<<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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