Think of the intro diet as a “Cleanse”. You are re-setting the gut for all the good nutrition to come. The Intro Diet MUST be done before starting SCD. DO NOT SKIP IT! And it can be done any time you have a symptom come up. The Intro Diet is your go-to anytime you see or feel a flare coming on.
We use the Intro diet for approximately 48 hours. I would the average is no less than 2 days and no more than 5 days. I think 2-3 days is the perfect amount. You or your child will be tired as it’s lower calorie compared to a normal consumption day. The good news is you can eat and drink the Intro items often and in pretty good amounts.
The most important part of Intro Diet is Liquid Gold, aka, Bone Broth. You’ll need to make a large batch. We use chicken bone broth with lots of good veggies too.
Here’s what you can eat while on the Intro Diet:
- SCD Broth
- SCD Jello (gelatin and Welch’s grape juice or Apple Cider)
- Ground turkey patties (could use ground beef if you prefer)
- Eggs – cook with minimal fat (butter or oil in the pan)
- Baked or steamed chicken or turkey breast
- SCD Gatorade (Electrolyte drink)
- SCD popsicles (I freeze the SCD Gatorade)
- Peeled & Cooked Carrots*
For approximately 2 days of Intro Diet, these are the volumes I make ahead:
- 1 gallon of broth minimum. Always better to have extra.
- Buy one bottle of Welch’s grape juice. You will use for jello, gatorade & popsicles
- 1 pound of ground turkey
- 3 chicken breasts
- 9-12 eggs
- Make 2 quarts jello
- 4 large organic carrots
Sample Day looks like this:
Breakfast:
BROTH – I always start the day with broth to coat and protect the gut
3 scrambled eggs
Ground Turkey Pattie -very lightly seasoned and oiled.
Morning Snack:
BROTH
Jello
Lunch:
Chicken Breast – lightly seasoned with salt & pepper
Carrot slices -cooked and salted
Popsicle
Afternoon:
sip on SCD Gatorade
Afternoon Snack:
2 eggs scrambled
Dinner:
BROTH
Jello
Ground Turkey Patty
Popsicle
Grocery List for Intro Diet:
Chicken legs, bones, parts
Whole Carrots (7)
Celery (3 stalks)
Yellow Onion
Sea Salt
Honey
Ground Turkey
Eggs
Chicken Breast
Butter
Apple Cider Vinegar
Welch’s Grape Juice
Baking Soda
Great Lakes Gelatin
Cooking schedule for day before starting:
- BROTH – Cook all day long
- Cook carrots (or use carrots from broth cooking)
- Ground Turkey Patties/Burgers
- Jello
- Gatorade
- Chicken Breast – steamed or cooked
A couple of notes on Intro:
IF you can, try to schedule it when you don’t have a lot of activities. It’s nice to be able to just have 2 days at home to be very low key and low energy. My son cannot play any sports while on it – you’re just a little too weak or drained feeling because you’re eating so lightly. We try to watch some movies and just be around the house. It is nice to have distraction from the hunger, so if you have a kind friend or relative that will sit and play cards or a board game, it’s wonderful and thoughtful. I often admire these IBD kids for all the unusual demands put upon them by tests and procedures – fasts, clean outs, etc. Making them compassionate and tough for sure!
Remember to push lots of water, fluids. You want to stay very hydrated. You can do this!
*to be completely honest, Alex dislikes carrots immensely. We will either leave them out of Intro or on second day accelerate a little a make homemade applesauce instead. I have a little history with my kids disliking carrots! wink, wink (click the winks for cute video of my other life!)