RE: Day 1, so far so good, but questions abound

[Guest guest]

Hi Ellen: Congrats on starting the diet. I hope it helps you as much as it did me!!! I started this diet without D, but I am worried about C, as I normally take psyllium fibre every day, but I understand that this isn't allowed. Will psyllium be allowed eventually? I don't think that psyllium is a grain or starch, so will I be able to start taking it around the stage where I can introduce sesame seeds or other seeds? I have C now that I've started the diet. I've eaten stewed prunes since day 7 of the diet. Yesterday, I added a tsp

of magnesium citrate to see of that will help get things moving along. BTVS says about psyllium: They are loaded with cellulose and lignin which some bacteria thrive on. We accept that the cellulose in vegetables and fruit can be handled OK but a concentrated form such as husks would not be in order.If C is a problem, how soon can I start to drink very-diluted prune juice? I bought a bottle of pure organic prune juice on the weekend, just in case. Be wary, just because it has an organic label on it does not mean it doesn't have added illegals. I've found this out the hard way. I successfully added stewed prunes on day 7 and I drink the juice I cook them in. I haven't tried the juice yet.I am confused by the conflicting information I read in BTVC. For instance, eggs are not to be introduced until D stops, but eggs are part of the first days' menus. Since D isn't an issue so far,

I am assuming that I can eat all the eggs I desire. Even though it is not recommended, I lived off boiled eggs, chicken soup, gelatin, grape juice, and cooked carrots the first couple weeks on the diet until my gut was healed enough for new foods.Assuming that Day 2 is as uneventful as Day 1, can I start expanding my repertoire of cooked vegetables beyond carrots on Day 3? I am hoping to cook a lot of peeled zucchini on Day 3. Until I started trying to add new foods, my days were uneventful too. Adding new foods was hard for me because everything besides zuccini caused pain in my gut. Zuccini was the first veggie I was able to tolerate when I started expanding past the intro. I think the BTVC book says to stay intro for 3 days but it all depends on your gut; moving too fast can set you back or it did me. That's why I stayed intro for so long.My usual method

of preparing fish is to coat it with ground almonds, then saute and then bake the fish in the oven -- something I have been doing for about 12 years and not due to SCD. How long will I have to wait before using ground almonds on my fish again? Or, how long before I can coat fish with almond butter? I started the intro diet on Feb. 5 and still am not tolerating almond flour. If you look at the guidelines on introducing new foods on the pecanbread.com website, nut flours are listed in Stage 3 which is after you are able to tolerate many fruits, veggies and meats. My gut is very sensitive and I have to be really careful about the foods I eat. A girl in another group I'm a member of (on myspace) is not taking the diet slowly at all. We started on the same day. She has severe UC and started eating very advanced foods on day 3 and is not having any luck with the

diet. I've tried mentioning to her to slow it down and go back to the intro diet which she was doing great on, but she won't listen. Misty Kimble, , LA, CD, SCD - Jan 5 08 Ellen in Toronto <enginuity4rogers>

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[Guest guest]

Congrats, Ellen, on getting so well prepared and starting the diet

yesterday.

>Why do I feel hungry all the time? Is this a message from the already

>starving bacteria in my gut?

I think it could be. I felt fluish the first week or so. I sometimes

didn't eat every two hours. I now eat every two hours and it seems

to help. Maybe you're already doing that?

If you can eat several eggs in one day that's amazing to me. Eggs

affect my CNS as well as digestion. However, I'm eating them in

baking now and doing quite well. But ideally I need to rotate them.

I ate stewed prunes the second week when I got C. This week I've

tried them again. I need to be careful because they are so sweet, but

they do help me with C.

>Assuming that Day 2 is as uneventful as Day 1, can I start expanding my

>repertoire of cooked vegetables beyond carrots on Day 3? I am hoping to cook

>a lot of peeled zucchini on Day 3.

I started the zucchini on Day 1, because it is one of my best

foods.

Great going!

Louise

[Guest guest]

Thanks Louise. I hope you are figuring out how to rotate your foods and that

you are feeling better.

By the way, I noticed that you were concerned about getting organic lemon

juice because of the rule about not using juices made from concentrate. I

make my own organic lemon juice, by juicing organic lemons on a 40-year-old

electric citrus juicer, then freezing the juice in small portions in an ice

cube tray, then taking the cubes out of the tray and bagging them for

storage in the freezer. I've been making lemon juice cubes this way for

years. I thaw them in the microwave when I need them, but they can also be

thawed at room temperature if you don't like microwaves.

" Louise " wrote:

> Congrats, Ellen, on getting so well prepared and starting the diet

> yesterday.

>

>>Why do I feel hungry all the time? Is this a message from the already

>>starving bacteria in my gut?

>

> I think it could be. I felt fluish the first week or so. I sometimes

> didn't eat every two hours. I now eat every two hours and it seems

> to help. Maybe you're already doing that?

