by
Bernie aka TigerLilea
The Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ (SCD™) is a grain-free, lactose-free,
and sucrose-free diet that was originally designed for Celiac Disease.
Today the SCD is also used for Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Candida,
Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Diverticulitis, Cystic Fibrosis,
and Chronic Diarrhea. The SCD™ is proving helpful to many with Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia as well.
The SCD was designed by Dr. Sidney Haas for his young Celiac
patients. Years later his son, Dr. Merrill Haas also joined him in his
research and together in 1951 they published a book called Management
of Celiac Disease.
Elaine Gottschall popularized the SCD after her daughter successfully
used the diet in the late 1950s to recover from Ulcerative Colitis.
After receiving her Bachelor of Arts in biology and later a Masters
of Science, Ms. Gottschall further studied and improved upon the
Specific Carbohydrate Diet. She spent four years investigating the
effects of various sugars on the digestive tract working mainly on the
cellular level.
It is believed that intestinal microbes (bacteria and yeast)
contribute to intestinal problems. These microbes need carbohydrates for
their energy. The SCD uses carbohydrates known as monosaccharides
(single sugars) that are easily digested in the first part of the small
intestine, where they are well absorbed and therefore don't remain in
the digestive tract where they can feed the microbes.
The more popular elimination diets, particularly the Candida diets,
believe that the ingestion of yeasts and fungi also contribute to the
overgrowth of yeast and bacteria in the intestinal tract. However, the
SCD concentrates on the elimination of the disaccharides (double sugars)
and polysaccharides (starches). The disaccharides include lactose,
sucrose, maltose, and isomaltose. The more complex carbohydrates do not
completely breakdown in the small intestine and therefore arrive
undigested in the further sections of the small intestine and the colon.
There they are able to feed the bacteria and yeast. This can lead to
malabsorption of nutrients because of injury to the surface of the
intestine.
The suggested diet is an all natural diet, including meats, fish,
canned fish packed in water or oil, poultry, some cheeses, dry-curd
cottage cheese, home-made yogurt, eggs, nuts, fats, butter and oils,
whole fruits, some juices, and non-starchy vegetables. Honey is also
permitted as it is a single sugar. Yogurt must be home-made and left to
sit for 24 hours to ensure it is lactose free. (Store bought yogurt has
anywhere from 4.5 to 7 grams of lactose per cup.)
A partial list of foods to avoid are all grains, including rice,
cereal and pasta; table sugar; molasses; corn syrup; maple syrup; milk
and milk products except those listed above; processed meats; smoked
meats; canned meats; canned vegetables; white potatoes; sweet potatoes;
yams; corn; parsnips; and margarine.
After following this diet, most people will notice some improvement
in as little as three to four weeks. By six months some people are able
to decrease or stop taking their meds, and after approximately six
months to two years most people can start adding back the forbidden
foods one at a time without a return of their symptoms. (Instructions on
which foods can be added back to the diet are given beside each food on
Elaine Gottschall's Legal / Illegal Foods Lists.)
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