HI Nell – go ahead and consume it with out the grape juice or with lemon/lime juice.

Hi Teresa – we went ahead and answered these questions in your email you sent:)

Can I season with pepper on the diet? Paprika? If I do, will the diet fail?

Basically how HARD AND FAST do I need to stick to the instructions in the SCD Lifestyle PDF – or can I have a little leeway to do my own thing? Like use pepper? Or something else like that? A seasoning like paprika? Obviously not wheat crackers! But can I make this my own?
Thank you!

Teresa

Hi Aimee – the SCD diet is difficult if you don’t eat any meat. We agree about the hormones and antibiotics and is why we purchase free range/grass fed meat that doesn’t have these things in it. Here’s three things you can review today that will help you:

1) Read about Cheryl Cravino’s SCD Success story, where she was starting out as a vegetarian:

https://healthygut.com/specific-carbohydrate-friends-cheryl-cravino/

2) Listen to a specific question we answer about SCD and vegetarian in podcast 21 (9:34 The myth that a vegetarian can’t follow SCD and what to try instead of meat – especially in the beginning)

https://healthygut.com/optimize-healing-and-feel-better-faster-podcast-21/

3) Read the comments from SCD’er vegetarians Elizabeth and most especially Jenny in this podcast comments section:

https://healthygut.com/optimize-healing-and-feel-better-faster-podcast-21/comment-page-1/#comments

Hi Aimee – the SCD diet is difficult if you don’t eat any meat. We agree about the hormones and antibiotics and is why we purchase free range/grass fed meat that doesn’t have these things in it. Here’s three things you can review today that will help you:

1) Read about Cheryl Cravino’s SCD Success story, where she was starting out as a vegetarian:

https://healthygut.com/specific-carbohydrate-friends-cheryl-cravino/

2) Listen to a specific question we answer about SCD and vegetarian in podcast 21 (9:34 The myth that a vegetarian can’t follow SCD and what to try instead of meat – especially in the beginning)

https://healthygut.com/optimize-healing-and-feel-better-faster-podcast-21/

3) Read the comments from SCD’er vegetarians Elizabeth and most especially Jenny in this podcast comments section:

https://healthygut.com/optimize-healing-and-feel-better-faster-podcast-21/comment-page-1/#comments

Is there any way with this diet I don’t have to eat meat, I’d prefer not to especially with the added antibiotics and hormones added.

HI Aimee – You can substitute Fish for meat if you’re wanting to follow the SCD diet. The diet works to heal the gut at the cellular level and we’ve seen it work for many people. You can read more here: https://healthygut.com/?s=Crohn%27s

Hi Nicole – yes you can make adjustments but we recommend staying with in the parameters of SCD. Coconut cream is allowed, but we’d recommend starting very small as sometimes fats can be hard to digest right away and coconut milk is largely saturated fat (the good kind).

can I use coconut cream or coconut milk in the first few days to make a variation of the cheesecake?

its not for me, for my hubby but I am going to prep all his food for him for about 1000000 reasons – mostly to help his success as a busy working business owner.

thanks in advance

Great job, Viktorija! Keep us updated:)

I have just started my diet yesterday. I’m quite okay because I have been on strickt diet for 2 years when I first got diagnosed with UC. My diet was very similar to this one. The only difference that I used to eat rye bread, but it was leaving it over night on the table to dry off freshness. And then eating it with cheddar or eggs. All mains were mainly boiled meat with veggies. And in two years I recovered so much that after colonoscopy my doctor was surprised saying that I have nothing inflamed left there and even put me off the medication. My UC was never very bad. The only medicine I ever took is Asacol and after great results I stopped taking even that.
So after two years me allowing too many bad foods and stress I gof flare which went away very quickly with a little bit of medication. However after that I still kept taking them and now after 4 years I’m having a flare which doesn’t seem to go away. All because I relaxed so much of what I eat. Starting with candy and finishing with pastas salamis and pizzas often enough. Trying to go back to my patterns now. And trying this diet because it has amazing recipes. Not sure about nuts because my belly was always getting funny when I eat them raw.
I’m doing my introduction now. And I can tell I’m only suffering as I don’t have time to cook. So I just end up starving. But today I made plenty of food so eating away. Dry curd cottage cheese is not a problem if you have eastern European shops around. (Let me know if you need translations on the packets 🙂 They all have it. I’m originally from Eastern Europe so it is a normal food for us. I even contacted one of the suppliers to clarify if there are no added sugars and they assured me that there is none. As a child I used to eat it with honey which is great and so tasty at my grandmother village, home made!
To add, I don’t suffer from diareea and have no pains just a bit of blood. And no I don’t run to the toilet 10 times a day.
And I was never a fan of fast foods and very picky in restaurants and even shops so I guess it is easier for me. Never did I ever ate KFC chicken, I’m not joking, never tried. And yet eating well I still got colitis for some reason. I feel that stress has a lot of impact on me. But I will give it a go with this diet as it would change some parts like not eating potatoes and grains. Let’s see what happens 🙂
I’m on the second day and I’m just fine. Have a bit of light head but hoping it will go away.

