SCD-Friendly Goo-OO, That's Good!

For weeks I’ve been scouring the web and quizzing my friends: How can we make an easily digestible, SCD-friendly energy bar?

Most recipes I’ve found either use illegal ingredients for which I cannot find a suitable SCD-friendly substitute, or they use too many hard ingredients, like whole almonds. I want something that’s fuel-efficient; something that’s portable, easily digestible, and provides the energy I need. I want SCD-friendly goo, or an SCD-friendly power bar.

So, this past weekend I tried making what I wanted, since apparently no one else has done it for me. I failed miserably. I was going for something like a banana blueberry power bar, and I thought I had finally found the perfect solidifying agent—Cocoa Butter.

It turns out that if there is too much liquid in the mix, you could use mortar, and the bars still wouldn't solidify. Oops.

Cocoa butter would probably still work (I'm still experimenting, suggestions welcome) if I got the proportions correct, or coated the bars in cocoa butter instead of mixing it in...that is, if I can get bar-like texture at all.

The 'bars' came out the consistency of natural peanut butter, just slightly runnier. Oops. Disappointed, but not completely deterred by the texture, I tasted my experiment. Wow! The goo of the gods. It was so good, I could have eaten the entire pan right then and there. It was like a fruity delicacy with a hint of nutty chocolate (a flavor I thought I'd never taste again).

But how do I eat this stuff on the run? Hmmm? After some searching and not a little brainstorming with my wife, it came to me: Coghlan's queeze tubes. I packed a squeeze tube half-full of my purple goo and headed off to the woods for a long run. It worked like a charm. 

One warning about cocoa butter: Cocoa butter is an advanced food for SCDers, so make sure you can tolerate it. It's pure vegetable fat, so too much will make you feel sick, especially while exercising. Go at it slowly. You can always make the goo below sans cocoa butter.

Since it worked so well for me, and because I'm looking for help/suggestions, I'm sharing the first-generation recipe here. Remember, this is the first iteration. I will play with the recipe, and I hope others do too. Let me know if you succeed in improving the batter. 

I hope you enjoy my SCD goo.

Goo of the Gods

2 very ripe bananas

1 cup raw pecans

6 oz. blueberries

1/8 cup honey

1 tsp lemon juice

1/8 cup melted cocoa butter

Puree the bananas and pecans together. Set aside. (FYI, this mix is good by itself, even w/o the blueberries. Try it!) Puree blueberries and place them in a small pot. Add honey, lemon juice, and simmer for about 20 min. The goal is to reduce this mixture to a compote, or jelly. Be careful to stir the mixture a couple of times to ensure it doesn’t burn. Remove the blueberries from the stove and add the solid cocoa butter. Stir until the cocoa butter is melted. Combine all the ingredients in a glass bowl, or small glass baking dish. Place in the refrigerator to cool. Once the mixture has cooled, pack it in the squeeze tubes and place in the fridge.

If I had this to do over again (which I do, this weekend), and to get a more bar-like texture (if you don’t like goo) I’d add more pecans, and soak them to make them more easily digestible, 4-6 hours. I’d also lose the honey and maybe add a date or two.

Onward to Health.

Someone Read My Journal

My wife loves to journal. Me, well, I like the idea of journaling. During my time as an outdoor educator, teaching for Outward Bound among others, I never left civilization without my journal. The nature musings of John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Emerson would pale in comparison to what I would write in my journal on THIS TRIP. 

In reality, I had no chance of competing with Emerson (for myriad reasons), largely because he actually wrote. Over the course of a thirty-day wilderness course, I would log an astounding two, maybe three, journal entries. But remember, I love the idea of journaling.

This is precisely why, as I browse my symptom "journal", affectionately known as the UC Tracker, I find lots of data and very few personal notes--with the exception of this one, dated April 13, 2009.

It was early afternoon, and I had already been to the bathroom nine times. I was on Imuran, Colazol, and my second round of prednisone. The note simply reads, Kill me. If I have to live like this forever, I'd rather not.

I wasn't suicidal, not at all; however, I had reached the point, after six months of terrible, constant flare-up and failed treatments, that I just would have rather it killed me. At least that way we would be progressing to some conclusion, some definable end to what I was suffering. 

It's me! Almost finished with the half-marathon.

It was just about a month after that entry that I found the SCD. It's as if God had read my journal--or my mind--and had given me a chance.

Fast forward.

It's been 16 months on the SCD, and I can't even imagine that world of April, 2009. I still have some symptoms that haven't cleared, and I still have a bad day here or there (if I eat something that doesn't agree with me), but a bad day has gone from 24 BM/day, to maybe, maybe three loose stools in a day. If things get really crazy, I might go four times. I have energy. I'm training again, and two weeks ago, I finished my first long-ish event in almost two years. 

The International Peace Half-Marathon was held, September 11^th, in Georgetown on the C&O Towpath. The weather was beautiful, 60 degrees and sunny, at the start. I finished with a consistent 7:30 mile, which is slow if you're a runner, but for me and all I've been through, it was nothing short of a miracle... and I didn't have to poo the entire race. That's almost as good as my mile time.

