HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Recently diagnosed. Thinking of trying SCD.

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 3/10/2011 2:18 AM (GMT 0)
I found out I have colitis a few weeks ago. My blood tests came back negative for both Crohn's and UC, however the Dr. said that the pattern of inflammation was most common with mild UC. I rarely have diarrhea but do have more frequent movements up to 5 times a day. I haven't had a day where I've gone that much in a couple of months and am figuring out what sets me off.
I find that eating gluten-sugar free will usually reduce my movements to once or twice a day. I want to try the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (Breaking the Vicious Cycle) however it seems like it relies heavily on almonds and almond flour. I tried introducing small amounts of almond flour in my diet and it seems to irritate my system. Has anyone else tried this diet and had this problem?
Posted 3/10/2011 2:34 AM (GMT 0)
Hi and welcome to the forum!
Sorry about the IBD diagnosis; it's a difficult thing to live with..... but here we all do!
5 times a day is indeed fairly mild, but still, you are right about wanting to do better.
We with UC seem to respond to different things; and it's wonderful you've already found that diet can help your symptoms! A food journal is really helpful.
Imagardner2 has a lot of experience with the SCD and I believe she found that her most helpful diet was actually more strict than the SCD - I hope she responds!
Posted 3/10/2011 3:24 AM (GMT 0)
Some people do have trouble wih the almonds, but keep in mind also that if you start the SCD, you really should start with the intro diet, which involves only very soft and easy foods (eggs, broth, cooked veggies).  This allows some time for your gut to heal and then you start adding other more complex/diffilcult foods later on. 

You can also live perfectly well without the almonds, though if you can tolerate it, almond meal makes awesome baked goods!

 

Posted 3/10/2011 3:31 AM (GMT 0)
What blood tests did you have? UC is usually diagnosed with a biopsy.

I tried SCD diet when I was in a severe flare and it didn't help me but it helps many. Maybe I was too far gone or maybe I should have persisted with the diet longer? I maay give it a shot again in the future.
Posted 3/10/2011 5:07 AM (GMT 0)
There are no blood tests for UC or CD...and biopsies aren't definitive for diagnosis, but that it isn't anything else other than conducive to UC (or CD).

Welcome to the forum.

I haven't tried the SCD, but there are countless posts on the topic.

q
Posted 3/10/2011 6:38 AM (GMT 0)
I questioned the blood tests as to how they could diagnose UC or Crohn's. I guess with UC since it's an autoimmune condition that there would be elevated levels of white blood cells. Not sure about Crohn's though.

I'm glad I found this forum, it's always nice to have support of people who are in a similar situation. :-)
Posted 3/10/2011 11:52 AM (GMT 0)
not necesarrily. i have UC and AS and my blood tests are normal even if i flare from one or both of them.

But a high SED rate can be correlated with the intensity of this disease.
Posted 3/10/2011 12:46 PM (GMT 0)
If almonds bother you don't eat them, that theory is how I run my SCDiet. :-)
I had trouble with almonds and almond flour in the beginning. Later I found a thread that said that soaking almonds then baking them helped digestion and I found that to be very true. Earlier I also de-skinned almonds with boiling hot water, less fiber to deal with. However nuts have a lot of fiber which can be difficult on a wounded gut so if you find difficulty there just avoid them. Different strokes, etc. Have you tried pecans? Soaking and baking them is FABulous and pecan flour is in my grocery store which I mix with almond flour for baking.

5 times a day seems like a lot to me even if you don't have blood or D. I think you are right to try and head off any worse symptoms by going gluten/sugar free. Your colon is not holding and processing nutrients well so you know something's not right.

Even though SCD has give me my life back it is not a cure, rather a control of symptoms. But I know the diet has lowered inflammation and for me eliminated D and blood and urgency.

P.S. Look around your diet for other causes of gut stimulation. You might remove caffeine and other causes.
Posted 3/10/2011 12:59 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, the nut flour and peanut butter are advanced foods. They may cause irritation in the beginning if the colon isn't healed. I have no problem with nut flours but have tons of problems with peanut butter. I hope that changes because I love PB. Stick with Stage 1 and Stage 2 foods at the moment. You can find this list on pecanbread.com.
Posted 3/10/2011 2:39 PM (GMT 0)
I'm on the SCD and don't eat nut flours. I eat a lot of soups, cheese, fruit, eggs, cooked veggies and roasted / grilled meats and fish. I also have the homemade yogurt with honey.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply