starting the intro to SCD today-any tips?

Hi Cooper67! I wish you much success on the diet! You might want to sign up for the BTVC-SCD yahoo group. They all are on the SCD there and are very helpful. No question is too small or too big for them!

I don't have my copy of the BTVC book here in front of me, but real gelatin comes from bones and skin of beef, veal, chicken, etc. I believe that's what they are referring to in the book. If you've already made your own home-made broth, you were probably getting some gelatin! When you make your own broth from scratch and include the bones, gelatin comes from the bones (the marrow, I think) and becomes part of your now extra-nutritious broth! Here's a pretty good explanation and a recipe I just ran across:

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/007397how_to_make_beef_stock.php

You can also purchase real gelatin from these folks:

http://radiantlifecatalog.com/

I think it would be fine to do the allowed foods plain for now. Can't see why it wouldn't be. Also, I do a lot of what you mentioned; prepare recipes in advance and freeze them to pull out as needed. This gives me a night off from cooking! turn I also have some very simple recipes I make, too, which really don't take much effort.

It's great you are already eating the yogurt! They usually advise to start slowly with it because of the beneficial bacteria you are introducing into your gut, but it sounds like you didn't have any issues! That's fabulous!

People are going to get tired of seeing this, because I always post it for someone starting out on SCD. I've been on the diet now for 4 months. Definitely make sure your supplements are legal. You can post the ingredients at the BTVC board and someone will help you. The probiotic you take should only have adcidophulus in it (no bifudus). Personally, I don't take a pill, I just eat the homemade yogurt. Without further ado, here is my obnoxiously long post on starting SCD :

You can eat the bulk of fruits and vegetables (just no corn or potatoes), meats (just no processed meats), most cheeses (no soft cheeses or mozzarella), homemade yogurt (fermented 24 hours to eliminate lactose), eggs, and honey as a your sweetener. Nut flours can be used to make breads and other baked goods. You can find a complete list of allowed foods here: http://www.austinscdfriends.citymax.com/articles/article/3691414/53672.htm. The main thing is that you have to cook almost everything, since most pre-made stuff is loaded with sugar and starch. You can get a lot more info at http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/.

I’m following the stages at http://www.pecanbread.com/. While the site is aimed heavily towards parents of autistic kids, the diet principles are mostly the same. The only real difference is that the autistic kids don’t usually tolerate dairy, so it’s not listed in the stages. I’m currently adding foods from stage 2. Here’s a direct link to the stages: http://www.pecanbread.com/new/scdfoods1.html#beyond.

I have a food dehydrator for making the yogurt, because we go through a lot of it. I eat a cup or two a day (with honey), and it’s used in a lot of recipes (and is the main ingredient when making ice cream!!!). The dehydrator I have holds up to 2 gallons worth.

A crockpot is great for the chicken soup. We put the whole chicken in, bones, skin, liver, the works. The liver disintegrates into the broth, so you can’t even taste it. The bones put a lot of nutrition into the broth too. Once it’s done, we strain everything out. Then I puree the carrots (can’t really taste them either) and add it back to the broth, as well as the chicken meat. My picky dad said it’s one of the best broths he’s eaten. It works well to freeze the broth and chicken into individual portions and pull out whenever I’m at a loss as to what to eat for supper. The cheesecake is pretty good, and tastes somewhat like a real cheesecake. If you don’t like dry curd cottage cheese, you can make it with dripped yogurt. I haven’t added nut flours to my diet yet, so I make a soufflé bread for things like hamburger buns. I just made some lemon curd a couple days ago, which is like a very very rich lemon pudding. Tonight I’m going to try making some meringue cookies with peppermint in them. I have an ice cream maker too, and make a very yummy frozen yogurt.

There are many SCD recipes sites. I like the ones with pictures, so you can see how the dish is supposed to turn out. I’ve always been a dessert fan, so I hope I’ll be able to tolerate nut flours so I can make the cakes and cookies. Right now I use almond butter instead, which works surprisingly well (you would never guess my muffins have no flour of any kind in them). Here are some sites I like:

http://milkforthemorningcake.blogspot.com/ (all the recipes are listed on the right hand side. The ones that aren’t marked SCD are only gluten free)
http://nomorecrohns.com/deliciousrecipes.aspx
http://www.nomorecrohns.blogspot.com/ (the blog has recipes the other site doesn’t have)
http://comfybelly.com/ (click on SCD in the category list on the left side of the page)
http://deliciouslygf.blogspot.com/ (I think all of the recipes are SCD)
http://www.scdrecipe.com/recipes/
http://bethsblog.typepad.com/bethsblog/turtle_soup_the_recipes/ (I’ve searched through her blog and found all the recipes, so you don’t actually need to buy the cookbook)
http://eatingscd.wordpress.com/2008/03/10/eat-by-picture/
http://www.scdiet.org/2recipes/default.html
http://flog.cookingforceliacscolitiscrohnsandibs.com/category/recipes/ (the almond blueberry crumble looks delicious!)


