Re:Can the 80:20 rule apply to the SCD Diet?

[Guest guest]

I think the reason you aren't having problems is because you are still on medicine. Last year I had tried SCD with terrible results because I didn't follow the intro. When I went in the hospital last year for a week, they put me on prednisone and I had these terrible cravings. Also, was going crazy from it so I decided that instead of killing myself (yes, that's how I felt), that I would cheat and I had no adverse reactions while taking Prednisone. As soon as I came off Prenisone, the symptoms came back and that's when I started SCD again. I started SCD Jan 5, 08, but didn't follow the intro until February because again, I read over that in the BTVC. The day after I started the intro, I was pain free and that was awesome. No more pain meds!!!! So, with that said, I think it's really important for you to remember that you ARE on meds that reduce

inflammation and other symptoms. This diet will help you get rid of these symptoms so you can hopefully come off the meds one day. I choose to stick to the diet 100% because I want to be in control of my health and not some pharm company.

Of course, you should not come off your meds without approval of your doctor. The reason I stopped taking my meds was because my doc told me they weren't helping and I would have to start Humira or Remicaid or I would be facing surgery in a year. Well, it's almost been a year and I feel great. I still haven't been back to my doc to rub it in her face that the disease has EVERYTHING to do with diet.

Misty Kimble

CD - no meds

SCD - 10 months

[Guest guest]

Hi Oliver,

I know I am free to cheat at will on the diet –

provided I am willing to accept the consequences of doing so. For me, the

freedom I get from adhering to the diet is more than enough payoff for what I

need to sacrifice from my diet or the extra effort I must go through in food

preparation. I’ve been sick for over 20 years and no medicine,

surgery or other dietary efforts have provided the health the SCD does.

It’s gone from diet to way of life for me.

That said, I’m not perfect and about a year into the

diet, I decided to try sushi – fish is legal and white rice has been a go

to friend of mine for years. I’ve found that if I limit my intake

to once a week or less and make sure I avoid sauces or dishes that have

illegals beyond the rice and the soy sauce I eat it with, I generally suffer no

adverse consequences. If I eat it more often or expand the scope of food

beyond sushi and sashimi without additional illegals, I pay the price.

For sushi even, this price is too high!

There are probably other illegals that I might have at small

quantities that wouldn’t affect me badly. At the same time, I’m

not willing to seek them out. There’s just too many work-arounds,

substitutions and alternatives to make it worthwhile for me. As another

poster suggested, nothing tastes as good as freedom feels.

Wishing you good health and freedom,

Skonezny – SCD 6/19/07, IBD 1988

[Guest guest]

Oliver and Group,

I too must agree with the "wishful thinking". After a year without symptoms, I slowly added other foods to my strict SCD. I added them one at a time in small amounts, with a 10day period between new foods. This was at the suggestion of someone on the old long island list serve group, who suggested the 10 day wait because my symptoms were autoimmune and arthritic in nature, and I had few GI symptoms. She was close to Mrs. Gottschall, and I think they discussed it, and concluded that my symptoms were the type that are delayed more, and not noticeable so soon after ingesting the offending food. I did end up taking Asacol for a few months, after a year or so of adding foods, having never requiring meds on the strict SCD. I am now in the process of returning to the SCD strictly, due to arthritic pain. I cannot use most of the drugs and pain killers that are used for Crohn's and Crohn's Arthritis. I am praying it works as completely

as it did the first time around, I was symptom free in a matter of days that time. I will probably join Marilyn in following the SCD strictly for the rest of my life. It just hurts to badly to risk anymore ups and downs.

[Guest guest]

Can you tell me which foods affect your arthritis?

Hi , I follow SCD strictly but the only thing that relieved the arthritis pain was giving up all dairy. I felt much better after eliminating the cheese, but when I gave up the yogurt too all pain, inflammation and heat in the joints stopped within 5 days.

Ann,

Living in Italy

Undiagnosed Crohn's since 1977 Diagnosed 15 years

Sacroiliitis 25 years

Rheumatoid arthritis 25 years

Pyoderma Gangronosum 2 years

SCD since July, 2008

Meds: Tapering Prednisone for PG

To: BTVC-SCD Sent: Monday, November 24, 2008 7:16:46 PMSubject: Re:Can the 80:20 rule apply to the SCD Diet?

