Carleen just sent me a link to a website discussing this Diet for Crohn’s and Colitis sufferers (amongst other diseases). It’s called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet - SCD for short. Basically, from what I’ve gathered, this diet believes that both of these diseases are bacterial in nature (something that most doctors and specialists believe is NOT true) - specifically, that in your Gastrointestinal system there are lots of good bacteria, but also some bad ones. Crohn’s and Colitis happen when the bad bacteria start increasing and your body adjusts to the changing chemistry - effectively attacking your body in an attempt to be rid of the harmful bacteria.
So the SCD teaches us that we need to “starve out” the bad bacteria by not leaving them anything to eat. This involves cutting out complex carbohydrates, starches, complex sugars, etc. which your body has a difficult time digesting so that everything you eat is thoroughly digested and absorbed, so nothing is left over for the bad bacteria to eat.
I like the sound of this, and there is more and more evidence that “Probiotics” is the way to go when fighting Inflammatory Bowel Disorders - my only problem is that it’s a low fiber diet. Most doctors currently subscribe to the “high-fiber” diet plan, and this is what I’ve been going on. However, it’s obviously not working, so it’s time to try something different. Fiber just seems so good for you and with any IBD there is an increased risk of cancer, so taking lots of fiber seemed like a good way to go to try to prevent that.
SCD was created by a woman named Elaine Gottschall, who has degrees in biology, nutritional biochemistry, and cellular biology. Unfortunately, her work is largely dismissed by doctors and specialists. Taking a guess, I’d say it’s because it involves a simple plan of a change in diet. Pharmaceutical companies don’t like the sound of that - diseases like these are big money makers - most people have to be on pills most of their lives i.e. $$. Despite that, the SCD has quite a large grassroots movement.
Well, I’m going to give it a try - luckily it’s not like Macrobiotics where you need a complete cultural change to go on the diet, you simply have to cut out certain items and replace them with alternatives. Fruits and Vegetables are big on the list; as is meat, cheeses and homemade yogurt. Things to avoid include grains, flour (eek! that’s a tough one), sugars, and milk. I found that last bit about milk interesting as most cheeses (not processed) are fine on this diet. Then I read a bit about it on Mrs. Gottschall’s website. In her own words, “…in fact, butter and most respectable cheeses (not the processed) DO NOT CONTAIN LACTOSE.” That’s good to know - I had no idea - it must have something to do with the aging or process innvolved in making the cheese that uses up or destroys the lactose.
Anyway, if you have either of these diseases and normal treatment is not working, check this website out. I haven’t tried it yet, so I can’t make any kind of testimony, but I know how desperate people can get (I’ll be honest, the idea of completely removing my colon, the only known cure, has sounded qutie appealing a few times). It’s obvious the medical community is just going to push more and more dangerous drugs at us in order for us to live with the disease, rather than cure it. It’s about time we take our health in our own hands and find ways to reduce or maybe even eliminate drug use while still leading healthy happy lives.
[climbs off soap box]
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