Steve’s SCD Healing Journal: Week 10 – Starting a New Beginning!

Co-Founder of SCD Lifestyle Steve Wright has finally broken down and started his path to intestinal healing.  After many years of undiagnosed digestive warfare in his body, these series of weekly posts will take you through his experiences, thoughts, and struggles on the SCD diet.  Check back and follow his progress:

Week 10 Summary:

Moving to a new city and into a new apartment is always a bit of an adventure.  I have moved more times than anyone I know in the last 5 years and I still have not figured out a better way of doing it other than trial and error.  So my last week has mostly been crazy to say the least.  I had stock piled a bunch of cooked SCD legal food just in case I happened to burn down my new kitchen (every stove is different I swear).  I stuck mainly to the basics, of squash, chicken and fish all week because I wanted to help reset my system after the past couple weeks of turmoil.  Many people will actually return right to the intro diet if they feel that they’ve had a major stumble but I didn’t have the means at this time.

I’m happy to say that the new stove cooks just fine and I visited almost every grocery store and farmers market within driving distance of my new place.  I highly encourage people on the SCD diet to do exactly that: drive around and spend a decent amount of time taking a mental stock of everything a grocery/health store has to offer.  It will save you time in the future when you’re looking to add new foods to your diet and also allow you to do some decent price comparison.

Mental and Body Changes:

This last week has been really great for me.  I was able to eat SCD legal and start to return to where I was 3 weeks ago.  I’m still not there completely but I did see a return of daily bowl movements in the 2 to 3 range in quality.  I had very little gas all week and almost no bloating.  I experienced some daily stomach uneasiness where my stomach was making some weird noises after I would eat but no associated pain.  Mentally, I noticed a dramatic difference in the amount of constant energy I had.  I really do feel the effects that non legal SCD foods take on my body.  Even if I wasn’t seeing that much of difference in my body, as long as I have the mental benefits of clarity and sustained energy I would stick to this diet.

Fitness Goals:

I still haven’t secured a gym membership but I have evaluated the gyms in the area and plan to start working out again this week.  It looks like it may be a couple weeks until I’m going to be able to get in to see a SCD friendly doctor or a new chiropractor, which is a bit of a drag but I’m not going to let it hold me back.

Diet Details:

Many people will return to the into diet to start over again after a series of weeks like I’ve experienced, however I didn’t have the ability to do that with my limited cooking availability.  Instead I ate an almost fruit free diet all week that included meat and butternut squash with some green beans.  I also returned to eating SCD legal yogurt everyday.  In the next couple weeks I will probably stay focused on proven foods I know that I can tolerate just to help reset my system.

In light of more research we have been doing here at SCD Lifestyle I’m more convinced than ever that I’m experiencing some gut permeability issues coupled with SIBO (small intestine bacteria overgrowth).  I have no way of proving that I’m experiencing Candida overgrowth but it is either that or some kind of fungal bacteria imbalance in my small intestine.  Based on the new research and my symptoms I’m going to really restrict my fruit and honey intake going forward.  Also, because I’m not going to be getting in to see a doctor anytime soon I’ve decided to order some herbal products to help try and kill off any bacteria/fungus/yeast problems.  I also will be ordering some digestive enzymes in the coming week to help address any gut permeability issues I have.

I’m planning to stagger the start of all the new supplements to try and gauge their individual effectiveness as well as their combined powers.  I will break everything down next week after I get my shipment or products.  Until then I’m going to switch over from supplementing with 3 billion Lactobacillus Acidophilus 3x a day to 10 billion pills 3x a day.  This along with a constant supply of yogurt should keep my system fully pumped with good bacteria until I can eliminate any residual bad bacteria or fungus.  Lastly, its been 6 weeks since I started using Betaine HCL for my low stomach acid, I’m starting to experience some systems of higher stomach acid that haven’t happened before so I will probably start tapering off on my dosage.

One Line Thoughts On The SCD Diet:

• Always remember that no two stoves or ovens are the same, there is an adjustment period when moving so don’t fret to much about burnt food (for peace of mind you should check the fire alarms in the new building anyways!)
• It’s a good idea to visit every farmers market, health store and grocery store in your area to understand the nuances of SCD legal foods each offers and their different price points (helps save money, gas and time)
• If you are using Betaine HCL to treat low stomach acid and you are not sure what happens when you overdose, rest assured you haven’t.  When it happens you will know it! It feels like an intense warmness and or burning that is coming from way deep in your stomach.  If it happens grab some baking soda and take a ¼ teaspoon in 8 oz of water to help neutralize the acid levels in your stomach
• I think gut permeability issues are probably being experienced by most people on the SCD diet, if you are not seeing the results you are looking for it would be wise to look into using some form of digestive enzymes.  I have avoided them for a while thinking that my system should be able to heal itself but the research indicates avoiding them will only allow the vicious cycle to continue.

Do you usually refer back to the intro diet after a setback or just scale back a little?  Share your thoughts…