A Regimen for Remission
This log tracks my regimen of attitude, exercise, stress management, and SCD foods. Since I started this regimen in 1997, I've been able to keep my Crohn's in a drug-free remission.

Monkey-see,
monkey-don't
Even though I may have experimented beyond the SCD from time to time, one must remember that everyone is different. Follow the intro diet for 3-5 days, and stick with the SCD until you are completely symptom free for at least one year before experimenting.

Be sure to read:
Intro to Flog
Read Me
Archives
Laura's IBS log
SCD Web Library

Permalinks:
The linked timestamps are your permanent links to individual log entries.

Get the book:
Ready to get your shit together? Got the intestinal fortitude? Yearning for a nirvana of peristalsis? Buy Breaking The Vicious Cycle! Written by Elaine Gottschall B.A., M.Sc., the book includes guidelines for dietary relief and sustainable remission of Crohns, Ulcerative Colitis, and other IBDs.

Feel free to contact me if you still have questions.

Dinner: sauteed asparagus with garlic and ginger, leftover roasted chicken and veggies.
mhs@20:38

Lunch: tossed salad, leftover grilled tuna, and some fresh orange/grapefruit juice.

Breakfast: SCD yogurt, an apple, a banana, some pecans, some dried figs.
mhs@15:09

Book review: Freedom from Digestive Distress: Medicine-Free Relief from Heartburn, Gas, Bloating, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome
by Gary L. Gitnick, Karen Cooksey

It is great to find a book by a practicing gastroenterologist who promotes a medicine-free healing plan! Gitnick's book reminds us all of the importance of a complete healing program, including exercise, stress reduction, positive attitude, eating those foods which don't bother us, and seeking support from others. The author discusses scenarios when it may be necessary to combine medicine with these success factors and how they can work together to promote healing. This book contains many case studies and patient anecdotes, and is written in a positive, uplifting way. The book may draw criticism in that is does not "dictate" specific solutions or provide explicit answers; instead, it gives the reader sufficient information and tools (like a suggested food journal) which the reader can use to answer their own questions.
mhs@15:01

Sunday, April 29, 2001

Dinner: gazpacho, roasted chicken with veggies. Dessert: Elaine's pumpkin pie (with Laura's crust). Delicious!
mhs@20:04

Book review: Eating for IBS: 175 Delicious,Nutritious, Low-Fat, Low-Residue Recipes to Stabilize the Touchiest Tummy
by Heather Van Vorous

True to its title, this book contains almost two hundred low-fat and low-residue recipes. If that's what you are after, then this book will serve you well.

Alas, everyone is different. As the husband of a (constipated) IBS sufferer, I must point out that these wheat flour, rice, and other complex carbohydrate laden recipes would completely, painfully block up my wife!! In that respect, this book is not what I would recommend to people with IBS.

However, the author does actually follow her own diet, which serves her quite well (the diarrhea type of IBS sufferer?). I did like some of the author's points about looking at a change of diet not as a penalty but as a relief, as well as her use suggestion to "substitute ingredients" instead of eliminating your favorite foods altogether. Lastly, the nutritional summaries of each recipe add a valuable touch.
mhs@16:39

Lunch: tunafish salad with celery and scallions on a bed of lettuce and tomato.
We were visited by a female Bates' Queen butterfly, known only to Arizona and New Mexico.
mhs@14:48

Breakfast: an apple, SCD yogurt.
mhs@08:17

Saturday, April 28, 2001

Dinner: grilled tuna with lemon and olive oil, gazpacho, and sauteed string beans with garlic.
mhs@20:21

After-a-jog snack: cantaloupe, cheese, unsulphured apricots from Trader Joe's.
mhs@11:24

Breakfast: SCD yogurt, an apple, a banana...
mhs@08:20

Friday, April 27, 2001

Dinner: well, we had all sorts of wonderful plans but they got put aside when Laura sliced into her finger while chopping garlic. A trip to the hospital determined what we already knew: that it was just a big cut but nothing that required stitches. So.. I'll have the salad now and we'll cook the rest of it tomorrow! :-)
mhs@20:47

