SCD Diet?

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Grumbletum said:
I would've thought pasta and rice were OK but my stomach seems to find them a bit heavy, but that could be because of the narrowing I've been diagnosed with. My main concern is not being able to get a lot of stuff here. Our biggest 'supermarket' is a Co-op which would be classed as a corner shop on the mainland!
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Try a farmer's market, publix, or wholefoods. You could even ask your store to order it for you. Below is from a search engine.
http://www.scdiet.org/8resources/drycurd_sources.html

If you can not find the "Dry Curd Cheese" /Farmer's Cheese.... You can make the 24 hour yogurt and drip it with cheese cloth for 8 hours.
 
The key to the diet is to always have legal foods ready. My son will eat lots of bananna. I work hard to always have a batch of Almond bread and trying to be better about keeping a batch of almond crackers in the frig ready to bake. I make large batches that I founds in the "Breaking The Visious Cycle" book. :dance:





Tantija said:
Yes, it’s hard to be hungry. I can’t stand feeling hungry, especially between the breakfast and the lunch if I do not eat I can’t concentrate and it’s even like getting dark in my eyes. I have my breakfast at 6:45am during working days (2 scrambled eggs, cup of SCD yogurt with “jam”, 2 slices of nut bread (they are not large, probably ¼ of the regular bread slice) with butter and cucumber and tea with honey. I have 2 satsumas at 10am, lunch at 12:30pm (roasted veal or chicken, fried fish) with the fresh salad and tomatoes (I am fine with lettuce but have D. from spinach, other types of salad). I have dried dates or nuts at about 15:00pm and then at home at about 19:00pm I have 2 pears and again 2 slices of nut bread with cucumber, tea and honey. Believe me I am not skinny :) ( 65 kg at the height 164cm) as honey, nuts and dates are high in calories. My menu looks repetitive but I don’t care as I am happy that I finally can control my being. I am happy that my blood tests are normal and do not show any inflammation. I do consider the food as a fuel but not a pleasure now :)
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you'd have to ask one of the people who work there. In the store here, it's packed in a plastic litre bottle, no label. Don't give up. You must be able to find it pre-made somewhere.
 
Tantija said:
Hi Mica,
I read somewhere that sugars are necessary for your body so if have eliminated all sugars, including monosaccharides, it’s not very good also. By the way mushrooms are not good for your bowels even they are legal on SCD diet. I suggest you try to make yogurt and you will see the difference. Have you read the book? I do not remember anything about not starting yogurt while you have D. Please be aware that yogurt maker makes temperature too high over night ( it has to be 38-42C) so please purchase dimmer switch ( sorry I am not English and do not remember the correct name of it, it a plug between the electricity plug and your device and you can control the temperature in this case or the light of the lamp in other case). I had this problem earlier but was kindly suggested by the members of the forum.
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Hey Tantija,

I'm just eliminating them until my colonoscopy which is a month away. I'm trying to starve out the yeast in my gut. Hopefully that's what it is. I have had more normal bowel movements now since doing this. My husband's aunt who has been on the Scd advised me not to have any diary including the yogurt until I'm symptoms free. Whether that as correct or not I'm unsure. All I know now is that my Naturopathetic Dr wants me not to have the yogurt along with other diary products. I'll definitely be eating the yogurt again after my colonoscopy. Thank you for the dimmer digestion.
 
How long has it taken to be symptoms free on the diet?

I'm 4 months on the diet and have seen an improvement however I'm definitely not symptoms free.
 
Mica said:
How long has it taken to be symptoms free on the diet?

I'm 4 months on the diet and have seen an improvement however I'm definitely not symptoms free.
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I wonder if you have other food issues in addition to SCD? My son is SCD but without any raw veggies, beef, or anything fried in peanut oil. He just can't handle those (at least not yet). I hope that when he is completely healed we can try them again. Since we used a slow intro diet we were able to find what he could and could not tolerate. There is a good chart on www.pecanbread.com
 
I was thinking too...this might vary depending on whether you were in remission when beginning SCD. If you were not in remission then I highly suggest starting with the intro diet and introducing foods. Since we are trying to obtain remission without any medication, we chose to go the slow intro route. KWalker just jumped right into the full diet because he was already in remission. Some people will go on meds to reach remission while following the full SCD and then wean off meds.

One more thought ~ are you using the yogurt? For some people they just can't handle the milk protein and even though the yogurt should be lactose free, it is still not tolerated because of the proteins. We do not use the yogurt.

Just my two and one half cents :)
 
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Mica said:
How long has it taken to be symptoms free on the diet?

