SCD diet

[donna martinez]

wondering how many people have tried the specific carbohydrate diet. i'm thinking of trying it. i know there is no cure for crohns but if it helps with the symptoms then it might be worth a try. so i was wondering if anyone could tell me their experience with this diet.

 

[Crohns08]

I have been on the SCD and am currently on it with a few slight modifications. I wouldn't reccomend adding things in though until you're out of a flare. I followed the diet completely for two weeks and all of my symptoms were gone. This diet doesn't work for everyone though so I would say if there isn't any change in 2-3 weeks, I would try something else. It's definitely worth a try though! Good luck and let us know how it goes for you!

 

[donna martinez]

Hi Crohns08, a couple questions. How long have you been on the SCD diet and is the yogurt hard to make.

 

[Easterner]

I tried the scd a few years ago and was very strict on it for 6 months and it did not help me one bit.

 

[kenny]

my gf makes yogurt quite often. The warming machine makes it pretty easy. It just takes up a bit of counter space every couple of days.

 

[DMS]

My 16 year old son has been on SCD and LDN for about a year now and is doing well on it, he had a flare when his LDN was compounded incorrectly last Jan/Feb, but has been basically in remission since May again (took that long for his CRP to come back down), also he had been in remission from September - December 2009. Although he wasn't having a lot of issues with food back when we started it, he did have 2 fistulas, one of his fistulas is completely gone and the other has a very short drain tract and will hopefully be gone soon (confirmed by and MRI in May 2010).
My son could not tolerate the yogurt at all, so I make the yogurt with coconut milk and add it to his shakes, he also has Align probiotic and does well on it, the yogurt is very easy to make, I use a covered skillet with a temp control on the side and stick a thermometer in the yogurt to be sure that it stays at the right temperature. My son also could not handle the texture of the Almond flour muffins (too gritty for him), so we switched over to coconut flour, has a nice smooth consistency and is easy to work with. There are definitely some things on SCD that do not agree with him, and you'll have to give it a try to see what works for you.

Good luck if you decide to go for it - I'm in the process of teaching my son how to cook for himself this summer.

 

[canope]

The SCD has no valid scientific basis. The medical argument in the book is severely flawed. I think if it's works at all, it's because of its similarity to the paleo diet, which does have a scientific basis.

 

[CrohnsHobo]

I have never heard of the paleo diet before. Reading the wiki now. Looks like you just eat what you can hunt/gather, no processed foods (looks like this includes cheese too). Is this correct?

Hoping to see a nutritionist in the next month to get some answers on all this stuff.

 

[canope]

That's basically it. There's a lot of evidence that the foods we started eating 10,000 years ago are the core cause of autoimmune disease. I'd post some links to more info, but I'm not allowed to post links because I'm a new member.

 

[Crohns08]

Actually the basis of the SCD is that candida in our gut is made worse by complex sugars and that for some of us it's harder for us to break down disacchrides and polysacchrides so the idea is to stay away from them and try to keep the bad bacteria to a minimum. Monosacchrides don't have as many bonds and thus it's easier to break down. But why advise against something that has helped a large number of people? If it doesn't work for you then sugar must not be your ailment.

I've been on my diet for almost two years. When I get into a flare I go back strictly to the diet and I do really well. When I get well I add things back in slowly. I've never made the yoghurt so I can't say anything there.

 

[canope]

I don't recall the word "candida" anywhere in the book.

What disturbed me about it is that the processes she describes are all in the SMALL BOWEL, but she is describing a cure for ulcerative colitis which is generally in the LARGE BOWEL. There were other things that made no sense, but this was the biggest one. I talked to the author directly about her ideas (she used to frequent Healing Crow - I think she has passed away now), and she just got angry at me. She had no logical response.

That said, I'm glad you're finding that a diet is helping you. I'm glad when anything helps anybody. But it can be hard to tell what puts the disease into remission. It might have gone into remission even without a change in diet. Do you have UC or Crohn's?

 

[Crohns08]

Well I don't know, maybe you're right in the case of the colon. But I've known a lot of people who have crohn's in their ileum who have been on this diet or a similar one who have done really well, and just because it didn't work for you because you have a different ailment I don't think you should reccomend for people not to try it. Whenever I talk to people about the diet I make sure to tell them that we're all different and what works for me might not work for you or the next person, but I don't knock it.

I have crohn's in my ileum and this will be my second anniversary in September being diagnosed.

 

[canope]

I would say that it's because you have Crohn's in your ileum (small bowel) that it is helping you. What she describes in the book is a solution for small bowel disease, but she does this while saying it's a cure for large bowel disease (her daughter has ulcerative colitis). So it makes no sense as a treatment for ulcerative colitis - or not according to the logic she lays out in the book. It makes much more sense as a treatment for Crohn's. That's why I asked whether you had UC or Crohn's.

It only makes sense for UC insofar as it moves you towards the paleo diet, which may be an effective treatment for UC for totally different reasons than the ones she gives.

I didn't do any studies on the effectiveness of this or that diet. All I can say for sure is that much of her medical information is flawed.

But regardless, I am VERY happy it is working for you!! I want us all to be well.