What is the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)?

As stated in all articles that pertain to “diets”, this article is no different in the fact that it is purely intended to provide an explanation of what the Specific Carbohydrate Diet is, and it’s potential benefits. We believe that there is no diet that is right for everyone, and each individual’s body reacts differently to food, and nutrition sources. Many people thrive off just eating a “clean” diet, while others need more specific diets.

Who Is The Diet For?

The SCD actually dates back all the way to the 1920’s when it was first developed by Dr. Sidney Haas as treatment for Celiac’s Disease. However, the diet gained it’s popularity when biologist, Elaine Gottschall used the diet as treatment for her daughter who had IBD. She later wrote the book: “Breaking the Vicious Cycle“. This book goes in-depth regarding the science and specifics of the diet. Today’s article will cover the basics.

What Is The Specific Carbohydrate Diet?

In it’s essence, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet is an elimination diet. There is an “Intro” stage, and then 5 more stages to follow in which you should monitor your body’s reactions to each new food reintroduction. Here is an easy breakdown of these stages.

The diet takes the stance that complex-carbs (disaccharides and polysaccharides), being difficult to breakdown, promote overgrowth of unhealthy bacteria in the small intestine. The science behind it’s effectiveness is that by eliminating many of these complex carbs (consuming foods containing only monosaccharides, or no carbs at all) the gut can heal, optimize digestive function, and work towards reaching a healthy microbiome.

Research has shown that this has been incredibly successful for many! Numerous gastroenterologists are now prescribing this diet as treatment and maintenance for those with IBD or GI related issues, with Seattle Children’s being one, among many others.

What Can I Eat?

The SCD functions based off of a “legal” and “illegal” list. This will provide you with the information needed to ensure specific foods are acceptable to consume. With that information in hand, a basic overview of the diet is as follows:

Recipes

Before getting into specific recipes, it would be a disservice to not tell you about my two favorite SCD bloggers: Comfy Belly and Healing Family Eats . Both have blogs with a huge variety of the most amazing SCD recipes you’ll ever taste. These two women are your go-to’s!

Here are some of my favorite recipes:

“Oatmeal” Raisin Cookies: These things are addictive, and only take a few minutes to whip up! I love replacing the almond butter for sunbutter for a more mild flavor. The sunbutter is also much easier on my stomach. Try crumbling these in Fronen’s Vanilla Ice Cream (also SCD) for the most satisfying, simple dessert.

Banana Cinnamon “Oatmeal”: If oatmeal is a go-to breakfast for you, this is the perfect replacement!

English Scones (Biscuits): Bread is definitely the most difficult thing to let go of when switching to an SCD lifestyle, but these biscuits make the transition much easier. They’re crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and pair amazingly with homemade jam!

Although this strict of a diet isn’t for everyone, it can be extremely life-altering for those in need of GI healing. We truly believe in the power of food and proper nutrition, and the definition of this is one that just simply can never be the same for everyone.

If you think the SCD might be a good fit for you, we recommend working with a functional specialist or nutritionist that can help guide you down this path.

Please come to us with any questions or comments. We’d love to know, do you or anyone you know follow the Specific Carbohydrate Diet?