Re: SCD Yeast control / Patti

[Guest guest]

Hi Patti:

Can you explain because I'm a little confused when I google acid reflux, it

gives a list of foods to AVOID and one of them is lemon, but down below you

wrote lemon and baking soda will help with acid.

Thanks

Jeanne

Patti wrote:

Written a long time ago... to another parent. Disregard anything that seems to

specifically refer to a particular kid's issues. I never did go through it

completely to make it generic.

As with everything I write, this is my opinion only.... and is a collection of

the things that I have found to work well for others, based on what I learned

from Elaine and from other moms here. -Patti

---- Original Message -----

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YEAST-

Yeast overgrowth is not uncommon in the beginning stages of SCD for the kids,

although it's more likely to be an issue under certain conditions. One thing

that may have contribute is if you didn't start using any probiotics in the very

beginning. It's usually advised to begin supplemental acidophilus on about day 5

of the diet. This is especially critical if you're not using dairy at all,

therefore not using the SCD yogurt. (More about yogurt later.)

Although in theory, SCD should create a gut environment that is not supportive

of yeast overgrowth, we know that yeast can be very opportunistic. Elaine told

us that what happens for some people is that bacterial colonies are the first to

die off, and then yeast can move in to that empty space and take over, happily

surviving on legal fruit and honey (for those that use it). This is ESPECIALLY

likely to happen if the individual is not using the yogurt.... and/or not taking

supplemental probiotics.

Getting the good, friendly flora down there is just absolutely crucial to

keeping yeast in check. It keeps yeast from overgrowing in the vacated space,

until a variety of good bacteria and yeast can establish itself and a new gut

ecosystem becomes balanced and stable. Candida yeast are actually supposed to be

present in the gut... we all have some; you cannot and should not completely get

rid of it.... but it's not supposed to dominate the enviroment.

Starting probiotics later is certainly better than never... but it can be a bit

of a battle, and it's likely that supplemental acidophilus will not be able to

battle yeast down all by itself. This is why we talked about trying to

temporarily remove or greatly reduce some of the legal foods yeast can thrive

on.

Getting off the fruit juices- This is usually my first suggestion if yeast is an

obvious and definite problem, because if we can get a child to accept an

alternative drink, it's fairly easy to pull juice.

SCD lemonade, sweetened with saccharin, is a good alternative. Again, this is

just made by squeezing a wedge of lemon into his cup of water (I use a 10 oz.

cup of water... and I squeeze the lemon through a small strainer so I don't have

to go hunting for seeds and bits of pulp). Sweeten with a tablet of saccharin (I

recommend Necta Sweet tablets, which you can find at www.walgreens.com ).

Saccharin is actually quite safe, despite the bad press it got in the '70's, but

you *could* use stevia if you'd prefer. Elaine was not a big fan of stevia,

although she did okay it in small amounts for those who can't use honey or won't

use saccharin. You can use fresh lime in place of the lemon, if you want to.

Fresh lemon juice helps alkalinize the system, which would be great for him

right now. Yeast (and bad bacteria) tend to thrive in a more acid environment.

Adding just a tidge of regular baking soda helps with that, too.... just a light

dusting- less than 1/16th of a teaspoon. I add just the tiniest pinch to my

daughter's lemonade every time I make it up. You could figure out how to

multiply the proportions of the ingredients if you'd rather make up a whole

pitcher, instead of making it by the serving like I do.

Fruits- It seems sad to have to pull back legal foods, especially when kids like

them and readily eat them, but sometimes it's necessary to reduce or temporarily

eliminate some of the fruits if yeast is a problem. Once we get things a little

more balanced and under control, you should be able to add more fruit back....

and just see how it goes.

Since bananas especially... and applesauce and pearsauce, are currently a big

part of his daily diet, we have to replace that volume and calorie content with

something else that he WILL eat.... or he'll be hungry! We don't want to starve

him, that's for sure (we just want to starve out the yeast). He also may be

hungrier than usual just from pulling the fruit juices he's been getting up till

now. The natural sugar content tends to knock back the appetite a bit, so I

would not be shocked if he suddenly becomes ravenous just from eliminating

those!

Removing the bananas is a pretty big volume reduction, so you need to jump right

on replacing that. We talked about butternut squash being a good candidate to

fill in the gap. Butternut squash is smoother and more finely textured than

acorn.... and it's one of my favorite first foods for new SCDers. I actually

find that many kids tolerate butternut squash better than carrots.

If you feel it would be too hard to simply pull out bananas altogether, and

expect him to eat anything, I think it would be reasonable to sort of gradually

bring in a small amount of squash and reduce the amount of banana.... then, as

tolerated, slowly pull more banana out and add more squash. We don't want to

just pull ALL the banana and BAM... replace with that same volume of squash,

because we just don't know if he'll accept it. Note: If he's okay with cinnamon

(some kids aren't), a sprinkle of cinnamon on top of the mashed or pureed squash

would be keen! More about foods later.

