Post by Janet on Aug 9, 2010 12:16:44 GMT -5
altmedicine.about.com/od/popularhealthdiets/a/specific_carb.htm
What is the Specific Carbohydrate Diet
The specific carbohydrate diet is a strict grain-free, lactose-free and sucrose-free diet that was designed for people with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
The specific carbohydrate diet was developed by Sydney Valentine Haas, MD. Elaine Gottschall helped to popularize the diet after using it to help her daughter recover from ulcerative colitis. Gottschall continued research on the diet and later wrote her own book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet.
What is the Premise of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet?
Dr. Haas' theory was that carbohydrates, being forms of sugar, could promote and fuel the growth of bacteria and yeast in the intestines, causing an imbalance and eventual overgrowth of bacteria and yeast. He believed bacterial overgrowth could impair enzymes on the intestinal cell surface from functioning and prevent the proper digestion and absorption of carbohydrates. This would cause the carbohydrates to remain undigested in the intestines and provide even more fuel for bacteria and yeast.
Toxins and acids could then be formed by the bacteria and yeast and injure the lining of the small intestine. Excessive mucus could be produced as a defense mechanism against the irritation caused by toxins, acids and undigested carbohydrates.
According to Dr. Haas, a number of illnesses could then develop from this altered digestive balance:
Crohn's disease
Ulcerative colitis
Celiac disease
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Chronic diarrhea
Spastic colon
Dr. Haas designed the specific carbohydrate diet to correct the imbalance by restricting the carbohydrates available to intestinal bacteria and yeast. Only carbohydrates that he believed to be well absorbed are consumed on the diet so that intestinal bacteria have nothing to feed on. This, he proposed, would help correct the bacterial overgrowth and related mucus and toxin production.
Digestion and absorption of nutrients could then improve, leading to improved nutritional status. Immune system function could then improve.
Proponents of the diet claim there is an 80% recovery rate for Crohn's disease and a 95% recovery rate for diverticulitis. They also say that improvement could occur after as little as three weeks and that full recovery was possible for many people with diverticulitis, irritable bowel syndrome and celiac disease after one year. There isn't reliable evidence, however, that confirms these recovery rates or suggests that it's effective.
What Does the Specific Carbohydrate Diet Involve?
Foods to avoid
Canned vegetables
Canned fruits, unless they are packed in their own juices
All cereal grains, including flour
potatoes, yams, parsnips, chickpeas, bean sprouts, soybeans, mung beans, fava beans, and seaweed
Processed meats, breaded or canned fish, processed cheeses, smoked or canned meat
Milk or dried milk solids
Buttermilk or acidophilus milk, commercially prepared yogurt and sour cream, soymilk, instant tea or coffee, coffee substitutes, beer
Cornstarch, arrowroot or other starches, chocolate or carob, boullion cubes or instant soup bases, all products made with refined sugar, agar agar, carrageenan or pectin, ketchup, ice cream, molasses, corn or maple syrup, flours made from legumes, baking powder, medication containing sugar, all seeds
Foods to eat
Fresh and frozen vegetables and legumes
Fresh, raw, or dried fruits
Fresh or frozen meats, poultry, fish, eggs
Natural cheeses, homemade yogurt, dry curd cottage cheese
Further Information
The website The Specific Carbohydrate Web Library has information about the diet, including research, case studies, resources and more.
Elsewhere on the Web
The Specific Carbohydrate Web Library
Related Articles
The Specific Carbohydrate Diet - Does it Help Crohns and Colitis
Low Carb Diets Don't Increase Coronary Disease
Sugar Busters Diet Information
Low Carb Diet - Could a Low Carb Diet Also Help Lower Cholesterol
Myths About Low Carb Diets - Low Carb Myths
Cathy Wong
Alternative Medicine Guide
Sign up for my Newsletter
My BlogMy Forum
Sponsored Links
www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/autism/autism.htm
When we first began the Gluten-free/Casein-free (GF/CF) diet and
then later the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), I easily adapted our lunch and dinner menus to comply. However, I found the two most challenging areas to make GF/CF or SCD legal were breakfast and desserts.
Breakfast
I believe it is important to eat protein in every meal, and for breakfast, I wanted my son to eat some eggs. Scrabled eggs, gluten-free toast, and fruit seems like a good breakfast to me, but my son gags at even the sight of eggs, so I have to hide them in pancakes. The only problem is that most pancake recipes are very high in carbohydrates and low in egg and protein content, so I began experimenting and created the following recipe for a high-protein, lower carbohydrate pancake. When we began the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, I modified the recipe and came up with the Banana Pancakes/Cake recipe and the Zucchini Pancakes/Cake recipe.
HIGH PROTEIN PANCAKES (Gluten-free/Casein-free)
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons buckwheat flour OR tapioca flour and rice flour combination (1/2 of each)
1 Tablespoon melted coconut oil or grapeseed oil (or other mild oil)
1/8 tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
Stevia or honey to taste
Beat eggs, then add remaining ingredients and mix well.
