# Dietary changes that helped people



## Patman75 (Mar 9, 2008)

If Dietary changes helped you please leave a quick post. Dietary changes have made a huge impact on my health. I would love to hear from you.My quick story.http://www.ibsgroup.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=94551All Dietary haters please do not highjack this post.


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## EarnestAccord (Dec 11, 2001)

No specific dietary regime has completely eliminated my symptoms. Though generally speaking low fat and meal portions do help my overall symptoms. Being specific though things get muddy. Eating a bland monochromatic diet, high in carbohydrates and soluble fiber, definitely helped with my colon and it's hyper sensitivity along with stool formation and subsequent incomplete BM feelings but aggravates upper GI bloating, constipation and my hemorrhoids. Swinging the other way and eating a diet high in fresh veggies low in carbohydrates helped in reducing my hemorrhoids, keeps me very regular but my colon becomes extremely hypersensitive, creates excess gas and leaves me feeling extremely incomplete.


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## Cillian (Dec 17, 2007)

Whats up Patman nice to see a fellow Michigander on here







. Lets see in November of 07 I quit smoking just after having my colonoscopy and EGD performed, mid 07 I stopped drinking pop and anything with fake sugar in it, I also almost completely cut alcohol out(one beer every couple months now). After Christmas I started taking a pro-biotic called Pro Bio Inulin Free from Kirkman Labs and it was helping out pretty well. I knew that lactose gave me problems so I tried my best to stay away from it as well as fructose after my GI doc advised so. It took me a while and lots of reading to find the less obvious sources of lactose and fructose but I am doing pretty well avoiding them now. Then I decided that I should try to incorporate as much (safe) fruit and vegetables that I could into my diet. I now eat broccoli, cauliflower, celery, pineapple, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries every night before bed(small amount of each). I eat them before bed so that I can have a BM in the morning and so that any gas I get from them is taken care of while I sleep







. Just a note I was on Lexapro for 2 years and stopped at the end of 06, ever since late 06 I could not for the life of me wake up early without feeling like total ####. Around mid February I started to feel pretty good and was able to get up earlier which also helped me feel better







. For dinner I have been eating chili(the kidney beans really help) from a place near work at least 2-3 times per week and also something decently healthy with rice instead of potatoes as well. I have been sticking to this schedule and have been doing pretty well, I used that as a base diet that I know I could feel pretty good with and am slowly adding things to my diet one at a time. FYI Pineapple, Tuna and probiotics all have ANTI-Inflammatory properties to them, it would be a good idea to add them to ones diet especially and IBS diet. I guess my thought is that I CAN'T complain about something if I haven't done everything I can for it, thats why I am doing what I can and try to focus on only the positive posts I come across on here. The only thing I am working on now is eating the tuna I freaking hate the smell of that stuff lol, oh well I will do it cause I know I need to. Sorry this was so long but I feel that I need to share what I found to help, PS try to keep your mind busy as well by learning something interesting as much as possible it will keep your mood up which also helps.


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## Cillian (Dec 17, 2007)

Oh and I forgot to mention that since I have malabsorption issues(lactose, fructose) I believe that taking a multi vitamin is a must for me as well. I try to take a centrum every day with a meal, I also will grab some almonds on my way in to work which gives me a healthy filling food.


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## allyjellybelly (Aug 16, 2005)

The Specific Carbohydrate diet (SCD) has been my lifesaver. Whilst going gluten and dairy-free helped I still couldn't digest carbohydrates in general and gluten free is indeed very high in carbs. I discovered the SCD 10 months ago and haven't looked back. No more IBS, no more RLS, no more disturbed sleep, no more Candida issues, no more neuropathy, no more so tired I could lay down in the street! Lots more energy, lots more food.........SCD legal, of course. I also make sure I get plenty of raw fruit and veg to help my digestion with the much needed enzymes that raw food provides and which would be destroyed in cooked food.I won't ever go back to eating 'normal' foods again. It is the 'Normal' foods that are killing us all. As Elaine Gottschall who wrote the SCD book - Breaking the Vicious Cycle' often quoted - "We must never forget that what the patient takes beyond his ability to digest does harm." Dr. Samuel Gee. Much of what is commercially produced today is harmful. It is modified, adapted, hydrolyzed, hydrogenated, hybridized, chemicalized, processed and generally mucked about with to the nth degree and we are harmed by it. Just a point to consider - gluten, casein (dairy), soy and to a lesser degree, corn, are all used to make glue - some of it the strongest glues known to man! No wonder we are all gummed up inside, full of mucous and our digestions don't work properly!Whereas bread probably only contained about 5% gluten in ancient times, it now contains at least 55% 'glue-ten'! Unlike the traditionally used sheep and goats milk, the casein protein molecule in cows milk is far less digestible. Soy is evil - it is highly processed and unlike the traditional methods of preparation which soaked and fermented the beans to break them down and remove the phytates etc. before use, it is used straight - as is, also rendering it highly indigestible and high in estrogens which is not beneficial especially for children (and men!). Corn, although not so bad can also be highly processed and corn syrup (HFCS) should be avoided like the plague.There we are - I will get down off my soapbox now and just say - whatever your ailment, try the SCD - it does work (If my testimony is not enough just check out the over 200 reviews of the BTVC book on the US Amazon site!


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## caputsky (Jan 21, 2009)

Ally, just a quick question: were/are you IBS D, C or A?


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## allyjellybelly (Aug 16, 2005)

Hi. My IBS was predominantly D - most days I would be afraid to go out 'in case'! I did intersperse with 'rabbit droppings' occasionally but usually it was D.My digestion finally collapsed in Jan of last year and I was in so much pain every time I ate. I developed what I now know to be recognised as typical Celiac stools along with even more raging D. Docs could find nothing apparently wrong so I ended up on my own. Research led me to Celiac, then gluten-free, but that was not the whole answer so I dropped dairy too. What I realised was that it was gluten causing the D but without that the casein was causing C - the gluten reaction had been masking it!When neither gluten or dairy proved to be the whole answer either I did more research and came across the SCD - and have never looked back. Although I had typical symptoms, I am not Celiac. But even for many Celiacs gluten is not the whole answer either which is where the SCD proves its own. It was the original diet for Celiacs and was very successful but got sidelined by the 'new' gluten theory, and that has left an awful lot of people floundering - people for whom gluten-free does not bring the hoped-for relief. Celiac disease is just one of many symptoms of gut distress - as Hippocrates rightly stated - "all disease begins in the gut". If the gut is working properly then the body will work properly as everything gets into, and comes out of, the gut.With our 'Western' food comes 'Western' diseases - diseases that are an entity of our modern existence. Unfortunately not all food is good food and what we put in our mouth has a huge impact on how well, or how badly, our bodies work.I no longer have any issues with IBS. It is not always 'perfect' but then I am still in recovery - but it gets better all the time.


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## Patman75 (Mar 9, 2008)

allyjellybelly said:


> There we are - I will get down off my soapbox now and just say - whatever your ailment, try the SCD - it does work (If my testimony is not enough just check out the over 200 reviews of the BTVC book on the US Amazon site!


I could not agree more with everything you said. Congrats on getting better with SCD! Use you soapbox as much as you like.


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## overitnow (Nov 25, 2001)

Congratulations to you allyjellybelly. I find people who are able to walk away from the whole modern food thing really admirable. Your discovery of your own D and underlying C just shows how hard finding these causes and their effects can be. Being lazy (and old), finding supplemental ways to eliminate the symptoms has been enough for me. To do that entirely with dietary changes is very cool, indeed.Mark


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## caputsky (Jan 21, 2009)

Hi Ally, Sorry if I am pestering you, but I had a couple other questions. I think you said that you aren't diagnosed as having Celiac Disease, but still avoid gluten anyway - is that correct? I've been tested for Celiac at least 3 times, and all of them negative, but I have found that wheat makes a few of my symptoms worse (mainly gas and bloating). So I do try to avoid wheat, plus I avoid dairy. However, as a person who is also IBS-D, I am very fearful of trying a diet like SCD because I have always operated by the principal that I need a lot of soluble fiber in my diet, and I rely on some grains (rice, potatoes, quinoa) to provide this. I can only eat a limited amount of vegetables because so many veggies are too high in insoluble fiber. And raw vegetables have always given me trouble! So, basically what I"m asking, is if when you started that type of diet if you initially had more problems with D? Or did it start helping immediately? I understand the principles behind the diet, but like I said before, I'm afraid about the insoluble fiber and that it will make my D worse (which is my worst symptom overall). Any and all info or feedback you can give me would be wonderful. Thanks for taking the time to read my post!Julie


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## allyjellybelly (Aug 16, 2005)