I am just not sure that it will really be necessary to eliminate ALL fruit...

for some kids, it IS necessary. Each one is different. I'll alert you that you

*may* see some die-off just from pulling back the juice and banana.... and you

certainly may see him really having cravings for those sweet things and begging

for more. If that becomes a huge issue, it actually might end up being a better

thing to pull out EVERYTHING sweet (except saccharin)... break the craving cycle

and get past it.

You just have to have enough other foods to offer, that he will be likely to eat

and that he can tolerate, as alternatives. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish

true HUNGER from cravings, so be aware of that, too. I'm just always suspicious

if a kid really starts to focus on one type of food to the extreme....

especially if they begin to self-limit to sweet fruits, then I just know yeast

beasts are probably to blame. It's the YEAST that are actually craving the

sweets... and sending their evil chemical messages to him to " FIND FOOD!!! "

YEAST REMEDIES- There are some things you can add in that won't get in the way

of SCD progress and might help tame the yeast. Keep in mind that with ANY of

these, you *could*, and probably WILL get some die-off symptoms. In that case,

ramp up the epsom salts baths, and/or consider activated charcoal supplements,

if he gets really miserable.

You probably are already aware of " natural " anti-fungals like grapefruit seed

extract (GSE), oil of oregano (O of O), olive leaf extract (OLE). While these

things can be helpful, and truly do kill yeast, the trouble is that they also

kill off the good guys..... the friendly flora that you WANT down there.

Some doctors are keen on prescribing prescription antifungals, but those have

the same effect of killing off good flora.... plus, both the Rx antifungals and

the natural antifungals can sometimes make yeast very resistant. So, if you use

them, you have to keep rotating them. On top of that, some kids have a " rebound

effect " .... once the Rx or natural antifungal is stopped, yeast flares up big

time. That is why I prefer that parents try some other milder and " sneakier "

techniques first. Our goal is to make the gut environment less ideal for yeast

to inhabit.... and promote the growth of good bacteria and yeast.

Fresh carrot juice with fresh garlic has been reported to be a very good

anti-fungal, by a number of parents. The recipe is basically this: 4 oz. of

freshly juiced carrot juice, with one clove of garlic either pressed into it

with a garlic press..... or you can just chunk it down the chute of the juicer

with the carrots. Now, the mom I got this recipe from was using that amount....

4 oz... two or three times a day, for her son... but he was older (about 8 or 9,

I think). So, with that in mind, I think I'd recommend only about 2 oz at a time

for a 4 yr old.

You can either use a whole clove of garlic in that amount (if he is okay with

the strong taste)... maybe a smallish sized one... or cut one in half. This

remedy would be used, two or three times a day, for two or three weeks. Beyond

that, it's something you could use as needed, now and then. Fresh garlic *might*

also have the power to kill off probiotics, so I would give this at least a

couple of hours apart from when you give his SCDophilus. Note: A good time to

give probiotics is right before bed, so they can be in there growing and

thriving all night long, without competeing with other foods and supps coming

in.

Fresh garlic (don't ever buy the kind in the jars) is just a good thing to

incorporate into his meals whenever you can. It doesn't have to be raw... you

can use it cooked, in all sorts of ways. One way that is really appealing to

kids (and grownups) is oven-roasted garlic. If you've never done this, it's

pretty easy.... here's some instructions:

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As soon as it's cooled enough to touch, you can separate the cloves and just

squeeze out the soft, baked contents.... it's smooth enough to just spread. YUM!

Of course, you can try adding garlic to his other foods, any way you like.

COCONUT- Another GREAT food to add to his diet would be coconut. I wish I had

brought this up when we talked, because I wanted to know if he's ever had

coconut oil, or coconut milk.... and if he tolerates it. If he does, or if you

have never tried it, I would love to see you try adding coconut oil to his diet.

It is an AMAZINGLY healing food.... and has antifungal qualities. You want to be

sure to buy only virgin or extra virgin coconut oil.... any other type can be

harsh on the gut and trigger diarrhea.

The one I like best is from Nature's Way... it's their EFA Gold Organic Extra

Virgin coconut oil. Iherb.com has it here:

http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?c=1&pid=4567&at=0

If you have never used coconut oil, it just has so many wonderful attributes I

can only touch on them here. Coconut oil is solid at regular room temperature,

but melts at 76 degrees, so my jar is currently liquid... it's been so HOT here

this week. You keep it in the pantry, NOT the fridge (it would be too rock hard

to get out of the jar!). It does not go rancid.... stays very stable. You can

mix it right into warm food.... like you would a pat of butter. You can also

cook with it, for sauteeing veggies and meats.... or in baking, as a substitute

for butter. The only caveat is that it tastes (and smells) like COCONUT.... so

if you don't like that taste (or if HE doesn't)... you might not like it.