HI CHanel – Water is great and here is a link explaining the ins and outs of tea: http://breakingtheviciouscycle.info/legal/detail/tea/ Please continue to take any supplements or prescriptions your doctor has prescribed. it is Ok to continue on your supplements, but please be aware that they main contain additives, fillers, etc that can irritate the gut lining and cause unwanted symptoms.

If you feel there is a supplement that is helpful to your condition and you want to continue with it, please check the ingredients list for any illegal ones.

The supplements we do suggest adding in can be found here: https://healthygut.com/recommended-products/

Hi, I’ve just started the intro diet… Well I’ve cooked everything and I start tomorrow. I just want to know what I can drink? Can I drink tea, I usually drink rooibos and green tea, or should I just stick with water during the intro period? I also take tablets to help my stomach, mainly aloe Vera, activated charcoal, a colon cleanse and probiotics. Can I continue to take these?

Regards
Chanel

Hi Cathy – we hope you’ll email us at support@scdlifestyle.com so we can clear these issues up for you.

The Meal Plan m,annual contains some recipes with eggs and dairy (for the Mild Case Meal Plans) – but the actual Tough Case Meal Plans do Not contain eggs, nuts, or dairy. The best alternatives to almond milk is coconut milk for SCD.

Hi Alyssa – thanks for reaching out and congrats on your decision to start SCD!

Fish is allowed during the diet. We share EXACTLY what to eat for the Intro Diet and how to phase in new foods – as well as an entire chapter on how to cook meat so it is SCD legal – in our eBook. I really recommend you read it before you get started! http://scdlifestylebook.com/

Regarding adding meat back in – because you haven’t eaten meat in a long time, you’ll want to start with small amounts and slowly work up to larger amounts. A Betaine HCL supplement might also be really helpful. Learn more about HCL here: https://healthygut.com/how-to-supplement-with-betaine-hcl-for-low-stomach-acid/

Hi Aga – we’ve got just the cookbook for you 🙂

Steve and Jordan were just college guys when they learned how to cook so they could follow SCD. Their book breaks it down to the simplest way for even the most beginning cooks: http://scdlifestylebook.com/ (There is an entire chapter on how to cook meat to be SCD-legal!)

Coffee is allowed form Day 1 as long as it isn’t flavored or decaf!

I have CD and starting into diet today – the problem is I do not know how to cook so that will be my biggest challenge. I made the soup and is pretty tasty:)
Any advice on how to make fish or other meat for dinner?

Also do you stop coffee? I am so weak and foggy without it.

Thanks

Hi N.B. – no one can say for sure when your symptoms will subside, but it sounds like you’re on the right track.

You can have cooked meat from the beginning (intro diet) – you can learn more about how to follow the Intro diet here: https://healthygut.com/scd-quick-start-guide/

After 2-5 days on the Intro diet, it is time to start introducing new foods whether your symptoms have gone away or not.

Hi Barbara, thank you for reaching out! Please email us at support@scdlifestyle, so we can get you access to these materials again. We look forward to helping you.

Thank you! We were following the intro diet (minus the dairy) from Breaking the Vicious Cycle. I did not know it’s recommended to skip the juice!!!!

Hi Erin, we suggest cutting out the full juice and anything with added sugar and/or preservatives. As for adding in new foods, check out this blog post: https://healthygut.com/introducing-new-foods/

Now after 3 years of diet reflecting WAPF and SCD I have decided to be fully submerged in strict SCD. Today is Day 1.
My question is, is there anything I should do different or cautiously with no colon ?
My poo is never solid and my stomach never hurts anymore so it’s hard to tell if foods are affecting my gut. Before the crohn’s diagnosis I thought I was having bad reactions to dairy- my face was breaking out super bad, the elimination of dairy has definitely improved that. I intend to make yogurt in a later phase.
Any advice? This site is so helpful!
Thanks! We love yous!!
~Amanda

My 11 year old daughter has recently been diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. I found the brook Breaking the Vicious Cycle and we started eating legal foods last week. We saw an immediate improvement right away then realized when we had a set back that we needed to start at the beginning and do the intro diet. She is a very picky eater and is really struggling with the chicken broth. I made her some simple plain turkey meatballs to add to the broth to make it more bearable which has helped, some. She is eating banana pancakes with turkey patties and bake pears for breakfast. I find that this is all she wants to eat. She is definitely experiencing some die off symptoms, runny nose, weird cough, seems foggy (if you know what I mean). We still have seen a formed movement yet but there is no cramping, no blood, no urgency. They are varying in color as well, from dark brown one day to almost blonde the next day. Am I approaching this correctly? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

No need to use either of them.

I’d just skip the juice and gelatin if you want. Seems like 50% of people don’t tolerate them anyways. Best of luck!

I’m looking to start this diet in coming weekend but I wanted to check with you about some of the ingredients in the intro diet. Specifically the grape juice and gelatin. With the grape juice, I’m in Australia and we don’t have the specific Welch brand so I’m just wondering if there is a general theme to the type of grape juice I’m looking for?

Secondly I’ve never used, or really heard of gelatin before but can any gelatin from the supermarket work, or is there some theme to it that i need to check before hand?

Thanks alot guys keep up the great work,

Steven

2. PecanBread says drinking green tea helps with die off. I haven’t found this in your eBooks. Is this OK to drink?

It does for some people but not all. We are looking for long term improvements, sometimes you need to use enzymes or stop dairy.

@Stacey – I think as long as your total carbs are below 100g a day you are fine. The anti-Candida diet alone will not rid you of Candida, those who cannot beat this infection normally have 1-3 additional issues. 1. Hormone Imbalance (cortisol) 2. Another Gut infection 3. don’t complete a gut re-population strategy after 1-2 are taken care and the anti-candida herbal / prescription program is done.

@Rebecca – Yes you can eating these intro foods as often as you prefer. Fish (the wild caught stuff) is fine to eat everyday if you want. The mercury issue is only for big predator fish like shark. I’d save your money on those test and invest in some good GI testing working with a good functional medicine practitioner. If you don’t know any send us an email.

Hi Donna, that sounds like a good plan. This article will help you on die off:

https://healthygut.com/5-die-off-myths-everyone-needs-to-know-about/

Jordan

Hi Karen, Here’s three things you can review today that will help you:

1) Read about Cheryl Cravino’s SCD Success story, where she was starting out as a vegetarian:

https://healthygut.com/specific-carbohydrate-friends-cheryl-cravino/

2) Listen to a specific question we answer about SCD and vegetarian in podcast 21 (9:34 The myth that a vegetarian can’t follow SCD and what to try instead of meat – especially in the beginning)

https://healthygut.com/optimize-healing-and-feel-better-faster-podcast-21/

3) Read the comments from SCD’er vegetarians Elizabeth and most especially Jenny in this podcast comments section:

https://healthygut.com/optimize-healing-and-feel-better-faster-podcast-21/comment-page-1/#comments

I hope that helps you. Let us know,

Jordan

Any update on a vegetarian version of this diet? A significant number of people choose to not eat meat for a variety of reasons yet would still like to manage digestive issues as much as possible. Your reply to Susan Forgie was discouraging at best. It would be wonderful if this challenge has been addressed in the nearly three years since you posted your rely. Thanks.

Hi Becky – great to hear from you! What materials are you waiting for?

I can’t wait for you to start your healing journey on SCD, congrats! Let us know how we can help along the way.

Just remember, everyone has a different “custom” version of SCD that will relieve symptoms. Don’t give up making tweaks to find your version.

In good health,

Jordan

I am waiting to get my materials to start the diet, I suffer from UC, have you had many success’ with people who suffer from UC?