The CCFA "Ask The Specialist" forum is holding another SCD discussion. Check it out!
mhs@16:00

Snack: SCD yogurt, frozen strawberries and frozen peaches smoothie. Delicious!
mhs@15:59

Lunch: leftover broccoli and spinach, salmon. A pear for dessert.
mhs@13:23

Breakfast: SCD yogurt, fruit, nuts.
mhs@07:44

Thursday, April 26, 2001

Dinner: steamed artichokes, leftover salmon and tuna, tossed salad.
mhs@21:27

Lunch: tossed salad, roasted chicken, and some Jarlsburg cheese.
mhs@12:58

Breakfast: SCD yogurt and an apple.
mhs@06:06

Wednesday, April 25, 2001

Dinner: grilled ahi tuna, grilled salmon fillet with cilantro & walnut pesto, tossed salad, and sauteed organic broccoli and spinach with garlic.
mhs@18:34

Lunch: roasted chicken, tossed salad.
mhs@12:49

Way cool:

mhs@09:14

Breakfast: fruit, SCD yogurt, figs.
mhs@09:00

Tuesday, April 24, 2001

Erik Freedman in Germany has created a German SCD homepage! It will grow as soon as the German translation of BTVC is available (early Summer, 2001).
Here's the URL: http://www.scdiet.de
Here's the site description (for our German visitors and the Internet search engines):
Diese Internetseiten beschäftigen sich mit der Speziellen Kohlehydratdiät für Crohn und Colitis Patienten (scdiet) und allgemein mit chronisch entzündlichen Darmerkrankungen (CED).
Die Spezielle Kohlehydratdiät hat bereits vielen Crohn- und Colitis Patienten geholfen, ein schon verloren geglaubtes Lebensgefühl wiederzuerlangen.
mhs@17:31

Breakfast: SCD yogurt, an apple, some nuts. Snack: nuts, cheese, celery & peanut butter.
mhs@09:43

Monday, April 23, 2001

Dinner: grilled salmon with a ginger black bean sauce, grilled eggplant with garlic and chili oil, tossed salad.
mhs@20:32

Lunch: leftover tuna and olives, tossed salad.

Snacks: organic almond and raisin mix (mix your own, it's easy!).
mhs@14:51

Breakfast: sliced apple, nuts, banana, and some chamomille tea with mezquite honey.
mhs@07:10

Sunday, April 22, 2001

Dinner: grilled salmon steaks, with Laura's delicious mango chutney, tossed salad, and steamed artichokes.

Lunch chicken Caesar salad @ the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. These colorful birds joined us:

mhs@20:46

Breakfast: fruit, nuts, cheese.
mhs@07:21

Dinner, yesterday: grilled trout, roasted beets and sauteed beet tops, tossed salad, and Elaine's peanut butter cookies for dessert.
mhs@07:21

Saturday, April 21, 2001

Before lunch I was up on the patio roof, refreshing the waterproof protective coating. The can of goop reads "let dry for 24 hours".
Out of nowhere the temperature dropped to 51 degrees and it just started raining! So... do I have to redo that coating now or what?! :-|
mhs@18:43

Lunch: grilled chicken sausages, tossed salad, cheese, nuts, and a banana.
mhs@15:16

Book review: Positive Options for Crohn's Disease: Self-Help and Treatment, by Joan Gomez, M.D.
Covering the digestive system, signs and symptoms of Crohn's, types of tests and diagnosis, and medicinal and surgical treatment options, readers benefit from Gomez's explanation of digestion, the challenges of nutrition/absorption, and the many medicinal and surgical treatments.