Hi Julie.My diagnosis was negative and whilst I initially thought that I had Celiac I now don't. Certainly like thousands of others I am gluten intolerant but that is the fault of what the scientists have done to the wheat rather than my body. In the name of commercialism they have transformed it into something that we can't cope with.Tis only my opinion but I am pretty convinced that Celiac is just one more manifestation of gut damage - we all manifest with different diseases as a result because, well, we are all different, so some will manifest with RA, others with MS, or ME or Fibro, or Schizophrenia, or Bipolar, or Autism or, well, again, pretty much any 'Western' disease you can think of! Tragically, IBS can often end up in a diagnosis of Celiac, or UC, or Crohn's, or Diverticulitis - all of which are due to damage. The IBS is a sign that the digestion can't cope with what is being put into it.Although the more obvious symptoms of gluten/wheat/dairy/soy/corn intolerance etc. may show up as gas and bloating and its a good job they do otherwise you would have no indication at all, its the hidden effects that are the most insidious. We can't see the damage - it only becomes apparent when we start to get diseases or illnesses caused by malabsorption and deficiencies due to the damage. Unfortunately the Medical Profession doesn't see that as a cause, and to be quite honest they aren't looking for one - for goodness sake - if they developed drugs that got us better they would go out of business!As far as the D is concerned, that is what the diet is designed to correct. If D is an issue then you need to start with the intro and gradually work up to introducing more legal foods - too much too soon, of even SCD legal foods will delay the healing process. Although the grains and starches may contain fiber, a damaged gut cannot digest them properly and undigested carbs are yummy food for little pathogenic beasties like Candida - hence the gas.My D stopped as soon as I stopped the gluten and dairy. Within hours! Although that helped though it wasn't the whole picture. I still had problems with certain foods, namely grains, starches and sugar so the SCD was the only way for me to go. Gluten-free foods are typically actually more carb-dense than gluten foods and for those who can't digest carbs properly actually cause more problems. Because the diet basically takes you right back to the basics you can then start to introduce more foods and get more idea of what you can cope with.Pre my digestive collapse I could hardly cope with raw fruit and veg, but now I am fine with it. In fact I would say that it can almost send my stools in the other direction if I don't have enough water. I make raw fruit and veg smoothies in the morning and have to add plenty of water before I whizz them or I would end up with C. My gut is healing but still has a way to go so I take it gently, but my whole digestion does seem to cope better on raw. When my digestion is under duress I get a 'whole body thumping' thing going on. Not a rapid heartbeat but just a very prominent one - I can feel it all through my body, but if I eat raw fruit and veg and maybe a little fish, I don't get it, so that tells me a lot.This diet has really helped me to read my body. When all the other health issues were going on I couldn't focus on my digestion, but now I can tell if I have had something it can't cope with - the banging/thumping, or maybe an ache in my back, or between my shoulder-blades - showing up distress in the colon or the liver, etc. The official website is 'breaking the vicious cycle' - the same name as the book, another good site is 'Pecanbread' - designed for kids with Autism but full of interesting info for anyone with health issues that could be helped by the SCD. As the SCD is growing in popularity due to its benefits there are also loads of SCD websites and blogs springing up which contain good info and recipes too.I run a thread on Celiac.com if you want to jump in and join us too - http://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/index.ph...mp;#entry511979I hope this helps. Ask away Julie - the more info I can get on the SCD out there the better - it is worth it because it works. It can cost a little to stock up on some of the SCD legal foods but then I am not spending money on the rubbish any more so its swings and roundabouts at the end of the day!Ali.


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## caputsky (Jan 21, 2009)

Hi Ally, I looked into the SCD diet again, and I'm pretty sure there is no way I can do it :/. I say this because I am highly lactose intolerant -- I can not have any cheeses or dairy-based yogurt, which seems to be one of the recommended foods on the diet. Also, I am intolerant to eggs and egg whites, so the recommendations they make for beginners for breakfast would be impossible for me. I'm glad that the diet works for you, but I think it would be extremely limiting for me based on my intolerances to certain foods (that and the fact that I rely a lot on soy and it has never given me problems). So thank you for the information and I wish you all the best in your recovery -- hopefully I will find something that works for me.


