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Thinking about SCD...anybody with advice?
- Thread starter B-rad
- Start date
Hey,
The SCD is a great idea. It isn't a miracle cure but it helps a lot. The first like three weeks are hard but then it gets easier. There are some foods on the diet that you can't eat (like I can't eat bananas or eggs) so you have to modify it to work for you. Yeah I still have gas though its really annoying but at least I don't have to use the bathroom like twenty times each day. Theres an intro diet to do for four days or something, then go on the regular diet. I don't know about stages... like I think there for something else. Anyway good luck.
The SCD is a great idea. It isn't a miracle cure but it helps a lot. The first like three weeks are hard but then it gets easier. There are some foods on the diet that you can't eat (like I can't eat bananas or eggs) so you have to modify it to work for you. Yeah I still have gas though its really annoying but at least I don't have to use the bathroom like twenty times each day. Theres an intro diet to do for four days or something, then go on the regular diet. I don't know about stages... like I think there for something else. Anyway good luck.
ive been on this diet on and off for many months, it always gets me back to the norm if i feel bloated, gassy or have loose bms. the book "breaking the vicious cycle" is worth a read and does make sense regarding our bodies not being designed to digest grains. you can eat really well on the diet and there is also a recipe book available. its worth a try, you have nothing to lose!! good luck xx
I'm just starting the diet. I'm on my fourth day right now. So far I've had some ups and downs, but I'm keeping a food journal to track what my gut can/cannot accept. It's going to be tough but I'm optimistic. The diet is definitely worth a shot. I'm sure you will have fantastic results on it.
Our entire household went SCD two months ago. The Crohn's patient is doing much better than he has in years. The rest of us lost weight but stabilized at a very trim place (I'm 57 and I'm back to the weight I was at 17). At the beginning, try a couple of days of just broth. It's hard but isn't being sick harder? That will really give your guts a rest. We do a lot of soups, meats, and veggies, not so much almond baking because it isn't that easy to digest. Also expensive and time-consuming! The cheapest cuts of meat are the best, throw them in the crockpot with a few carrot chunks, onions, bay leaf, thyme and salt. Simmer until the meat falls off the bones. I'm talking about beef neck bones, etc. They're not even at your pricey supermarkets, go to an ethnic supermarket for great prices on beef marrow bones. Carrots and onions are cheap too. If you can afford it, get a Vitamix blender so you can puree soups to a very fine smoothness. Makes it easier to digest.
Results: in two months, the CD patient has gone from a dozen a day BM's to two. And feels much better. I really recommend it. When you think about it, all those grain dishes are "fillers", not vitamin-rich like meats and vegetables. What's the point of eating them except to feel full?
Results: in two months, the CD patient has gone from a dozen a day BM's to two. And feels much better. I really recommend it. When you think about it, all those grain dishes are "fillers", not vitamin-rich like meats and vegetables. What's the point of eating them except to feel full?
I have started SCD diet about three weeks ago and have found it great compared to the no-fibre diet they recommended in the hospital. I don't eat meat so SCD suits me perfectly. I don't mind giving up foods if I get less diarrhoea. And I have heard great things about it from other people! As I have only just started it I might be over motivated..I know it can get hard when you go away/eat out etc. I'm interested in all different diets too and alternative methods so if anyone can recommend any natural remedies please let me know. I can't understand how the doctors are not paying more attention to diet with colitis!! I don't have the SCD book yet so I'm just searching in the net. I cheated on the introduction bit though. I'm not eating raw veggies or fruits yet but steamed go down very well. What kind of snacks do people have with this diet? Now when I can't take raw fruits yet I don't know what to eat as a snack?? And I'm definitely not losing weight with all the cheese and fat im eating and the lovely almond bread and honey..
I've been on it for about 6 months now. If I stray, I notice it. I'm a Crohnie with pain and few problems with D. I saw a dietician as I was a bit concerned about not being able to eat red meat and she was a bit wary of it. But on my second appointment, she'd researched the diet and also analysed what I actually ate for a week and was pleasantly surprised. My calorie intake was virtually spot on the recommended and iron, calcium etc intake was fine too. Re: snacks, I can do fruit with no or thin skins but not fibery, acidy ones .I have a fruit salad every day with banana, strawberry, blueberry, melon, grape with honey and SCD yoghurt. Crumbles are nice too. Like apple or pear stewed. Make a topping with cold butter rubbed into almond flour, sprinkle over the stewed fruit and bake in the oven for about 20 mins. I also make a lot of muffins ( gluten and sugar free ) with tolerated fruits and nuts.
We tried the SCD for my son (who was 12 at the time) - he only liked about 1 of every 4 things I made ... but I loved them all (I do not have any IBD). For desserts - I made muffins and cookies from the SCD book, and also made a lot of desserts from the book on the link below:
http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Foods-Cooking-Celiacs-Colitis/dp/0980382807
I loved the nut candies (forgot what she called them) that was simply a mixture of nutes, a nut butter and honey.
http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Foods-Cooking-Celiacs-Colitis/dp/0980382807
I loved the nut candies (forgot what she called them) that was simply a mixture of nutes, a nut butter and honey.
worked for me
I'm went in remission with it alone.. started it nov 22 2009. only cheated once with a small piece of candy about two months ago.. I'm weak against cute women.
Not really sure what to say for advice just remember that your basically replacing starches maltose and sucrose with fat. (ie you can digest fat without trouble.)
So while you "can" use almonds.. almond flour has some starch in it.
While you "can" have honey, honey is about 8 percent sugars you can't have
while you can have fruit it probably has sucrose which is bad for you as well.
(not sure what exactly fruit has i just know it does cause problems)
SO in the end fat is the only truly "safe source" of calories
except for galactose through aged cheese and properly made yogurt.
I really need to get my colon photos together so I can post them sometime. Words don't really do enough alone. 5 years of colon photos (all around march) would.
I hear it doesn't work for everyone but it worked for me. I suppose I'm a success story. I'm just... scared to go off it now.
Not drinking milk alone helped me alot. For me the diet was a godsend because it told me that there were things i could actually eat.
I'm went in remission with it alone.. started it nov 22 2009. only cheated once with a small piece of candy about two months ago.. I'm weak against cute women.
Not really sure what to say for advice just remember that your basically replacing starches maltose and sucrose with fat. (ie you can digest fat without trouble.)
So while you "can" use almonds.. almond flour has some starch in it.
While you "can" have honey, honey is about 8 percent sugars you can't have
while you can have fruit it probably has sucrose which is bad for you as well.
(not sure what exactly fruit has i just know it does cause problems)
SO in the end fat is the only truly "safe source" of calories
except for galactose through aged cheese and properly made yogurt.
I really need to get my colon photos together so I can post them sometime. Words don't really do enough alone. 5 years of colon photos (all around march) would.
I hear it doesn't work for everyone but it worked for me. I suppose I'm a success story. I'm just... scared to go off it now.
Not drinking milk alone helped me alot. For me the diet was a godsend because it told me that there were things i could actually eat.
What's with all the references to SCD being red meat free???????????????????
It's not,
YOU CAN EAT RED MEAT ON THE SCD DIET.
i don't eat beef, but lamb and rabbit, yum
SCD works differently on different people, and alot of people seem to think 'near enough', but you have to be 100% AND modify it for yourself with more omissions of the things that don't agree with you, AND building up slowly from the intro diet.
and a few other points
Fruit contains fructose which is a simple carbohydrate
Honey contains glucose and fructose as mono-saccharides (SCD legal)
Sugar contains glucose and fructose as di-saccharides (SCD illegal)
Monosaccharides
single sugars (one molecule)
simplest
examples are glucose and fructose
Disaccharides
double sugars
combination of two monosaccharides
sucrose = glucose + fructose
lactose = glucose + galactose
http://www.pecanbread.com/scdscience.html
It's not,
YOU CAN EAT RED MEAT ON THE SCD DIET.
i don't eat beef, but lamb and rabbit, yum
SCD works differently on different people, and alot of people seem to think 'near enough', but you have to be 100% AND modify it for yourself with more omissions of the things that don't agree with you, AND building up slowly from the intro diet.
and a few other points
Fruit contains fructose which is a simple carbohydrate
Honey contains glucose and fructose as mono-saccharides (SCD legal)
Sugar contains glucose and fructose as di-saccharides (SCD illegal)
Monosaccharides
single sugars (one molecule)
simplest
examples are glucose and fructose
Disaccharides
double sugars
combination of two monosaccharides
sucrose = glucose + fructose
lactose = glucose + galactose
http://www.pecanbread.com/scdscience.html
Yes, I should have clarified. I personally can't ( physically ) tolerate red meat, so was concerned about my iron intake. But I eat a lot of bananas, spinach and other iron rich foods and my levels were fine when tested 
I did it for 4 months this summer and felt great. No more gas or bloating at night and my abdominal pain/discomfort decreased. I got off it the past 3 weeks because I was traveling for work and I feel like crap- all the symptoms are back. Time to get back on it. In general, a grain-free diet is bettter than all that corn and flour.
Die-off effect
What I didn't understand at first was the "die-off" effect. It could be responsible for the downs in your ups and downs. When the bad bacteria die off in great numbers, they release more toxins than usual, so your symptoms come back with a vengeance. It doesn't mean you ate something that your gut cannot accept. Yes, it's confusing. Just stick close to the diet, 100%. It will pay off but it takes time.
Try 5 months next time
The diet is a very good diet for ANYONE, so why not try again? It can only help, cannot hurt.
SCD takes a long, long time to heal Crohn's patients. My husband didn't really see results the first 2 months. Now, after 3 months, he's a convert. Still has lots of symptoms but the improvement is palpable. After 45+ years this is the best thing that has helped him. He must have been about your son's age when it struck, and it took years before the right diagnosis was made. So my heart goes out to you and Danny.
The diet is a very good diet for ANYONE, so why not try again? It can only help, cannot hurt.