I started out from a point of weakness, almost flulike, as I did more than

my energy allows the last few weeks, in anticipation of taking this week

off. Plus I got my period on the weekend, with bad cramps. I've mostly been

resting the last few days.

Thanks for the reminder about eating every 2 hours. I'll have another bowl

of chicken soup after I send this reply.

I'm not supposed to eat anything after about 3 hours before bedtime, but I

was so hungry last night that I had a tiny piece of cheesecake just before

bed. It didn't seem to interfere with my sleep medication.

>

> If you can eat several eggs in one day that's amazing to me. Eggs

> affect my CNS as well as digestion. However, I'm eating them in

> baking now and doing quite well. But ideally I need to rotate them.

I usually don't eat eggs two days in a row, but I think it's OK just for

this week. For that matter, I usually don't repeat any food on consecutive

days, but here I am having eggs, chicken soup, cheesecake, and diluted grape

juice two days in a row.

To make the eggs, I put all the eggs into cold water, heated the pot to

boiling, covered the pot and moved it to a cold burner, and left it

" cooking " for 15 minutes, then rinsed the eggs in cold water right away --

perfect, hard-cooked eggs.

For some reason, I don't want to have scrambled eggs this week, even though

I usually prefer them scrambled.

>

> I ate stewed prunes the second week when I got C. This week I've

> tried them again. I need to be careful because they are so sweet, but

> they do help me with C.

I don't know how to make stewed prunes. My mother used to make them, but I

never thought I would want to learn how, so I never asked her about her

technique. How did you make them?

>

>>Assuming that Day 2 is as uneventful as Day 1, can I start expanding my

>>repertoire of cooked vegetables beyond carrots on Day 3? I am hoping to

>>cook

>>a lot of peeled zucchini on Day 3.

>

> I started the zucchini on Day 1, because it is one of my best

> foods.

Really? Then I should cook some today. I usually don't peel zucchini, but I

am willing to peel them for the intro diet. My usual zucchini preparation

involves slicing them, sprinkling sea salt on every slice, layering them in

a colander, and leaving them dripping to remove the bitter juices. After a

while I rinse the slices, brush them with olive oil and dried herbs, and

grill them on a Foreman grill. Are dried herbs allowed in the first

week?

>

> Great going!

>

> Louise

Thanks so much.

Ellen

SCD March 17, 2008

[Guest guest]

Hi Ellen,

Thanks for tip about making lemon juice. I'm a bit overwhelmed

still with the change in diet, so I likely won't do that for a bit;

however, maybe sometime I'll get a citrus juicer. My juice isn't

made from concentrate so it might even be legal.

I did a big thing today. I ordered Kirkman's acidophilus.

Sorry to hear that you weren't well over the weekend. I'm glad

you're resting. I've come to the conclusion I have to rest more

right now. I really think I must be going through a healing

process. Today I've been more emotional. I haven't done this

much detox for several years, so I realize I need to take super

care of myself.

>Thanks for the reminder about eating every 2 hours. I'll have another bowl

>of chicken soup after I send this reply.

I've been eating six meals a day and I've got into this kind of

routine: protein/veg; fruit/smoothie; protein/veg; maybe fruit;

protein/veg; maybe squash bread. Kinda like that. One thing

that has helped is to eat avocado and shrimp when I need a

quick snack. Seems to help my blood sugar. Of course, I know

that you have a ways to go to put more variety into your diet.

I'm still figuring it all out, and I may need to cut back. I tried

a tiny bit of goat feta cheese yesterday and I'm wondering if

it could be affecting me today.

>I usually don't eat eggs two days in a row, but I think it's OK just for

>this week. For that matter, I usually don't repeat any food on consecutive

>days, but here I am having eggs, chicken soup, cheesecake, and diluted grape

>juice two days in a row.

Yeah, when there isn't much to eat, then we do what we need

to do. :-) I didn't do any good on the diluted grape juice.

>I don't know how to make stewed prunes. My mother used to make them, but I

>never thought I would want to learn how, so I never asked her about her

>technique. How did you make them?

I just put them in a small pot with a little water and cooked them. I think

they almost came to a boil. I don't really remember. I like them with a

little nut milk. Very rich. :-)

>Really? Then I should cook some today. I usually don't peel zucchini, but I

>am willing to peel them for the intro diet. My usual zucchini preparation

>involves slicing them, sprinkling sea salt on every slice, layering them in

>a colander, and leaving them dripping to remove the bitter juices. After a

>while I rinse the slices, brush them with olive oil and dried herbs, and

>grill them on a Foreman grill. Are dried herbs allowed in the first

>week?

I peeled the zucchini during the first week. I'd have to check my diary to

see when I stopped peeling it. Your zucchini sounds good! I didn't

do very well with olive oil during the first week, but I'm trying it again

now.

I don't know about dried herbs during the first week.

Right now I'm using a little tumeric since it's supposed to be so good.

I've tried cinnamon. I'm not into a lot of herbs or spices.

hope things go well for you during the rest of the week,

Louise

scd Feb. 25, 2008