SCD Diet

I was on it for almost 5 months with only minimal improvement (which I believe had more to do with being on prednisone). I lost a lot of weight and had no energy while on the diet. It was also terribly stressful for me - having all these restrictions while trying to get better and having to prepare everything myself when I'm sick was just too overwhelming for me. Also, it relies heavily on fat(s) for calories/energy and unless you are willing to pay through the nose for good quality meat and oils it can end up being inflammatory rather than anti.

I don't mean to discourage you - I know some people do very well on SCD and I think it's worth a shot. But I don't believe it was the right diet for me, personally.

Yeah, be careful on SCD. It was the straw that broke the camels back and landed me in the ER. I lost 30 lbs in a month and my symptoms went through the roof. BEWARE!

Matt

I had amazing results with the SCD.

I was on prednisone and asacol for already 4 months and trying to taper was just not doing it. After 2 weeks of starting the SCD, blood stopped, bowels were more formed and regular and I was feeling better too, I was able to taper off prednisone successfully!

I didnt just, get on the SCD diet, I took Elaine's word and made an effort to get ONLY organic foods, and make everything myself. There is really no excuse not to do it this way. Depending on your location, organic foods can cost 20-50% more than non-organic food, but its worth it in my opinion. My taste buds were awakened to fruits/veggies after leaving out sugars/starches/grains for a while.

Its been about a month and half since I veered off the SCD diet, i'm still eating all that I used to, PLUS more food and feeling great. Good luck to you.

Good to hear SunFlower. At first, the SCD made me cranky, having to slave hours in the kitchen to make my own food in the most freshest ways possible. But it became easier and less time soon enough. I stuck with these foods, and I mean I read every single ingredient in my foods to comply with SCD. I ate vegetables, fruits, yogurt, p.butter and nuts as snacks and stuck to the requirement of eliminating ALL starches, grains and sugars from your diet. I believe this is what stopped the bacteria overgrowth. I found that once I did this, my bowels were more normal and I was able to taper off prednisone.

I spent 2 months on the SCD and remained close to it after a few weeks off prednisone, just now I started adding anything made out of gluten free grains (rice, corn or starches) back into my diet: cereals, chips, (my favorites: potatoes) and this week I just bought a Kirkland Signature Almond Toffee Ice cream from Costco. WHICH IS SO RISKY, but I've been feeling good, the ingredients are fair, and I need to continue testing myself little by little!

The only times I cheated were when I went out with friends, had a few drinks (which undoubtedly have sweeteners), and happy hours when I had tortilla corn chips & salsa, never bothered me. I think alcohol bothers everyone in the bathroom the next morning though, if i'm correct. ;)

I also cheated by continuing to follow my supplements and teas (which are SCD illegal). And I used store Mayo & plain greek yogurt.

Diet Drawbacks:
-I was always, always hungry
-My energy was lower than normal

Diet Positives:
-Seems to stop the bacteria overgrowth
-Stopped the sugar cravings
-Taste buds adapted
-Learned how to cook better


Good luck to you! I'm a college student living in a rural area with not alot of resources, but I managed, I'm sure you can too!

Well said Mindoverbutter,

SCDrecipe.com is a great place to find recipes of any kind. One of the drawbacks of the diet was limited variation, or so it seems until I found this website. But then again, almond flour is expensive to make your own breads/pastries, etc. Just remember you're doing it for your health, not the taste!

SunFlowerr,

I started on SCD and slowly went over to Paleo diet, primarily after doing lots of research and finding out that inflammation is the cause of most diseases (including UC and a host of others as well), so therefore if you eat a Paleo diet it is anti-inflammatory.

SCD diet - specific carbohydrate diet - many have had lots of success with it. If you can't do it because it's so strict, at the very least do dairy free, wheat free, gluten free. Personally, however I prefer the Paleo diet, because it is an anti-inflammatory diet - mostly veggies, salads,nuts, fish, lots of GRASS-fed animal products like lamb, beef, bison, and eggs, no grains at all. The whole basis of the diet is to concentrate on foods rich in healthy ratio of omega 3 to omega 6, which is ideally 1:1. Grain-fed animal products contain unhealthy ratio of 1:20 which causes and contributes to inflammation in the body, and therefore disease. Also grass-fed animal products contain important CLA, which you cannot get from any other source.

 

What do you think?

 

 

Red meat can cause problems for people with IBD and it tends to be inflammatory (less inflammatory if you buy grass fed/pasture raised, though). I say go ahead and have some steak/burgers once a week so long as it doesn't upset your tummy. You know your own body well enough to make a judgement call about what is good for it, take advice from outside sources with a grain of salt.

Thanks so much for your replies, this helps so much. I just hope I have good results. But okay, I see the difference now between grain fed and grass fed...thanks so much :D

When I originally tried the SCD years back it did help me a little, but only a little. Then I switched to a more restrictive, lower carb version of the SCD and the improvement was more substantial- however I recognize that by eLiminatiing the "sweet" things in the diet such as honey and fruit and almond breads- it is indeed a rather boring diet. I had/have a sweet tooth- and to this day find the "science" of the SCD underwhelming- but through sheer coincidence and because the diet's core (if not its many treats that seem to get most adherants so excited) avoids processed food and sugars- but one could IMO do this just as effectively on ones own witout formally following the diet and worrying about trace substances being "legal" or "illegal" (I recall some followers getting wound up over whether there might be some trace amount of starch in the filler of a drug or even on frozenvegetables- just seems an OCD level of fear) which I found a bit silly and over the top, absent any hard science. I am disciplined enough though to stick with my lower carb version of the SCD though for over a decade now, and when I am in remission I can even get away with "cheating" here and there (mostly by accident, without any issues- yet if I depart on multiple days I pay a price. Maybe it is psychological/ anti-placebo? But the difference is so stark to me in my gut that I honestly think that hi carb foods in many kf us really do feed a pathogenic-weighted gut flora imbalance.

Post Edited (Probiotic) : 3/21/2012 4:25:59 AM (GMT-6)

I have been on GAPS (based on the SCD) for over a year with great results. GAPS is a step beyond SCD because it stresses homemade stocks/broths to heal the mucosal lining and also ferments to increase the good guys in the gut. Check it out! It is a very healing diet!

I have pancolitis. Didn't help much. :\

I wouldn't say that the diet is a "cure" but it "heals". The whole point is to avoid offending foods while rebuilding the gut with nutrient dense foods. It's not easy, I will honestly say that but there is a point where your body responds to all the nourishing foods. GAPS is a step up from SCD and it stresses more "gut building" foods such as homemade stocks and ferments. Those are pretty much in every day, several times a day. I lost weight also and felt low energy but that's part of the healing process. I recently gained it back and I think GAPS deserves a 100% effort and attempt if one wants to heal the problem and live life again. The disease is awful and debilitating but can be greatly improved by improving the gut, not covering up the symptoms. If anyone wants to read more, feel free to read my story here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/the-gaps-diet-heals-ulcerative-colitis/#comment-45454 I welcome any private emails as I wrote this to help others and I help people every day with this.