SCD (Diet) and Children

[Farmwife]

Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) is what my doctor suggested to help Grace before she fails more in health

However upon first glance this seems a bit ill advise given the fact that Grace takes three meals with two snacks and up to 3 shakes (carnation instant breakfast) a day just to keep her fighting weight around 35lbs.:ywow:

So my question is this...............can this work for a child that need every bit of nutrition she can get?:shifty:



:heart::ysmile::heart:

 

[my little penguin]

Really- until you have a diag. and have ruled out other things via scope- I not pull anything.
If its celiac then you won't know
if it's an Eosinophilic disorder you would not know
IF its a food intolerance of the gut again.
too many variables.
I would check with whoever your GI is first before pulling this could effect the tests results .

 

[my little penguin]

ALso getting a 3 year old to eat is hard getting a 3 year old who associates pain with food even harder.
The only true way to know what is going on is tests and possible a scope.
They may find the answer without but you really don't want to have to do a second scope or add food back to get a valid second scope (aka put her in pain again).

 

[Farmwife]

Thanks mlp.
I think my doc is thinking about the here and now.
Like he said next week could change things. I'm more than open to other ideas.
Most of her little life has been eliminating food. Nothing though works for more than a week or two.

 

[my little penguin]

here is the thing most foods need to be in the gut for a few weeks (6-8) to determine if they are causing damage.
trust me we have done the pull this try that routine since DS was 14 days old and still have not stopped.
Currently on FODMAP.
However we always try to keep his diet "normal" at least prior to scopes because adding a food back to prove a diag. so the insurance will cover (more tests/formula (peptamen etc.)) and put your child into pain is not really something good.
SCD seems extreme for a 3 year old.
Did your doc explain how it was going to fix her issue- what he thought was wrong at this point to drive to an SCD diet.
if its IBD then diet alone is not going to help especially if she is inflamed (maybe EN but not the same thing)
IF its ME then unless you have allergy testing to figure out her "Trigger" still not going to help without a mast cell stabilizer.
I would ask more questions before I would start.
Did he define a length of time and what results he expected to see by when?
How it would help?

 

[my little penguin]

http://www.ccfa.org/resources/specific-carbohydrate-diet.html

link to ccfa

Athos Bousvaros, M.D., Associate Director of the IBD Center at Children's Hospital in Boston, thinks the diet, while difficult to follow, is probably safe. However, there is a risk that the SCD may not provide the calories children need to grow and thrive. Calorie issues are more important than vitamin issues, he believes. You can give a child a multivitamin supplement to prevent deficiencies, but it can be challenging for a child to get enough calories on such a restrictive diet.

"If you do decide to put your child on the diet," he says, "do it under the guidance of an experienced nutritionist. Decide on a reasonable time frame – say, three to four months – and don't do anything else new for the duration of that period." That way, if your child's condition improves, you can be reasonably sure that the diet is associated with that improvement.

Dr. Bousvaros warns, however, that imposing such a restrictive diet on a child could be psychologically stressful. "Kids with IBD are already probably taking 15-20 pills a day," he says. "Now you're telling them they can't eat what they like? That takes a toll on a child, and it could also fuel family tensions. To avoid needless stress all around, it's important that parents and child agree before taking on the diet as a family project. And remember to do so only under medical supervision."

 

[kiny]

I think the SCD diet isn't any good.

Polysaccharides are broken down into disaccharides and then monosaccharides, the body does this through enzymes from the pancreas. She claims the pancreas has a finite ability to break down all polysaccharids into disaccharides, and the result is left over disaccharides that will cause inflammation and bacteria will exploit the disaccharides, she claims.

The idea of the diet is avoid all polysaccharides, or complex carbs but she allows monosaccharides.

few things why don't agree with SCD

*In crohn's disease there is this test called ASCA. It looks for an immunoglobuline response against Saccharomyces, baker's yeast, yeast is a fungi. Why it's there in many people with crohn's disease they don't know. Either it's cross reacting with another antigen or people with crohn's disease became hypersenstive to it (T cell response).

Anyway, Saccharomyces uses glucose, a monosaccharid, which she recommends, she uses honey for everything in the diet.

*Another thing, inulin is a polysaccharide used as a prebiotic, but when bacteria ferment it they don't cause inflammation, in fact they lower inflammation, because they create butyrate. Again in contrast to her theory.

*Another thing is that carbs help synthesis of protein.

*My main concern is carbs is a very easy source of energy, and avoiding all carbs will result in a diet very low in calories and will probably result in weight loss, it did for me.

 

[kiny]

(did not say low carb diet might not be beneficial for crohn, but if a low carb diet works it is not because of the reasons she claims I think, if it works it is because it creates dysbiosis, a change in the flora composition, and if we have misguided responses to some commensal bacteria or to something like yeast, completely avoiding carbs might profoundly change the gut flora...but then you can do that far easier through broad spectrum antibiotics and probiotics so why bother with the diet)

 

[jmckinley]

We were doing a SCD type diet with Ryan back in the spring (before our hospital stay). It was hard and he was 14 at the time. So many of the "low residue" foods are not allowed. Also, the large amount of meat and raw foods were really hard on his system.

I think it's a great diet and I actually felt great, but you really have to eat a large variety of foods to get the nutrition/calories you need. That's hard to do with a little one. We are still doing a modified version, just not being quite as strict. Ryan loves almond milk! Gets rid of the dairy issue!

Hope you have some answers soon!

 

[Farmwife]

So upon further looking into this diet and everyone's advice, we decided that this is not the best diet for her at this time. MLP I think your right. We would wonder if it could effect the test results. kiny thank you for your insight. However for me I think that this is not the way to go for our family as a whole and for Grace given her weight issues. Plus my hubby needs up to 3500+ calories a day to be a dairy farmer.

I do believe that a diet will have to come into play sooner or later. Anything to get Grace and my family more healthy. To bad their not a steak diet for hubby and son and a choc. diet for mommy and daughter.

 

[my little penguin]

You will get there it just takes time

 

[crohnsinct]

Yeah given how long you are waiting for any tests let's not screw with the results and have to wait an eternity for a second test.

It also doesn't have to be one diet...it could be a hybrid that you figure out over time.

Let's dx the princess first!

 

[Tesscorm]

I agree with what was said above too... poor Grace is going through so much now, her body needs nutrients, food. And with the tests coming up, I think this is not really the ideal time to start a 'difficult' diet (for any of you You also have enough to deal with!!).

Get her diagnosis and then you can make an informed decision on diet! :ghug:

 

[DustyKat]

Sorry I am late to this hun.

IIRC, but I may be off the mark with this, I am sure Dexky had his boy on the SCD diet. Do you remember J??? If it was this diet he found it far too restrictive for a growing boy and so discontinued with it.

Dusty. xxx

 

[Rypen]

We have our 4 year old (and all of the family) on the SCD. He is thriving on it do far. It's a huge investment for us as parents, you have to be constantly cooking but a small sacrifice for a whole lot of good. My son has embraced it luckily. We even made scd legal chicken nuggets last night and he ate a whole chicken breast worth plus veg. It seems daunting when you start but we've adapted well.