The Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ has helped many thousands of people with various forms of bowel disease and other ailments vastly to improve their quality of life. In many cases people consider themselves cured. SCD is a diet intended mainly for Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease, diverticulitis, cystic fibrosis and chronic diarrhea. However it is a very healthy, balanced and safe diet that has health benefits for everyone. The foods that are allowed on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ are based on the chemical structure of these foods. Carbohydrates are classified by their molecular structure.
For a very thorough list of the allowed foods on the SCD diet click below:
The allowed carbohydrates are monosaccharides; foods that only have a single molecule structure that allow them to be easily absorbed by the intestine wall. Complex carbohydrates that are disaccharides (double molecules) and polysaccharides (chain molecules) are not allowed. Complex carbohydrates that are not easily digested feed harmful bacteria in our intestines causing them to overgrow producing by-products and inflammation of the intestine wall. The diet works by starving out these bacteria and restoring the balance of bacteria in our gut.
The Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ is biologically correct because it is species appropriate. The allowed foods are mainly those that early man ate before agriculture began. The diet we evolved to eat over millions of years ago was predominantly one of meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, nuts, and low-sugar fruits. Our modern diet including starches, grains, pasta, legumes, and breads has only been consumed for a mere 10,000 years. In the last hundred years the increase in complex sugars and chemical additives in the diet due to a large of amount of processed foods, has led to a huge increase in health problems ranging from severe bowel disorders to obesity and brain function disorders. We have not adapted to eat this modern diet, as there has not been enough time for natural selection to operate. It therefore makes sense to eat the diet we evolved with!
The distressing and debilitating intestinal problems seen today have existed for centuries. The names given for the various conditions of the symptoms are diarrhea, excess gas, loss of weight, excess mucus, cramping, blood loss, and severe constipation have changed throughout the years. The methods of diagnosis as well as those of treatment and management have also changed with time. But there has always been a strong underlying belief that diet is an important factor to consider; not only in determining the causes of the disorders, but also in their treatment and cure.
Over 600 hundred scientific publications alone had appeared in the 1970′s and 1980′s testifying to the fact that this so called “Elemental Diet” (known throughout the medical profession and patients actively involved; used in hospitals to treat stomach disorders) is effective in correcting malabsorption and reversing the course of many intestinal disorders.
However, since the Elemental Diet is an artificial diet, usually administered via a stomach tube, it can not be continued indefinitely. When it is discontinued, usually 6 to 8 weeks later, improvement would gradually decrease and symptoms most often would return.
This is why Elaine Gottschall spent so many years in research to find a way to understand and to heal her own child in a more affective manner. The Specific Carbohydrate Diet was designed so that it can be used at home. All the carbohydrates specified in the recipes she provides supporting this diet are all biochemically correct!
The purpose of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet is to deprive the microbial world of the intestine of the food it needs to overpopulate. By using a diet which contains predominately “predigested” carbohydrates, the individual with an intestinal problem can be maximally nourished without over-stimulation of the intestinal microbial population.
Dr Haas and biochemist Elaine Gottschall with convincing results clinically tested The Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ for over 50 years. Feedback from various sources has proven that at least 75% of those who adhere rigidly to this diet gain significant improvement.
For more detailed information on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and what it entails… please go to Elaine Gottschall’s direct site – the OFFICIAL SCD WEBSITE at link provided below: