GAPS/SCD mamas - Page 4

[hummingmom]

Originally Posted by newcastlemama

I was wondering if I could still have raw acv or dandelion tea before my meals too...I have low stomach acid and need something to help my gallbladder out when I eat to avoid pain.

ACV is fine for salad dressings etc., but if you're taking a substantial amount of it straight -- more than 1 tsp. or so -- it would need to be introduced slowly, diluted at first, in case it causes irritation (which shouldn't be a problem if you're already used to it). Dandelion leaf tea would be okay, as it's non-starchy, and the leaves are fine to eat as a food -- but dandelion root is out, as it has polysaccharides. Same goes for many root, bark, and twig teas, including licorice.

Of course, for the first two days, you're not supposed to use anything that's not listed on the intro diet, but you'd have to decide if these supplements are essential or not.

The SCD doesn't have guidelines about food intolerances, so you could try following the GAPS advice, or just try introducing a previous problem food whenever you're comfortable doing so. If there are problems, you can always drop it and try again later.

If you have other specific questions about doing the intro & early stages, it might be easier if you post them in the "SCD slow & steady thread." I'd be happy to go into the details, look stuff up, etc. (The reason I started that thread was that these combined GAPS/SCD discussions can get kind of confusing, for those of us who are just starting out and trying to figure out what we're supposed to be eating. )

[momofmine]

LTB, you only put the yolks in? Yeah, I totally stole the banana pudding recipe from you, that's what got my 4 yr old through those early weeks on SCD, but I've been doing the whole egg raw.

I read about this some, and there seemed to be a lot of opinions but no definite answers. Some said that the raw egg white blocks the absorption of biotin and we need biotin to digest carbs and deal with candida. (I *think* this is correct.) Others said, it's packaged as a whole food, so there must be something about it that's okay like that. So, I was going in that camp and eating the whole egg raw in smoothies and the banana pudding.

Hope your DS is doing better and eating more today.

[LionTigerBear]

When it comes to the raw egg whites, I'll admit it, I'm no expert. We went with the just-yolks school of thought because DS1 at one point had allergies to egg whites anyway.

[momofmine]

Ah, okay! That makes sense. I do sometimes just use yolks too for things.

[leila1213]

I think I have finally convinced myself to do GAPS with DD. It came in the form of Dr. Mercola's newsletter. According to him, sugar and starchy foods cause acne. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...Naturally.aspx And I am sooo sick of having acne! Yes, it's a vain reason to heal my gut, but one I can use to my advantage. So yesterday afternoon when I was feeling particularly sluggish (turns out I have a cold coming on), and I was yearning for a sugar rush (chocolate milkshake or choc chip cookies w/milk), I repeated to myself - "Do I want clear skin, or a quick fix?"

And I find thinking of it in terms of an addiction helps me step back. A lot of the moms in my circle joke around on FB about what bad foods they are craving and/or indulging in, so it seems "normal". But if I can make myself look at it as if I were addicted to something else that was harmful, would I have the willpower to face it down and conquer it for my DD? So, we'll see how long that lasts...

[LionTigerBear]

Leila, the book The Mood Cure by Julia Ross really helped me find ways to combat my cravings for sugars and starches!!!

[newcastlemama]

Originally Posted by LionTigerBear

Leila, the book The Mood Cure by Julia Ross really helped me find ways to combat my cravings for sugars and starches!!!

Yes! That really works.

Okay, well I did start the GAPS intro yesterday and things have been going right tummy/bowel wise but I have been really irritable and sad. My 4 yo even commented on it. He asked me why my body was making my mind sad because that is how I explained depression to him. I just found out that some people are coming over for dinner so I just feel really upset about having to have peolple over today...I am going to tell dh no invites for like 2 weeks.

I was able to really streamline the diet making it less overwhelming. I am doing the meat, veg, broth, co oil, garlic, and kraut juice...I will start fermenting fish and all that later.

