Hello! I'm a 25 year old male. I'm a vegetarian. I have IBD and have lost 55 pounds in 3 years. I started the SCD 2 days ago and I think I'm either not doing something right or my digestive system is not accepting certain foods. Since I neither have diarrhea nor blood in my stools (mucus is present and stools are always semi solid/unformed), I skipped the intro diet. This morning I had a smoothie made of coconut milk, almond flour, ripe bananas, honey, dates and vanilla extract. This was with with me. I had a vegetable casserole for lunch. The ingredients were mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, eggs, peppers, spinach, coconut oil, onions, garlic, oregano, thyme and rosemary. The vegetables were not 100% done. I got bloated right after I had lunch. I had some pineapple as a snack in the evening and that made things worse. I had the same vegetable casserole for dinner as well and that made me excessively bloated. I used to have almost everything (vegetarian food) before I started this diet, I always got bloated but I've almost never been this bad. Could the reason be the slightly uncooked vegetables? I'm going to start having my SCD yogurt from tomorrow onwards....but I'm worried :shifty-t: I really want this to work! I would really appreciate some advise! Thank you!
SCD, did I go wrong somewhere?
- Thread starter Zarr
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Help Support Crohn's Disease Forum:
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- Joined
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Hi Zarr! I'm very new with the SCD diet (about a week on it). However, I think I may be able to offer you some advice. If you haven't read the book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle, I suggest that you order a copy right away. There are a lot of great websites and blogs that describe the diet, but I found it very helpful to go right to the source.
Why did you skip the intro diet? The intro diet is an important part of the healing process and I don't think that you're going to get the results that you want if you don't try the intro. The book describes following the intro diet for a minimum of 2 days (if you currently have no diarrhea or active symptoms) and a maximum of 5 days. You need to start over with the intro and then start advancing foods (vegetables and fruits must be fully cooked) very slowly. The SCD diet serves as an elimination diet, so you can learn which foods you react to. The only way to do that is to start with foods that are less likely to cause problems, and then slowly add other foods.
I used to be vegetarian too. Before I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease and realized that my diet was likely contributing to my inflammatory state. I ate a lot of "healthy" whole grains, beans and legumes (which I now realize are trigger foods for me), nuts, fruits, and vegetables. I thought that it was a very healthy, balanced diet, and it likely was, but not for someone with Crohn's. I was a vegetarian for ethical reasons, mostly because I disagree with the meat production methods used in the United States. Once I started looking into dietary methods of controlling symptoms, I realized that it was going to be very difficult to do it following a vegetarian diet. I think there are a few blogs out there that are focused on a vegetarian SCD diet. In the BTVC book, the author does briefly discuss following the SCD while being a vegetarian. She says that it is possible, but would be difficult to get all necessary nutrients and calories. That is the same conclusion that I came to as well. I'm reconciling my former vegetarian views by making an effort to buy from local farmers, grass-fed, free-range, and organic meats. At this point, I feel that my body is craving the animal protein and it's what I need to heal. I understand that some people may be vegetarian for religious reasons, so I don't mean to discourage you at all. I just wanted to share my experience. Good luck with the diet! I am convinced that it will help--but you need to follow it exactly as described in the book in order to give it a fair chance.
Why did you skip the intro diet? The intro diet is an important part of the healing process and I don't think that you're going to get the results that you want if you don't try the intro. The book describes following the intro diet for a minimum of 2 days (if you currently have no diarrhea or active symptoms) and a maximum of 5 days. You need to start over with the intro and then start advancing foods (vegetables and fruits must be fully cooked) very slowly. The SCD diet serves as an elimination diet, so you can learn which foods you react to. The only way to do that is to start with foods that are less likely to cause problems, and then slowly add other foods.
I used to be vegetarian too. Before I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease and realized that my diet was likely contributing to my inflammatory state. I ate a lot of "healthy" whole grains, beans and legumes (which I now realize are trigger foods for me), nuts, fruits, and vegetables. I thought that it was a very healthy, balanced diet, and it likely was, but not for someone with Crohn's. I was a vegetarian for ethical reasons, mostly because I disagree with the meat production methods used in the United States. Once I started looking into dietary methods of controlling symptoms, I realized that it was going to be very difficult to do it following a vegetarian diet. I think there are a few blogs out there that are focused on a vegetarian SCD diet. In the BTVC book, the author does briefly discuss following the SCD while being a vegetarian. She says that it is possible, but would be difficult to get all necessary nutrients and calories. That is the same conclusion that I came to as well. I'm reconciling my former vegetarian views by making an effort to buy from local farmers, grass-fed, free-range, and organic meats. At this point, I feel that my body is craving the animal protein and it's what I need to heal. I understand that some people may be vegetarian for religious reasons, so I don't mean to discourage you at all. I just wanted to share my experience. Good luck with the diet! I am convinced that it will help--but you need to follow it exactly as described in the book in order to give it a fair chance.
I'm sorry you are having trouble What a great idea to add almond flour to your smoothie!
As for skipping the intro diet that is not a good idea. I was on homemade chicken soup for 4 days and the intro diet for 8 before I started advancing my diet. When you do start advancing beyond the intro diet, make sure you start with super overcooked veggies until you know you are sure your symptoms are gone. I hope this helps!
What a great idea to add almond flour to your smoothie! As for skipping the intro diet that is not a good idea. I was on homemade chicken soup for 4 days and the intro diet for 8 before I started advancing my diet. When you do start advancing beyond the intro diet, make sure you start with super overcooked veggies until you know you are sure your symptoms are gone. I hope this helps!