I'm 4 months on the diet and have seen an improvement however I'm definitely not symptoms free.
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Matthew was feeling better after about 4 weeks. But, his stools have not completely turn to normal. (whatever is normal?)
 
I start the intro diet and slowly added food in. It never cleared up at all. It helped on the sense I wasn't running to the bathroom multiple times a day. It would take 2-3 days then have D 1 or 2 times then again back to nothing for 2- days. But it never went away. I got diagnosed with Crohn's and within a week I started the SCD.

Honestly all I was eating was:

Nothing raw
Eggs
Homemade ketchup
Mustard scd legal
Meatballs (ground beef, garlic,onion, salt, pepper & fresh parsley)
Homemade tomato sauce (tomatoe,garlic,celery,carrot,onion,mushroom,basil,oregano & parsley)
Zucchini with the sauce bakes with salt and pepper
Roasted chicken thighs with salt,pepper and grape seed oil
Broccoli with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper
Baked salmon (scd mayo,dill,salt,pepper and fresh lemon juice
Carrots steamed with onions and sometimes a little honey.
Boiled water with lemon and honey.

I was eating that for 3 months the went to the naturopath path

Now I'm down to just chicken,pasta sauce with zucchini and eggs. So it's even more simple now then before.

I did do a trial for 2 weeks eliminating the eggs for 2 wks then eating but it didn't seem to do anything. I was actually secretly happy because I would like to bake in the future.

Has anyone had to go on meds kick start.
 
If you are still having problems on SCD, these are some additional things you may want to try eliminating. You could try one at a time or all at once if that doesn't seem to be working:

1. Eggs
2. Nuts/nut products
3. Too much fruit/honey
4. SCD yogurt/cheeses
5. Eliminate nightshade vegetables and spices

Things seemed to get worse before they got better for me on the SCD. I noticed a major improvement in 3 weeks, then got worse again, and then at 6 weeks--> solid stool!!! I really had to tweak the diet to work for me though. I'm doing great on Paleo and low dose naltrexone now, but loose stools will return if I accidently get any of my triggers (nightshades, too many nuts, etc).
 
Is there a problem with too much honey, or only for some people? Since starting the diet two weeks ago I've already gone through 2kg of honey! By not being allowed to use sugar, I use honey for coffee, baking, and even glazes/sauces for meats. I almost feel like I'm going it through it so fast but there are no other substitutes we can have and some of the recipes call for up to a cup of honey at a time!
 
Honey is predigested so in theory it should be fine and is not limited on SCD. I think some who might have a tendency toward blood sugar complications might need to limit honey though? I think when you are balancing it with such a large amount of protein (ground almonds, etc) it should not be such a problem. That being said, I have heard a few testimonies where they had to get rid of all fruit and honey to feel better.
 
Honey,
I have not ever seen that you would need to eliminate it from your diet. We have been doing the diet since March 2012 and I have read several blogs, etc.
 
that's next on the list for me, as well as coconut milk for coffee. I found a can of SCD legal "organic coconut milk" that I haven't tried yet but I've tried the hazelnut milk as well as the almond milk so I decided to try the coconut next. If you were to make it yourself, would it be the same process as the nut milk? I imagine it being sweet enough that you wouldn't even need to include honey.
 
Most of the recipes say to soak shredded coconut in water (temperature and time seem to vary depending on whether shredded coconut is fresh, frozen, or dried) blend till well broken down and strain through muslin/cheesecloth, wringing to get out all liquid. Then you can dry the remaining solids in a dehydrator or very low oven and then process in food processor to make coconut flour.
 
When following the SCD diet, people substitute nut flours for the usual grain flours. This may put an unusually high amount of nuts in the diet. Nuts are high in the amino acid called arginine, and low in lysine. This amino acid ratio creates an environment that is conducive to the growth of certain viruses. To control these viruses, you want the opposite ratio --- food high in lysine and low in arginine, like milk. Milk has about twice as much lysine as arginine. If you aren't eating a lot more cheeses than nuts, then I think you have the wrong amino acid balance in your diet --- one that could make the gut viral problem worse.

Dr. Tent has his autoimmune patients taking lysine in the morning and calcium at night to help control their viruses. His patients are usually dealing with CMV, Epstein Barr, HHV-6, and Parvovirus. These are exactly the same viruses that show up in the intestines of people with Crohn's or colitis. Therefore, it may be wise to include a supplement of lysine in your diet, especially if you are eating nuts.
 
