How do I start SCD?

Willpower.
:)

Hi Gwynne,
As Suebear and Fruitgirl said, yes it'll take a lot of time and cooking and worse cleaning up! Our kitchen was a perpetual disaster site. If you do organic, it's also very pricey. You don't have to have a yogurt maker but it's a wise investment. You'll be enough of a pioneer mom anyway, use the help that modern appliances can give you! My husband works very flexible hours and I stay home and we were both cooking/cleaning it seemed like all of the time but the food was good. I don't know how people do it in an oven/hotplate/dehydrator by it can apparently be done. Get the book that Sue mentioned. It's essential. Then there's tons of web support if you want/need it. As a mom, I would do anything for my kid to be spared these meds and their side effects. If something as simple as a diet will work, then I am all for it. But I would avoid certain foods not listed in the intro if I were you and then build up slowly. If it were me with UC I might just go the med route, but I can't expose my child to that without trying everything else out there, within reason and the scd is a healthy diet. There's been a lot of talk about the SCD on dragonpack recently. Some of those kids have been through horrific side effects with drugs, hair loss, osteomalitis, multiple hospitalizations and are now thriving on the SCD. I prefer to start with the least dangerous treatment and then move up from there. You'll have to go slow with introducing foods probably, and there may be ups and downs but you'll know if it's working relatively soon I think. Email me if you need any more info.

Post Edited (killcolitis) : 3/16/2010 3:57:06 PM (GMT-6)

hi!

not one person posted an adequate answer here, really!

you need to start with the introduction diet. There is a great site with all the phases of the diet.
Its a little general, but should help you.

But, to start you out: The first, intro phase, should start with chicken broth with absolutely nothing added, just organic chicken broth, and salt, and perhaps some verrrrrrrry cooked and pureed carrot.

in addition, you could have ground lean meat patties.

This basically lasts 2-5 days, but no more than 5 days max. You should notice symptoms improve.

If after 2 or 3 days improvement in symptoms have occurred, add an apple or pear BUT keep in mind that throughout the initial phases, the fruit must be peeled, cored, cooked, and turned into compote.

Than basically, little by little, say by 2 intervals, you add one legal food at a time...including
the yogurt, because it seems that the yogurt doesn't work for some. This way, you know which food works or doesnt work for you....there are some legal probiotics on-line that I've managed to find in the UK, but unfortunately I can't swear by them, because I generally feel better without them. Perhaps I should try another brand. Some say you should just take acidophilus. But again beware of fillers, and FOS.

Its a difficult diet, but pretty soon you'll find that are some very satisfying SCD legal foods.
Try blending frozen, ripe bananas instead of ice cream...even add walnuts...
this is a little advanced, so definately wait a couple of weeks.

I hate this stupid disease, but we have to fight.

SO I'm in Vienna right now....couldn't see the Philharmoniker! what a disappointment! But the City is amazing! Its is harder than ever to find SCD legal food though! Took me 4 hours to find a bio-supermarket, and the prices are just way over the top....15 euros for a jar of cashew butter for example!

Good luck!

Good luck with your SCDiet. I would suggest buying the book "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" by Elaine Gottschall.
It's an elimination diet as stated above and requires strong will to really pay attention to everything you eat to determine exactly what is causing you problems. They do not suggest stopping meds (in case you are tempted.)

I am one of those people who can't eat the yogurt or any of the fruit except tart fruit like blueberries. So my SCDiet is more restrictive.

I don't find it expensive but yes it does take prep time. It is more like the Paleo Diet which emphasizes meat and non-starch veggies plus nuts. My husband (non-UC) loves the dinners we eat. It's a challenge to go grocery shopping unless you have a list for recipes you're planning because 80% of the grocery store is not "legal" (SCD term).

Google "Specific Carbohydrate Diet legal illegal food" to get an idea. But also get the book and do the diet as they suggest with the intro to settle the stomach and then add foods in one by one. It's a healthy diet but it does take willpower to do it.

My willpower came from hating how depressing my life was and I would do anything to get better. The diet didn't work the first time I tried it but perhaps I did not pay enough attention to what foods my body was reacting to. Everyone is different but I think my food intolerances are more severe than most people.

I am soooo much healthier now, colon-wise and body-wise. Soooo much more energy and I can leave the house without 100% worry about accidents. That is worth the obsessive meal-planning.

This morning I had a spinach omelet. For lunch I'll have either tuna fish (no bread) or deli chicken lunchmeat. For dinner it's hamburger/meatballs (no sauce) or fish/shrimp plus a non-starch vegetable like carrots or cauliflour. It's a lot like Atkins/South Beach diet.
But no cheating with bread/grains/potatoes (which have starch).

I'm a big dessert monger and that's where a lot of my prep cooking comes in but it's pretty easy once you get a 5 lb. bag of almond flour in the house (honeyville.com). Yesterday I made banana muffins (no banana just flavoring) and Pumpkin Pie is legal too. Peanut butter is legal after a week or two on the diet and is good for snacks too. I put it on celery with a couple raisins (advanced-not right away).

Drink lots of water-helps keep your system moving. I also used Miralax to help with the change in diet. Best of luck.

Denise

P.S. Don't do the diet halfway and fail. Give it 100% concentration for 4 weeks and adherence to guidelines PLUS keep a food journal. You may not be able to eat foods they call "legal". After 4 weeks you'll know if food is part of your problem.
Don't think you'll have to give up all the "illegal" foods the rest of your life, that is too overwhelming.

Take it "One Day At A Time". The rewards could change your life.

You don't need a yogurt maker, but you really DO need the book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle. I'd recommend reading through it a couple of times with a highlighter before you even try to start the diet. There's alot of info to absorb and it won't do much good to do the diet incorrectly.

I found the diet doesn't have to include alot of work - cooking and clean up - if you can learn to eat simply. I'm another that couldn't tolerate the yogurt and couldn't find the dry curd cottage cheese and alot of the recipes depend on one or both. So, I learned to eat scrambled egs and omlettes, easy grilled organic meats, steamed or boiled veggies, baked fruits, organic applesauce, etc. None of these things are difficult to make, but this style of eating is certainly a huge change for most of us and may be difficult to maintain.