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## allyjellybelly (Aug 16, 2005)

Hi Julie.Most of us who follow the Specific Carb Diet - well all the ones I know of on Celiac.com, and there are quite a lot of us now, are also dairy intolerant. That is very common.Elaine specified that all dairy should be removed to start with and that the only type that could be consumed is the yogurt and dry curd cheese. The reason for that is that the long 24 hours fermentation that is required for the SCD legal yogurt is the reason why it is usually tolerated. Whilst most commercial yogurt is only fermented for 6-8 hours, the long fermentation actually means that most, if not all of the lactose is pre-digested by the bacterial enzymes and the casein is rendered into a more digestible form. The dry curd cheese is also usually fermented but those who make the yogurt usually just prefer to 'drip' it to make their own cheese.Even so, there are some who cannot tolerate the yogurt and either just shelve it for a while and stick to dairy-free probiotic capsules, or they make their yogurt out of coconut milk or almond milk to get the probiotics, so there are ways around it.Certain cheeses may be introduced at a later date once the gut has been healing for a while, but they are usually cheeses that have been formed by natural fermentation rather than rennet. I don't have dairy at all apart from some occasional yogurt. I tried some cheeses earlier but they gave me C so I have chosen to keep away from them for a while longer. Fortunately cheese was never something I missed greatly. I have used a little butter all the way through as it is mostly fat but I also use coconut oil, ghee and olive oil.I was also very intolerant of eggs and couldn't cope with them at all until about 6 weeks or so after starting the diet and since then I have been able to eat them fine, in fact I now have eggs almost every day.Although you say that soy gives you no problems, are you sure that it is not behind your IBS? It can take several days or even a week or more for reactions to a trigger food to clear. I find that soy gives me a lot of mucous so I prefer to avoid it anyway apart from the other issues involved with it.There are ways of making foods without eggs. In amongst the SCD recipes on some of the sites are some for things like muffins made with banana, egg and dairy-free ice-cream and other yummy things - fruit salads are good too or just certain fruits - whatever you can cope with. One of my staples for a while was the 24 hour yogurt and blueberries with a little honey. At the time they were the only fruit I could cope with but now I eat raw apples, grapes, pear, banana, cherries, blueberries, lemon, tomato, avocado, kiwi, cherimoya, sharon fruit, and sometimes raspberries and more.Fruits help healing but we end up in a cleft stick because we can't always cope with them - back to the vicious cycle, but gradually as the gut starts to heal we are able to enlarge the circle and variation of foods. I did find it hard at first and went a bit overboard with some foods that should have been left till later, but I got there in the end. Now it is second nature. I have been out this evening for a meal and had hake cooked with a smoked salmon and asparagus sauce (thickened with a little cornstarch, but a little bit like that once in a blue moon isn't going to cause a huge problem). It came with a side salad and some cooked vegetables. It was extremely enjoyable.I was brought up with a dinner followed by dessert routine and it has been a hard habit to break - but a habit it is, and habits _can_ be broken. I now have my dessert for breakfast in the form of fruit as it comes or in the form of a smoothie - fruit is best eaten on its own without other types of food, otherwise it tends to ferment in the stomach. Lunch may be some celery sticks and a little organic low, or even no sugar, if I can get it, peanut butter; scrambled eggs; chicken rolled in lettuce; a good mixed salad; an SCD muffin - made with or without eggs; fish mixed with a little mayo and eaten with salad or rolled in lettuce like a sandwich; SCD garlic crackers with a little butter or ghee and fish or meat. As I have said, you are only limited by your imagination.Dinner is the easy one - meat, fish or poultry with vegetables and/or salad. I don't miss the potatoes, rice or pasta as it always bloated me something awful anyway. Strange thing to say but I actually feel 'cleaner' without it and my stomach is a lot happier! Occasionally I may, as a treat sneak a few fries - I had four with my meal this evening, but that was enough and I didn't want any more.As my gut is healing I am absorbing more nutrients from the food, especially the raw so I actually need less food now to be satisfied.I appreciate that you don't feel the diet is for you at the moment but it may be worth reconsidering if you find no help elsewhere.


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## caputsky (Jan 21, 2009)

Thanks for all the information again, Ally. I do want to try the diet, but I'm at a loss for where to start. Like I said, I know I can't do the yogurt or DCCC or eggs right away. So what should I try for breakfast? Could I do a banana? What about applesauce? I have reserved the book from our local library but I won't get it until early this week. So any tips or pointers you can give me in the meantime would be amazing and I would be eternally grateful. I had an attack this morning that lasted for almost 4 hours, and I didn't even eat anything "bad" yesterday based upon my triggers. But I did have a lot of carbs and sugar. So maybe there is truth to the SCD. It's just hard trying to change a mindset that I have had about my diet since early on dealing with IBS-D. I just can't keep living this way. One more question -- would keeping soluble fiber in my diet be ok? That is one thing that has consistently helped for me, and I would like to continue with it. Thank you once again in advance for all your advice and help in answering my questions!


