Re: SCD, Candida, Pregnancy, & lots of other questions

[Guest guest]

Hi GLJ. I can't answer most of your questions, unfortunately, particularly

the ones about pregnancy. I'm nowhere near an SCD expert, having been on the

diet only for 9-1/2 months.

What do you mean by " homemade, raw cow's milk yogurt " which is how you

described the yogurt you made? Do you cook the milk, stirring frequently or

constantly, to a high enough temperature to kill off all the undesirable

bacteria in the milk, then cool the milk down prior to mixing in the

(SCD-legal) yogurt culture and then fermenting it? If not, your yogurt

contains undesirable strains of bacteria, which won't help your healing.

When my husband and I make yogurt, we go to great effort to kill off any

latent micro-organisms in the milk, including heating the milk to near

boiling (90 C) and keeping it there for 2 minutes. We also sterilize all the

utensils we use (stem of Yogourmet thermometer; stirring spoon; strainer for

straining solids out of milk as it is poured into the jar after it has both

been heated and then cooled back down to 25 C; measuring cup for scooping

cooled milk, and the whisk for mixing the milk with the freeze-dried

Yogourmet Lyosan culture) by soaking them in boiling water for several

minutes before starting to heat the milk. We may be going overboard, but the

resulting yogurt is definitely healing me.

If you make the yogurt correctly, and if you ferment it at least 24 hours,

the bacteria will convert all the lactose to lactic acid (and galactose? --

somebody who understands the chemistry can explain this better). As a

result, there is no, or virtually no, lactose in the " whey " that is dripped

out of the yogurt.

I tend to drip the yogurt only when I get near the bottom of each jar, then

use the dripped yogurt in making cheesecake (recipe in BTVC book), although

I also drip yogurt when I want something analogous to cream cheese. Some

people add salt to their dripped yogurt to get a closer approximation to the

taste of true cream cheese, but I like the dripped yogurt without salt.

Recently, there has been some discussion of recipes for making dry curd

cottage cheese. If you search the list archives at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BTVC-SCD/

you may be able to find those messages and decide whether you want to make

it yourself. I am fortunate to live near several stores that sell Western

Pressed Dry Cottage Cheese (a Canadian product), so I am not motivated to

learn how to make this cheese at home.

By the way, you wrote that you don't eat nuts, but you didn't explain why.

Are you allergic to them? I do eat nuts, and I find them helpful in

substituting for grains in baked goods, and as snacks. I have recently

learned how to " roast " raw nuts in my slow cooker (Crock Pot), so that I

don't have to buy roasted nuts that might contain non-SCD ingredients.

Hope this helps.

Ellen in Toronto, Canada

SCD since 2008-March-17

" wapfglj " wrote: BTVC-SCD > Tuesday, December 30, 2008 5:10

PM

> Hi,

>

> I'm new to following SCD & heard about it at the WAPF Conferences the

> last 2 years. I decided to try it recently due to bloating,

> malabsorption (ND diagnosed), & Candida issues. I went gluten-free Dec

> 1, then changed Dec 15 to the SCD & Candida regimen (grain-free,

> sugar-free - including fruits, lactose-free - except homemade, raw

> cow's milk yogurt & legal cheeses, & nut-free). It's early but I do

> see improvements on my foot & with my digestion.

>

....

> When I drip our yogurt, I find that ours is about 55% whey. Whey is a

> source of calcium, but also lactose, which is illegal. How is it that

> yogurt is legal? We do enjoy the yogurt cheese! What is the

> difference between raw milk yogurt cheese, cream cheese, & creme

> fraiche? All the recipes have nearly, if not entirely, identical

> ingredients & methods. What is half & half? Is it possible to make

> farmer's cheese, hoop cheese, or dry curd cottage cheese from raw milk

> at home?

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for your response, Ellen!

Here's my procedure for making homemade raw cow's milk yogurt:

Set the yogurt out, so that it warms up a bit. Heat 1/2 gallon raw

(unpasteurized & unhomogenized) cow's milk to 110 F. Slowly &

gradually add the warm milk to some yogurt in a bowl. Gently stir.

When the yogurt mixture is close in temperature to the milk

temperature, add it to the milk, then pour into mason jars. I use

quart size & leave some space for expansion. Put lids on jars, then

place in oven with light on. The temperature stays at 103 F & I leave

it to ferment for 24-34 hours. Never stir the fermenting yogurt &

always be gentle with it. At the end, put it in the fridge until cold,

then enjoy or make yogurt cheese!

I've learned that when I rush through the procedure, almost inevitably

the yogurt " curdles " & begins to separate into cheese & whey early

(before 24 hrs), probably due to the milk being so much warmer than

the cold yogurt. I refrigerate it, then strain it, & it still tastes

like & has the consistency of yogurt cheese. I really don't know what

the difference is.

I'm still relatively new to making yogurt. I suppose the next time I

make it, I may set the yogurt & milk out overnight so that it warms to

room temperature before using. Also, I may heat the raw milk to 110 F,

then leave to cool to room temperature before mixing with the yogurt,

as you suggested. Good idea!

Another member sent me a lot of useful info regarding making SCD

yogurt. I will compare the methods to see what the differences are.

The reason for heating raw milk to 110 F is to retain the live

properties of raw milk. Heating to 120 F pasteurizes the raw milk,

thus killing beneficial bacteria & enzymes. The recipe for making

yogurt using pasteurized & homogenized milk says to heat it to 180 F,

then cool. We use the Nourishing Traditions cookbook as our guide.

I didn't realize that the whey dripped from the yogurt may not contain

lactose. That's good news! I may not need to drip so much of it after

all = D We shared our yogurt cheese with family recently & I got a

request to make sweet potato cheesecake with it! Well, I could make

it, but I couldn't eat it, which is not a problem, or I could make

something similar that's SCD legal.

Thanks for letting me know of the recent topic on making DCCC! We love

learning to make all our foods from scratch = D

As for the nuts, no allergies. In fact, I love them! The Candida

elimination diet in the files says to avoid or limit your intake. I

look forward to incorporating them into my diet again.

GLJ

[Guest guest]

At 01:06 AM 12/31/2008, you wrote:

Here's my procedure for making

homemade raw cow's milk yogurt:

This procedure is fine if you are moving to raw milk after significant

healing. I am very much in favor of raw milk and its properties. However,

the so-called " beneficial bacteria " in raw milk are not ones

which Elaine recommended, and she was adamant that for SCD yogurt, the

milk MUST be pasturized.

Unfortunately, the very bacteria which make raw milk so healthy for

people with normal guts, and which can improve their health, are not

appropriate in the early stages of healing.

—

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]

Thanks! I will try the scd version of making yogurt tomorrow. I don't

seem to have a problem with my current yogurt but will try the SCD

yogurt to see if there's a difference - anything to speed recovery! I

am thinking that tonight I will heat the raw milk to 180 F, boil for 2

min, remove from heat & leave to cool to room temperature. Then

tomorrow afternoon (earliest possible time) I will add the yogurt

culture to it, put it in jars, then in the oven with light on (103 F)

for 24-34 hours. Do you foresee a problem with leaving pasteurized

milk to cool to room temp for that long? It is our experience with

cooling sweet tea for kombucha that it takes that long to cool. Is

kombucha legal? It's not listed in any scd legal/illegal list that

I've seen. I've come across websites that advocate kombucha for

candida issues. We're new to making kombucha (2 batches).

As an update, I increased my intake of legal cheeses in order to get

more calcium & I'm happy to say that my heel doesn't hurt anymore = D

Also, I think the transition from greenzone (more or less a whole

foods multi-vitamin with illegals) to organic wheat grass, plus going

a long time in between a meal to two this past weekend due to other

things going on, contributed to my 24-36 hr constipation. All is well

now. Since I discovered that wheat grass is an illegal, I have stopped

using this daily & will reserve it for when we don't have access to

fresh greens.

http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/knowledge_base/kb/primal_defense.htm

Fortunately, we can get collards, turnip greens, & radish greens from

our farmer. All are delicious when cooked with coconut oil, onion, &

garlic. Turnip green are more bitter, so you can add some sea salt

& /or legal vinegar. Yes, you can eat radish greens - they have a sweet

taste to them. I'm not sure about legality, but I suspect that all

green, leafy veggies are legal. Greens can be minced in the food

processor, too. Be sure to add a liquid (eggs, broth, coconut milk, or

something else to make them mix together). I made a broth soup

recently using poultry stock, a whole minced lemon with seeds removed,

minced legal veggies (we had celery, broccoli, & hot peppers

available), coconut milk, sea salt, lots of thyme, & it turned out

well, a bit lemony & may cut back next time, but definitely high in

vitamin c, fiber, & other good nutrients. I added yogurt cheese to my

bowl of broth soup & it made a delicious tart-tangy taste, plus it

cooled the spiciness of the hot peppers. I also tried this: put

coconut milk & a whole, cut-up, deseeded lemon with peel in a food

processor & blend. I was surprised that I could drink it, but the

coconut milk tames the lemon a lot & it was really yummy & filling.

Lots of vitamin c, fiber, & healthy fats.

One more component of healthy living that I need to incorporate is

daily exercise, which my fitness-guru husband is going to help me with.

My almost 3 yo son fortunately has no health or behavior issues, other

than avoiding gluten products. We never give or allow him to have

candy - he doesn't even know what it is! I certainly will keep him

away from refined sugars & refined grains as best that I can, since

he's 'at-risk' for candida. Learning that the yeast & bacteria in my

birthing canal established his gut flora clued me in that my gut flora

may be imbalanced. Having my son has taught me more than just about

being responsible for another human 24/7.

I'm excited at the potential that the scd/candida diets offer! Little

nuances here & there that I never thought were connected seem

improved, symptoms are healing all over & I'm relatively new to all

this = D Now just to fast forward 6-12 months...

Thanks to all who have responded to my emails, both on & off line!

GLJ

> >Here's my procedure for making homemade raw cow's milk yogurt:

>

> This procedure is fine if you are moving to raw milk after

significant healing....

>

> Marilyn