Anyway at least it looks like I can move through the stages fast. I am holding off on avocado, eggs and ghee since those are my intolerances. I will probably start up ghee soon though. I am kind of afraid to try eggs but I may just try a yolk soon. It would be great to have those back for the nut flour baking, nutrients, and something easy for breakfast. Also can you make mayo with just egg yolks? Then I would only be eating a little everyday until I know I am okay with them.

I gotta run,
Jen

[LionTigerBear]

Can you keep taking some serotonin-boosting supplements during the intro or is that not allowed? I think the intro would probably send my mental (including emotional) faculties crashing as well. On top of the chemical aspect, there's the psychological aspect of feeling that you are depriving yourself of an act of love (indulging in familiar comfort foods). It's hard! Be gentle with yourself. If you can, try for lots of non-food indulgences like a nice warm herb bath or diffuse some essential oils, or maybe even splurge on a professional massage or something like that if you can afford it.

[LionTigerBear]

Some questions for everyone

Okay, so, some questions for you all, just for general discussion:

1. What do you store in your pantry for emergency food storage?

In our pantry we have cans of veggies, some dried legumes, honey, oils and raisins, and other than that a bunch of stuff that isn't on the diet: canned soups, stews, and chilis that contain grains, dried pasta, dried mashed potatoes, you know, that kind of thing. It's all from before we started this diet this second time.



2. What is your favorite "legal" food craving right now?

Mine is mushrooms. : Can't get enough! (Those are allowed, right? Right?)

[newcastlemama]

Originally Posted by LionTigerBear

Can you keep taking some serotonin-boosting supplements during the intro or is that not allowed? I think the intro would probably send my mental (including emotional) faculties crashing as well. On top of the chemical aspect, there's the psychological aspect of feeling that you are depriving yourself of an act of love (indulging in familiar comfort foods). It's hard! Be gentle with yourself. If you can, try for lots of non-food indulgences like a nice warm herb bath or diffuse some essential oils, or maybe even splurge on a professional massage or something like that if you can afford it.

I am keeping on my B-complex, mag, and zinc because they help (I also have pyroluria so I need the B6 and zinc). It is really psychological for me....feeling like everyong else if having fun eating junk food and I spend all this time in the kitchen. I felt like this anyway because of my multiple food allergies, but even more so now...I got off psych meds working with Julia Ross' clinic. Removing my food allergens was part of that and it really helped my anxiety so I know I have a gut issue to heal. I don't want to avoid communion because I am trying to avoid a panic attack the rest of my life...Sometimes I do wish I was on meds eating whatever..but I know that is not the real solution and it was not so great to be on all that stuff anyway...I was still having mental issues on the drugs.

I am going to try and be easy on myself though. I hope this post made sense! I know you all understand. I think I am going to start counting my blessings in my journal...

Answer qestion #2--I really want a nut muffin with butter on it..hopefully soon!

[nicolelynn]

I feel ya!

I just got my lab results back and I have parasites AND candida overgrowth. So I am so overwhelmed right now thinking how whittled down my diet is going to be doing GAPS AND anti-candida. Since I allergic to eggs now, I will subsist on meat, vegetables, olive and coconut oil, salt/herbs/seasonings and some nuts. And I am doing this all while working fulltime still (not to mention social gatherings like I am at my parents house right now and everyone is eating home made lemon meringue pie).

I, too am trying to count my blessings...even after taking out eggs, fruit and honey will make this even harder. Some people subsist on one food, or no food. I also am counting my blessings having access to good food for healing. I treated myself to buying a chest freezer finally so I can stock up on meat, stock and batches of allowed legumes.

I know remaining positive and as stress free as possible will be as crucial to my healing as diet. I told DH today my "dessert"/treats now will have to be things like treating myself to making a nice filet mignon once a week or something haha.