As someone who was looking for an uplifting book with solutions, this book primarily about drugs and surgery disappointed me. One quote early on reads, "Getting the best out of life when you have this illness [Crohn's] means reengineering your whole lifestyle". There really must be a more positive way of saying this! Barely fifteen pages are dedicated to the root cause that diet plays in inflammatory bowel disease. Gomez finally mentions the research of British professor Herman-Taylor but fails to mention the successes found by the case studies done by Elaine Gottschall, author of "Breaking The Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet". My suggestion for future editions: show the reader some positive steps to take. For example, "through a regimen for remission, personal introspection, professional medical assistance, and the inclusion of exercise, support, and whole-body awareness, the patient can join a growing community of people achieving positive results."
mhs@07:57

Breakfast: fruit, dccc, nuts.
mhs@07:46

Friday, April 20, 2001

Dinner: Laura's northern Italian tuna (sauteed with Calamata olives and garlic), tossed salad.
mhs@19:53

Lunch: grilled chicken sausages, gazpacho.
mhs@13:41

Snack: baby carrots, celery with organic peanut butter.
mhs@11:22

Thursday, April 19, 2001

Dinner: steamed halibut with capers, lemon, and butter; tossed salad, gazpacho.
mhs@19:50

From one blog to another: Why?
mhs@13:00

Lunch: chicken masala (from Trader Joe's), leftover tossed salad from last night. Dried apricots (unsulphured) for dessert.
mhs@12:55

Beware, some folks are trying to bring back Lotronex.
mhs@07:39

Breakfast: an apple, dccc with mezquite honey, and some fresh organic orange/grapefruit juice.
mhs@07:33

Wednesday, April 18, 2001

Dinner: a delicious salad, fresh gazpacho (I made it after lunch), and some chicken. Here's the recipe for today's salad:
5 oz. of organic salad greens (fills a large salad bowl)
1 organic Fuji or other tart apple, sliced in half and then into thin slices
1/2 Cup lightly toasted organic pecan halves
SCD balsamic vinaigrette (you'll have to read the SCD listserve to get that recipe; not mine so I can't post it here)
1/2 Cup grated white cheddar or gorgonzola cheese

Mix all but the cheese together in a bowl, top with cheese and serve. Enjoy!
mhs@19:44

Lunch: tossed salad, chicken tandoori, a hard boiled egg, and some cheese.
mhs@13:32

Breakfast: fruit, nuts, dccc yogurt with mezquite honey.
mhs@10:40

Tuesday, April 17, 2001

Dinner: leftover chicken tandoori, tossed salad.

Lunch: leftover grilled eggplant, steak, and Swiss chard.
mhs@17:38

Breakfast: fruit, nuts, dccc.
mhs@09:28

Monday, April 16, 2001

Dinner: chicken tandoori on the grill, grilled eggplant, sauteed Swiss chard.
mhs@20:13

First there was a guy named Mik who posted SCD listserve discussions on his website. Then there was a guy named Mike who wrote about his SCD meals every single day for more than a year. Now there is a guy named Ed who posts his SCD health statistics online for all to see! What'll they think of next?!?! :-)
mhs@17:07

Lunch: grilled steak, tossed salad.
mhs@14:00

Breakfast: DCCC with mezquite honey (from Trader Joe's), apples, raisins, pecans.
mhs@07:41

Sunday, April 15, 2001

Dinner: grilled trout with butter and pepper, sauteed Swiss chard with garlic, and some punjab eggplant.
mhs@19:23

Lunch: gazpacho, tossed salad, and a turkey burger.

Breakfast: fruit, nuts, raisins, cheese.

Dinner, yesterday: roasted chicken, tossed salad, punjab eggplant from Trader Joe's.
mhs@15:23

Saturday, April 14, 2001

Boy am I tired! I spent 4+ hours out in the sun today planting trees with the Tucson Audubon Society. I think I planted 8 .. or was it 6 .. I lost count! Anyway, it was good, hard work. Everyone ate sandwiches but I brought along some leftover turkey burgers, sauteed stringbeans with garlic, and lots of veggies and bananas (as well as plenty of water). I started out wearing my SCD t-shirt but the sun got too strong and I had to put on a long-sleeve shirt.
mhs@17:37

Breakfast: fruit, scd yogurt.