BANANA PANCAKES/CAKE (Specific Carbohydrate Diet legal and Gluten-free/Casein-free)
I make a large batch and use the batter to make pancakes for that day and then the remaining batter for banana “cake” to have for breakfast for the next day or two.
6-8 ripe bananas
12-16 Tablespoons almond flour or pecan flour (note – I use 2 Tablespoons for each banana in the recipe, but experiment with this depending upon the number of eggs you use)
9-12 eggs (experiment to see how many eggs you can “hide”)
½ tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tablespoons melted coconut oil or grapeseed oil (or other mild oil)
Stevia or honey to taste (I use KAL brand because it has no added fiber or other ingredients.)
You can make your own almond flour or pecan flour by blending in a food processor for several minutes. Thoroughly mash bananas. Beat eggs and add to bananas, then add remaining ingredients and mix well. Cook enough pancakes for that day, then put remaining batter in greased glass baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25-30 minutes for Banana “Cake”.
ZUCCHINI PANCAKES/CAKE (Specific Carbohydrate Diet legal and Gluten-free/Casein-free)
This is a great way to hide both eggs and zucchini. Vegetables for breakfast – I love it!!!!
4-5 large zucchini (put in food processor until turns into a soft puree’)
8-10 eggs
14-20 tablespoons pecan flour (note – almond flour is okay, but does not work as well in this recipe)
½ tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tablespoons melted coconut oil or grapeseed oil (or other mild oil)
Stevia or honey to taste
You can make your own almond flour or pecan flour by blending in a food processor for several minutes. Beat eggs, then add remaining ingredients and mix well. Cook enough pancakes for that day, then put remaining batter in greased glass baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25-30 minutes.
Easy Dessert Options
My favorite desserts are easy ones. I spend lots of time in the kitchen preparing GF/CF or SCD legal meals, so I don’t have much time left for desserts. But it seems the simpler, the better. These are some of the best desserts I have ever tasted.
FLOURLESS MACAROONS
4 egg whites
3 cups Unsweetened coconut
¾ cup honey
1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon pure almond extract
(Note – do not use imitation vanilla or almond extract)Combine all ingredients, drop with tablespoon and bake on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
NO-BAKE DATE COCONUT ROLLS
2 cups dates
1/4 – 1/3 cup Unsweetened coconut (experiment with more or less, depending on the consistency you like)
1 Tablespoon grapeseed oil
Mix ingredients in food processor for 1-2 minutes, until smooth. Form into 2-inch rolls and enjoy!
Have fun experimenting with some of your favorite recipes to make them GF/CF or SCD legal. Most children love to cook and to experiment with food, so the baking should be as fun as the eating!
What is the Specific Carbohydrate Diet
The specific carbohydrate diet is a strict grain-free, lactose-free and sucrose-free diet that was designed for people with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
The specific carbohydrate diet was developed by Sydney Valentine Haas, MD. Elaine Gottschall helped to popularize the diet after using it to help her daughter recover from ulcerative colitis. Gottschall continued research on the diet and later wrote her own book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet.
What is the Premise of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet?
Dr. Haas' theory was that carbohydrates, being forms of sugar, could promote and fuel the growth of bacteria and yeast in the intestines, causing an imbalance and eventual overgrowth of bacteria and yeast. He believed bacterial overgrowth could impair enzymes on the intestinal cell surface from functioning and prevent the proper digestion and absorption of carbohydrates. This would cause the carbohydrates to remain undigested in the intestines and provide even more fuel for bacteria and yeast.
Toxins and acids could then be formed by the bacteria and yeast and injure the lining of the small intestine. Excessive mucus could be produced as a defense mechanism against the irritation caused by toxins, acids and undigested carbohydrates.
According to Dr. Haas, a number of illnesses could then develop from this altered digestive balance:
Crohn's disease
Ulcerative colitis
Celiac disease
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Chronic diarrhea
Spastic colon
Dr. Haas designed the specific carbohydrate diet to correct the imbalance by restricting the carbohydrates available to intestinal bacteria and yeast. Only carbohydrates that he believed to be well absorbed are consumed on the diet so that intestinal bacteria have nothing to feed on. This, he proposed, would help correct the bacterial overgrowth and related mucus and toxin production.
Digestion and absorption of nutrients could then improve, leading to improved nutritional status. Immune system function could then improve.
Proponents of the diet claim there is an 80% recovery rate for Crohn's disease and a 95% recovery rate for diverticulitis. They also say that improvement could occur after as little as three weeks and that full recovery was possible for many people with diverticulitis, irritable bowel syndrome and celiac disease after one year. There isn't reliable evidence, however, that confirms these recovery rates or suggests that it's effective.
What Does the Specific Carbohydrate Diet Involve?