Hello KatyBuckeye! Thank you for writing! I do have a copy of Breaking the Vicious Cycle. I must admit that I rushed into the diet. I will start all over again. I'm a vegetarian for ethical reasons too. I have eggs (I have managed to find organic free-range eggs here) and this morning I had a yogurt smoothie which I think my body is ok with. So I believe I should get most of my protein from milk products and eggs later on into the diet. For now I'll just have soups, SCD yogurt and cooked fruit. I'm hoping that helps! Thank you so much again!
I'm sorry you are having trouble
As for skipping the intro diet that is not a good idea. I was on homemade chicken soup for 4 days and the intro diet for 8 before I started advancing my diet. When you do start advancing beyond the intro diet, make sure you start with super overcooked veggies until you know you are sure your symptoms are gone. I hope this helps!
Hello Snoflayk505! Thank you for taking the time to write! I am going to start all over again beginning with soups and probably some yogurt as well? I seem to be doing fine with the yogurt smoothie I had this morning. And yes, almond flour makes the smoothie divine! But I understand I should go slow
Thank you again!
Today I began the intro diet. I just had some SCD yogurt every 2.5 hours and 4 eggs (boiled), oh and a ripe banana with some SCD yogurt for breakfast! Can I call this an intro diet? The book BTVC says that SCD yogurt and eggs can be a part of the intro diet. I did not get as bloated as I did yesterday but some bloating was present. Should I start again tomorrow starting with just watery vegetable soup all day for the next 3 days? Or is some bloating normal? I would appreciate it if someone could answer my questions. Thank you!
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Today I began the intro diet. I just had some SCD yogurt every 2.5 hours and 4 eggs (boiled), oh and a ripe banana with some SCD yogurt for breakfast! Can I call this an intro diet? The book BTVC says that SCD yogurt and eggs can be a part of the intro diet. I did not get as bloated as I did yesterday but some bloating was present. Should I start again tomorrow starting with just watery vegetable soup all day for the next 3 days? Or is some bloating normal? I would appreciate it if someone could answer my questions. Thank you!
This brings up good question: How exact does the intro diet have to be to the one in BTVC? For instance, the lunch includes homemade chicken soup, beef (or fish), cheesecake and homemade gelatin. I would rather not eat beef or fish, and making chicken soup seems like a huge pain in the ass (not by itself, but in addition to everything else). I would prefer doubling up on the eggs or something.
I don't have the book yet (probably get it this week), so I don't know it's explained, but that's one thing I would like to know. I'm planning on starting this sometime over the next week or two.
Yes! Get yourself the book, it's really nice! The problem I have is following just the introductory part since I'm a vegetarian. I had drained SCD yogurt, vegetable stock and eggs today. The bloating is a lot less compared to yesterday but it is still exsistent. I've had lactose free milk before without any issues and I've never had a problem with eggs before. The vegetable broth shouldn't be causing the problem. Could I be bloated because I'm constipated too? This is almost the first time I've experienced constipation. Should I just ignore the bloating since it's less than yesterday? Or should I eliminate the drained SCD yogurt completely. That means, I'll be left with vegetable broth and eggs only for a day or two. Has anyone experienced something like this while on the intro diet?
Boloby
I just wanted to give you an example of my intro diet when i started. I was pretty sick so didn't want to cook much, I premade everything.
I made a big pot of Chicken soup and froze half of it for the next week.
I baked like 6 chicken breasts and 6 burgers and ate throughout the week, used honey mustard alot and shredded chicken with yogurt & salt, stuff like that.
I boiled a dozen eggs, Egg salad, deviled eggs etc..
I made a big batch of yogurt
Microwave Scrambled eggs w/ cheese (cook on paper plate, easy clean up)
When i first began the diet, I was pretty much living off chicken soup
When my symptoms started to go away after about 4 days i started adding eggs, and aged cheese, yogurt, Hamburger meat, chicken breasts, apple sauce and juices. (Don't eat fish yet, it slows healing)
After 8 days I could eat almost anything I want As I advanced my diet I started with adding Avacado, Butternut squash, zucchini, and yellow squash cooked really soft and went from there.
I just wanted to give you an example of my intro diet when i started. I was pretty sick so didn't want to cook much, I premade everything.
I made a big pot of Chicken soup and froze half of it for the next week.
I baked like 6 chicken breasts and 6 burgers and ate throughout the week, used honey mustard alot and shredded chicken with yogurt & salt, stuff like that.
I boiled a dozen eggs, Egg salad, deviled eggs etc..
I made a big batch of yogurt
Microwave Scrambled eggs w/ cheese (cook on paper plate, easy clean up)
When i first began the diet, I was pretty much living off chicken soup
When my symptoms started to go away after about 4 days i started adding eggs, and aged cheese, yogurt, Hamburger meat, chicken breasts, apple sauce and juices. (Don't eat fish yet, it slows healing)
After 8 days I could eat almost anything I want As I advanced my diet I started with adding Avacado, Butternut squash, zucchini, and yellow squash cooked really soft and went from there.
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Boloby
I am so excited for you to start it! So many have messaged me and started as well with good results so far! I hope you find relief as well I am going around town posting flyers everywhere about this diet in my town Trying to get on the morning show radio station too. People have got to know about these digestive diets and their potential to heal. it may not work for everyone, but it sure worked for me and so so many others. What have we got to lose, right Good luck to you and keep us posted on your results!
I am so excited for you to start it! So many have messaged me and started as well with good results so far! I hope you find relief as well
I am going around town posting flyers everywhere about this diet in my town Trying to get on the morning show radio station too. People have got to know about these digestive diets and their potential to heal. it may not work for everyone, but it sure worked for me and so so many others. What have we got to lose, right Good luck to you and keep us posted on your results!