I'm off to plant some desert trees with the Tucson Audubon Society... wearing my SCD t-shirt!
mhs@06:29

Friday, April 13, 2001

Just in time for filing: the 1040.com form!
mhs@19:55

Dinner: leftover roasted chicken, sauteed green beans with garlic, and a tossed salad.
mhs@19:42

Lunch: tossed salad, leftover turkey burgers, leftover snap peas with ginger, and some awesome gazpacho.
mhs@12:42

Where do computers go when they die? PC makers ponder computer afterlife.
mhs@12:40

Breakfast: fruit, nuts, yogurt.

Dinner: grilled turkey burgers, tossed salad, sauteed green beans with garlic.
mhs@07:58

Thursday, April 12, 2001

Lunch: tossed salad, roasted chicken.

Breakfast: fruit, yogurt.

Dinner, yesterday: sauteed snap peas with ginger, tossed salad, roasted chicken.
mhs@14:47

Wednesday, April 11, 2001

Lunch: steak fajita burrito, extra lettuce and guacamole, without the "wrapper".
mhs@13:01

Breakfast: fruit, SCD yogurt.

Dinner, yesterday: leftover grilled salmon with a ginger and black bean sauce from Trader Joe's, steamed artichoke, and a tossed salad.

Lunch: leftover rib-eye, tossed salad.
mhs@09:37

Tuesday, April 10, 2001

Breakfast: fruit, SCD yogurt, figs.
mhs@08:53

Monday, April 09, 2001

Dinner: An SCD feast!

First plate: Laura's handmade guacamole with crudite.

Second plate: tossed salad.

Third plate: grilled rib-eye steak, sauteed organic baby spinach with garlic.

Dessert: a walk around the block and a small glass of Jerez (sherry).
mhs@20:14

Lunch: leftover grilled trout with capers, sauteed stringbeans with garlic.
mhs@12:12

Breakfast: fruit, SCD yogurt.
mhs@08:24

Sunday, April 08, 2001

Dinner: sauteed kale, grilled zucchini, and grilled trout with butter, pepper, and capers. Delicious!!
mhs@20:38

Why doctors don't like the SCD (copied from today's SCD listserve discussion):

Subject: SCD- from a Doctor's Point of View
Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 04:58:33 -0400

Let me start by saying that I find many things disturbing about the practice of medicine today. It is too specialized, too commercialized, and too impersonal. Elaine’s contribution is not just the diet, it is the science behind it, and the fact that it seems to work in almost all cases.

So why doesn’t the medical community and doctors accept it?

I think that it might be helpful to try to understand SCD from a Doctor’s point of view.

As has been pointed out in the list, doctors have not been trained in nutrition. Clearly it’s importance has not been recognized. Besides from a solution point of view, SCD is "messy". It is much easier to pop a pill and control dosages of medicine than to stick to the demands of preparing the foods for the diet.

The track record for medicine over the last 150 years has been outstanding. I believe that life expectancy has more than doubled during that time. Medicines have played a key role, so why should a doctor change?

Many have experienced arrogance in their doctors. Perhaps it comes from the power of control over life or death of their patients. There is a political statement that may apply here. "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." On the flip side, if doctor’s were more involved with their patients emotionally it is likely that they would suffer more if their patient did not react to treatment or died.

Doctors are marketed to by drug companies that cite "scientific studies"; studies, performed in a controlled environment. However, no group of independent researchers or doctors have yet done a study on the SCD in a controlled environment. I hope to influence that.

Doctors get free samples of medications to hand out to their patients. Few doctors have ever seen Elaine’s book. Perhaps sending free copies of Elaine’s book to doctors might help.

