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I'm
new to the SCD! What advice can you give me?
To quote Charlene,
"I have been on the diet for 5 1/2 months and I can tell
you that there is no looking back. I feel better than I have ever
in my life and I'm not even symptom-free. If you have the
book start with the beginner diet on page 51. If you have
trouble finding the Dry Curd Cottage Cheese (a.k.a DCCC) go to
the website: scdiet.org and go to Resources section or let us
know where you live and maybe we can help you. The Chicken soup
is wonderful.
Here is what
I ate in the beginning: Breakfast: yogurt, boiled egg (if no diarrhea),
grape juice lunch: chicken soup, broiled beef patty sometimes
with cheese on it but be careful. Supper: a lot of the same stuff.
I started to feel so much better within a week. Definitely not
perfect but no more gas or bloating. Ask
lots of questions and they will be answered, ok?
 More on Starting the SCD
Determination
What
do people do when they dine out?
Much can depend
on which stage of the diet one is following. Nevertheless, you'll
want to review these links:
Dining Out
Being a Dinner Guest
Traveling while on the SCD
What
might cause a flare-up?
There is always
a lot of discussion about what might have caused a flare-up. Most
often it is because the patient did not follow the diet for a
period of days, or ate a complete meal of non-SCD foods, or was
under significant stress. Sometimes the flare-up will occur days
or weeks after the "triggering event", when the mind
and body relax and "let down their guard".
Where
can I find dry curd cottage cheese?
Dry curd cottage
cheese, also known as baker's cheese, Friendship hoop cheese,
or Friendship farmer's cheese, is available in most of the grocery
stores. If your local store does not stock it, ask them and they
will order it on request. You may need to look around the store
-- some have
discovered DCCC with the gourmet cheeses! DCCC can be frozen,
so feel free to buy plenty and store it in the freezer.
More about DCCC
Sources for DCCC
Are
Farmer's Cheese and Hoop Cheese legal?
Yes!
Many SCD-ers enjoy these two dry curd-like products. According
to Deborah and Max, "The Farmer Cheese *and* Hoop Cheese
by Friendship
[brand] are both legal, and have the same amount of lactose. The
difference is that hoop cheese has no butterfat or salt. The cream
in the farmer cheese is added before the fermentation, and it
tastes a lot better :-)."
Sources for Farmer's/Hoop cheese
How
do I convert US recipes to metric?
While
most of the world uses the metric system, the United States is
still using what is referred to as the 'U.S. Standard'
system for measurement. This causes a lot of frustration when
recipes are shared between people from different countries.
measurements and metric conversions
What
is candida?
Candida is
a stubborn little fungus that creates a number of toxins in your
blood stream, including manufacturing alcohol. According to the
naturopaths, these toxins are responsible for a great deal of
side effects, including irritible bowel syndrome and inflamatory
bowel disease. Women with candida also have the unique pleasure
of having a propensity toward yeast infections.
more about candida
Can
I receive holy communion at church?
For the Catholic
church-going SCDers out there, the SCD webmaster agrees with the
following answer regarding receiving holy communion:
"I'm not a Catholic (nor do I play one on TV ), but am Lutheran.
I still take communion with the usual unleavened bread and wine.
I have faith that God will take care of this small amount of "illegals"
- and that the benefit of the Sacrament FAR outweighs the risk
from the starch!
God be with all of you this New Year!
Bruce Ray, Baton Rouge, LA
3+ yrs CD; 1+ yr SCD; 6+ months NO MEDS"
What
about FOS?
FOS stands
for Fructooligosaccharides. Here's an excerpt from Probiotics:
Nature's Internal Healers, by Natasha Trenev: "Fructooligosaccharides,
more commonly known as FOS, is a class of simple carbohydrates
found naturally in certain plants, such as Jerusalem artichokes,
onions, and bananas. A Japanese process is utilized in turning
white, bleached cane sugar, by the action of a fungal enzyme,
into FOS - a sugar polymer that our bodies cannot digest."
FOS (in the form of inulin) is added to some commercial yogurts
to make their probiotics more "bio-available". Elaine
is also against FOS on the SCD.
FOS and probiotics
My
child / spouse won't try the diet (they say it sounds too hard)
- what should I do?
It's always
sounds too difficult to anyone who's never tried the SCD - but
to those of us who *have* tried it, and for whom it works, it's
not too difficult at all.