Mica said:
Hey Tantija,

I'm just eliminating them until my colonoscopy which is a month away. I'm trying to starve out the yeast in my gut. Hopefully that's what it is. I have had more normal bowel movements now since doing this. My husband's aunt who has been on the Scd advised me not to have any diary including the yogurt until I'm symptoms free. Whether that as correct or not I'm unsure. All I know now is that my Naturopathetic Dr wants me not to have the yogurt along with other diary products. I'll definitely be eating the yogurt again after my colonoscopy. Thank you for the dimmer digestion.
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Hi! How was your colonoscopy?
 
Mica said:
How long has it taken to be symptoms free on the diet?

I'm 4 months on the diet and have seen an improvement however I'm definitely not symptoms free.
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hi. It depends what you mean by symptoms. From all my symptoms I stll have D. but not all the time. It depends from the food I eat and my period. I was told that it's because of harmones. Also for some reason I cannot eat out. It's just very expensive poo, sorry
 
KWalker said:
Is there a problem with too much honey, or only for some people? Since starting the diet two weeks ago I've already gone through 2kg of honey! By not being allowed to use sugar, I use honey for coffee, baking, and even glazes/sauces for meats. I almost feel like I'm going it through it so fast but there are no other substitutes we can have and some of the recipes call for up to a cup of honey at a time!
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Hi. To be honest I do not know how bad it is but I do use quite a lot of honey. And I do use raw honey. This i just my decision. Honey is a great sourse of minerals and vitamins and I do not want to eat dead honey.
 
Well I don't see her until March 20th but the note that I left the hospital with just said my colon looks fine but I still have significant small bowel Crohn's.

I took a blood test in Jan and got my family doctor compare it to just before I got diagnosed and she said my inflammation increased a lot. :(

I have a feeling I'm going to have to go on the meds at least to maybe to just bring the inflammation down. I will continue the diet in hopes that I can get off the meds and keep myself in remission with the diet.

I feel very discouraged because I worked so hard on the diet and never cheat not even once. I was so strict and I didn't help. I keep hearing about other success stories for people who have worse Crohn's then I do. I keep wondering why it didn't work for me. On a positive note I did en up losing like 50lbs in 5 months so I wasn't a total loss.

Has anyone else had the same kind of outcome. Or it worked after they started meds?
 
Very old thread, that seems to have been hiding because I didn't see it in this section before.

I would think honey would be beneficial, especially for those who have a problem gaining/retaining weight.

However, there are current "theories" which claim you may be able to starve bad gut bacteria by not eating any carbs., at least for periods of time. There are even those who claim to have "cured" their terminal cancer by not eating carbs., because cancer cells need glucose to live and grow, and can not survive on ketones alone.

Whether any of this is true or not, I don't know.

Related articles, including one on a terminal cancer patient with 3 months to live who claimed he was cured with a ketogenic diet.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthsc...ving-Cancer-Ketogenic-Diet-a-Key-to-Recovery/

http://www.thebarrow.org/Research/Neuro_Oncology/213930

http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/yjada/article/S0002-8223(95)00189-1/abstract
 
Mica said:
I feel very discouraged because I worked so hard on the diet and never cheat not even once. I was so strict and I didn't help. I keep hearing about other success stories for people who have worse Crohn's then I do. I keep wondering why it didn't work for me. On a positive note I did en up losing like 50lbs in 5 months so I wasn't a total loss.
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Everyone's body chemistry is different, so I don't believe there is just one diet that will work for absolutely everyone. If the SCD diet as you are currently implementing it hasn't been working for you, you may wish to experiment and modify, until you figure out what works bet for you.

Best of luck!
 
My symptoms just include D and cramping leading up to D. Sometimes the cramping really hurts but other times is manageable.

I've had a lot more normal bowel movement then before. I've even been constipated which probably was cause if lack of water. I still have the occasional D bit nothing compared to before.
 
Mica said:
Well I don't see her until March 20th but the note that I left the hospital with just said my colon looks fine but I still have significant small bowel Crohn's.

I took a blood test in Jan and got my family doctor compare it to just before I got diagnosed and she said my inflammation increased a lot. :(

I have a feeling I'm going to have to go on the meds at least to maybe to just bring the inflammation down. I will continue the diet in hopes that I can get off the meds and keep myself in remission with the diet.

I feel very discouraged because I worked so hard on the diet and never cheat not even once. I was so strict and I didn't help. I keep hearing about other success stories for people who have worse Crohn's then I do. I keep wondering why it didn't work for me. On a positive note I did en up losing like 50lbs in 5 months so I wasn't a total loss.

