WHAT IS THE SPECIFIC CARBOHYDRATE DIET?
(from www.SCDiet.com)
It is a strict grain-free, lactose-free, and
sucrose-free meal plan.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Of all dietary components, carbohydrates have the
greatest influence on intestinal microbes (yeast and
bacteria) which are believed to be involved in
intestinal disorders. Most intestinal microbes require
carbohydrates for energy. THE SPECIFIC CARBOHYDRATE
DIET works by severely limiting the availability of
carbohydrates to intestinal microbes.
When carbohydrates are not digested, they are not
absorbed. They remain in the intestinal tract, thus
encouraging microbes to multiply by providing food for
them. This can lead to the formation of acids and
toxins which can injure the small intestine.
Once bacteria multiply within the small intestine,
they can destroy the enzymes on the intestinal cell
surface, preventing carbohydrate digestion and
absorption. At this point, production of excessive
mucus may be triggered as the intestinal tract
attempts to "lubricate" itself against the irritation
caused by the toxins, acids, and the presence of
incompletely digested and unabsorbed carbohydrates.
The DIET is based on the principle that specifically
selected carbohydrates, requiring minimal digestion,
are well absorbed leaving virtually nothing for
intestinal microbes to feed on. As the microbes
decrease due to lack of food, their harmful
by-products also diminish. No longer needing
protection, the mucus producing cells stop producing
excessive mucus and carbohydrate digestion is
improved. THE SPECIFIC CARBOHYDRATE DIET corrects
malabsorption, allowing nutrients to enter the
bloodstream and be made available to the cells of the
body, thereby strengthening the immune system's
ability to fight. Further debilitation is prevented,
weight can return to normal, and ultimately there is a
return to health
Why SCD is better than GF/CF..
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I think the advantage of the SCD diet over GFCF is--it is a
scientifically
sound diet that actually heals the gut.
If our kids can't digest gluten--then they can't digest things that
are the
equivalent (or worse) than gluten. For example, potatoes and rice are
starches (polysaccharides). They are the hardest for a damaged gut to
break
down--and yet the gluten free diet encourages that we give them to our
kids.
It just doesn't make sense. Whatever you can't break down is left to
ferment
in the gut and feed the bad bacteria.
The science of this diet is hard at first. I had never studied
chemistry in
school. But then I read Elaine's book 4 times, and checked her facts
in a
bio-chemistry book at the book store to really understand the
difference
between single sugars (monosaccharides), disaccharides, and
polysaccharides
(starches). Once I did, I realized the importance of being
fanatical--for
the sake of my son's gut.
My son didn't start speaking in sentences or doing pretend-play until
we put him on the SCD. He had been on GFCF for a year. I thank God for
this
diet!
Best,
Jennifer
Can you combine SCD with GF/CF?
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SCD was originally developed as a diet for celiac
disease thus SCD is already gluten-free. Dr Haas, the
doctor who pioneered SCD, spent many years investigating which foods celiacs
could tolerate. He found out that people with celiac disease could tolerate
lactose free dairy. So, certain dairy products, such as yogurt and kefir,
are allowed on the SC diet.
However, most of the parents of ASD children who are
implementing the SC diet are very reluctant to try any
kind of dairy and avoid it even though the lactose free dairy is allowed on the SC Diet.
So, there are children who remain strictly GF/CF and dairy free while being on
the SCD diet and yet
receive a well balanced diet packed with needed nutrients. Fortunately it is
easy to combine the 2 diets because there is a great SCD cookbook, which is
mostly dairy free.
What happened to those few brave parents who gave their child goat milk
yogurt? They were surprised by their child's dramatic improvement on the
yogurt. It seems that the casein in goat yogurt is more digestigble and
does not contain opioids
.Yogurt and Kefir are remarkably healing foods.
Unlike gluten that stays in the body for 8 months, .
casein stays in the body for less than 2 days days so
trying yogurt is not risky .
Now that SCD parents are networking with each other,
more parents are getting brave and trying the goat
yogurt.
The decision as to whether to try the yogurt or not
remains with the parents.
Can you get carbohydrates on this diet?
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You can get lots of carbs on this diet.I replaced rice and potato with
squash,bananas,peas,avocados, and almond flour muffins
. These carbohydrates are easier to digest
and more nutritious for you.
Can my child eat delicious food on this diet?
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Of course! SCD has been used by thousands of patients
with GI problems. There are already some recipes available for candies,Dairy
free ice cream,
cookies, cakes, and other sweets. Others are being developed daily! The list
serve members are so clever at creating great recipes that replicate
favorite foods. Honey replaces sugar and almond flour tastes better than
either wheat or rice flour.
