PecanBread.com - Treating Autism with the Specific Carbohydrate Diet

Why SCD is not the official celiac diet?

Tragically, this progress came to a screeching halt when one research article in the year 1951(?) showed that GF could replace SCD as a diet for celiac disease. However, this test was run on only a very small group of boys and there was no control study. It is unfortunate, and unscientific, that one such weak experiment overshadowed the massive amounts of SCD research already on the scene. Somehow, the advent of the gluten-free theory wiped out awareness of the efficacy of SCD. Possibly it was due to the fact that during the 1950's the medical community did not give any credence to the importance of nutrition, nor was nutrition was taught in medical schools. Thankfully, this is beginning to change.

GF quickly replaced SCD, because on the face of things, the diet appeared to be easier for patients and their doctors. It seemed to be a great convenience, but as with most short cuts, there was a price to pay.

GF can mask the symptoms of light cases of celiac disease. However, gluten sensitivity is only one of the symptoms of a damaged GI tract. GF only controls the symptoms, unlike SCD which addresses the root cause and heals the gut. Hippocrates, the great physician, said that death begins in the colon. Good health can begin there, too. When given the necessary boost with SCD to restore proper intestinal balance and functioning, this important part of the digestive and immune systems can do its important work to full effect.

What used to happen if the GF diet did not work? Patients would simply be told that they did not have celiac disease. Or, patients would be told that they had somehow accidentally ingested some molecules of gluten. Thus the incompleteness of GF was incorrectly attributed to unclear diagnoses, and further masked by blaming the patients.

SCD would have been forever forgotten had it not been for the amazing work of Elaine Gottschall, who has courageously and unselfishly dedicated herself to the campaign of bringing back this magnificent diet. She authored the book BTVC, which has sold over a million copies to date. Her scientific acuity, her persistence and her generosity of spirit have been a geat gift to us all.

For more information on this matter: http://www.scdiet.org/7archives/scdceli1.html

Why is SCD not the official diet for Autism?

It was the parents of autistic children who first noticed the connection between diet and ASD. They saw that changes in diet had an effect on their children's behavior and cognition. Many of these parents wrote to Bernard Rimland to report their personal experience with the role of diet in autism. Dr. Rimland, the most famous man in autism, is the head of the Autism Research Institute. These parental reports led Rimland to conclude that cow's milk and wheat were both harmful for children with ASD.

Soon,GFCF became the official diet. SCD was not chosen because the parents did not know about it.

Finally, during the summer of 2002, a campaign began to recognize SCD as the most powerful and safe treatment method for ASD. The latest medical and scientific research supports this, proving that children with ASD do indeed have carbohydrate malabsorbtion, gut pathogens, and severe digestive disorders, as Elaine had found in her own years of scientific study and clinical research. SCD is the only diet that heals all these conditions. Current scientific research validates SCD as the best diet for almost all children with ASD.

We, parents of ASD children, have always sensed that the GF diet was incomplete. We are thrilled that we are finally discovering SCD, a genuinely effective celiac diet,

Why is there a difference of opinion between GF/CF and SCD regarding dairy ?

GF/CF bans all dairy, whereas SCD permits certain kinds of cheese and 24 hour yogurt. Many people on our list have found that their ASD children do best with non-cow dairy products, such as goat and sheep. Goat yogurt, that has been fermented for 24 hours to completely rid it of any lactose, is tolerated by many ASD children, and so are the recommended types of goat and sheep cheeses, which are all pre-digested by being aged more than 6 months. In addition, the proper fermentation of cheese and yogurt breaks down the casein structure of milk*, making it more readily tolerated.Why then are these foods banned by GF/CF?

To better understand the difference of opinion between GF/CF and SCD regarding dairy , it is helpful to read the thoughts of psychologist Bernard Rimland, co-creator of GF/CF. He was instrumental in making GF/CF the diet for ASD. Lisa Lewis' book, "Special Diets for Special Kids", the official book on GF/CF, gives the reader insight into why Rimland formulated this diet. Rimland wrote the forword to the first version of "Special Diets for Special Kids"

In the foreword Rimland cites two main examples that convinced him that cow milk was detrimental for ASD. The first example tells about an American family who moved to a remote part of Northern Canada where only reindeer milk was available. Under these circumstances, their autistic daughter greatly improved. When they went back to the USA, the daughter's severe autism returned. To quote Rimland:

" The answer: the autistic girl could tolerate reindeer milk but not COW'S milk!"

This demonstrates that cow milk was the culprit. Other types of dairy were not necessarily problematic since reindeer milk was tolerated without any problems by the child with severe ASD. It is clear from this example that Rimland believes that reindeer milk is fine for some people with ASD. Why then was reindeer milk or goat milk not part of GF/CF?