Has anyone else had the same kind of outcome. Or it worked after they started meds?
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Dear Mica
I am so sorry. Yes, it's discouraging. I do not know why it doesn't work for you, my dear. I guess we have different Crohn's reasons. It does work for me, I just received my blood test results: Haemoglobin -13, PLT- 243, C reactive protein <5. And I am not on any meds. :hug:
 
Mica said:
I feel very discouraged because I worked so hard on the diet and never cheat not even once. I was so strict and I didn't help. I keep hearing about other success stories for people who have worse Crohn's then I do. I keep wondering why it didn't work for me.
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Are you incorporating any probiotics? Are you eating too many nuts? Nuts have a fair amount of omega-6 oils and arginine. These need to be balanced with saturated fats and lysine.
 
Diets. it seems to me we have the same diet fads here as anywhere. Different things work for different people.

For me a low-fat, low-residue diet has always helped. Now I am picking things out from the SCD diet. For example I now avoid most milk products but eat plenty of cheddar cheese and homemade yoghurt with the strains she recommends. Yet I am not about to start eating beef,beans and berries again, because they are bad for me.
I do need some carbs to maintain a fighting weight.

I did however buy off on the whole "undigested carbs" theory and stopped pigging bread or biscuits (especially in the evening) and I stop eating long before bedtime. Seems to be a positive experience so far..............

My message is that diet with Crohn's is the same as meds. Find a mix which suits. Continually test and revise and challenge.
 
Paul Cronk said:
Diets. it seems to me we have the same diet fads here as anywhere. Different things work for different people.

For me a low-fat, low-residue diet has always helped. Now I am picking things out from the SCD diet. For example I now avoid most milk products but eat plenty of cheddar cheese and homemade yoghurt with the strains she recommends. Yet I am not about to start eating beef,beans and berries again, because they are bad for me.
I do need some carbs to maintain a fighting weight.

I did however buy off on the whole "undigested carbs" theory and stopped pigging bread or biscuits (especially in the evening) and I stop eating long before bedtime. Seems to be a positive experience so far..............

My message is that diet with Crohn's is the same as meds. Find a mix which suits. Continually test and revise and challenge.
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I think there is definitely some truth to the thought that different diets work better for different people. You must ask yourself this though....is the diet only working for the symptoms? E could not eat beef, most fruits and veggies, etc before without having bad episodes of D within 12 hours. He still wasn't able to eat these things with SCD at first. Because the SCD is actually healing him on the inside, E is now eating everything allowed on SCD, even raw berries and beef and with zero problems. I could have placed him on a low residue diet and I am sure his symptoms would have improved some because his insides would not have been encountering the foods it found difficult to digest. BUT, the inflammation and problems on the inside would have still been full force. It is like telling someone not to walk on a particular leg because it hurts. Yes, the pain will not be obvious, but there is still something wrong with the leg. What I am looking at now is a kid who is giving crohn's a swift kick in the pants because he is healing from the inside out.
 
PollyH said:
Are you incorporating any probiotics? Are you eating too many nuts? Nuts have a fair amount of omega-6 oils and arginine. These need to be balanced with saturated fats and lysine.
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I've been taking 3 probiotics/day which were prescribed by a Naturopath Doc. As for nuts, I haven't eaten any until after my colonoscopy which was Feb 14th.

There is no doubt I has helped me. I do have more reg movements now and I even become constipated however I still do get diarrhea and still have pain regardless of what kind of movement I get.
 
Charleigh said:
E could not eat beef, most fruits and veggies, etc before without having bad episodes of D within 12 hours. He still wasn't able to eat these things with SCD at first.
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Hi, I was always wondering why we could not eat berries...By the way if you can, try veal instead of beef. It digests much easier.
 
I agree with mvond5. I assume they don't digest and aggravates the colon. I know they do me as well.
 
The seeds certainly don't break down in my gut - I love raspberries and can eat moderate quantities if I sieve the seeds out first.
 
Maybe put them in a high power blender is you like them and don't want to do without. Like nutrition bullet or vitamixer. I use berries in my son's smoothie without any issues:)
 
So far, 3 days, the SCD has stopped all my symptoms. Too early to see if it lasts, but I’ve bought the book and intend to abide by the list of legal foods as long as it works
 
hrosstx said:
So far, 3 days, the SCD has stopped all my symptoms. Too early to see if it lasts, but I’ve bought the book and intend to abide by the list of legal foods as long as it works
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Hi, it is great but be aware that symptoms could return be strong and continue. Good luck and ask as many questions as you have :)
 
Hi there. I am starting the SCD diet today.

I really hope that I am one of the people that this works on!

