Defining the problem

That's what I've been trying to do for 3.5 years now- define the problem and fix it. I feel like I'm getting closer, but nowhere near hope of being healthy. Here are the things I can't tolerate right now and theories as to why.

Just to clarify- I don't have GI issues anymore. Any residual issues have cleared up since starting SCD. In fact, some days I try to have a little more fiber to help things along now, if you're picking up what I'm laying down... never really bothered me too much GI-wise, but it is still nice to not have the occasional issues!

On with the list:

1. Nuts

Have tried these a few times since they are such a staple on the SCD. No dice. Tried soaking and dehydrating. Same story. Like I alluded to in my previous post, almonds in super small amounts make me so tired I can barely stand it. I read this page on the Celiac Sprue Association website. It seems pretty well-established that Celiacs have problems with yeast and mold.

No flippin' kidding. It was good to see this in print from a relatively reliable source. Now the big question is how to fix the problem.

2. Eggs

This one hurts. Another SCD staple. Had been without them for a few weeks and I guess was feeling brave one day. I get pastured chicken from a local producer, and I also got my eggs from them. Didn't seem to go too bad at first. Soon after, they experienced a shortage of their regular eggs and the only ones I could get were soy-free.

So basically what that means, and what was confirmed with the chicken people last week, is that the soy-free feed contains more oats and maybe even wheat. Super fail. I had thought of this, but tried to ignore it. I don't know why I do that, my intentional ignorance only ends up hurting me in the end!!

Anyway, maybe sometime I will see if I can find eggs with GF feed. Seems crazy, but would be interesting since soooo many of us have issues with eggs. Would also be more careful with starting with small amounts of yolk and moving up from there.

3. Cheese, vinegar, and alcohol

Basically, same idea as the whole mold/yeast thing. I have known for quite awhile that these products caused severe reactions. I was always trying to figure out if it was actually gluten, or just a reaction to the food itself.

When I came across this article, I found it very interesting!! To oversimplify, there are amino acid sequences in the cell wall of candida albicans that correlate to sequences in gliadin protein. Hence, the authors postulate that there could be a relationship between candida and Celiac. They, of course, suggest further exploration of this topic, but I can't find anything more recent than the article published in 2003.

I feel like I could have a lot more to say on this topic, but I don't want to go on and on about something I have very little evidence to prove. It sounds like I have classic candida-type symptoms. Severe fatigue, flushing, worse brain fog, skin rash, intense hunger, headaches, memory issues, etc. All are worse with yeasty or moldy foods. Fail.

4. Nightshades

Not all nightshades are SCD legal. But even the legal ones I'm not doing. I would feel horrible after eating potatoes (heart pounding, dizzy, esophageal spasm, other various weird stuff), I also was repulsed by the thought of tomatoes (esp. raw) when I used to like them. Trusting the body on this one. Never ate eggplant anyway.

I do still use spices derived from peppers. I FINALLY found some spices I at least seem to tolerate. Great place, not bad prices if you order enough to get free shipping. Not the most convenient, but I love their spice blends. Try some poultry seasoning blend rubbed under the skin of a chicken in the Crock Pot, stuff it with some onions and an orange. I also use a lot of the fish grill and broil on some cheap-o tilapia. Yum!!


Ok, now the big questions are: how long can I maintain my diet without these SCD-legal options? And possibly having to cut out tea and coffee in the middle of the butt-freezing winter?! I don't know. I've only recently started craving "normal" food again, and it's getting more depressing to fight every day. It's not an issue of willpower, more of attitude. I'm going to be a very chilly grouch without my morning decaf. Maybe we'll start that part next week... Might have to try to cope with some hot water in the AM.

I've read that caffeine and certain substances in tea and coffee kill off good bacteria and promotes candida. Extra Fail.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Long overdue update

SCD since November 1st, have tried a few things on and off. Here is my current list:

NO:

• nightshades (except in spices)
• eggs (even free-range, organic feed, not GF feed though... has some oats, possibly wheat)
• nuts (had a bite of soaked, dehydrated almonds on Thursday, promptly took a 2-hour nap)
  
• vinegar
• cheese
• alcohol
  

WITH:

• tea (as of this week, from the girl who roasts my coffee)
  
• coffee (mostly decaf now, but I'm afraid she may have accidentally given me full caff this week... crazy hungry and felt weird for past 3 days!)

Sooo... the big question is.... am I getting anywhere?

Yes and no. Modest ups, somewhat less dramatic downs. Some days I have hope. Some days, I feel like I've been hanging out so much at Square One that I should consider redecorating.

I've identified issues beyond the simple flora imbalance. Well, it all obviously relates, but I have a serious mold/yeast issues that I only recently identified more clearly. Getting my bacterial flora back in balance will only help get that back in balance.

Still working on figuring out exactly how to "break the vicious cycle" since almost 2 months trying to do SCD and slowly introduce SCD-legal stuff hasn't really done a whole stinkin' lot. (and I realize it will take time, thank you very much for the reminder)

So many things to talk about... things I want to cover here over the next few weeks:

• Foods/things I can't tolerate, and theories/info as to why
• Probiotics (product choice is confusing as heck, even from a pharmacist's perspective)
• Things I actually can eat!
• Coping with having NO TIME to do anything but work and cook (hence, poor blogging follow-up skills)
• Any new or interesting connections/information/articles I happen to find

Apology for the multiple uses of parentheses. (I seem to like adding comments as afterthoughts)

Here's to moving forward! Maybe I'll even get funky and try adding some pictures to liven things up a bit :)