Phases of SCD Diet

After spending several days on the Introductory Level of the SCD diet it is time to start phasing in more food.  Basically, the process is simple, every 4 days you will be adding a new food to your list of allowable foods.  Add only one food every 4 days and only one food.  In this way, you will be able to analyze how your body reacts to this food.  Keep a journal of what you are eating each day and how you are feeling.

Sometimes, if you are doing this diet when you are feeling ill, it is hard to discern how your body is reacting to a certain food.  If you are not sure after 4 days how this food sits with you, take it out, and come back to it later and try again.  Continue to work down the list of foods. Add a vegetable first and then a fruit and then the nut milks.  Eat nothing raw except the banana, and peel everything.  I know, the peel contains many minerals and vitamins, but our systems do have a hard time digesting them, so leave them out.  Spinach is on this list, it too should not be eaten raw, but you can try 1/2 - 1 cupful in an almond milk shake.  One of my favorite ways to incorporate spinach, is to saute a cupful in a little olive oil and then add scrambled eggs, salt and pepper. Though quite good for you, greens are also hard to digest, so don't be surprised if you don't react well to them.

The basics of the diet are these:
1. Avoid all grains. This includes rice, corn wheat, buckwheat, barley, and oats. Yes, ALL grains.
2. Avoid all dairy. This includes milk, cheese, and yogurt (for now).
3. Avoid all sugars and sugar substitutes. Yes, all sugars! No coconut sugars, maple sugar, date sugar...none. The only one allowed is honey, and only in very small amounts.
4. Avoid all legumes and nightshade vegetables for at least the first year. This includes beans, peas, peanut butter, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant.
5. Avoid all processed foods and packaged foods. Eat fresh vegetables and fruits. It is best to cook all vegetables and fruits at first, except for bananas. Soft fruits can be eaten raw.
6. Try your best to eat meat not treated with antibiotics and  hormones. Best if the meat is free range and organic.

One more thing, concerning the almond milk.  It is best homemade.  The almonds need to be soaked for several hours and then blanched for 1 minute in boiling water and then the skins removed.  Lay the heated almonds on a cookie sheet lined with a paper towel and pinch the skins between your fingers while they are still warm.  When they cool off it becomes harder for the skins to be removed.  Run the almonds through a blender and strain with a nut bag.

The following is a list of foods to be added at each phase:

Phase 1 PDF
Phase 2 PDF 
Phase 3 PDF