The holidays are here! Yikes! The candy! The denial!

Well, the holiday season is in full swing -- when did it start, with Halloween or what? It's tough to be on the SCD diet this time of year, as sugar, flour, and pretty much anything cooked by anyone else are not allowed. No chocolate at all, no grains at all, no sugar or maple syrup, make even baking your own holiday treats kind of difficult.

Ah, cookies and chocolate, what fond memories I have! Now I use nut flour instead of grains in our baked goods, which is expensive and hard to do sometimes, but it's all we're allowed on this crazy diet! It's funny that they allow nuts as I'd heard that they can be allergenic, but they haven't caused ds or myself any noticeable problems, not even peanuts (other than the almonds, but they aren't true nuts anyway). We still have the dark circles under our eyes that are indicative of food allergies -- I hope it's not dairy, eggs, or nuts or we'll be sunk.

Sometimes I'd love to be able to eat normal food again, but seeing how well Chris has been doing lately makes me want to continue with it, at least for a few more months (they do fly by, don't they?). I am hoping he will be able to tolerate almonds soon, that the diet has healed him enough for that. Already, he is able to eat grapes now, which he could not just a couple of months ago (it caused a combination of constipation and diaper rash back then).

Giving up chocolate wasn't as hard as I thought, I've already given up so much stuff I used to be hooked on (like coffee -- had to for my homeopathic remedy, now find that my intestinal complaints from it keep me from wanting it), I already know what works for me -- eating a handful of raw cashews or pecans seems to satisfy any candy craving I have, for some reason.

Why SCD?
The idea behind the diet is that food intolerances are caused by a leaky gut. And that this diet can heal the gut and bring about a state of health that can mean you can eat normally again, although I would think it would always have to be low on the processed foods end. I will reintroduce true whole grains first, probably as soaked porridge.

We are doing the diet mostly because ds has so many digestive problems. I think ds's problems started with six months of thrush, his first six months of life, and also, I actually gave him rice cereal once when he was only four months old at the urging of my pedatrician. But it's also genetic, as both dh and myself have food intolerances, and probably systemic candida infections (which cause leaky gut). And of course, I have a mouthful of mercury fillings, and actually lost one at some point just before I got pregnant. See the "Smoking Tooth" video at http://www.iaomt.org if you don't think mercury fillings are a problem to be considered (I didn't until recently).

But my PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) symptoms started when I was ten, with abnormal weght gain and premature breast development, and PCOS is a sign of chronic inflammation, so I had leaky gut even then. And I recall now sympoms of candida even then, including a vaginal yeast infection that I didn't realize was that, so it must have been an ongoing problem. Did I give ds my leaky gut, and did my mom give me mine? She probably had it too, especially since she died of an autoimmune disease - dermatomyositis - and leaky gut can trigger such things. My father had fibromyalgia, which is definitely linked with leaky gut by the alternative health people. I hope diet can heal it. I don't want my son to suffer as I have.