As Deanna
points out, ""Mom": I'm a mom, too, and if your daughter
isn't interested in doing this, no amount of encouragement / cajoling
/ nagging / begging / pleading will make her want to give it a
try - in fact it can have just the opposite effect. A while back,
we on this list heard from a woman whose husband had Crohn's,
and she was literally *killing* herself to prepare SCD foods for
him, in spite of his indifference to the diet. Turns out he was
making daily trips, behind his wife's back, to the local convenience
store where he would buy candy bars for himself. Don't fight a
battle you cannot win. You can lead a horse to water; give her
the book, show her where the online resources are, etc, then let
it go. She's an adult; the rest is up to her."
Critical Success Factors
Can
I simply eat the SCD yogurt and get better, without following the
rest of the SCD?
No. Here's
what Elaine says. In relation to probiotics (and probiotics are
the main reason for making/eating the SCD yogurt): "If you are
not on SCD and are sending loads and loads of fermentable carbs
down to the colon as most people are... the probiotic bacteria/ae
will just make things worse. That is why I think it is so positively
awful for the Crohn's and Colitis list to be PUSHING probiotics
without the SCD. Wake up guys over there!"
SCD yogurt recipes
Can
I follow the SCD if I am pregnant?
Yes! Here's
what Elaine says. The carbohydrates that we consider legal in
SCD are plentiful but are easily absorbed as they required minimal
digestive capability. There have been many, many SCD babies born.
Mothers were on SCD throughout pregnancy and some were big and
some were normal (7-8 lbs and some were a bit less than 7 lbs).
But as you know, diabetics (on insulin, not considered people
in the best of health) have unusually fat babies. I understand
it is because of high sugar levels. On the other side if you are
pregnant and do not eat enough simple carbs, I believe it can
be dangerous to the point where you will have a smaller baby and
I will not go into the unending debate about just burning fat
and protein. So, in summary, the SCD diet has proven healthful
for pregnancy provided that you have sufficient LEGAL CARBOHYDRATES.
For example, homemade applesauce if you cannot handle raw apples.
Homemade muffins if you cannot eat grains. etc. etc. etc.
Here's what
Karen says. I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease 7 years ago,
and made the decision to go on SCD at the end of August last year.
I can honestly say it was the best decision I have ever made!
My symptoms cleared up almost immediately, fortunately (not everyone
feels so good so quickly), and I am now 8 weeks pregnant! I, too,
had lots of questions about the diet and pregnancy, especially
since my cravings were leaning toward "illegal" foods. That is
actually how I came to the list as well. I have been assured by
everyone on the list that the SCD IS THE HEALTHIEST THING I CAN
DO FOR ME AND MY BABY. I also talked it over with my doctor, and
after giving her a food journal of what I eat, she was amazed
at how incredibly HEALTHY the diet is. So everything is a-ok,
and although it has taken some time to learn about foods and how
to prepare everything from "scratch", and it definitely takes
perserverence and courage to maintain, I am very sure that this
is the way I want to live, and want my baby to live. Remember,
when you have a disease that is characterized by malabsorbtion,
anything you eat that cannot be digested properly will NOT feed
you, and therefore NOT feed your baby!!!!! Best of luck with your
pregnancy, and I hope we will see you on this list often!
Are
soy beans and their related products allowed on the SCD?
"Soy
beans are not SCD-legal. Due to genetic manipulation, the nature
of the carbohydrates in soy beans is unknown. Therefore, soy bean
products such as tofu and soy milk are not SCD-legal. However..."
Read more about soy beans
Are
high-calorie drinks SCD legal?
It is highly
likely that any high-calorie drink you can purchase is going to
be illegal on the SCD. The main reason for this is the predominance
of manufactured sugar and corn syrup, which are inexpensive sources
for calories. Also, these drinks typically contain lots of thickeners
(such as agar-agar and carageenan), which are also illegal.
Elaine suggests
the following "High Caloric Smoothie for SCDers":
Elaine's High Calorie Smoothie
Is
vanilla bean legal?
"Vanilla
beans are fine!"
What
kind of vanilla extract is allowed on the SCD?
According
to Deborah and Max, "Pure vanilla extract is legal - that
is, vanilla extract, alcohol and water, or the same with glycerine
replacing the alcohol (although beware - the glycerine variety
tastes horrid).
Adulterated
vanilla extract with illegal sugars [or corn syrup] are not permitted,
of course. Most supermarkets and even specialty shops carry vanilla
extract with sugar or corn syrup added."
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Where
can I buy Breaking The Vicious Cycle?
Most brick-and-mortar
bookstores sell "BTVC". There are many online bookstores
worldwide as well as other sites dedicated to the SCD which sell
and distribute "BTVC". Amazon.com
sells many copies and includes many customer testimonials. Be
sure to request the newest edition (Eighth Printing, Millennium
Edition - Sept. 2000). Also, check out the Resources
section for more vendors, as well as our Store
section for direct links.