Ther are many kinds of food on this website
www.SCDrecipe.com
Is the SC Diet a healthy diet?
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It has been found that primitive people have less degenerative diseases than
modern people. One theory is that many illnesses developed after we started
using more processed foods. The processed foods are harder to digest,
interfering with the absorption of needed nutrients, and, of course, the
elimination of
toxins. What did primitive people eat?
Their diet consisted of fruits ,vegetables, meat, seeds, nuts and eggs. All
these foods are permitted on the SC Diet.Seeds are allowed after being 3 months on the diet.
Is there a bad initial reaction upon starting the diet?(from Elaine)
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Getting back to the first week or so on SCD: it
often happens that things look a bit worse and what frightens many Moms and
Dads is that the color of
the stool can become bizarre shades of green and yellow.
This color change is a good sign: bacterial metabolism is CHANGING.
The change is affecting the bile salts and,
therefore, the color change. (Elaine)
Children just starting out on the SCD may have an unusual appetite. The yeast
in their bodies is no longer being fed with carbohydrates and sugars so they'll
be craving high carbohydrates foods initially. (Jo)
My child's a Carbo Addict(from a post Marisol wrote)
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Yup, my daughter ate nothing but potatoes and rice pasta. What made
the
transition relatively smooth for us were two things:
1) We immediately made those nut muffins which, technically,you're supposed
to wait to do but, I didn't know this and, for us it was fine.
We had previously eliminated all sweets from her diet so, when we gave her the
SCD muffins, they were a real treat for her and distracted her from her beloved potatoes and pasta.
2) We told her that we were taking the above mentioned foods away from
her only for some set amount of time ( I don't remember what. A couple months
or weeks, I can't remember) to see if eating these new foods would help her poops.
This way she didn't feel like she was giving up her
beloved food forever, only for a period of time. When that time came it was
very clear to everybody that she needed this diet and either she forgot about
having potatoes and pasta again, or she no longer wanted them. Now when she
asks about being able to have certain foods again, we tell her maybe when
she's 11 or 12 (she's now 8), but we'll have to see. She seems satisfied with that.
Good Luck! And, in the end, I'm sure your son will thank you for
this.....
Marisol
PS:
My daughter drinks her veggies: we steam them then puree them with water and
add salt. At first she had to be persuaded to drink it (like she has to take
her supps) but now she requests it.
Marisol
If this is for me about our veggie drink, we use: lettuce, spinach,
kale and
occassionally zucchini. Sometimes we also add brocoli. We steam them
really
well first then blend them for 3 minutes in our Vitamix (but I'm sure
any
blender would be fine.) As my daughter is a bit of an old salt, we
make sure
to add a decent amount of that too. We first started giving it to her
in
small amounts (like a 1/4 of a glass) so she could just get it all in
one or
two gulps and not be daunted by the amount. Then we slowly started
increasing to 1/2 a glass and now she drinks 3 full glasses a day.
Good
Luck!
Marisol
How about just doing probiotics instead of SCD?
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Going back to healing the gut, you need the right environment in the gut for
good bacteria to grow. You can throw any amount of probiotics at it and keep
eating carbs that feed the bugs but this will NEVER heal the gut. Dr. Laidler
explained to me how it's like throwing a few grass seeds at a piece of land
full of weeds and the environment is just good for weeds. The idea is to get
rid of all the weeds (with antifungals etc if necessary) and creating a
conducive environment for the good guys(by eliminating carbs and creating
lactic acid environment with yogurt or sauerkraut etc) and then sow the grass
seeds (use probiotics now and it is more effective).
It is not that easy to change the environment inside and this is why not
encouraging the bad guys in any way is important and this is where SCD helps
the most. At least this is how I look at it. To me SCD DOES NOT MEAN HIGH
PROTEIN. Sure,there are people who advocate high protein diet but I don't do it
and my son is just fine. I give him SCD yogurt and eggs once in a while.
Jay
HOW ABOUT GIVING ANTI-FUNGALS INSTEAD OF SCD?
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It is hard on the body to continuesly detoxify all those gut bugs.
Where do I find a cookbook that is both SCD and GF/CF
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There is a SCD cookbook with mostly dairy free
recipes.There are more than 150 recipes in the
book.The dairy recipes are in a separate section; only about 12 recipes
contain dairy.
According to the rules of SCD you are advised to wait
about 3 months before eating bean products. A few of
the recipes in this book call for bean flour ;so you
MUST substitute almond flour for the bean flour.
My kids love the recipes that I made from this book.
My daughter stopped complaining about the diet after I
got inspired by it.
The name of the book is:
SCD WITH TASTE AND TRADITION
digestive_diet@h...
Tel/Fax :845 356 3504