Re: A few questions from my son

[Guest guest]

What about Thanksgiving? Can't I just have a few mashed potatoes? Can't I just cheat once every few months? Well, if nobody's stopping you, then you CAN. I don't think you should though. I have a feeling you'd regret it later, because then it would take longer for you to be completely healed. You can make SCD 'mashed potatoes' by mushing up cauliflower and adding salt, pepper, etc...Ive never tried it so I can't tell you what it tastes like, but I've seen pics and at least it LOOKS like mashed potatoes. =)Can you make chili?There are definitely SCD chili recipes. Whether you can have it all depends on what foods you have introduced. If I stay on the diet for 6 months or a year and get all the way better, can I go off for at least a while? (I read in the book that people have done this, including Elaine's own daughter.YOu can. YOur symptoms might come back though. At least if they do though, you know what to do =) Pour Dieu, pour terre,Alyssa 15UC April 2008, diagnosed Sept 2008SCD June 2009 (restarted)20mg Prednisone 1x daily ugh

[Guest guest]

At 11:58 PM 8/8/2009, you wrote:

What about Thanksgiving?

Can't I just have a few mashed potatoes? Can't I just cheat once every

few months? Can you make chili? If I stay on the diet for 6 months or a

year and get all the way better, can I go off for at least a while? (I

read in the book that people have done this, including Elaine's own

daughter.)

You need to be symptom-free for at least a year before adding non-SCD

foods.

As you're aware, the objective of SCD is to starve out the bad bacteria.

Well, it has been observed that right around three months on the diet,

you've done such a good job of starving them that their numbers are

dropping rapidly. You've gotten rid of most of the weak sisters amongst

the bad bacteria and the remaining ones are the stronger ones.

So in effect, right now, you're saying, " Away with you! " and

they're saying " H-ll no, we won't go! " and creating havoc for

your poor gut. So it is absolutely critical that you hold fast at this

point and not eat any illegals, because if you feed the bacteria right

now, you'll let those stronger ones multiple, and then they'll be that

much harder to starve out.

The " three month flare " can occur anywhere from 9 weeks to 16

weeks. It can also occur again at 6-7 months, and 10-12 months. Those

bacteria are stubborn. But YOU must be more stubborn. If you cheat,

especially at key points on the diet, you can undo everything you have

worked for.

Celeriac makes a great " mock mashed potato " which my non-SCD

husband says he likes better than real spuds. I also use Celeriac as a

basic for turkey dressing. In 2008, our menu included:

Roast Turkey

Gravy

Turkey dressing

Mock mashed potatoes

Mock sweet potatoes

Cranberry and apple pecan compote (which my husband's co-workers ask him

to bring to their holiday parties at his job)

Cranberry sauce

Pumpkin pie (made with fresh pumpkin)

Egg nog frozen yogurt

Yes, you can make chili. I have several variations, made with ground

meat, or with stew meat, and I also make it with lentils (which are

easier for me to digest than either lima beans or navy pea beans). I have

not used kidney beans since I started SCD, mainly because I never really

liked them and so have no pressing desire to add them back in -- but if

added, they a VERY advanced.

I also have a few questions. Why is canned fruit (in it's own juice)

allowed, but not canned vegetables? Isn't there just as much chance that

fruit will have traces of sugar/starch? The new food labeling laws that

took effect in 2006 were supposed to address the 2% rule. Canned pumpkin,

for example (pumpkin is actually a fruit anyway...) is not legal, even if

the ingredients are only pumpkin and water. Same for some canned

tomatoes. But pears packed in their own juice are fine? I see

inconsistency here. Do any of you use things like organic canned tomatoes

from reputable companies where the only ingredients are tomatoes, water

and salt?

Note than " canned fruit in its own juice " is different from

" xxx fruit in xxx fruit juice. " In the former, they can't add

any cr@p to it: it must be only the juice which came from those fruits.

In the latter, they can add all kinds of things. And watch out for added

white grape or apple juice -- they add horrible stuff when using it with

the fruit canning process.

The key of the new food labeling laws SUPPOSEDLY addressing the 2% rule

is just that: SUPPOSED TO. Manufacturers can still use " processing

aids " which are not ingredients. Things like maltodextrin, and

sugar, and cornstarch, and ghu-alone knows what.

There are some people who choose to use certain brands of canned

tomatoes. I'll let them speak for themselves. Some people say that

Italian processed tomatoes are OK because their labeling laws are

stricter. I do not believe this, given the scandals they have recently

had with adulterated olive oil in Italy. I stand by " make your

own. "

If you want to use processed foods, it is a free world, and no one will

stop you. But if you do not see the results you hope for from SCD, be

prepared to yank these " convenient " foods, and do strictly

" make your own, " and then see what happens.

I have been there, and done that... I tried my best to find ways around

the continual " make your own, " and finally accepted that

" make your own " was the only way I was going to heal.

I can state that Lucy, of Lucy's Kitchen Shop, who has been SCD for

around 15 years, has told me that Muir Glen organic WHOLE tomatoes (not

the crushed, or sauce, or anything else) may be used -- that she has a

letter. SHe states that you can whiz up the whole tomatoes into a very

fine fast sauce, or chop them yourself. But please not that ONLY the

whole tomatoes are covered.

—

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]

With respect to "cheating"...

Once you have started SCD the weakest of the pathogens die off first.

Then the hardier ones are then left and they put up a fight. So if you

cheat later into the diet, then you are actually giving fuel to the

worst of the pathogens. It's really just not worth it.

All I can say is once you are in about stage 3 the foods are absolutely

mouth-watering. There is no sacrificing flavor or variety. The

SCD-legal cookbooks are a visual and gastronomic feast for the soul.

There are substitutes for so many of our old favorite comfort foods.

Yes there is cauliflower mashed potatoes and cauliflower rice and

butternut squash fries and french toast and zucchini linguine aglio

olio. I mean this food is great! It just takes shifting the point of

view from one of loss to one of adventurous gain.

Can you have your son start looking at the recipes with you to create

some interest? The internet is loaded with free recipes. Buy a binder

and start printing the ones that look like you can do them with some

confidence.

Once you get past the limits of the earlier stages I promise this can

get F-U-N!

Cheryl, SCD 3-08

Alyssa Luck wrote:

What

about Thanksgiving? Can't I just have a few mashed potatoes? Can't I

just cheat once every few months?

--

cheryl signature -scd 5-18-09

Cheryl

Steinberg, EFT-ADV

SCD Diet Startup Specialist, Wellness Consultant

www.spiritofmotherhood.net

Author of:

Becoming Cinderella

Please order your copy now at:

www.becomingcinderella.com

[Guest guest]

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I will have my son read them. We have

an extremely strict " no cheat " policy with gluten free, but that's pretty easy

compared to this. He's having a hard time wrapping his mind around this one.

Once we get to the later stages he'll be happier, I'm sure. I'm going to

experiment with some muffins to take on our trip. I know that it will be

several weeks (months?) before he can eat them once we start SCD, but at least

he will know what he has to look forward to. I'll show him some recipes also.

It's definitely a bit easier going into this already cooking gluten free and

being aware of ingredients and knowing how to make things without " normal "

ingredients.

Thanksgiving is going to be a tough one, but it's good to know about the 3 month

flare thing - we'll be ready and not give in. Of course, the holidays fall

right in the 3-4 month range. I will just have to make such yummy food that he

doesn't miss mashed potatoes and rolls. Everything else that we normally have

(that he likes) I can easily convert to SCD.