What
about Asacol, Azulfidine, and Sulfasalazine?
Elaine writes,
"It has been most of our experiences that especially for
colonic problems (Crohn's colitis and ulcerative colitis) the
better drug is Azulfidine (salazopyrene). The discussion which
I trust can be found at another website, perhaps Healing
Crow will have the whole story as I have followed for a about
30 years. When you start feeling better, please try and get out
of the dependent mood "I don't really know what these drugs do"
and start using the Internet to find out what they do. There is
so much on all this! There are wonderful sites like Mercola
which should be looked at. One of the doctors in Chicago is joing
this Optimal Health Group (Mercola's group) and the doctor in
Chicago has been using SCD as the basis of his practice for a
few years and is a certified gastroenterologist.
more about Azulfidine
more about Asacol
What
about Amoxicillin or Augmentin?
Per Elaine:
"I called my druggist and told him about our SCD list and
the discussion on augmentin. Since we are in Canada, it was new
to him but he looked it up and found it was Amoxicillin (I think
it may be the injectable form). He then faxed me a page about
Amoxicillin. It is a semisynthetic penicillin and acts on certain
bacteria cell walls, thereby killing them (probably) or fostering
a newly mutated one as a result of using it. Under "ADVERSE
EFFECTS" it states: Gastrointestinal: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.
Severe abdominal pain with bloody diarrhea, etc. etc. etc.
Where
can I get SCD-legal multivitamins and supplements?
One
of the most popular topics on this list is which multivitamins
are suggested, and which ones are SCD legal. Be sure to purchase
starch-free, lactose-free, and sugar-free. One source that is
constantly recommended is Freeda
Vitamins (one
of our first Community
Supporters) @
800-777-3737. Their Quin B Strong w/Zinc and Vitamin C is very
popular among SCD-ers; Vitamin E is also suggested, as well as
D (for those that do not live in sunny places). There is additional
information about vitamins in Breaking
The Vicious Cycle.
Can
the SCD help with Rheumatoid Arthritis?
The
answer is not to Elaine's knowledge. According
to some researchers, the Rheumatoid Arthritis should also respond
but we certainly know from messages on this list that the SCD
does not help with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
SCD and arthritis
Can
pets (dogs and cats especially) get IBD?
The
answer is yes. According to SCD listserve member Deborah (and
her dog, Max), "Dogs are eating the same kind of commercial
cr** we are, except perhaps even worse." The link below contains
some interesting links regarding this topic.
IBD in dogs and cats
Why
is chocolate illegal on the SCD?
The chemistry
of chocolate (which is cocoa) is connected in a biochemical way
to cocaine. Dr. Haas said "no chocolate". It is addictive; perhaps
it is because one of the physiological effects of cocoa is "local
anathesia".
Why
isn't the SCD more accepted by M.D.'s and GI specialists?
If the GI
specialists do not believe that SCD works and want to know how
it is backed by publications, what would you tell them? Would
you tell them to get on the listserv and look at the recoveries?
You would not have a leg to stand on.
In the same
way, when I had our miracle with the SCD, I started at step one
and attempted to understand it for many years, 12 of which we
spent studying just about everything in medical science and in
the university. I realized that we were trying to avoid fermentable
carbs and thereby feed the person rather than the microorganisms.
My perspective has been that basic tenet. During that 12 years,
I started carbohydrate chemisty a great deal. I learned about
fructooligsaccharides before it was a "twinkle in the eyes" of
the present day people who are hyping it. I knew it was indigestible
and I knew it was quite suspicious as a compound to be ever used
with SCD. When it first began to be hyped, a few of the very conscientious
GI specialists called me and we discussed it and we agreed it
was the last thing we should use. Then, of course, a group of
researchers in Belgium (and I di not know who supported their
research) came out and said how great FOS was to grow beneficial
bacteria in the gut. I think I am one of the oldtimers who is
looking at this (not for research paid by those with vested interest)
but by basic understanding of the SCD and food.
Each time
I attend a conference (and I wasn't able to do this for the last
two years with Herb and Alzheimer's) I would look for confirmation
or contradiction of my understanding.
In September
of 1998, I was invited to participate in the SUSTAINABLE medicine
conference at Christ Church, Oxford University sponsored by the
Birtish Society of Sllergy, Evnironment and Nutrtional Medicine.
Dr. Hugh Dunstan of the University of Newcaste of New South Wales,
Australia presented work he had done which showed that in a medium
containing FOS, the growth of Clostridium was huge far outgrowing
other bacteria in FOS medium. No one questioned him except me.
