The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (scd)

[pellegrino]

Has anyone had success on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet?

After I was diagnosed with celiac disease about a month ago, my naturopath recommended it. I've read the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle. The diet is crazy restrictive, but I've already eliminated gluten, dairy, most grains, and most sugar, so I don't think it'd be too much different. I'm already basically just eating meats, vegetables and fruits.

I'm still not feeling super great after a month though. Still having a dull achy pain in my left side that I've had since February when I started to feel sick. I'm going to see a celiac specialist at the University of Chicago in August, because I want to know if this pain is something I should be concerned about, and if so, have the necessary tests done.

But my naturopath seems to think a dairy free version of the SCD would really help heal my gut, and likely make this pain go away. And I'm willing to try. I just want to feel normal again.

If you've had success on the diet, how long did it take to see an improvement? Weeks? Months? And how long did you have to stay on the diet? Six months? A year? Longer? When going off the diet, were you able to re-introduce grains and starches without a problem?

[corinne]

I've been on a variation of the SCD for 1.5 years. It should be noted that I have collagenous colitis not celiac although the two conditions are related. I don't eat any nuts or dairy either. My symptoms resolved fairly quickly on the SCD. No D after about 2 weeks. I've tried going off the SCD, but I seem to react very strongly (vomiting, D) to even potatoes and rice. PM me if you have questions.

[JamiD]

I've been doing something similar to the SCD as well as elimating lectins for about 2 months and it's been helping.

I eat fruit but I can tell when I've had too much. Meat and green vegetables work the best for me to avoid gassiness, but I love fruit and small amounts aren't too bad on me.

Funny, I'm seeing a specialist in August as well, we should report back.

[loraleena]

You have only been gluten free for a month. It can take up to a couple years to be better. You need to give this diet more time before going more extreme. Sometimes you need to eliminate dairy though, since this is often a problem for celiacs. Stick with as much unprocessed whole foods as you can.

[corinne]

Loraleena has a good point. I didn't see that you had been gluten free for only a month. I would wait until you have been gluten free for at least 3 months and probably a year without improvement before trying the diet. Dairy free and maybe eliminating other common intolerances should be tried before the SCD. Although D resolved quickly on the SCD, I still had cramps and nausea for about 6 months. It can take a long time to heal.