Wow! What an exciting week here at Purely Nutritional.
I was contacted through my facebook page (www.facebook.com/fitin2health) by a client who had just been diagnosed with Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) and was put on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) to control her condition. SIBO is a disorder of excessive bacterial growth in the small intestine. Unlike the large bowel (colon) which is suppose to be rich in healthy bacterial growth, the small intestine/ bowel has very few bacterial organisms. This type of condition can be linked to any bowel related disorders such as Crohn’s Disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and/ or diabetes.
So after the client was inundated with food that she couldn’t eat, she turned to me for some meal ideas and how she could add more variety other than salads into her daily meals. So here is a meal plan for a SIBO client on the SCD diet.
This meal plan should only be used as a guide and doesn’t replace the professional advice of a qualified Dietitian or Nutritionist.
The basic understanding of the SCD is the following:
- NO grains (rice, wheat, corn, oats, quinoa, amaranth, any type of flour), soy and soy products, processed foods (those that come in packets, cans etc), canned vegetables or fruit (must be all fresh), sugar or sweeteners, milk products, beans (soy, cannellini, bertolli) or starchy foods (potatoes, sweet potatoes etc)
- EVERYTHING needs to be made from scratch, completely from it’s natural state.
- After 6 months of being on the diet, you can use whole soya beans to grind down into a flour for baking and cooking.
- Can have almond milk but only after 6 months of being on the diet – listen to your body.
- Can have honey as a sweetener but it must be clear and have no pollen residue in it what so ever.
- Go completely organic with everything you purchase and consume. This limits ingestion of all toxins and chemicals that your digestive system is already trying to fight.
- Majority of fruit is good but if you choose to have canned fruit, ensure it is in its natural juices.
- NO processed cheeses – make sure all are organic.
As a general rule, your tastebuds change every 30 days so keep perservering with foods that you don’t like – before long you’ll be in love with it all!
MEAL IDEAS FOR:
Breakfast:
- Eggs anyway you like them! This can be served with cheddar cheese (you can buy organic blocks of cheddar cheese), sliced salad pieces, bacon (only once a week) or leftover meat from dinner the night before.
- Omelette filled with tomato, cheddar cheese, baby spinach, mushrooms and onion (red or white).
- There is a Hot Cereal recipe on the website I mention at the end of this meal plan.
- Use green juices to complement your breakfast and to give your body a kickstart with a good dose vitamins and minerals. You can add spinach leaves, kale, cucumber and/or avo plus whatever fruit you like. Blending is better than juicing as the food retains all of its fiberous goodness – make sure you chew it as you swallow it so that way it gets a good workout in your digestive system.
Snacks throughout the day:
- Mixed nuts – make your own pack from organic, raw and activated nuts (purchase at a healthfood store or organic grocer) as those that are pre-packaged contain a starchy layer on the outside.
- Piece of fresh fruit – you are not limited to what you can have or how many you can have but check conditions on website (bananas must be fully ripe with black spots on skin etc)
- Pieces of cheddar or soft cheeses with some cut up raw veg or the nut mix.
- Fruit canned in its natural juices however I personally am not a fan as I like my food organic and natural (personal preference)
- Homemade natural yoghurt (see website for recipe) with some fresh fruit.
Lunch:
- Salads!! Add some fresh fish, anchovies or homecooked chicken/beef/lamb from a leftover dinner. Be adventurous with content – add kale, chard (careful of quantity as too much may cause gas), small amout of sesame seeds (after 6 months), cherry tomatoes, cucumber, raw mushrooms, raw broccoli, avocado, endive, handful of raw almonds/ cashews (the ideas are endless!!!)
- Leftovers from last nights dinner. When cooking dinner, make a double batch so you can take some to work and/or freeze a portion for the nights that you don’t feel like cooking.
- Make wraps but use lettuce leaves instead of normal flour wraps. Use any of the above as a filling.
Dinner:
- Any type of meat seasoned with fresh or dried (check for any added fillers or nasty additives) herbs.
- Veges anyway you want them.
- Stirfry but no soy-based sauces. Add any meat or just leave as a veg meal. Cannot add rice to it.
- Vegetable lasagne – layer veges of your choice in a casserole dish and use the cheddar cheese in place of the pasta sheets. No bechamel sauce though. Add a freshly made tomato sauce (blended up fresh tomatoes) to mix through it. Go for the herbs!
- Lentils in a dhal (see website for directions on preparing cooking dried lentils) using fresh tomatoes, ginger, coconut milk/ cream, onion, garlic plus a little bit of organic bacon that you cook before hand.
- Ensure that you have fresh fish 2-3 times a week to get your required intake of essential fatty acids and omega 3’s & 6’s.
- Ratatouille with zucchini, eggplant, fresh tomatoes, herbs, red onion etc. Add in some garlic to boost immunity.
Desserts:
- Homemade natural yoghurt and fruit (whole or puree)
- Sorbet – invest in an ice cream maker and hunt down a sugar free recipe
Drinks:
- Sparkling mineral water flavoured with fresh orange juice or a squeeze of lemon/ lime
- Vodka or gin occassionally. They are pure spirits but only in small amounts so you give your body a chance to deal with them.
Extras:
- Google is your friend! I turn to it when it comes to new ideas/ spins on the food I’m allowed (I’m gluten and dairy intolerant).
- Once you get comfortable with the different style of eating and cooking, you will want to experiment. If you find a recipe that you like the look of but there are 1or 2 things you can’t have, omit them or swap for something else.
- Invest in some raw food cookbooks – raw food is amazing and is right up the path you need to be. Also do some research into the Paleo Diet (there is a book explaining it all by Dr Loren Cordain) – they believe that we should the same as our ancestor (hunter and gather). There are great Paleo and Raw food books out there.
- Add a good quality mortar and pestle to your kitchen – great for mushing fresh and dried herbs to make different flavours. I also mush whole cloves of garlic (minus the skin you peel off) so I’m using the entire food thus retaining all the goodness.
- Listen to your body. The diet guidelines may say you can have cauliflower (as an example) but you find that it causes gas and bloating. Eliminate it and move onto something else. It will be trial and error for awhile.
- Drink between 2-3L of water a day. You need more as your body needs to thoroughly flush out your digestive system (this is a suggestion on the IBS diet). Gradually increase otherwise you’ll be living in the toilet for the first few days!!
- You’ll be getting your protein through your eggs and meats, complex carbohydrates (meaning they’ll sustain you longer) through fruits as well as all the good fats through the fish and nuts. Watch the eggs and your cholesterol levels – excessive amounts may cause your cholesterol levels to rise.
I have referred the website www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info to acquire a list of a illegal and legal foods that are suitable for people that are on the SCD diet. Please refer to the website for further recipes and complete list of foods.
At the end of day, no matter the limitations on what your body can or cannot have, there is always ideas and ways around the obstacle. But always remember…..
YOUR BODY IS YOUR TEMPLE!!
Brooke xx
purelynutritional 