SCD...specific carbohydrate diet

menletti

Is anyone here on this? My husband has Crohn's and was told his gluten free diet isn't cutting it anymore and he needs to start this one. We're a bit apprehensive. Any advice would be very much appreciated!

Katie1951

I am low carb, but have never heard of SCD. Where can I find more info?

Rory_123

Check out The Grain Free Gourmet - its an SCD cookbook

anashar

Sorry to hear about the Crohn's disease. I don't have it and do not do the specific carbohydrate diet but I love reading this blog:

http://www.roostblog.com/meet-caitlin/

The writer's husband has Crohn's and they are on SCD to great success.

Good luck!

gayje

http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/

^^^^^this is the official website for the SCD

http://altmedicine.about.com/od/popularhealthdiets/a/specific_carb.htm

^^^^^about dot com has a good "sum it up" page and lots of great reading links to check out.

hope these can help you out some.

adr810

I have been on SCD for 17 days now and I am already noticing an improvement in how I feel. I will say it takes a lot of dedication because it's so restrictive at first. However, as you add foods back into the diet it gets easier. I was very tired during the first few weeks. My husband had to cook all my meals simply because I was too weak. As soon as I started tracking my calories I realized I wasn't getting enough to eat. So make sure he measures his food and counts the calories so he know he' s eating enough. There is a Facebook page called The SDC lifestyle. The guys also have a website. They will answer any questions you need!

menletti

Thanks everyone! We've ordered up the book Breaking the vicious cycle and also a cookbook. Good to know about not eating enough calories. I'll make sure he knows to track them. I'll also give him the heads up on the FB page. I find it funny that he doesn't have to be on "my" diet and brings all sorts of things in the house that pose a temptation but now that he has to be on this SCD, he wants to make sure I'm on the same diet. LOL Funny man, my husband.

Debkam

I've been eating SCD for the last couple of months. I did not start with the intro diet. I simply removed the "illegal" foods from my diet, collected multiple recipes and tested them. They are family approved, even the picky teen loves them. Now that I have enough recipes to work with I'm backing up and doing the intro, primarily because I'm having a flare and am unable to determine which food is causing it. I do wish I had started with the intro as recommended, but because I didn't I can clearly see cause and effect in play when I stray away from the diet.

A few personal recommendations from my own experience:
1. Start saving bones, such as chicken, turkey, beef, etc. from your meals and freeze them to make bone broth. Though not the most appealing aspect of this diet, it is one of the most helpful for gut healing. I now buy my chicken whole and cut it up myself. There are videos on youtube showing you how to do this. It's not difficult, just takes a little practice.
2. Consider downloading Evernote to your computer. I am able to organize "notebooks" by category for my recipes using this application. It can be installed on your computer, cellphone, tablet, etc. with syncing ability between them all. I also have a "notebook" that I use to file information I find about the diet. This helps organize everything and makes it easier to stay on track by having the phases, legal lists, supplements recommendations, etc. at my fingertips. Think of it as a hyped up organizer. There is also an application called "Say Mmm" that can be used in conjunction with Evernote to plan your meals, create shopping lists, etc. This app does take a bit of time to learn, so I would consider saving it for later once you have the scd basics down, or be patient. It's very useful for meal planning. Set weekly meal plans can be used on a rotation basis making things easier.
3. The internet is your friend here. There are several SCD bloggers out there who post recipes and information. Look for recipes on Pinterest using the search application. Look up SCD or Specific Carbohydrate Diet. If you have a Facebook account "like" SCDLifestyle. Steve and Jordan are always posting information that you will find useful.
4. Bookmark the legal and illegal list from the Breaking the Vicious Cycle website, you'll need it. http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/legal/listing/ In addition, bookmark the legal spices list http://www.austinscdfriends.com/articles/article/3691416/53827.htm
5. Be prepared for social gatherings. These are most difficult for me. If you don't control the food being made, it's highly likely you'll ingest something that will set you back. Have a plan. Eat prior, bring your own, call the restaurant ahead of time, etc.
6. Keep in mind that just because it's on the legal list doesn't mean it's iron clad his body will tolerate it.
7. Be aware that the GAPS GUT and Psychology Syndrome and Paleo are similar in nature. Again, there are several GAPS/Paleo bloggers out there providing recipes that are many times SCD compliant. Just more sources for you to use.
8. Use MyFitness Pal to record foods eaten and reactions in the notes section. Journaling is vital. It is needed to review foods eaten over the last few days when a flare occurs so you can see patterns of the troublesome foods.
9. Be patient. Healing takes time. Learning what his body will tolerate takes time. Cut yourself some slack when "illegals" get in purposely or not.
10. Be diligent and don't deviate. It severely hampers progress. I read something from Elaine where she stated one crumb feeds billions of bacteria for a month. That got my attention. I no longer cheat in rebellion.


Here are a few links I recommend you start with:
http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/home/ This is where SCD began. Start here.
http://scdlifestyle.com/ Steve and Jordan have written e-books to help others with their journey. They have a lot of information on this site about the speed bumps that many encounter in the beginning. Highly recommended.
http://www.scdforlife.com/ Just one of the many bloggers out there providing tasty recipes.
http://pecanbread.com/p/ One of the sites Elaine, author of Breaking the Vicious Cycle recommended. This diet is also recommended for Autism, ADD, and various other health issues in children. There is a lot of info here for adults too, including the phase charts I mentioned above.

Anyone wanting to add me as a friend to travel this lifestyle together is welcome. I may eventually start a group, if there isn't already one here on MFP.

Sorry, this post is so long. I've compressed as much as possible into one post. There is a lot to learn on this diet, but it is well worth the effort. I've lost 20 lbs. on it as a side benefit.

aek77

I have not been on the SCD diet but I am just starting to read about it. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in June, after being hospitalized. I'm doing well on meds now, but I think diet is an important part of good health - so I figure I should try SCD (I was also interested in the Paleo Diet).

absmith55

So happy to see that there are SCD followers here on MFP. I was diagnosed with mild Crohn's last month. After watching my father suffer from severe Crohn's for years, I'm focused on finding relief through food/nutrition. Just finished reading Breaking the Vicious Cycle, started gluten free last week as a way to take a baby step, and am preparing myself to start SCD soon.

Skippyherron

Thankyou for your abundant information Debkam....it gives me a great place to start this journey.