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## allyjellybelly (Aug 16, 2005)

Absolutely a banana should be ok if you can tolerate it - it is better to eat them slightly ripe with some black spots than under-ripe. Applesauce should be fine too. If you used sweet apples you may not need to sweeten it but otherwise a teaspoon or so of honey would help with that. You would probably find that you get cravings for sweet thing for a few days. That will pass. Most also find that they may feel a bit horrible for the first week or two as the 'bugs' die off and release some toxins - a 'Herxheimer' reaction, or call it what you will!Juicing is good too as you then get loads of nutrients and enzymes. You can use a juicer if you have one, but I hate cleaning the thing so tend to just whizz it all up in a blender with some water then squeeze it through a nylon bag - a bit messy but a lot easier than cleaning the juicer! If you decide to add a banana whizz it in after you have extracted the juice as that won't go through the bag and will just clog it up! With the juice you would be getting fresh soluble fiber too like pectin from apples - which is basically what the soluble fiber is. You could continue with that, but you may find that you can reduce it or even remove it eventually as your gut starts to heal. One of the things that is recommended on the intro diet is Apple Cider (not the alcoholic kind!!) - made fresh it is even better and full of soluble pectin fiber.Have a read through the Intro Diet page on Pecanbread. You can ignore the references for kids as the site is dedicated to adapting the diet for them, but the info is still very useful for any of us. Some find it easier to follow even than the BTVC book. Try and work through the stages gradually and don't try to eat too much variety too soon. You need to go slowly and just let your digestion have a bit of a rest for a while with gentle foods that it _can_ cope with. I found it easier to print the most relevant info off and pop it into a folder to refer to as I went along. http://www.pecanbread.com/new/begindiet1soup.htmlThe recipes they mention are all in the 'recipes' section on the website. Some balk at having to be confined to the chicken soup, but it is only for a few days and at least most find that they can cope with that. I coped better with organic free-range corn-fed chicken than the cheaper gluten-fed ones. I was ok with fish - fresh generally and tinned as long as in olive oil or brine but you will just have to watch your body's reactions - you will soon get to learn what is ok and what is not - even some SCD 'legal' foods cannot be tolerated initially.Take some time to really read and absorb the information on both the Pecanbread and BTVC websites and don't consider starting the diet until you have read the book. It is just not worth diving in without having prepared properly as that could result in a failure to stick to it. If you feel you can't do the yogurt at the moment then try and find some probiotics that are SCD legal. It may be worth trying the yogurt after a few weeks - again the Pecanbread site goes into some depth about probiotics and also the yogurt.Your gut is poorly and needs to be supported rather than challenged. The damage that the D would suggest is present will have reduced the enzyme capacity which likely means that you are not digesting carbs properly. Your body is then trying to off-load the undigested carbs as rapidly as possible which would result in the D. IF the stomach can't cope with something you have eaten you would vomit - if the intestine can't cope with it it will expel it the other end! Your body is giving you signals - you need to learn how to read them! Eating too much variety in one go confuses the signals and we then don't know what has caused the reaction. That is why the diet starts slowly.Hope this helps. Ali.


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## amanda8 (Jan 21, 2008)

Perhaps the best thing I did for myself (dietwise) in struggling to overcome this disease/condition is eating 100% organic. I also do not eat anything that is processed, chemically altered, packaged etc. I avoid preservatives and additives like the plague. I also try to only buy what is in season. I am able (luckily) to this as I live in a part of Northern California where we always have access to delicious, locally grown produce and locally raised meat. I have seen a vast improvement in my symptoms following meals with these simple changes. For years now I have cut out dairy, red meat, pork, lamb, egg yolks, high fructose corn syrup, fried foods, and high fat foods. This has helped me control my symptoms to a certain degree.I recently started substituting canola or olive oil with extra virgin coconut oil. It's supposed to assist with digestion and improve immune function. I have suffered no ill effects from it and love the taste it lends to foods/baked goods/etc.


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## allyjellybelly (Aug 16, 2005)

I love coconut too - I drink coconut milk that I make myself and it is delicious. You are so on the button about the food Amanda and what we eat making such a difference.As I have mentioned in a different thread I am experimenting with digestive enzymes too over the next few weeks. The more I read about them the more I am convinced that a lack of enzymes has a lot to do with my health issues. The weak digestion I have suffered with for years I have now realised is probably a strong indicator and it is only now that I am beginning to grasp what it has been telling me all this time!Why the enzymes are low is another step in the learning curve, but as our enzyme 'bank' gets smaller as we age, and illness, trauma and stress can add to its depletion then is is not surprising in some ways. We don't eat enough raw or fermented food in the 'Western' diet to supplement it properly and the bank just gets smaller and smaller until there isn't enough to run our digestion properly, let alone other functions.It can take a few weeks with the supplementation to build the bank back up so I will hang in there and see what happens. Many have said though that of all the things they have taken, enzymes seem to have the biggest impact. My energy level is considerably better than it has been for a long time, but if the enzymes can improve on that then I am not going to complain!