And lastly, there are several helpful groups you can join at yahoo. Many of the moderators knew Elaine Gottschall personally, and have been on the diet for years. They are:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/BTVC-SCD/ (Marilyn and Mimi are especially knowledgeable)
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/pecanbread/ (Sheila and Susan know their stuff here)
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/scdinfo/
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/scdrecipe_creators/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SCDrecipes/

Spooky that info is awesome!How do you feel since you have been on the diet.I hope to have some relief soon!! Thanks for all the websites that helps more than you know.I hope to try some of the recipes as soon as I have a weekend that I can do nothing but cook and freeze them.My email is up above if you think of anything that may be helpful to me.Good luck in your journey!!Beth

I started the diet already feeling decent due to Humira. I decided to start SCD to try to help my severe fatigue (no major change yet), and to prepare for the day that Humira quits working for me. I'm eating healthier than I probably ever have in my life, so I'm very happy to have found the diet! I pretty much avoided eating fruits and veggies pre-SCD, but now eat them daily. My constipation issues are better as well, so that's good. My allergies are significantly better. My skin used to itch a lot, and doesn't anymore. I no longer get weird fluid filled bumps in my mouth after eating (I suspect soy or corn as the culprit, since they're in so many products). My seasonal allergies are probably about 75% improved over last year. I still have a little drainage, but not the maddening itching of the eyes, nose, and throat like I used to. I started eating local raw honey when I started the diet, so that could be part of the reason for the improvement.

At this point, I can't really imagine going back to eating the way I used to. I look at the ingredients of store bought foods, and am rather revolted by all the junk they put in things. That's not to say that I still don't get cravings, it's just easy for me to think about the taste of cake without feeling the need to actually eat it .

My diet isn't very complicated. I tend to eat similar things everyday, since I'm still not terribly energetic in terms of whipping up recipes (hopefully that will change, because I've compiled quite a few tasty ones). I always have yogurt with a little honey, and always eat a beet brownie (absolutely delicious, tastes almost like a real brownie). I've recently decided I can tolerate 2 nut butter goods a day, so have added a banana muffin. I like to eat deviled eggs or scrambled eggs (with cheddar cheese) because it's easy and filling. Butternut squash with butter is really tasty. Zucchini is pretty easy to tolerate, and isn't too bad with a little butter and Parmesan cheese (the real stuff, not the stuff in the can ). You can melt/cook cheese to make a taco shell (there's a pic at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pecanbread/photos/album/1023648989/pic/1371727839/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc). I recently found I can tolerate shrimp, hurray! I need to start eating more fish, but currently compensate by taking cod liver oil, salmon oil, and sardine/mackerel/anchovy oil.

Try not to overeat sweet stuff (honey, fruit juice (make sure to dilute it with water), sweet fruits) since it can feed yeast in the gut. And don't be afraid to eat plenty of fat. I keep track of everything I eat with a program called Fitday (you can also get a free internet based account at fitday.com) so that I know exactly how many calories I'm eating a day (I probably wouldn't eat enough if I wasn't keeping track). Also, by keeping track of the food you eat and your symptoms, you'll be able to discover if you're not tolerating something.

Good luck!

Post Edited (spookyhurst) : 3/29/2009 10:36:54 PM (GMT-6)

I've toyed around with the idea of SCD and I always appreciate these posts. I spent 2 years on liqiud smoothies, and one year gluten free (smoothie years were also almost gluten free). I've recently gone back on normal foods, but it ain't woriking for me, I'm partially obstructed as i write this.... anyway, i hope you guys keep discussing scd because i find it all very interesting. thanks.

I would like to add one comment. I just read yesterday that these diets are good at easing your symptoms, but it is important to still stay on your maintainence medications as the medications help to keep your inflammation levels down. JMHO

Wow well good luck to you all on the diet. It didn't work for me. Just crazy to me how one thing cannot work for one and then work so good for the next! Good Luck! And hope it does well. My only advice would be, GIVE IT TIME, don't just give up after 2 weeks.... Keep going...

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