Post Script:

Yesterday's hard run clued me in to just how emotional I am about my journey with colitis. 

What do you mean the post-race food isn't SCD-friendly?

It was about eight o'clock in the morning, and I was running through the woods at a good clip listening to vintage Pearl Jam, when I began to visualize myself crossing the finish line at my first marathon (this coming December), something I never thought would be possible after my diagnosis. As the visualization became more and more vivid, I began to run faster, harder, and then I began to cry. I thought, I'm a mess, crying, nearly sprinting, listening to Pearl Jam. What non-teenager cries to Pearl Jam? At least I don't have to poop. 

But that was just it: I didn't have to poop. I was crying from joy that I didn't have to poop. I was crying from joy that I had energy to run through the woods, to play with my kids, and to actively engage in life. I was crying because I felt full of life, and I never thought I would have that feeling again.

I'm grateful for the SCD, and the changes it has affected in my life, and I would say to those thinking about it, to those who may feel the way I did in 2009, give the SCD a month of your time. If it changes your symptoms, maybe you'll be able to see it too--your marathon.

Now it's September, 27th 2010, and I'd erase that note from April 2009 if I could, but I need it as a reminder that someone read my journal.


Onward to Health.

Bleg: Eating on the Run

I'm racing this fall, for the first time in almost two years. But I've run into a problem: all of the foods I used to take along with me on long trainings and for long events are not SCD-legal. So I'm forced to rethink my 'on the run' food strategy. It's going...okay. But I could use some help.

I'm looking for suggestions for SCD-friendly foods to eat during long (3+ hours) training sessions or long events. So far, I've survived on:

• Pure, unadulterated coconut water (Coconut water isn't on any legal/illegal list, but coconut and coconut milk are legal, so I'm assuming this is too, unless someone tells me otherwise. Just make sure nothing has been added to it.)
• Organic, medjool dates (but I can only eat a few, they act as a laxative for me)
• Bananas (same caveat as dates, 2/day max or I get gurgly)
• SCD-friendly Walnuts
• Cheddar Cheese

Foods need to be light(ish), compact ,and easily carried in a running waist belt or in a cycling jersey. I don't mind cooking, so SCD-friendly energy bar recipes as well as other suggestions are welcome.

Onward to Health.

Improved SCD-Friendly Energy Gel

I post this correction, thanks to Paul Stocker from eatingscd.com.  Mucilagenous plants typically contain polysaccharides which are not legal on the SCD. I do wonder, however, about seed mucilages. Tomatoes contain a mucilagenous seed, but tomatoes are SCD-legal. Chia seeds are not on Elaine's SCD legal/illegal list, but pecanbread.com has added them to their legal/illegal list. I'd be curious to know if anyone has characterized the Chia mucilage and could tell me why the tomato mucilage is legal, and the Chia mucilage is illegal. 


So for now, until I can answer those questions above, consider this recipe NOT SCD-legal.

Here's a recipe for an SCD-friendly energy gel that I use on long runs or for recovery after exercise:

I've mentioned this before, but not in such detail. I left the proportions generic, because you can mix the honey, lime juice, water and salt in large quantities and keep it in the fridge. It will keep for a long time. Just pour some in a small gel bottle when you need it and add the Chia Seeds.
I suggest mixing small batches first, until you get the taste the way you like it.

2-3 parts lime juice (depending on taste)
5-6 parts water (Substitute Coconut water for filtered water for more electrolytes, calories and a new flavor)
1-2 parts honey (again, depending on taste)
2-3 parts Chia Seeds
Salt to taste

Chia seeds have approximately 140 calories/oz--For the detail people.
The seeds need to be added to the liquid mix about 10 min before consuming to allow for the mucilage matrix to form. Enjoy!

Hunger Levels and the SCD

When I first started the SCD, I noticed a difference in four days. Yes, four days. But I got lots of crazy cravings: coffee (I don't drink coffee), cigarettes (don't smoke either), sausage, sugar, you name it. It was frustrating. I didn't know what was happening to my body, but after 12 months of constant flare up, 2 rounds of prednisone, Immuran, Colazol, and Asocol (all the drugs failed by the way), I wasn't about to give up after only a week. I later learned that cravings are a normal effect of the change in diet--that doesn't mean they happen to everyone, but they aren't uncommon. Wheew, I wasn't crazy.

For athletes, we need more calories than normal folks. My first peice of advice: put 'training' aside for a while. You need time to heal, figure out the diet, and assess your progress. Exercise, by all means, but don't 'train' until your symptoms subside, and you get a handle on the diet and your health. Enjoy some time with your loved ones.

You will do better on the diet eating smaller, frequent meals. The frustrating part, is that you may not feel full like you did after a meal on your old diet. During the healing process, I would get so frustrated, because whenever I ate the amount of calories my body needed, I would get sick, but whenever I ate less so that I wouldn't get sick, I lost weight. I lost 15 pounds the first 3 months of my time on the SCD--But you don't have to. That's why I'm writing this post.