Hello to the person with Arthritic pain as you didn't sign your name )Can you tell me which foods affect your arthritis? My sister is suffering from this but she's not on the diet. I just want to help her avoid the foods that affect arthritis more than others.Thanks for your help,GERDS and chronic CSCD 8 months>> Oliver and Group,I am now in the process of returning to the SCD strictly, due to arthritic pain.

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

Thanks very much for your thoughts and personal experiences re the

80:20 rule. It seems that for the most part, those who have strayed

more often than not experience difficulty. There is also the

argument that the cycle cannot truly be broken if you do allow any

illegal foods in to the diet. I will take these learnings on board.

For me then it becomes about motivation. It seems that those of you

with the greatest conviction towards maintaining the diet in its

strictest form are those who have had negative personal experience

after straying. This is classic behavioural therapy. Arguably, it is

perhaps easier this way as it becomes a simple choice between the

return of unpleasant symptoms and the food you choose to eat - no

choice at all right? If, this isn't the case, i.e. you can seemingly

eat illegal food without repercussion then it becomes more about

strength of will which I would argue is more difficult to maintain.

That said, reading your postings, its just a matter of time before

the illegals start to gather momentum and you're back to where you

started so for now I am going to take your learnings on board and

pledge 100% and see where it takes me.

Thinking to the future I have one final question to those

experienced SCDs of two years or more - have you had any success re-

introducing illegal foods or would you rather not attempt it anymore?

Many thanks,

Oliver

[Guest guest]

Exactly, I feel like my symptoms returned after several years of a

building effect. I was strict from fall od 2002 to the fall of 2004,

and intro'd new foods fine. Now, I know this is the way-for me anyway.

[Guest guest]

,

I too agree that Dairy is the worst for Arthritis pain. I speak to

many people in my business who have had the same experence. Other than

that, I can't be of much help, as I have decided strict SCD is the way

for me.

I did however, use very little dairy and supplement with probiotics,

when I was strict SCD for 2 years, and pain free.

Salazar(aka Margie11)

[Guest guest]

At 05:09 AM 11/25/2008, you wrote:

Thinking to the future I have

one final question to those experienced SCDs of two years or more - have

you had any success re-

introducing illegal foods or would you rather not attempt it

anymore?

As I noted, I don't consider myself fully healed yet. However, my niece

was strict SCD for about two years, then was able to reintroduce potatoes

(maybe once a week) and rice pasta (also once in awhile). She cannot

touch corn or wheat at all. The lady who was my mentor on SCD went

from a gut which her doctor described as looking like bloody lace to no

lesions at all was even able to reintroduce wheat breads.

It's a very individual thing. In some cases, it appears to depend on your

age when you find SCD (I was 49) and how strict you are with the diet. (I

made darn near every mistake it was possible to make and paid the prices,

hence my insistence on fanatical adherence at this point in my

implementation of the diet.)

SCD works. And once you understand the science behind the diet, you

understand that it's not a matter of cheating with no repercussions, it's

a matter of repercussions that we don't, at the time,

perceive.

—

Marilyn

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001

Darn Good SCD Cook

No Human Children

Shadow & Sunny Longhair Dachshund

[Guest guest]

At 10:50 AM 11/25/2008, you wrote:

I too agree that Dairy is the

worst for Arthritis pain. I speak to many people in my business who have

had the same experence. Other than that, I can't be of much help, as I

have decided strict SCD is the way for me. I did however, use very little

dairy and supplement with probiotics, when I was strict SCD for 2 years,

and pain free.

,

Just for curiosity's sake, was this COW dairy? 2002-2004 was when the

connection between autism and SCD as a biomedical intervention was just

beginning to be known. ASD kids don't generally tolerate cow dairy, even

properly SCD-prepared cow dairy, but can, in most instances, tolerate

goat or sheep SCD dairy.

I know of at least one person who thought she was tolerating SCD cow

dairy, but then experienced a change when she switched to goat dairy.

Mind you, if you're happy doing a dairy-free SCD, and it works for you,

go for it. I was merely curious.

