What is SCD?
The Specific Carbohydrate Diet is a dietary regimen that eliminates all grains (including gluten), potatoes, refined sugar and food additives.
How it Works
SCD was originally designed by Dr Hass for the treatment of children with Celiac disease. It was first called the ‘banana’ diet because bananas were the primary source of carbohydrates used and tolerated by the children he treated. The sugars in bananas are simple sugars (mono-saccharides) which are easily digested and don’t cause diarrhea. Mono-saccharides are also found in honey, fruit and some vegetables. Dissacharides and polysaccharides are sugars that are not easy to digest and contribute to diarrhea. These sugars and starches are found in grains, potatoes and sugars which are all to be avoided on this diet. It is believed that because these complex sugars are not digested easily, bacteria and yeast which feed on them are prone to overgrow in the intestine. When bacteria and yeast overgrow, the byproducts and toxins excreted by them irritate the lining of the digestive tract causing digestive distress. Eliminating the sugars that feed these organisms will return the digestive system to a more balanced state. Elaine Gottschall, author of the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle, was instrumental in making this diet known to others.
Who Would Benefit From SCD?
The diet was originally intended for those suffering from digestive ailments. It also works for other diseases, conditions and symptoms. The following is a list of conditions that have shown benefit from this style of diet:-Celiac disease-Crohn’s disease-Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)-Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)-Ulcerative Colitis (UC)-Autism-acne-eczema-food allergies-seasonal allergies-Rheumatoid Arthritis-digestive symptoms
Allowed Foods
This is not a comprehensive list of allowed foods. Please see the Legal/Illegal list.
Meat: Any unprocessed meat including red meat, fish, seafood, poultry, game meat, organ meats, bones, bone marrow, unflavored gelatin
Dairy: SCD yogurt, hard naturally lactose-free cheese, kefir (advanced)Vegetables: most vegetables excluding potatoes, rutabaga & turnips are considered advanced and should not be tried right away
Fruits: all unsweetened fruit including frozenNuts: all nuts with no added ingredients, nut flours, nut butters
Sugars: honeyOils/fats: all animal fats, cultured butter, ghee, coconut oil, cocoa butter, vegetable oils
Disallowed FoodsThis is not a comprehensive list of disallowed foods. Please see the Legal/Illegal list.
Meat: all processed meat (check for added ingredients)Dairy: all fluid milk, cream, buttermilk, sour cream, cream cheese, mozzarella, ricotta, cottage cheese, feta, cheese slices, processed cheese
Vegetables: potatoes, seaweed, all canned vegetables
Fruit: canned fruit, sweetened fruit, fruit stored in syrup
Grains: all grains including wheat, corn, rice, kamut, barley, spelt, quinoa, buckwheat, oat
Sugars: white sugar, cane sugar, maple sugar, maple syrup, coconut/palm sugar, brown sugar, sucanat, rapadura, molasses
Legumes: chick peas, bean sprouts, soybeans, mungbeans, faba beans, and garbanzo beans
Oils: margarine, butter substitutes
Weight Management
Most people find that this diet helps to normalize their weight. That is, underweight people will gain weight appropriately and overweight people will lose weight. I did manage to gain weight from being too low. It will take time, as your body has to heal and balance out before weight can finally be normal. Many overweight people benefit from low-carb SCD. I benefited from low-carb SCD at time to manage symptoms, but did not follow low-carb for prolonged periods.
Supplements
You do need to take supplements while doing SCD, an alternative doctor can prescribe or other health care professional can recommend. I highly suggest looking for SCD legal foods that are good sources of nutrients rather than taking supplements all the time. Beef liver is very high in vitamin A, vitamins B, and iron. Oysters are high in zinc. Grass-fed beef, wild salmon, and fish oil are good sources of Omega 3s. Consider finding food sources of nutrients you need and including those in your diet. I use Nutrition Data to see the nutritional value of foods. I also use FitDay to input all my food for a day to see where I might be coming up short.
Some people choose to use supplements to make sure they are getting enough of certain nutrients.Some people use probiotics or beneficial yeasts to help re-balance the digestive system. Here is a list of good sources:-Freeda Vitamins also available at SCDiet.com, Lucy’s Kitchen Shop, and mailing address.-Probiotics available at GIPro Health, Kirkman Labs, Lucy’s Kitchen Shop, and SCDiet.com.-Saccharomyces Boulardii
The Gaps Diet
This is a good website to get all the information you need for this diet. It does differ from SCD. Below is the differences between SCD and GAPS.
Overview: The SCD is a diet only. GAPS is a three-part program: diet, detoxification, and supplementation. GAPS’ diet is based heavily on the SCD. However, the GAPS diet includes a stronger emphasis on broths and fermented vegetables; removal of casein for at least 4-6 weeks (then very careful reintroduction); fewer types of beans (legumes); no baking soda; and only homepressed (as opposed to storebought) fruit juices. GAPS also allows the use of sea vegetables upon sufficient healing.
Intro Protocol: The intro presented in Breaking the Vicious Cycle includes honey, fruit, broth, dairy, meat, and vegetables. For some people, yeast overgrowth can be maintained throughout this intro. Also, for people sensitive to casein (and it’s hard to know until it’s first removed), this intro will have limited effects. GAPS’ intro protocol involves veggies, broth and meat –working up from there. This is a pretty safe starting point for everyone, giving full opportunity to heal the gut and also to see what foods might be bothersome for a given individual. GAPS’ intro is much more detailed and clear-cut than that presented in Breaking the Vicious Cycle.
Supplementation: The GAPS program recommends a handful of supplements specific to bowel and brain function. The author of GAPS also recommends a wide range of bacteria, including Bifidus which Elaine Gottschall declared illegal for SCD.
Philosophy: Breaking the Vicious Cycle promotes ‘fanatical adherence’. GAPS is more accurately described as a list of recommendations, from which each patient will develop a personalized program. Besides adherence to the SCD, GAPS recommendations (but not requirements) for supporting the body’s balance include: use of pasture-fed meat, use of pastured eggs, a toxin-free home, safe removal of mercury fillings, etc. From the various recommendations, each patient selects the ones that suit his particular needs, lifestyle and budget. For example, the developer of the GAPS program has found that some people continue having symptoms until all pesticides have been removed from their diet. These patients, then, would find this critical to success. Others have found this variable to not be as crucial, so focus their resources elsewhere.
Detox: Of the two, only GAPS includes a detox protocol. This includes healthy living, avoidance of harmful chemicals, and baths with baking soda, epsom salts, etc.
Purpose: SCD was developed specifically for bowel disorders. (It was shortly recognized, though, that it also helped to resolve autistic traits.) GAPS was developed specifically for people struggling with behavioural/cognitive/mood issues with or without obvious bowel issues.
Personal Perspective: Personally, I see GAPS as the next stage in SCD’s evolution. The diet, originally developed by Drs Haas, was tweaked by Elaine Gottschall to improve results. My perspective is that GAPS has done this again. That is, although GAPS was developed specifically for people dealing with cognitive, behavioural or mood issues, I believe that the full GAPS program would be an absolute boon to folks focusing primarily on bowel disorders, too. After all, “all disease begins in the gut”. GAPS simply springboards from earlier excellence to offer results even more spectacular. I am deeply grateful for the work done by Drs Haas, Elaine Gottschall, Dr Campbell-McBride and all the others who have contributed to this particular healing approach.
http://www.gapsdiet.com/
Tomorrow a look at Paleo.
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