Below are some principles I've learned that may help you:
1. Rest and figure out the diet. Don't stress over not training.
2. Keep a food and symptom log, religiously. I will have one posted here soon, or the Chron's and Colitis Foundation of America has one you can download for free.
www.ccfa.org
3. Eat sensibly, and don't cheat. The food log will help you to know which foods irritate you and which don't. Beware, some foods you may be able to tolerate in small quantities, but if you gorge on it...well--all things in moderation for now, okay? As athletes we tend to have addictive personalities--resist. At the height of my weight loss I paniced and ate an entire jar of peanut butter. Why not, right? It's SCD legal--I was sick for 3 days: fever, chills, shaking, bleeding, the works.
4. Exercise, but don't challenge your body like you would training for an event. It's hard, I know, but resist. You need time to heal.
5. Suplement. Depending on which you have, Chron's or Colitis, you may experience various absorption related deficiencies. True, a 'normal' person may not need to supplement, but we do. As an athlete you may already be used to this. Freeda makes SCD friendly vitamins. I've found the best prices at KosherVitamins.com
6. Be prepared for your grocery bill to go up significantly. There's no two ways about it. You're eating more fresh foods, all organic (hopefully); honey and almond flour are expensive. I'm working on getting my Flexible Spending Account at work to cover the extra since this is a medical treatment. If it works I will post guidelines and what I've learned as a seperate topic.
7. Get a nutrition book. Learn how your body works, and you'll learn faster to read the signals it's sending to you.
Below are some books that have helped me.

"Eating Right for a Bad Gut" by James Scala. Besides the fact that you couldn't have a worse or more embarrassing title, I learned a lot about nutritional suplementation in this book.
"What to Eat with IBD" by Tracie Dalessandro.

Make no mistake, however, I don't advocate any other diet than the SCD as laid out by Elaine G. in "Breaking the Vicious Cycle". with that said, I did learn from these two books.

"Krause's Food and Nutrition Therapy" 12th Ed. This is a nutrition textbook and is a super helpful reference.

Until next time...

All natural SCD friendly energy gel and sports drink.

As I said in my last post, part of what I want to do with this blog is to help athletes with Chron's and Colitis by suggesting SCD friendly recipes for long workouts and events. As far as I can tell, no one is talking about this. If you have Chron's or Colitis, the SCD diet can give you your life back! It did for me. Conventional, allopathic doctors don't know the etiology of our conditions (I don't call it a disease--seen and read about too many people going for decades w/o symptoms to accept that this in an incurable disease), and take a prescribed path that often leads to interventions that leave us feeling worse than we did without them (this isn't true for 100% of the cases--there are some who suffer terribly, and are helped by traditional medicine, but for many that's not the case).
So without further adieu, athletes, active folks like me with Chron's or Colitis, here's an energy gel recipe you will love.


SCD friendly energy gel: mix together,
1 tbs chia seeds
6 tbs water
2 tbs lime juice


Haven't discovered Chia? Check out these links:
http://www.living-foods.com/articles/chia.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_hispanica


Chia seeds contain lots of Omega 3, soluble fiber, and electrolytes, for starters. It is said that a small amount of chia, water and bread could keep an Aztec warrior all day in battle. I read about it in "Born to Run". http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307266303


To drink:
Try coconut water! It contains more electrolytes than most sports drinks out there (it's balanced with all 5 major electrolytes), it has more potassium than a banana, and is all natural. Be sure there are no additives when you buy it.

Eating for Endurance Events on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet

I have colitis. I am an athlete. The two shouldn't mix well; however, the SCD diet has given me my life back, after only 5 months on the diet, I'm off all medication and on my way to nomalcy. So now that I'm feeling good (it's been a full year of constant flare up), I've begun to think about competing again. In the past, I've done 12 hr. mountain bike races, and 18-24 hour adventure races. The problem is that now I can't eat any of the things I ate BC (before Colitis). So what will I eat? That's what I hope to work out this winter, while--God and gut willing-- training for an ultramarathon.

Here are my first thoughts on food to take on long (3+ hours) runs, hikes, rides, etc.
1. Bananas work, but shmoosh easily--bag 'em.

2. Medjool dates, nature's gummy bears. More like a fig newton, without the newton.

3. Black bean burritos with cheddar (for really long runs, or long hikes). One caveat--I haven't yet been able to make GOOD tortillas made from almond flour--yet. If anyone has ideas or recipies that work, please let me know.

4. Peanuts (after you’ve been symptom free for at least 3 months)

To drink:
1. 1 part Orange Juice : 1 part Water—this makes a 50/50 mix.
2. I’m working on a SCD friendly gel…stay tuned. If anyone has ideas, please share. As far as I know, this is a new area, that no one's written about.

If anyone knows of an SCD friendly salt tablet, I'd love to know.