Obviously, the taste of coconut would lend itself well to *some* foods, and

maybe not so much with others. I am getting more open to using it in more

things.... and loving it... but, whatever you make with it will definitely have

that flavor mixed in. Pureed butternut squash is

actually really good with a dollop of coconut oil.

I would start with maybe just 1/2 teaspoon per day.... watch and see that he's

okay with that. Work up to a teaspoon or more per day. I love that coconut oil

adds healthy fat calories for these kids. Good fats help satisfy hunger and in

some cases, helps them absorb the nutrients in certain foods (leafy greens, for

example, need to be combined with fats to break down and absorb the nutrients).

More info about coconut oil here: www.tropicaltraditions.com or

www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com/ Both of these companies sell coconut oil that

is also just fine to use. I've bought Tropical Traditions brand and it's fine...

though I like the tastes of the Nature's Way better. Coconut oil is also great

for rubbing on the skin, if you have dry skin or a rash, etc.... a great hair

conditioner and works magic on " cradle cap " with kids. OK, I'll get off my

coconut oil soapbox now!

Saccharomyces Boulardii- This is a probiotic strain that you might consider

adding (actually, more precisely, it's a friendly yeast), that is SCD legal....

and helps keep candida yeast in check. GI ProHealth has it.... and Kirkman has a

legal one, too. This product should not be used by anyone who has a true yeast

allergy, and you want to start with a very small amount and work up.... watching

for any adverse symptoms. Most people tolerate it just fine.

ENZYMES- Regular digestive enzymes do help combat yeast.... but there are

specific enzyme products that are designed to fight yeast. They have to be taken

apart from any food, between meals. Ideally, it works best for someone who can

swallow tablets or capsules, but I think you could probably try dissolving the

contents of a capsule in a spoonful of water, sweeten with a drop or two of

stevia and have him take it off the spoon.... followed by a drink or two of

water (or probably, the lemonade would be okay). They'd definitely need to be

washed down.

Anyway, if you're interested, look into either Candex (by Pure Essence) or

Candidase (by Enymedica). Both are SCD legal. I think Candidase is a little more

expensive. You'll find them at Whole Foods, I'm sure....or iherb.com has them

both (cheaper than WF).... or Google search the product names to find other

online sources and more information. Again, they just have to be taken BETWEEN

meals.

YOGURT- I know you're not currently using any dairy.... therefore not using SCD

yogurt. I didn't ask you if G had severe allergy to milk, or if you've just

wanted to stay away from the dairy? If he does NOT have a severe allergy

situation, and you've never seen any overt reaction to dairy foods, I'd sure

like you to consider adding in the SCD yogurt at some point, though we typically

want parents to wait till a couple of months into SCD before trying it.

Specifically, consider SCD yogurt made from GOAT MILK.

This stuff is so magical, I just can't say enough about it. It's got healing

qualities that go way beyond just being a vehicle for probiotics. It heals the

gut, provides an alkalinizing pH that helps combat the bad guys.... and delivers

the livliest probiotics you can possibly put into him..... fresh! wiggly! ALIVE

little yogurt fairies! Not freeze dried, in a capsule.

I understand the wariness when it comes to approaching dairy.... and do please

let me know if he's reacted in the past to such an extent that you feel you

cannot bring even goat casein of any kind in.... but the fermentation process in

making SCD yogurt actually transforms the casein molecules and makes them much

easier to digest. In essence, it sort of " pre-digests " them.

Goat dairy is fundamentally more digestible for humans than cow dairy. Probiotic

supplements should still be used in conjunction with SCD yogurt... but

probiotics alone are just not anywhere near as effective. Just consider it....

that's all I ask. You can bring yogurt in down the road, if you want to. It's

nothing you need to feel you have to take on immediately.

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[Guest guest]

Fresh lemon juice is actually alkalinizing to the body. This post was not

written in response to problems with acid reflux.... but instead for yeast

control ideas. I was talking more generally about alkalinizing the entire

system. If lemon juice seems to bother your reflux symptoms, don't use it....

although I've heard reports from adults on SCD who say Elaine's Electrolyte

Drink really helps their reflux (and it has fresh lemon juice in it).

Patti

Re: SCD Yeast control / Patti

Hi Patti:

Can you explain because I'm a little confused when I google acid reflux, it

gives a list of foods to AVOID and one of them is lemon, but down below you

wrote lemon and baking soda will help with acid.

Thanks

Jeanne

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