleeping and drinking teas and grape fruit juice. But what a bother: no more lentils for me for a while. And yes, I think it's worth being careful about the artificial chemistry of all the supplements. That could be another thing having bothered me since I had just increased my intake of both multi- and B-vitamins. So I'm cutting back on those as well.

Jan

[AliB]

What I am wondering now is that although I quite likely needed to supplement back when my gut was really bad because I probably wasn't absorbing very well, now my gut is much better than it was I may actually be overdosing unnecessarily with the vitamins.

It has to be much better to get the nourishment from food than from synthetic vitamins.

Because I am eating much more healthily maybe I am getting enough from my food to not need to be supplementing any more and am actually making things worse rather than better!

I am going to monitor this for a bit without taking anything and see if it makes any difference.

[mftnchn]

Also, lentils are a legume and thus an advanced food for SCD. Maybe it is too much for you at this point. I haven't dared try legumes.

[Ms Jan]

Also, lentils are a legume and thus an advanced food for SCD. Maybe it is too much for you at this point. I haven't dared try legumes.

Yes, I hadn't thought about that. Just checked on the legal/illegal list, since I wanted something filling to sometimes substitute with the nuts. But you're probably right that it's too early for me. will put off legumes for another three months or so ...

[mftnchn]

Peas are easier to digest than the other legumes in the pecanbread list. I do okay on them.

[pele]

Yes, I hadn't thought about that. Just checked on the legal/illegal list, since I wanted something filling to sometimes substitute with the nuts. But you're probably right that it's too early for me. will put off legumes for another three months or so ...

Winter squash season is coming up--very filling!

[mftnchn]

Well, I am sad about diet choices. My low oxalate trial seemed equivocal; although improvement in bloating, no help with the fatigue and brain fog. But when I tried a significant amount of almonds (crackers made of flour, and a peach crisp) I immediately bloated severely. I also bloated slightly after yogurt today when the last 2 times I tried it was fine.

So whether it is an oxalate problem or simply that my system can't handle anything but the very easiest to digest is hard to know at this point. But I was handling it without nearly the same level of problems before the last 3 month flare. I'm still looking into various explanations.

Meanwhile, I'll need to stay away from nuts, and when the bloating goes down, try carrots again.

[Ms Jan]

Thanks - yes, had kind of forgotten about peas, but frozen in particular I know I can digest. And winter squash is a good idea as well.

And Sherry, as to the bloating - I know you've had candida ruled out before, but something in the way your system reacts make me wonder if you might have developed it lately ? ... Just a thought since candida used to make me bloat from eating the tiniest amounts of anything it can digest (still does even though I have no more symptoms, but then again, these days I ingest nothing that would feed the candida ) ...

[mftnchn]

Well, Jan, its a possibility. I've had things tested a couple times a year, and it is looked okay but my good flora on the low side still. Of course the abx is a factor.

I'm currently considering that this could be thyroid related. So I'm staying off almonds for now, will test carrots next week. Then hold for my next doctor appt.

Sherry

[pele]

I found a SCD legal recipe for sweet dill pickles on the yahoo group and I am going to try to make them. Anybody else want to try, too, and we can compare results? Here's the recipe:

4 thinly sliced unpeeled cucumbers

2/3 cup honey

1 cup vinegar

1/2 cup water

2 tabblespoons dried dill weed (I will use fresh)

2 tsp white pepper

Thoroughly blend honey, vinegar, dill and pepper, pour over cukes. Add water to blender to rinse the remainder out and add to the cukes. Stir well. Place a weight on cukes to keep submerged. I plan to put them in a canning jar and use a plastic bag full of water as a weight and plug. Keep at room temp for 12 hours then refrigerate. Wait at least overnight before eating. Keeps for weeks in fridge.

Hmm, there's no salt in this recipe. Well, that's it anyway.