Foods to avoid
Canned vegetables
Canned fruits, unless they are packed in their own juices
All cereal grains, including flour
potatoes, yams, parsnips, chickpeas, bean sprouts, soybeans, mung beans, fava beans, and seaweed
Processed meats, breaded or canned fish, processed cheeses, smoked or canned meat
Milk or dried milk solids
Buttermilk or acidophilus milk, commercially prepared yogurt and sour cream, soymilk, instant tea or coffee, coffee substitutes, beer
Cornstarch, arrowroot or other starches, chocolate or carob, boullion cubes or instant soup bases, all products made with refined sugar, agar agar, carrageenan or pectin, ketchup, ice cream, molasses, corn or maple syrup, flours made from legumes, baking powder, medication containing sugar, all seeds
Foods to eat
Fresh and frozen vegetables and legumes
Fresh, raw, or dried fruits
Fresh or frozen meats, poultry, fish, eggs
Natural cheeses, homemade yogurt, dry curd cottage cheese
Further Information
The website The Specific Carbohydrate Web Library has information about the diet, including research, case studies, resources and more.
Elsewhere on the Web
The Specific Carbohydrate Web Library
Related Articles
The Specific Carbohydrate Diet - Does it Help Crohns and Colitis
Low Carb Diets Don't Increase Coronary Disease
Sugar Busters Diet Information
Low Carb Diet - Could a Low Carb Diet Also Help Lower Cholesterol
Myths About Low Carb Diets - Low Carb Myths
Cathy Wong
Alternative Medicine Guide
Sign up for my Newsletter
My BlogMy Forum
Sponsored Links
www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/autism/autism.htm
When we first began the Gluten-free/Casein-free (GF/CF) diet and
then later the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), I easily adapted our lunch and dinner menus to comply. However, I found the two most challenging areas to make GF/CF or SCD legal were breakfast and desserts.
Breakfast
I believe it is important to eat protein in every meal, and for breakfast, I wanted my son to eat some eggs. Scrabled eggs, gluten-free toast, and fruit seems like a good breakfast to me, but my son gags at even the sight of eggs, so I have to hide them in pancakes. The only problem is that most pancake recipes are very high in carbohydrates and low in egg and protein content, so I began experimenting and created the following recipe for a high-protein, lower carbohydrate pancake. When we began the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, I modified the recipe and came up with the Banana Pancakes/Cake recipe and the Zucchini Pancakes/Cake recipe.
HIGH PROTEIN PANCAKES (Gluten-free/Casein-free)
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons buckwheat flour OR tapioca flour and rice flour combination (1/2 of each)
1 Tablespoon melted coconut oil or grapeseed oil (or other mild oil)
1/8 tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
Stevia or honey to taste
Beat eggs, then add remaining ingredients and mix well.
BANANA PANCAKES/CAKE (Specific Carbohydrate Diet legal and Gluten-free/Casein-free)
I make a large batch and use the batter to make pancakes for that day and then the remaining batter for banana “cake” to have for breakfast for the next day or two.
6-8 ripe bananas
12-16 Tablespoons almond flour or pecan flour (note – I use 2 Tablespoons for each banana in the recipe, but experiment with this depending upon the number of eggs you use)
9-12 eggs (experiment to see how many eggs you can “hide”)
½ tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tablespoons melted coconut oil or grapeseed oil (or other mild oil)
Stevia or honey to taste (I use KAL brand because it has no added fiber or other ingredients.)
You can make your own almond flour or pecan flour by blending in a food processor for several minutes. Thoroughly mash bananas. Beat eggs and add to bananas, then add remaining ingredients and mix well. Cook enough pancakes for that day, then put remaining batter in greased glass baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25-30 minutes for Banana “Cake”.
ZUCCHINI PANCAKES/CAKE (Specific Carbohydrate Diet legal and Gluten-free/Casein-free)
This is a great way to hide both eggs and zucchini. Vegetables for breakfast – I love it!!!!
4-5 large zucchini (put in food processor until turns into a soft puree’)
8-10 eggs
14-20 tablespoons pecan flour (note – almond flour is okay, but does not work as well in this recipe)
½ tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tablespoons melted coconut oil or grapeseed oil (or other mild oil)
Stevia or honey to taste
You can make your own almond flour or pecan flour by blending in a food processor for several minutes. Beat eggs, then add remaining ingredients and mix well. Cook enough pancakes for that day, then put remaining batter in greased glass baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25-30 minutes.
Easy Dessert Options
My favorite desserts are easy ones. I spend lots of time in the kitchen preparing GF/CF or SCD legal meals, so I don’t have much time left for desserts. But it seems the simpler, the better. These are some of the best desserts I have ever tasted.
FLOURLESS MACAROONS
4 egg whites
3 cups Unsweetened coconut
¾ cup honey
1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon pure almond extract
(Note – do not use imitation vanilla or almond extract)Combine all ingredients, drop with tablespoon and bake on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
NO-BAKE DATE COCONUT ROLLS
2 cups dates
1/4 – 1/3 cup Unsweetened coconut (experiment with more or less, depending on the consistency you like)
1 Tablespoon grapeseed oil
Mix ingredients in food processor for 1-2 minutes, until smooth. Form into 2-inch rolls and enjoy!
Have fun experimenting with some of your favorite recipes to make them GF/CF or SCD legal. Most children love to cook and to experiment with food, so the baking should be as fun as the eating!