—

Marilyn

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001

Darn Good SCD Cook

No Human Children

Shadow & Sunny Longhair Dachshund

[Guest guest]

Just wanted to mention that there are a few of us strange ones

who turn out to be sensitive to goat cheese way more than cows cheese.

I and my two daughters are three of them. I had never really had it

before but was able to determine through provocation/neutralization

and through personal experience of symptoms that I am More sensitive

to the goat form than the cow form.

SO just adding a " YMMV " to Marilyn's question. Michele

> ,

>

> Just for curiosity's sake, was this COW dairy?

>

[Guest guest]

At 01:49 PM 11/25/2008, you wrote:

Just wanted to mention that

there are a few of us strange ones who turn out to be sensitive to goat

cheese way more than cows cheese.

Every time some one complains that Elaine didn't spell things out

precisely, I come across something like this, and have to laugh. She was

so wise to give us a compass and a sextant, and not a detailed map! We

are all so very different! The hills and valleys I travel may not be the

ones anyone else must travel on their journey to health!

It can also be an issue of whether the milch animals are pastured or

grain fed!

—

Marilyn

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001

Darn Good SCD Cook

No Human Children

Shadow & Sunny Longhair Dachshund

[Guest guest]

Hi Oliver,My husband has CD. When we started the diet, he was in really bad shape. He was constantly in a flare, he had a fistula from his intestine to his bladder, he was having bad reactions to the drugs they were giving him...things weren't good. The diet cleared it all up. He had been symptom free for about 2 years when we tried it. He was ok for a while but ended up in a huge flare and spent nearly a week in the hospital. It was then that we decided that this is it for him. Getting that sick over eating "regular" food just isn't worth it. In time, you will get use to it, cravings will disappear and it won't be difficult to stick to. I don't even have digestive issues and I stick to the diet 100% with him. It doesn't bother me in the least when the people I work with eat donuts, burgers,

fries, etc. It doesn't bother me to sit at a table full of people eating cake and ice cream. I don't sit there wishing I could have some too. It truly doesn't bother me.Best wishes,Kim H.husband, , CD 1999SCD 2002

Thinking to the future I have one final question to those

experienced SCDs of two years or more - have you had any success re-

introducing illegal foods or would you rather not attempt it anymore?

Many thanks,

Oliver

[Guest guest]

I've been readhing this thread with interest, because I've been 100%

SCD for almost 1-1/2 years, med-free for for 5 months, and symptom-free

(depending on how you define it) for around a year. I wonder what my

future holds. I agree with Kim that being 100% SCD has really changed

my life. My digestive system is so much more reliable, predictable, and

free of the unpleasantness I've had all my life (before I even knew

what UC was). The food is great, I've become a good cook, and I really

don't miss the illegals. It doesn't bother me being around people

eating all the " old " foods. But I do wish I could include some things

that I really used to love, like sushi, tacos/Mexican, and the

occasional chocolate. I don't obsess over not being able to eat those

foods and have created passable substitutions for many things, but I

still harbor hope that I might be able to include some of those things

at least occasionally at some point.

I am just now in the process of trying a slow-fermented sourdough bread

after reading a link posted here. The logic makes sense, that the

sourdough starter ferments the sugars and gluten in the flour, thus

making the bread more digestible. I ate two small pieces yesterday,

will eat two more today, and then wait at least a week to see if I have

a reaction. It was very good, but I was honestly surprised that it

wasn't quite as delightful as I had anticipated. I really like the

foods I eat on SCD.

And Oliver, to echo the comments posted by others - I think it's

probably true that your meds are masking your symptoms. I think if you

try the intro diet, you may be surprised at the drastic change you will

see in your system. The changes in my system were very noticable right

away and I was on meds (sulfasalazine/azulfidine), although not

steriods. You may need a combination of SCD and weaning your meds

(working with your doctor, of course) before you'll start to experience

the cause and effect. I have been able to see effects pretty quickly

after ingesting illegals accidentally or eating too advanced of foods

during my whole time on SCD. They weren't necessarily debilitating, but

enough to show me the cause and effect. That helps build the willpower

part.

Kathy

UC since 12/05

SCD since 7/07

med-free since 7/08

>

I don't sit there wishing I could have some too. It truly doesn't

bother me.

> Best wishes,

> Kim H.

> husband, , CD 1999

> SCD 2002

>