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## amanda8 (Jan 21, 2008)

Ally - Does the fat content in the coconut milk upset you? When I first started diet modification/food elimination years ago, my foundation was the Eating for IBS diet, which for the most part, worked well at reducing my symptoms. One of the triggers listed there was coconut milk, because of its high fat content. I therefore have never dallied with it, even though I love homemade curries and other recipes that incorporate it.When I was in Costa Rica, I drank fresh pipa - that's when you cut a hole in a green coconut and just drink the water. It's soooo good and refreshing! It's also better at replacing electrolytes than other sports drinks and has natural sugars. You should look into it, too. However, don't drink too much in one sitting as it will definitely give you D...even for people without IBS. My boyfriend learned that the hard way Also, I take digestive enzymes. Have been for a few years now off and on. I really think they help with digesting foods I don't eat regularly, larger than normal meals, and meals with a lot of protein and/or fat. Still dabbling with brands.


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## allyjellybelly (Aug 16, 2005)

Hi Amanda. I seem to be ok with fats and the coconut milk is fine - I do find that they vary from brand to brand though. The one I have just finished was quite fatty but the previous brand was nice and creamy. When I make it myself it tends to be smooth and creamy too, so it must just depend on how it is dealt with during the canning process, how long it is heated for, or whether it is cold-pressed, etc.Some you can shake up and they come out smooth, others, like the one I have just finished is separated and will not blend back together - the stuff on the top was solid. Great if you want to make coconut cream but the lumps just melted in my drink and left big fat globules floating on the top which wasn't very appetising!It may also depend what they put with it too. Some brands have stuff like Xanthan Gum in them and some rather dubious E numbers so I try to avoid them.I would love to be able to try fresh coconut but we don't get them over here in the UK, well certainly not in the provinces anyway. They may be available in back street West-Indian or Asian shops in London but I have never seen them and didn't even know they existed until I started the SCD and researched about coconut. I have only ever seen it dried in packets or as a brown coir-encrusted globe.It is interesting you have been taking the enzymes. I do think that diet still plays a very important role in our health but I am sure that enzymes can do a lot to support it.


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## amanda8 (Jan 21, 2008)

Hey Ally,We don't get fresh coconuts where I live in California either. We only have the brown ones. I've only ever had fresh pipa in Costa Rica. Otherwise, I get it in cans or boxed at the health food store.I don't take the enzymes religiously, but I think you're correct. Taken alone, they won't help unless you have a diet that is conducive to your IBS symptom management. For example, I can't eat red meat. So, just because I take an enzymatic supplement doesn't now mean I can go chow down a hamburger or steak without ill effects. I will still be in pain, cramping, gassy, with plenty of D. I think they do, as you say, support a healthy diet.I am going to give the coconut milk a whirl sometime soon. Let you know how it goes!Amanda


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## allyjellybelly (Aug 16, 2005)

If you fancy making it yourself, drain the coconut (make sure you get a good one without black eyes as that can indicate rot), crack it open and prize out the meat. I don't bother to remove the inner brown shell unless I want to use the coconut flesh that is left over. Break it into 1" chunks, pop it in the blender and add enough hot water to cover the coconut.Whizz it for a few minutes, then drain through a mesh bag - I usually rest mine folded double in a sieve over a bowl. I let it stand for a few minutes and move the flesh around a little with a spoon to help it cool a bit, then give it a good squeeze. Pop it back into the blender, add some more water and do it again. Squeeze it as dry as you can and enjoy the milk.Sometimes I use the coconut flesh to make SCD muffins or some other delicacy rather than just bin it. If you don't want to use it straight away you can spread it on a baking tray and dehydrate it for a while in a low oven. Make sure it is dry before you store it though or it will be nice and green when you go to use it (as I have discovered!)


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## Yukie (Feb 13, 2009)

Personnally, I avoid transformed food, wheat, dairy, meat and sea food. I mostly eat organic food. Although I have daily tummy aches, it's minor compared to other people here. I don't have IBS-D when I avoid all those mentionned earlier but my transit is slow.


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