Questions on starting the diet- sorry this is so long!

[Guest guest]

Hi,

My name is Ellen, I'm a 24 year old female about to start the diet and I wanted

to ask some questions. To give you an idea of my symtoms, I have had bloating

and gas pressure in my stomach for a the last 2 years, it has progressed to

constipation, but this was treated well with amitiza which I continue to take.

But over the past 3 weeks I have had a couple days each week where I have a

little diarrhea, sometimes cramping and spasms and the feeling like food is

going through me more quickly than usual. I have felt improvement going to

acupuncture but there are a lot of ups and downs and overall it is just

temporary relief, maybe a day or two after the acupuncture treatments I feel

better than usual in between meals, but eating always gives me some level of

discomfort no matter what I eat.

I have been researching SCD non-stop for 2 weeks, and am pretty sure this is the

answer for me - my system needs a real reboot, more than acupuncture could

provide alone. I think this is the only way for true healing to take place.

So on to my questions: I am allergic to dairy, so I can't do the yogurt. I was

wondering if Almond Milk or other kinds of nut milk yogurt is a good idea...I

want to make sure I am not losing too much weight (already underweight), so I

figure this would be a good addition to smoothies and soups at the beginning.

And if I do make this yogurt, would I also still need to take an acidophilus

probiotic that is recommended? Also, is it okay to be consuming nut milk or nut

milk yogurt daily? I have seen references that you shouldn't start the nut milk

until 3 months after symptoms subside and that is because you shouldn't be

consuming too much of the same nuts. If this is true, would alternating between

different nut milks, lets say every two weeks be beneficial?

The other option would be to use coconut, but I read that it is difficult to

digest, has anyone had any experience with it?

And I have one more question unrelated to the yogurt....with introducing foods,

are you supposed to be careful with adding spices and cooking oils (olive or

coconut) to foods - as in, should I introduce them one at a time and how late in

the diet should I do this? And how soon would you recommend starting to fry

vegetables in oil as opposed to pureeing them or steaming them whole?

Right now, in my plan for the diet, I have at least a day between every food

addition - even with garlic, olive oil, and coconut oil - is this a wise

decision? I have stage three starting a little under 3 months from the start of

my diet - is this crazy? I'd love to know how others have experienced it - how

slow should I go?

I'm sorry this got so long - I guess I had a lot of questions! I'm nervous, but

really excited to get started on this, my obsession with a diet that will work

has really taken over my life. Any advice is much appreciated!

Thanks,

Ellen