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Wow, Dave, I just had the worst experience with the place i got the SCD yogurt starter from, GI ProHealth. The starter arrived today and when I opened the package, it was hot and not refrigerated. When I called the company to complain, since I paid $15.00 for refrigerated 2 day shipping, he told me to sue him! I won't be ordering anything from them again! I also filed a complaint with the Ma BBB and the Ma  Attorney General's office. Whew, I am ticked!!! Anyway, I found out I am am allergic to almond flour and the honey doesn't agree with me either. The SCD is getting harder to follow but I am sticking with it for now!!

Spooky- I will never order from them again, nor will I ever recommend them to anyone! I could not believe how that man spoke to me!! I have NEVER seen such terrible customer service!! We will see what the AG office and BBB can accomplish. As for SCD- The only nut I have ever had a problem with was Brazil nuts so my reaction the almond flour surprised me. Do they make a cashew flour or do you grind your own? i will definitely try applesauce once I find a nut flour to use.

Dave- I don't think I have been that angry in many, many years. The thing is, they are telling customers the product MUST be refrigerated and to select the refrigerated shipping at a cost of 15.00 but they are not refrigerating it. I find it pretty suspicious yours arrived warm also. Not to mention, when you complain they tell you it "should" be OK. I am afraid to try the product because of possible bad bacteria. My advice is to find a different company to do business with because eventually you will have a problem and believe me, their customer service is not responsive!!Also, I can't say if for sure if it is related, but after ordering this product, someone got a hold of my credit card info and started charging small items. Luckily, my credit card company caught it immediately and called me for approval on those suspicious charges and immediately cancelled my card before more charges could accumulate. Good job BOA! As for trying the product, I am not going to try it because I am afraid of bad bacteria. My luck, it would make things worse. As for SCD, so far, no luck but I am eliminating the almond flour and honey so we will see what that will do!! I will keep you informed on the status of my complaints with the AG office and BBB!!

CDS1- I was originally going to order from Lucy's kitchen, so let me know how that goes. Be careful ordering with GI ProHealth because getting a return or exchange seems impossible so far for me. From my understanding, I am not the first to have this problem. Thanks for your support with the diet!

Spooky/Dave- I found another yogurt starter from custom probiotics inc. Can you check formula 1 and let me knw if it is SCD compliant?

Post Edited (pmedic) : 2/25/2011 9:58:46 AM (GMT-7)

I looked at both and formula 1 is legal for sure. Fomula two contains additional L. Casei and B. Longum to formula 1. I know L. Casei is legal, I take it now. I saw some reference to B. Longum as legal on a couple of sites, so I THINK it is legal. Unless someone says otherwise I am moving from GI ProStart to formula 2.

Let me know what you decide and how you like it. I still have quite a bit left so I do not need to order for a while.

Also, I think I mentioned it before but Organic Cows milk is so much better then regular milk. It makes a much sweeter and thicker yogurt. (At least it did with the GI ProStart). I guess I will see when I move to customprobiotics.

BTW if you are interested in a Non SCD but very informative book on probiotics read the Probiotics Revolution by Huffnegal. It taught me a lot and there is some reference to IBD.
Cheers
Dave

Good Luck with the new stuff. I wonder how long it will take for you to get it.

Talk soon

Dave

I was always told that freezing kills most of the probiotics. I keep my Yogourmet starter in the fridge.

Your GI Prostart might be okay. Too high of heat can kill probiotics, but that's it. I'd say the biggest risk would be that there wouldn't be enough probiotics left to consume the lactose in the milk. However, from my experience, they can withstand a lot. For instance, I ran out of Yogourmet and had to order in September. It's still quite hot in Phoenix, AZ in September! I also don't pay for cool packs or fast shipping, so it takes awhile to get from the store in New York to here. The reason I was comfortable doing so was that a mod at BTVC said her Yogourmet starter lived through being unrefrigerated during Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath. I figured that if hers was still good, mine probably was too (and it was ).

Good that you're dropping the almond flour! I didn't start that until after a year on the diet. Go with almond butter or pecan butter first, it's much easier on the gut. Once you do get to flours, they have a variety of them (cashew, hazlenut, walnut, brazilian) at http://www.digestivewellness.com/subcategoryitems-digestive_wellness_scd_legal_food-nut_flours-24-11.html. They're expensive though! I get my pecan and almond flour from cheaper sources.

You're probably good . The reason you sterilize the milk is to kill any rogue bacteria/yeast strains that might be in it. You want your yogurt starter strains to multiply and nothing else. Since you got up to the 180 mark, I doubt that the temperature varied too greatly in the rest of your pot. Are you using cow milk or goat milk? I believe it's okay if your cow milk starts to boil (but not necessary), but if you boil the goat milk, it will ruin it.

People who use raw milk don't like to go to 180 degrees because it destroys enzymes and whatnot (I think they only go to 115). But since we have sensitive guts, we're not supposed to risk it until our guts are healed. Not that I have access to raw milk or anything (but it would be nice!).

Thanks!! Will give it a small try today!

Dave- I was so sick since being on the diet! I finally (after almost going to the ER last night) I ate a piece of bread this morning and instantly felt better! My body is so weird. My symptoms were a painful quivering in my stomach and intestines with diarrhea that never went away until I ate that bread. WTH? I can't explain it. I am going to try going low carb, no sugar diet but not total elimination. I still take my meds and my Bee Propolis and feel great now, no diarrhea, no quivering.

Pmedic - Spooky can tell you (if she remembers) about one year ago talking me through the same thing. It does not happen to all but it happens to many and it happened to me. I felt like heck. The dye off can be pretty bad cause you are getting rid of a lot of bad stuff all at once. You know your body best but I am gald I hung in there. This can also happen at 3 and 6 months and some even have it at the year mark (but not me so far, fingers crossed). I guess if you know it is coming and good things will come after that it is easier to tough out. But I did not know good things were coming at the time and it was tough to hang in there. I know what u are going through.
I am glad you are feeling better. Remeber to go slow. After one year, today I ate a 24 hour stock chicken soup, and some well seasoned but well cooked veg and chicken dish, with yogurt and apples for dinner. No raw veg and beans, or fried foods. I am still mostly in phase 3. I can tell you the year has flown by and even though I am feeling good I am in no hurry to move fully into phase 4. I learned the hard way slower is better.
I really hope this works for you
Dave

It is funny. When you first start, the diet seems so restrictive that you can not wait to get to stage 5, and even that list seems so short. Then you have a few ups and downs, and get reminded of what both feel like. Then you are not in any hurry. I think I could most likely due stage 4 and 5, but I am quite honestly scared of trying it. I told myseld I would do some raw veg and lentils for Christmas. It is now March 1st and I do not even have a planned date to start those things. Things are going good and I want to appreciate every good day and not do anything to mess it up. And I do not feel hard done to. I eat great flavors and healthy food every meal.
Sorry for the long post but it just struck me how much I have changed in my approach to introducing new foods.
Dave