[hummingmom]

Originally Posted by LionTigerBear

1. What do you store in your pantry for emergency food storage?

I've always liked to have a few months' worth of food on hand. When we went on the SCD, I figured it would be a good time to rotate our supplies, so I donated a bunch of illegals (the cheaper and/or about to expire stuff) to the food pantry. Here's what's left:

SCD legal: Canned fish & shellfish, dried fruit, nut flours & nut butters, tahini, ghee, oils, honey, salt, mustard, & approved brands of juice. A few home-canned meats and vegetables. Organic Valley powdered milk and UHT half-and-half for making yogurt. Also some lentils, split peas, black beans and coconut products, though we're not eating those yet. And seeds for sprouting, which give us a back-up source of fresh food... though I'm not sure which types of sprouts are legal.

Not officially allowed, but up for grabs in an emergency: Unapproved brands of "unsweetened, not from concentrate" juice; store-bought local organic applesauce; canned pineapple (in juice, but not in "own juice"); all-fruit jam with pectin; additive-free canned meat.

Definitely illegal: assorted gluten-free grains, flours, and baking supplies; dried chickpeas; dried bananas (I bought a case of them, before realizing that they likely weren't fully ripe when dried ); Rapadura and other natural sweeteners; and chocolate (waaah!!!)

Some items, like the almond flour and powdered milk, are kept in the fridge or freezer to lengthen their shelf life, but they'd be okay even if we lost power.

Here's what I'd like to add to the pantry, both for preparedness and everyday eating: plenty of nuts in the shell; more home-canned meats and vegetables; homemade jerky; home-canned broth; and home-canned applesauce (not much chance of that... we always eat it as fast as I can make it!).

2. What is your favorite "legal" food craving right now?

Brussels sprouts, at room temperature, with butter spread on them. Somewhat weird, but healthy, I guess.

[LionTigerBear]

newcastlemama, I meant to say that I think I have pyroluria, too, but I can't be certain sicne I haven't been diagnosed. However, I read about it after reading Julia Ross' book and it sounded like me so I tried doing large doses of B vitamins and zinc and it has helped. I'm thinking of upping the doses.

So I had some apparently grain-free Chinese food last night, and (I should have known!!!) had the left-overs today, and now I feel LIKE JUNK. Of course, duh. Yucky headache, brain is super foggy, tired and dragging, yuck yuck yuck. I'm sure it had some wheat in it, and or cornstarch. NO MORE take-out Chinese food for me, boy have I ever learned my lesson.

[nicolelynn]

Is anyone else doing an anti-candida form of GAPS/SCD? My naturopath just recommended today to stick with a traditional anti-candida diet (some grain), but I think it will be more powerful to stay on GAPS. She did and some sources say 1 small serving of low glycemic fruit (blueberries, raspberries and green apples mostly) per day is allowed..so that makes me happy.

I felt so hungry today..I dunno if it is die-off? I tracked my calories on fitday.com today and I got over 2,000, and 63% fat.

My legal craving today: stuffed peppers with marinara sauce. I settled for a ground beef patty with zuchinni sauteed in marinara sauce...much less time consuming hehe.

[momofmine]

Originally Posted by leila1213

But if I can make myself look at it as if I were addicted to something else that was harmful, would I have the willpower to face it down and conquer it for my DD? So, we'll see how long that lasts...

I am finding that sometimes my thought process is one of subconsciously thinking I will never be able to have that again. When I tell myself intentionally and with reason that I CAN have that chocolate, sometime in the future, it just would be better to not have it today, because I am healing all this stuff now so that I CAN indulge on occasion in the future, well, it works sometimes at least.

[momofmine]

Originally Posted by newcastlemama

I was able to really streamline the diet making it less overwhelming. I am doing the meat, veg, broth, co oil, garlic, and kraut juice...I will start fermenting fish and all that later.

Anyway at least it looks like I can move through the stages fast. I am holding off on avocado, eggs and ghee since those are my intolerances. I will probably start up ghee soon though. I am kind of afraid to try eggs but I may just try a yolk soon. It would be great to have those back for the nut flour baking, nutrients, and something easy for breakfast. Also can you make mayo with just egg yolks? Then I would only be eating a little everyday until I know I am okay with them.

I think that technically the coconut oil is not on the intro. On the GAPS list I was told to intro it after all those stages of the intro. Olive oil even is introduced fairly late in the game.

