Anyone on the SCD diet with young children?

[elmh23]

Cause I need help!

Ds is three and has had horrible GI problems since he weaned at 17 months (probably before then, but I can't remember and I probably attributed it to breastmilk.) In late April/early May, we went GF and his speech improved. Then dh went on a camping trip with the kids and his brother who has Crohn's. After talking with him, dh thought it'd be a good idea to put ds on the SCD diet that his brother follows. He did really well with it! Diarrhea ceased for the most part and he gained some weight and a couple inches in height! Then, we got lazy. SCD is HARD, so we let back in some sugars and rice and potatoes. We did determine that ds can't handle straight milk, but seems fine with cheese and yogurt. The diarrhea started again.

So, we're starting back up. Lunch and dinners are easy enough for me to adapt, but what about breakfast? He likes eggs (ate 3 this morning!) but he can't have them every day. If I give them to him tomorrow, I can guarantee he won't eat them on Saturday. To make matters a bit more difficult, we need them to be quick to cook/prepare and for him to eat/or transportable since we have to take dd to school every morning.

Thanks!

[JaneS]

Are you keeping him off nuts?

[gigismom]

i totally feel your pain on the breakfast issue. we are also on the gaps diet (i think this is the same as scd but can't remember for sure). however, ds is ige allergic to eggs. we end up having leftover lunches for breakfast. chicken, beef, stews, soups, broths with veggies, fruits ... i would love some more ideas too.

[elmh23]

Just remembered I posted this and I thought I had subscribed to it.

Jane, we are not keeping him off of nuts, but he doesn't really like them. He'll eat raw almonds, stuff made out of almond flour and peanut butter, but that's it.

Jen, GAPS is SCD without the dairy products.

We spent Labor Day weekend with my BIL and SIL who are doing the diet for BIL's Crohn's and I found a lot of things I could do for breakfast. www.elanaspantry.com is a great source. Her simple bread was a big hit with ds so now all I need to do is find a 6.5x4 inch loaf pan to make it at home (Target doesn't have it, I still need to check online.) He also has a renewed interest in smoothies, so I think we'll be alright for now.

[happy2bamama]

Hello - I was just sifting through old threads in this forum looking for any help for myself. I have digestive issues - gluten intolerance, don't produce enough enzymes and I'm suspicioning Chron's (will get tests in a few months), so I've heard about the SCD diet and wondered what your thoughts were about it. It looks really really hard to me. Being gluten free has not been too hard, but the SCD looked like a lot of work. At this point, I am trying to put weight on, so the more restrictions the worse I feel it is for me, but at this point, I'm willing to do anything to heal my gut.

Thanks for any insight

[JaneS]

It was a learning curve but I didn't find it that much work compared to any other exclusionary allergy diet. www.DigestiveWellness.com has some good stuff too.

Have you tried digestive enzymes? Have you tried just eliminating top allergens?

[happy2bamama]

Thanks for getting back to me Yes, I am on digestive enzymes and they have made a HUGE difference. I did blood and stool testing with my naturopath and found that I didn't have antibodies to anything but gluten. I was doing great for the past month, but then a few days ago things started reverting to feeling bad again for no real reason and so I'm considering doing the SCD. This is a random question, but when you are on your period, do your allergies flare up more than when you're not? Coincidentally, my new symptoms came on right when my period started but I would be super shocked if just that alone made everything reverse.

Thanks!

[JaneS]

Yes hormone fluctuation is known to effect the gastrointestinal system by stimulating or slowing down passage of food.

The next thing I would do if you don't want to go full force into the SCD is remove the most common thing that people with damaged guts react to: lactose. The SCD site www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info is very good for explaining lactose free dairy.

We have also found that food chemical intolerance (almonds, coconut, honey, berries, citrus, tomatoes, etc.) was a major factor in digestive problems and other symptoms, and allergy tests do not reveal it.

What enzymes are you using, maybe you would do better with more? Any chance of gluten contamination in the food you are eating?

[happy2bamama]

That's interesting about maybe just removing the lactose. My allergy tests showed that I wasn't allergic (or showing signs of being allergic to dairy), but I know those things can be flawed.

About all those other foods you listed regarding food chemical intolerances - I would have no way of knowing if that stuff was bugging me or not. There are always so many other factors going on (cycle, stress, etc) that I don't know how I would rule something out. Any tips?

About the hormones during my period - yeah, I know my digestion usually speeds up during it, but the nausea, foggyness and total exhaustion have never been part of it. But I will wait and see

The enzymes I'm taking were recommended by my naturopath and she said she really liked how these worked and the results her patients have gotten with them. They have something in them to help process hidden gluten and casein too. But I really am not all that well versed in enzyme info.

The other thing is that I am really wanting to gain weight and am having a hard time doing it despite being able to eat more with the enzymes. Any tips in that area? I'm having such a hard time finding anyone who is in a situation similar to me so I really appreciate you responding

[JaneS]

Yes allergy tests will not tell you if you are lactose intolerant (a breath test can be done, but you can just eliminate and test yourself by eating a large amount after abstaining from lactose containing dairy for at least a week I think).

Allergy tests show an allergy to the food protein. Lactose is milk sugar. It is digested by the very tip of the intestinal vill... the little fingers covering the small intestine. It's common for people with inflamed guts (and common with celiac) that the intestinal villi are "mowed down" and thus do not produce the lactase enzyme to digest lactose. Usually genetics are blamed, and there seems to be a genetic component, however, anyone with inflammation can have this happen, and sometimes it's only temporary, until you take out the allergens or whatever is causing inflammation, and you heal.

As far as food chemical intolerances go, usually one goes on an elimination diet (FAILSAFE) for a while and see how you feel. http://failsafediet.wordpress.com/

Then have a day where you eat high salicylate (coconut milk, almonds, honey... or just almond extract... whew I had an experience with that that was not fun, it must be super concentrated!) For DS it was obvious based on his symptoms once I knew about this category of foods, but it took a while b/c he was eating so many high sal foods in his rotation diet so he was constantly exposed. Journal, journal, journal, it really is invaluable.

Gaining weight is an issue huh? I wonder if you are even absorbing your nutrients.

Adequate Vitamin D levels is very important for preventing Crohn's.
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/scien...-disease.shtml

[happy2bamama]

Thanks for explaining to me about the lactose. I am going to check out that previous link you gave me that talks about what it is and isn't in. It sounds like there's some dairy that is safe??

I wonder about absorbing my nutrients too. But I SHOULD be since the enzymes have helped and my poop is now normal and regular and solid, so something has shifted in terms of absorption but it's not translating to pounds for some reason - or at least it's not going as fast as I thought it would.

I wouldn't be surprised if I have Chron's. Some of the symptoms are dead on but others are not. I can't have the endoscopy yet to check for it (just got new insurance), so I am trying to kind of treat myself like I have it and how I would eat and try to deal. I'm not one for going the medical route at all, so even if I do have it, I will have to find a way to naturally manage it.

Going to check out those links now...

[happy2bamama]

Okay, I am confused now - I am reading contradicting information. Some of the stuff I've found says Swiss, Cheddar and Parmesan have no lactose in them but then I read that they do, but just not a lot. And there seems to be no definitive about yogurt. Do you happen to have a link to a direct page that explains this stuff so I know what to eat and what not to eat?

Thanks!

[JaneS]

http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.i...llegal_a-c.htm