At the time that GF/CF was formulated as a treatment for Autism there was no research on the effects of non-cow dairy products on autism . Since so few kids in the US drink reindeer or goat milk no one paid attention to the fact that the casein in reindeer and goat milk is different from the casein in cow milk in a very important way; it is much more absorbable. Also at that time there was little research money for ASD to further research this matter.

We have even heard reports from the adult SCD list of parents in the Middle East using camel milk for their casein-sensitive children without any problems.

The second example that Rimland cites for banning milk is the book "Fighting for Tony", by Mary Callaham This book describes how Tony overcame severe autism by avoiding milk. Tony's mother noticed that Tony could tolerate cheese, but not cow milk. Why then did Rimland exclude cheese when formulating GF/CF, despite the fact that the book "Fighting for Tony" influenced him?

One reason may be this: the fact that Tony tolerated cheese is buried in a book that is mostly a family's memoir. Tony's mother hardly mentions the cheese issue; it is a minor detail mentioned only once when she describes Tony's refusal to feed himself. Rimland, a very busy man, probably had no time to read the entire book, so it is likely that he skimmed through that particular section and missed that detail. I myself had read the library copy of the book long ago. I decided to order a used copy to refresh my memory. It turned out that not only was the cheese detail easy to miss - it was almost impossible to find. I finally located it on page 85.

Another reason for the cheese ban might lie in the fact that individual children's tolerance for cheese is a complex issue. Dr Haas,the originator of the SCdiet, found that some kinds of cheese are not tolerated by those with digestive problems. Then there is the fact that some children with ASD cannot eat cheese made from cow milk, only those from other animals. In addition, a small minority of ASD kids cannot tolerate any cheeses at all until their gastrointestinal tracts have been healed by the SCD diet, and might need to be on SCD for a while before they can tolerate any dairy cheese. So maybe the cow milk intolerance issue was simplified by banning all dairy.

Some of the children on our list cannot tolerate regular store-bought yogurt but can tolerate homemade 24 hour goat yogurt. When GF/CF was formulated, there were no ASD children who were were eating the homemade 24 hour goat yogurt, so no one thought about making an exception for it.

The children on our list start out implementing SCD without any dairy. A few weeks later, they have the option of trying the 24 hour goat yogurt. A small number find out that they still cannot tolerate yogurt. They will need to wait to try it again until further healing of the GI tract takes place. But for most kids it goes very well.

It is not a big risk to try the 24 hour yogurt. Unlike gluten which stays in the body many months after ingestion, casein leaves the body after about 10 days. The most common symptom of intolerance is a stuffy nose. Many children on our list who start out SCD without dairy find out that their healing speeds when they introduce the 24 hour yogurt. Yogurt, properly made and fermented for 24 hours, is a super food with many great healing properties. The advantage of SCD is that it gives you the choice of whether to include cheese and yogurt in your child's individualized diet.

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*THE PROCESS OF MAKING YOGURT ALSO CHANGES THE CASEIN

When we make yogurt and the pH falls to about 4.5 rather than 7.1 or 7.2 (as in fluid milk), the proteins are denatured. This means that because of the acidity, the proteins lose their 3 dimensional structure (sterochemistry), the reason allergists worry about casein. In yogurt and in naturally made and aged cheeses, the casein is denatured into a two-dimensional structure which is less likely to cause allergic reactions.

Elaine Gottschall

For more information: http://www.pecanbread.com/goatyogurt_autism.shtml See the section about goat yogurt and ASD

Update on the latest scientific research on the dairy debate.

The Jyonouchi research article says that :

"Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently reveal various gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms that may resolve with an elimination diet along with apparent improvement of some of the behavioral symptoms"

The eliminated foods were: "gliadin, cow's milk protein (CMP),soy..."

So it is obvious that Jyonouchi says that the DAN leadership is right about its ban on cow dairy.

The Jyonouchi article also vindicates SCD.It says that this intolerance to cow dairy is caused by endotoxin, a product of the gut bacteria.

Our list recommends that ASD children wait at least 2 weeks before starting GOAT yogurt.This gives them time to get rid of the endotoxin.

Moreover,a big percentage of our children cannot tolerate cow yogurt. We even need to have a starter made with goat milk for our goat yogurt. Most goat cheeses found in the supermarket are not OK.

Our list only recommends SCD type GOAT yogurt(fermented for 24 hours and started with the right probiotics) and certain rare GOAT cheeses.

Our list bans 99.999% of the available dairy. The DAN leadership was right about our children and dairy.Only the ASD children who follow SCD can have dairy.