He scratched his head when I asked "why are the Clostridium growing
at this exponential rate" and he laughed and said "we wondered
about it too."
This is the
problem: other than the Cornell study on grain-fed
cows there is probably little scientific literature that supports
anything but a money generating product.
Please try
to understand that this list and my book are phenomenae. Without
Dini Petty, a few other brave media folk and the internet, all
those on this list and thousands of others would be sick as dogs
whereas now they have their lives back. I do not know what else
to tell you.
Love, Elaine
Join the SCD Letter Campaign!
Write your favorite newspaper!
What
can you tell me about the glycemic index?
According
to Elaine, "..I have been following the work on glycemic
index for years almost as long as the cholesterol in diet myth!
The first
report was about 10 years ago by (believe it or not) a husband
and wife team, Drs. Crapo. I wrote to them and asked the question:
you are determining the rate by which sugars and starches enter
the bloodstream and the slower they enter the bloodstream, the
better you judge them to be re raising the blood sugar levels
slowly rather than erratically. However, are you ALSO testing
to determine if some of these starches are being digested and
absorbed at all? In other words, is it not possible that the ones
you determine as the good ones since they lower the blood sugar
very little, if at all, are not even being absorbed??? They answered
and said they were not testing for those which may not be digested
or absorbed.
*********
My comment: Those [foods] which appear to be great according to
this stupid glycemic index are probably the most bothersome for
us on SCD - they are doing nothing to raise our blood sugar levels
but are being fermented by our gut flora and causing them to overgrow
or mutate."
*********
I'm
feeling much better on the SCD. When can I add some foods back to
my diet?
"After
staying with SCD for one year after all symptoms disappear, you
can then introduce one food at a time in the following way...."
Reintroducing foods to the SCD
Why
during the first week or so after I have switched to the SCD and
am eating more nutritious food (rather than the food I previously
had eaten which was high in many of the complex carbohydrates) should
I feel fatigue?
Your thoughts
about the fatigue are very perceptive. How and why can such a
normal intake of food, although quite different than previous
intake, create such a huge difference in how you feel? It is fascinating;
is not new to us; and says to me that you are reverting back to
HUMAN digestion rather than RUMEN (like a herbivore's stomach)
digestion. In other words, the bacterial fermentation process
is not efficient for giving you all the energy from the calories
of food.
The volatile
fatty acids which are produced by bacteria or yeast in the lower
part of the ileum and colon are actually the part of the glucose
molecule which contains the greatest amount of energy. Are they
being absorbed into the bloodstream efficiently or just passing
out with the feces??? I do not know. But it is not supposed to
be bacterial fermentation byproducts that allow the calories of
food to be absorbed; we should be absorbing them from our small
intestine (23 feet of it).
For those
of you who have had any biochemistry or cellular nutrition, the
molecule of glucose has the potential of allowing each cell to
manufacture 38 molecules of cellular energy or ATP (adenosine
triphosphate). If we do not absorb the glucose molecules (from
starch, disaccharides, or even monosaccharides) from our absorptive
small intestine, they go down to the microbial world. There, very
INEFFICIENT anerobic bacteria get only 2 molecules of the possible
38 and pass the rest off as volatile fatty acids. What is happening
to these volatile fatty acids. Are we passing them out as diarrhea
contents? Are some being absorbed through the ileum wall and colonic
wall? I do not know. I would doubt it very much if much of them
are being absorbed. Once you change the digestive process by starving
out the critters and absorbing the legal sugars more efficiently,
you will then be getting our HUMAN DIGESTION working correctly
and our cells will get 38 molecules of ATP from one molecule of
glucose.
That is the
point when so many on SCD begin feeling so very energetic, unlike
anything they have felt for a long time.
Why
are carageenan and all seaweeds illegal?
Piles and
piles of medical research data were published about 20 years ago
by Drs. Watts and Marcus of UK investigating a drug which had
small molecules of (hydrolyzed) carrageenan. They reported that,
after testing this product (miniscule amounts in the drinking
water) of many species of animals including monkeys, that they
all developed ulcerative colitis. Since it is impossible for me
to find the analysis of all seaweeds and because carrageenan is
one of the popular ones used by people on the Irish seacost, I
felt "why fool around!" Let's get better on [eating]
things we are pretty sure about. Sorry about this as I like seaweed
myself to be used in cooking.
Where
can I ask more questions and get additional answers?
If you haven't
already done so, be sure to read Elaine's book, "Breaking
The Vicious Cycle". Additionally, you will find the following
useful:
Get SCD support online
Visit other SCD web sites
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