Doctors are leaving medicine because of the cost of insurance. With the cost of malpractice suits rising, insurance companies are raising their rates to a point when it can become prohibitive to practice medicine. Why should a doctor take a chance on some "unproven" treatment, diet or otherwise, then be sued if it doesn’t work?

Most diets advertised and marketed are fads; some pseudo scientific scheme to enrich the advocate and help people lose weight. Why would a responsible doctor promote a diet; SCD is a diet.

If you find a doctor who despite all these concerns advocates SCD consider yourself lucky. On the other hand your doctor should be convinceable of the effects of SCD if your symptoms are significantly reduced or even better, if you are cured.

More important, forget what other people say, if it works for you or your loved ones, that really is the best of all.

Hope this helps.
Stan
mhs@11:04

Breakfast:apple, SCD yogurt.

Dinner: steamed artichokes, grilled salmon with walnut cilantro pesto, sauteed string beans with garlic.

Lunch: tossed salad, turkey burgers.
mhs@09:41

Saturday, April 07, 2001

I'm back from Connecticut! I had 2 days of interviews for a new job, and all went quite well (thanks for asking). Stay tuned for more specifics.

Dinner, yesterday: tossed salad on my return flight from CT, nut and raisin mix, a banana (the airplance did not offer anything other than pasta with a salad on the side, so I just ate the salad).

Lunch: roasted chicken with herbs, roasted veggies. Breakfast: fruit.

Dinner, Thursday: @ Ocean 211 with Cheryl. Delicious salmon with green beans, lobster and oyster spring roll, tossed salad, and a glass of Merlot.
mhs@11:34

Wednesday, April 04, 2001

Dinner at Betsy @ Marv's in Connecticut: Betsy's fabulous roasted turkey, tossed salad (boy oh boy I wanted to try that stuffing!).

Lunch: leftover tandoori chicken, and some sort of product masked as chicken on my America West flight.

Breakfast: fruit. I also ate the egg and sausage portion of an egg and sausage croissant from Burger King... tasty, but what else was in it? No problems, but it sure seemed....processed!
mhs@17:45

Tuesday, April 03, 2001

Dinner: grilled chicken tandoori, tossed salad, and fresh, steamed organic brocolli.

Lunch: leftover turkey burgers, cauliflower "mashed potatoes", and tossed salad.
mhs@21:30

Breakfast: SCD yogurt, apples, nuts.
mhs@06:06

Monday, April 02, 2001

Dinner: grilled turkey burgers, tossed salad, and cauliflower "mashed potatoes". Oh, and Duke beat the Wildcats.
mhs@20:23

As someone who rarely follows the sports page, I must say it is quite exciting to be here in Tucson right now! Not only is the pollen count really high, but basketball fans are everywhere, cheering, shouting, etc. Even I listened to the game on Saturday! (I usually pay attention to a sport only during the championships.)

I just got back from a break to get lunch on 4th Avenue. There are city workers wrapping plastic around all of the traffic posts, to a height of about 8 feet. Who knows why? I have no idea... is it coincidence that the plastic goes just higher than the height of our tallest players?

There is no parking on the streets anywhere near the university. I found a spot marked "restricted" in the back of the building where I work...I left a note in my car to please call me before towing it / assigning a traffic fine.

And when we win tonight... I can only imagine the crowd that will be down here for a celebratory parade later this week!
mhs@12:59

Lunch: Mt. Lemmon chicken salad from Chocolate Iguana, a monster cookie, and a banana.
mhs@12:19

Snacks: monster cookies
mhs@06:43

Breakfast: SCD yogurt, fruit.

It's a big day today for the University of Arizona Wildcats-- Go Cats! :-)
mhs@06:42

Sunday, April 01, 2001

Dinner: leftover cornish hens, tossed salad, sauteed Swiss chard and spinach, grilled eggplant.

Lunch: tossed salad, curried turkey salad.

Breakfast: SCD yogurt, fruit, nuts.
mhs@20:01

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