Anybody Using The Carbohydrate Specific Diet?

[Offthegrid]

I wanted to know if anyone has used the specific carbohydrate diet. It seems extremely prohibitive, but at this point I've eliminated virtually every lectin and am still having symptoms. The latest food intolerance appears to be potatoes. At least this diet has the promise of possibly being able to eat some of these foods again.

Has anyone followed it and had success?

[BRUMI1968]

If you search the board, I know there used to be a thread about it - a support thread for those using it. I myself have never done it because I don't do dairy -- I scoped out the Paleolithic diet instead, which is similar on many fronts, though not quite the same.

About your username -- do you live off the grid, as in solar, etc.?

[woolwhippet]

Me! I've done it. I started it only after much frustration with chronic 'd' and a bunch of other symptoms. I was really skeptical but 4/5 days after starting the diet I had a solid bm and then reliably solid ones for the duration of the diet. The food is good and actually not that restrictive once you get used to it. I honestly didn't beleive I'd be able to tolerate the yogurt but I did! One night I sat drinking a glass of red wine and eating grapes and brie--all legal foods--and it felt decadent.

I only did it for 3/4 weeks and then I jumped in and started to add new foods (rice, potatoes, etc). For me, I do better with no lactose, soy, and gluten. It was a good starting place for me and whenever I feel poorly I scale back to the diet.

I have gone crazy trying to understand the science behind it. I can't tell you why or how it works but I can tell you that this diet changed my whole perspective on food. When I first went gluten-free I loaded up on all those fancy products at the grocery store--breads, mixes, cookies, pastas--and the specific carbohydrate diet reinforced for me that whole fresh naturally gluten-free foods are best, especially in the early healing period.

Hope this makes sense to you. It's past my bedtime...

[Offthegrid]

'Offthegrid' is actually something I thought up when I switched jobs. Although it would be neat to be able to be self-sufficient like that...

Woolwhippet, I am so pleased to hear your success with it. It just seems at this point no matter what I eliminate, I'm still having symptoms. I eliminated dairy months ago, but am curious to see if I could eat the homemade yogurt. That would be absolutely heavenly. Every once in a while I have a normal BM, but I can't seem to link it to a specific food I avoided.

[Offthegrid]

Update: Four days after giving up potatoes, I had a normal BM today. I've been eating rice, so at this point I can tolerate that. I only wonder if in more time I won't be able to tolerate rice either.

I guess my choice now is live with not being able to eat gluten, casein, nightshades or soy, or trying this diet to see if one day I can again tolerate potatoes and possibly even dairy. I may wait until after the holidays, but what I've read so far seems very promising. And because I've already given up so much in my diet, it would not be very much more restrictive after the introductory phase.