SCD diet

Quick survey for a newbie. How many have tried the Specific Carb Diet, How faithful to it are you and what's your experience?

Just in case you haven't seen it, I wanted to give you this link to a recent discussion here on the SCD:

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=17&m=739419&p=1

One year as of 19 December. Off my meds in a month. Reduced bleeding (from daily to rarely) in two months. Gained back 13 pounds in three months. Started adding a few new foods in 6 months. Doing arduous, multi-day caving trips by 7 months. Blood values normalized by 10 months.

Edited to add: As to how faithful I am to it- NO cheating. At all. Not once. I had one bad reaction to a small amount of chocolate in March, and I haven't had so much as a gram of the stuff since, even though it was probably the peanut butter with which it was served. I *do* consume a small amount of rice as it comes from Chipotle with my bol, and I've not given it an iodine test for starch (I probably should), but it doesn't give me discomfort or D.

Post Edited (Osprey101) : 12/15/2008 12:43:17 AM (GMT-7)

I saw Honey was on the legal list for SCD. Seemed like I read that it had to be filtered..? I can't find anything on that now.

You have to be a little careful with honey. Some is cut with corn syrup. Also, Elaine said that bee pollen irritates the gut. Originally, she said to get filtered honey. I believe it was later amended to say you can use raw honey, but make sure it's clear and doesn't have honeycomb parts in it.

I love honey! It's a pretty good sugar substitute.

Osprey, I am in the process of transitioning into the Life Without Bread diet with plans to be strictly under 72g of carbohydrates by the time 2009 starts. Since honey is absorbed so high in the bowels, do you believe that it does not really figure in the 72g calculation? I believe you mentioned something along these lines in another SCD thread, but I may have misinterpreted what you wrote.

I'm concerned about adequate calorie intake as about a 10 pound underweight person (although Dr. Lutz has written that over time people like me will gain weight on the diet) and would prefer not to lose too much weight during the initial period of this diet. I eat a lot of foods that could be sweetened with honey or stevia, an all natural, calorie free sweetener that I don't mind using. Using a generous amount of honey would be one way to supplement the loss of other carbohydrtaes, but ultimately I want to play it safe. I'm currently in remission, if that makes any difference.

Hello, HS.

Lutz cites 72 grams/day of total carbs for many health reasons- including diabetes. If you're only looking to work on your Crohn's, yes- you could interpret that as 72 grams/day plus honey.

Now, this doesn't mean to go hog-wild on honey, although I certainly did to begin with! When I couldn't have soda or juice with a meal, I'd just make up some honey-water. I've tapered that down dramatically, and instead of going through a pound or two a week, a one-pound container now lasts me 2-3 weeks.

I was worried, too, when I started the SCD. I mean, I was down to 139 pounds from low 160's where I was originally. But the diet allows one to eat richly- bacon, eggs, meat, cheese, full-fat yogurt, and so forth. There will be no shortage of calories provided you think ahead and cook. For example, make a half gallon or a gallon of yogurt; keep that in a big jar in the 'fridge and make up a bowl of the stuff with blueberries, a banana, and honey. Keep plenty of bananas on hand so some ripe ones are always ready.

Similarly, cook up a flat of chicken- or two. Cook it over broccoli or cauliflower, and then refrigerate it; the vegetables should absorb the fat and the flavor from the chicken. If you're hungry, grab a drumstick. (Tip: chicken thighs are underrated. They are relatively inexpensive, relatively calorie-dense, and probably the easiest part of the chicken to cook!) Add a couple of chunks of cauliflower, and that's lunch. Keep hard-boiled eggs in the refrigerator for snacks.

Saturday morning, and you're starving: cook up some bacon, then scramble the eggs in the bacon grease. (You're starving. Even if cholesterol in food mattered- which it doesn't- you're not going to die of a heart attack when you're ten pounds underweight.)

Want a snack? Cook up some SCD-safe custard with dry curd cottage cheese, some eggs, a stick of butter (use the real stuff! butter is good for you!), and cinnamon. Refrigerate, and then add honey to taste before eating- add blueberries and bananas if you wish.

My advice is to find what works for you and eat the same things until you're on a stable keel. When you can go for a week or a month without D, you'll find out a little dietary boredom is worth it. Then you can branch out and experiment. It took me 6-7 months before I was comfortable adding new food items- I had a great amount of control over how my body would respond, as everything I ate was "under control." It wasn't a matter of guessing, "Was it the carrots or the spinach or the Brussels sprouts I ate tonight?" One new food item at a time.

And don't go easy on the butter!

Using these principles, I was UP 13 pounds within 3 months of starting the diet. My weight loss reversed within a couple of days of going on SCD.

Great information, Osprey. Thank you for the reply.

I'm glad I saved my Yogourmet machine, a relic from my two failed attempts at the SCD. I'll be making the SCD yogurt on a regular basis now.

Dmom, that's so encouraging. We're just getting started on this stuff...so it's good to hear.
Thank you

DMom> Any details on the improvements you've seen?

I've not heard of any problems with yeast in honey. Honey is such a strong sugar solution that nothing will grow in it, so- I don't know why yeast in honey would even be a problem.

I have had problems with sourdough; there's some stomach pain even after a tiny amount of spelt sourdough. I suspect it was an ASCA (anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies) problem.

Yes EMom, that's what I meant. From what I've read, it sounds like people with GI issues tend to have yeast overgrowth in their systems. Hopefully, I don't have a yeast problem, because I love honey:)!

I don't know as anyone has scientifically pinned down the complaints attributed to yeast as being specifically from candida. It's conceivable that the problems attributed to "yeast overgrowth" or candida or whatever are due to another organism. Klebsiella would be a convenient critter to which to ascribe those complaints.