<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
I had asked about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) - in
particular how to handle SCD approved foods that one seems to have a
non allergic reaction to and whether to continue taking enzymes and
probiotics. As usual, you all came through with lots of good
information.
For those not familiar with the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, it
essentially eliminates all grains, most starches, and anything
containing sucrose or lactose in any form. The only exception for
the lactose is homemade yoghurt. The theory behind SCD (in a
nutshell) is that bad bacteria in your guts feast on certain foods
and if you eliminate those foods, healthy bacteria can grow and you
can recover.
In response to my primary questions:
(1) All agreed that one should continue to avoid foods that one
reacts to during the SCD, even if they are SCD approved. You can try
introducing them in small quantities after a while on the diet if the
diet has helped and one's system is calmed down.
(2) All agreed that one should continue to take enzymes and
probiotics during SCD.
Other Responses are summarized below because so many of us benefit
from the stories and experiences of others. (I am giving folks a
letter instead of a name to protect privacy):
A was considering doing the SCD diet didn't when she discovered that
her problems were caused by not being careful enough about avoiding
gluten. She suggested cutting out all processed foods for a month
and see what happens.
B advised against putting a child on the SCD diet because it will
limit the nutrients needed for growth. She said her physician put
her on Dicyclomine to stop spasms in the intestinal tract and began a
regime of soft foods (sugarfree applesauce, jello, chicken broth,
soft boiled egg, cream of rice cereal). After 3 days she began
introducing additional foods.
C said that she was on the SCD diet as a child for 6 years but
cheated because it was so restrictive. She said it was expensive
because of the nut flours and difficult to get a balanced diet. She
suggested reintroducing small quantities of the SCD approved foods
that our daughter has problems with after a few months on the diet.
D said she had similar symptoms to those I listed and in addition had
reactive hypoglycemia and would pass out. She is now eating a
modified Atkins diet and feeling much better.
E suggested IgA testing at Enterolabs ( http://www.enterolab.com )
and not to trust the IgE tests.
F thought that the SCD was illogical because it allows fruit with
fructose but aggressively denies ingestion of even small quantities
of fructose or lactose. It also relies heavily on foods that many
people have problems with (dairy and eggs). She takes two
supplements that make a big difference for her: Primal Defense (a
probiotic by Garden of Life, Inc.) and Candizyme (for managing
candida - has many enzymes in it that are supposed to digest the
candida cell walls. She has also successfully used Candex by Pure
Essence Labs.
G said her kids have similar symptoms and food sensitivities and have
not been diagnosed, but thought it might be Eosinophilic Esophagitis.
H said she hasn't had experience with SCD but has had reflux, nausea,
and other complaints. She eliminated her nausea and acid reflux by
eliminating potential problem foods one at a time. She was
ultimately diagnosed as having no stomach acid and being
malnourished. She has very specific reactions (from emotional to
physical) to different problem foods. She said she thinks that what
she thought originally was acid reflux was really an inflamed
esophagus/esophageal sphincter and an overgrowth of pathogenic micro-
organisms caused a leaky gut resulting in many food reactions. Since
August she has been on a quadruple dose of the antifungal Sporanox.
This infection wasn’t picked up by any lab test or muscle testing and
she only found it because she insisted she had a fungal infection.
This fungal infection is still not being picked up by standard or
alternative methods of diagnosis, yet there has been noticeable
difference in her health since beginning this medicine. She provided
a word file about Leaky Gut Syndrome from Clark's Pharmacy which I
can forward to whomever is interested.
J is on the SCD but has to avoid some of the SCD approved foods. She
suggested small meals, and chopping and liquifying foods. She takes
Culterelle every day. She suggested checking for slow stomach
emptying (gastroparesis), a capsule test, ruling out other autoimmune
and rare diseases, and a bacterial overgrowth breath test.
K said she is on a modified SCD diet, and it is her opinion that
almost all GF grains are cross contaminated. She eats a few grain
products: Lundberg Rice Chips, Mission Brand White Corn Tortillas,
enerG tapioca flour & the sorghum flour, and rice which she washes
before she cooks it. She suggested testing through Enterolab.com,
because many persons with DQ1 have food allergies. She recommends
against Bora Bora bars, and any Bob's Red Mill products not labeled
as gluten free. She is also concerned that she reacts to some Bob's
Red Mill products that are labeled as gluten free, and is trying
other brands to see if it is a problem with the product or with cross
contamination of some kind.
M said she didn't think that enzymes and probiotics always help and
suggested doing an elimination diet.
N has a daughter (6) who tested positive via IgG for egg whites, egg
yokes, casein, soy and peanuts. These foods caused her tummy aches,
headaches, and a turbo charged nervous system. She is improved when
not eating them. She eats some soy in margarine because she can't
tolerate dairy. N also noted that casein creates a morphine like
peptide which may be related to the headaches. It seems that many
people who are gluten intolerant also are casein intolerant. I'm not
sure if it is because they both create this morphine-like peptide but
it makes sense.
O suggested eliminating all foods except lean meat, fish and
chicken, fresh vegetables and fruits with each morning having
strawberries, blueberries and raspberries with her breakfast,
consuming protein first think in the morning as Canadian bacon,
sausage, ham; eating a handful of almonds each day (this is an
excellent choice for reflux and nausea), and drinking 1/2 the amount
of her body weight in water. After 6 weeks add dairy and other foods
and see how well she tolerates them; and keep a food diary on how
each food makes her feel. One food should be added every fourth day,
to give her a chance to react to each. Papaya helps ease digestion
from a protein rich meal. Parsley stimulates digestion and relieves
flatulence. Pineapple is effective following a hot spicy meal.
Kiwifruit assists digestion and keeps things moving.
She suggested testing for Addison's disease and thyroid disease, and
thought we might contact Danna Korn and see if she might have some
ideas.
P was desparately ill for a couple years after starting the GF diet,
too. Her GI specialist sent her to a naturopath who put her on the
SCD. She was allergic to dairy, egg, bean, banana, almonds, etc. --
all the staples of the SCD. She had a very difficult time finding
enough food to keep her alive. She lived on homemade chicken soup &
applesauce for what seemed an eternity. Her naturopath put her on
Thorne Bio-Gest, a high quality enzyme & digestive aid formula. It
burned her guts out at first. Other products helped her to tolerate
Thorne Bio-Gest: HeartBurn Free by Enzymatic Therapy & DGL lozenges
were very helpful. It took time, but she gradually improved. After
a while, she could tolerate small amounts of goat milk kefir. This
was a very important & pivotal part of her recovery. Even now, she
still has some intolerance to all dairy, but can't do w/o yogurt or
kefir without developing horrid yeast infections. Commercially
prepared "probiotic" capsules & such don't work as effectively as
real yogurt & kefir do. She now eats brown rice, corn, potatoes w/
no ill effects. The major problem for that caused her serious
illness was two fold: lack of stomach acid/digestive enzymes and
overgrowth of candida & bad bacteria. She suggested seeing if our
daughter will tolerate a teaspoon of goat yogurt or kefir a day or
tiny amounts of DanActive available in the dairy case of regular
grocery stores. A teaspoon a day or even every other day, may be
the best way to start.
Internet resources to check out:
http://www.scdiet.org/5community/SCDLI.html
Healing Crow -- http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/HealingCrow/
www.paleodiet.com
www.paleofoods.com
www.austinscdfriends.com
Jackie in AZ
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