My problem, I believe, is that I was not getting enough fat on the intro. I was eating all the fat in the broth, etc, but I still needed more fat I think. I was just eating so much protein. But fat seems to be more key, for us at least.

Yes, you can make mayo with just egg yolks. In fact some recipes call for only the yolks. It is the yolk that contains lecithin, which acts as an emulsifier in the process of making mayo. Eggs contain other proteins too that act as emulsifiers, but the lecithin in the yolk is a big one.

[momofmine]

Originally Posted by LionTigerBear

1. What do you store in your pantry for emergency food storage?


2. What is your favorite "legal" food craving right now?

I pretty much have no pantry. Coconut oil is about it. My freezer full of meat is my emergency food storage. I have no idea what I'd do if we suddenly couldn't cook meat for a whole day. I guess I'd send DP to the backyard to build a campfire.

Fave legal craving: I'm really craving raw fruit right now, and I caved in a couple of weeks ago and crashed the whole thing, so now I'm back on the wagon, no raw fruit for me right now. Hopefully when summer's blueberries arrive in June, I'll be able to indulge.

[momofmine]

Originally Posted by newcastlemama

I am going to try and be easy on myself though. I hope this post made sense! I know you all understand. I think I am going to start counting my blessings in my journal...

Yes, it makes plenty of sense. DO be gentle on yourself. Can you take a day or an afternoon when a DP or friend is around and just cook a bunch of stuff you can have, like make a lot of soup, peel vegetables so they're ready to go, etc?

[momofmine]

Originally Posted by LionTigerBear

So I had some apparently grain-free Chinese food last night, and (I should have known!!!) had the left-overs today, and now I feel LIKE JUNK. Of course, duh. Yucky headache, brain is super foggy, tired and dragging, yuck yuck yuck. I'm sure it had some wheat in it, and or cornstarch. NO MORE take-out Chinese food for me, boy have I ever learned my lesson.

Oh yeah, there was probably some stuff in there for sure. But I hope you are feeling better today!

Originally Posted by nicolelynn

Is anyone else doing an anti-candida form of GAPS/SCD? My naturopath just recommended today to stick with a traditional anti-candida diet (some grain), but I think it will be more powerful to stay on GAPS. She did and some sources say 1 small serving of low glycemic fruit (blueberries, raspberries and green apples mostly) per day is allowed..so that makes me happy.

I felt so hungry today..I dunno if it is die-off? I tracked my calories on fitday.com today and I got over 2,000, and 63% fat.

My legal craving today: stuffed peppers with marinara sauce. I settled for a ground beef patty with zuchinni sauteed in marinara sauce...much less time consuming hehe.

Oh yeah, I would definitely stay on GAPS. Tons of people do it without honey and fruit. In fact, I do better without any honey and fruit. It increases my cravings instantly, and I'm suddenly starving for more and more food.

Are you going to try some other things to help with the yeast? There are enzymes like Candidase and Candex. S boulardii is supposed to be helpful too. I think the key is to make sure you are getting enough fat, and that you are eating very frequently. But really, those are two different strains of thought. One says that you can't eat the honey and fruit or it feeds the yeast. The other says that as long as you are eating food you can actually digest, you won't be feeding the yeast (as long as you don't go overboard obviously).

[newcastlemama]

LionTigerBear--A pyroluria urine test is $50 and you can do it yourself..Ross' book should have info on where to order it if you want. You can probably request one through their clinic. Though I think supplements are very safe it is good to test before high dosing zinc (I am not sure what high dosing means to you though!)

Nicolelynn-You could do really high fat (80%) Like Bee's candida diet/optimal diet.If my test comes back candida I think I will do that for a while...Yes, I would stay on GAPS because the undigested carbs in an unhealed gut would be bad (like the book talks about why we should avoid all grain/potatoes ect)

Momofmine--Thanks for your replies. I do coconut oil because I cannot afford good meat. So I take all the meat fat off and add lots of coconut oil..I am able to have good BMs/digestion on it so I think it is working for me..If I did not do that I would be starving...adding a lot of fat is really helping me through.