My goal is to have reduced CRP/Inflammation/blood tests/whatever tests and for my colonoscopy to show reduced signs of inflammation.

Any updates from anyone on their SCD progress? Particularly interested in the evidence that their Crohn's is going away as indicated by their colonoscopy/other tests. IMHO this is the true confirmation that it is working.
 
Forristicat said:
Hi there. I am starting the SCD diet today.

I really hope that I am one of the people that this works on!

My goal is to have reduced CRP/Inflammation/blood tests/whatever tests and for my colonoscopy to show reduced signs of inflammation.

Any updates from anyone on their SCD progress? Particularly interested in the evidence that their Crohn's is going away as indicated by their colonoscopy/other tests. IMHO this is the true confirmation that it is working.
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Good day, I am on SCD diet for the last 4 years. My blood test became good after 3 weeks, my stool got almost normal after 3.5 years. Every year MRI showed some improvements but my last MRI test in August 2015 showed very strong improvement and only minor signs of small intestines inflammation. I am very happy with the result and my doctor is very impressed even he did not believe this diet for my first 1.5 years. Good luck and do not hesitate to ask ANY questions.
 
Thanks Tantija

I wasn't aware that an MRI can show inflammation? I thought an MRI was for something else.

Are you on any meds at the moment?

I am still getting used to the diet. Need to find more recipes so I ordered some books. I've been eating a lot of tuna for lunch hehe.
 
Forristicat said:
Thanks Tantija

I wasn't aware that an MRI can show inflammation? I thought an MRI was for something else.

Are you on any meds at the moment?

I am still getting used to the diet. Need to find more recipes so I ordered some books. I've been eating a lot of tuna for lunch hehe.
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Hi. You are right. Blood test shows the inflammation and MRI shows changes of the intestines due the inflammation. No, i am not at any medication. It was my aim to do this diet to be medication free. I only have vitamins B12 and D. Regarding the recipes i will revert later running to work now :)

Good luck :)
 
Forristicat said:
Thanks Tantija

I wasn't aware that an MRI can show inflammation? I thought an MRI was for something else.

Are you on any meds at the moment?

I am still getting used to the diet. Need to find more recipes so I ordered some books. I've been eating a lot of tuna for lunch hehe.
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Hi, here is my menu. I do not feel bad eating almost the same food every day. I look at the food as an energy source. By the way since these posts I have found goat cheese i can eat and also time to time i eat broccoli. I do not eat dates any longer and hardly bake nut bread.

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?p=733914#post733914

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?p=734133#post734133

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?p=424615#post424615
 
Thanks for the links to your menu. I made the SCD yoghurt today and am still experimenting with making different foods.
 
Forristicat said:
Thanks for the links to your menu. I made the SCD yoghurt today and am still experimenting with making different foods.
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Hi, do you well tolerate all the fruit and veg? In this case it will be much easier for you. Good luck!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! :)
 
Yes, I do tolerate all the fruit and veg.

I have found that my stools have become more normal in general since starting this diet. (Have been on it for one month)
 
Forristicat said:
Yes, I do tolerate all the fruit and veg.

I have found that my stools have become more normal in general since starting this diet. (Have been on it for one month)
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Hi. I took me 4 years of the diet and SCD yoghurt to get the normal stool. There are even days I do not go at all but with my short guts it is kind of tricky you never know when it can "fire" so i am afraid to be too far from the bathrooms. I probably know all the bathrooms in London :) I saw my doctor last Monday and he said that my MRI shows only minor signs of the inflammation and that he is glad i have managed to convince him not to put me on the immunodepressants. He is very excited about my results. He even said:"I do not know how you do it! No, of course i know how you do it. I am wondering if you consider to eat everything again to see how you will react." I said: " Thank you very much but no. It took me 4 years of self discipline and i am not going to ruin what was not easy to achieve."
 
Tantija said:
Hi. I took me 4 years of the diet and SCD yoghurt to get the normal stool. There are even days I do not go at all but with my short guts it is kind of tricky you never know when it can "fire" so i am afraid to be too far from the bathrooms. I probably know all the bathrooms in London :) I saw my doctor last Monday and he said that my MRI shows only minor signs of the inflammation and that he is glad i have managed to convince him not to put me on the immunodepressants. He is very excited about my results. He even said:"I do not know how you do it! No, of course i know how you do it. I am wondering if you consider to eat everything again to see how you will react." I said: " Thank you very much but no. It took me 4 years of self discipline and i am not going to ruin what was not easy to achieve."
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No matter what state I get into with this disease, I wouldn't consider just eating whatever.
 

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