very general SCD questions....

OK everyone, you know things must be getting desperate for me to even post on this topic! While replying to that "bleeding" post, it dawned on me that this is one change I have not even attempted. I think it's time- while my meds are doing *something*, I still have daily symptoms that are nearly incapacitating at times, & the chronic anemia is most definitely taking a toll. Soooo.... I have requested Breaking the Vicious Cycle from my library, & will give it a go. I know the "legal" foods are a bit.... weird.... SO- where the heck do I buy these products, nut flours, etc? And does one use regular milk to make the yogurt? Any general advice would be helpful- I don't know if I can do it (as I steal Easter candy from the stash in my closet...) but figure it's worth a shot. Also- how does one manage to feed a family & work while doing SCD? Isn't it incredibly time consuming to prep 2 separate meals 3x a day???

sine i am eating mostly raw veggies & coocked meat the only thing we share in the family is the meat. wich is done the SCD way. then my wife and my daughter add what they need on that meet.

regarding youghurt - i do not use it because it gives me flare. it seems it depends on the starter (the kind of bacteria you add to make the homemade youghurt) if it gives good results or not. i gave up after a month of trying.

nut flour - well, you can make it yourself at home. buy the almonds and simply grind them.

SCD is a hard diet to do. I have found that i can handle verry few foods considered legal on SCD. But i am ok with this because if i stick to my list i have no UC problems at all.
you will need patience and perseverance if you want to have results. this is a trial and error diet at least 6 months from where you start it.

good luck.

i've forgot to add,
my wife stared to like the scd as well, she found it more suited to her needs than the standard diet. she feels more active and healthy on it even if she does not have any problems. it became more like a habbit in our house.

Good luck with your SCD try. Don't expect "Breaking the Vicious Circle" to rock your world. Elaine Gottschall is a genius for creating the diet but her writing abilities are less expert (may she RIP). All the information is available on the internet on various sites including breakingtheviciouscycle.info.

I just had dinner out with friends who are non-UC but have started a "Non-Inflammation" diet for her arthritis that is extremely similar. SCD is similar to many diets that remove carbs, starches and sugars, all of which are converted to sugars in our digestive system and cause problems.

The list of Allowed/Non-Allowed foods is on the website.
My colon was so cranky that even all the "allowed" foods were/are not possible for me. But I still eat lots daily and have a healthy diet and in remission at long last.

Be careful diving into all the almond flour if you have trouble with fiber. Start slow.
Be careful with the yogurt, also an issue with my gut.
SCD is the reason I am in remission but I don't follow it like the Bible. However the only thing I take that they have as "Non-allowed" is VSL#3.
You can eat fewer foods than SCD allows but you can't eat foods on the Illegal list if you want to give it a fair shake.

Almond flour can be found in every health food store. Not cheap but you shouldn't be consuming pounds of it anyway.

Easter and candy sounds like it will be a challenge for you. It will pass.
It's not an overnight miracle...but it was a miracle for me.

Of course in the light of day I'm having 2nd thoughts- after reading about a million reviews, it seems as if most people have found that the SCD general guidelines help the most- low carb, no sugars, no gluten, etc. I'm thinking my homemade kefir would still be ok, I use agave nectar in it. I don't know... maybe a gluten free approach would help too? I don't eat much meat, I don't like it & I find it hard to digest. I always have, it's never been a meal preference for me. So god knows what I'll eat. Peanut butter is fine, right??? No sugar added. What about jellies or jams? I basically make everything homemade anyways, so a lot of cooking isn't a problem- it's time management! I hope to find a website with a list SCD alternate/legal food readily available!

thanks- that's basically what I plan to do, quit gluten ASAP (I just did a giant grocery shopping trip....), cut way down on added/processed sugars, & limit dairy. But I like yogurt a lot, & eat it fine- I also think the lactose in yogurt has been mostly digested by the enzymes, so it's generally a safe bet for lactose intolerant people. The thing that irks me already about SCD is that there is no explanation- why is honey allowed but agave nectar isn't??? I'd think agave nectar would be even better than honey, as it's really low on the glycemic index. I'm still trying to figure out the jam/jelly issue- no sugar added ok? But most of those contain sucralose, etc. Yuk.

Eva Lou said...
The thing that irks me already about SCD is that there is no explanation- why is honey allowed but agave nectar isn't???

There is an explanation. Read Elaine's book again. It's all about the type of sugar molecules (monosaccharides vs disaccharides) found in the food.