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Specific Carbohydrate diet vs. Crohn's

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releas...61228171130.htm

Quote:

Novel diet therapy helps children with crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis reach remission

Can diet alone be used to cure Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC)? It's a question Dr. David Suskind, a gastroenterologist at Seattle Children's, has been researching for years.

Today, he finally has the answer: yes.

In a first-of-its-kind-study led by Suskind, published today in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, diet alone was shown to bring pediatric patients with active Crohn's and UC into clinical remission.

"This changes the paradigm for how we may choose to treat children with inflammatory bowel disease," said Suskind.

In the small, prospective study, patients were put on a special diet called the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD) for 12 weeks as the sole intervention to treat their Crohn's or UC. SCD is a nutritionally balanced diet that removes grains, dairy, processed foods and sugars, except for honey. The diet promotes only natural, nutrient-rich foods, which includes vegetables, fruits, meats and nuts.

At the end of the 12 weeks, eight out of the 10 patients who finished the study showed significant improvement and achieved remission from the dietary treatment alone.

Finding a cure for IBD

At most centers, treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is limited and usually takes patients down one of two routes: steroids or medication, which can often lead to life-long side effects. Another concern is that medication and steroids only suppresses the immune system and don't treat the underlying issue of the microbiome, the bacteria that lives in the digestive tract.

IBD refers to several related illnesses that affect the digestive tract. Crohn's and UC are two forms of IBD. Doctors believe that IBD happens because something goes wrong between a child's genetic makeup, their immune system and their microbiome. In most people, the bacteria in the digestive tract are harmless. Although in some cases, the microbiome goes awry and causes a person's immune system to attack the bowel. It's still unknown why this happens.

Suskind was determined to find better and more effective treatment options for IBD, and so he began spearheading research on the innovative diet known as SCD.

"For decades or longer, medicine has said diet doesn't matter, that it doesn't impact disease," said Suskind. "Now we know that diet does have an impact, a strong impact. It works, and now there's evidence."

To date, there have only been a few case reports where a whole food diet, like SCD, has been used as a potential treatment for IBD. This study is the first to show, not just anecdotally, that the diet is safe and effective.

"Each person's disease is unique, just as each person is unique," said Suskind. "SCD is another tool in our tool belt to help treat these patients. It may not be the best treatment option for everyone, but it is an effective treatment for those who wish to try a dietary therapy."

"There had to be a better way"

In October 2013, Nicole Kittelson noticed something wasn't quite right with her then 8-year-old daughter Adelynne. Her skin and eyes had turned gray, her hair was brittle and she was losing weight.

"When we first took her to see her pediatrician, they simply said, 'She's a kid. She's just active and needs more calories,' but my gut was telling me something was wrong," said Kittelson.

Shortly after, the family found themselves in the emergency room. Doctors tested Adelynne for leukemia and diabetes, but nothing came back with any answers as to what was going on inside Adelynne's body. She was put on antibiotics and steroids and was sent home. For three weeks she was doing better, until one day things took a turn.

"She just started getting progressively worse," said Kittelson.

Receiving an unexpected diagnosis

After multiple emergency room visits and months of uncertainty, Adelynne was admitted to Seattle Children's where she met Suskind and was given a diagnosis: Crohn's.

Common symptoms of Crohn's include cramping, diarrhea and inflammation of the intestine. Crohn's symptoms can range from mild pain to pain so severe a child may double over in pain. Additional complications can include dehydration, anemia and weight loss.

"Dr. Suskind walked us through the various treatment options," said Kittelson. "He told us to think about which one we felt was best for our family. In the end, we wanted to try SCD. We knew it wouldn't be easy, but in the long run, I didn't want Adelynne to suffer the life-long side effects from medication or steroids. The diet was our best option. She was in so much pain from the Crohn's, and I wanted to take that pain away."

Seattle Children's offers innovative therapies that are not offered at other centers across the country. Medicine isn't always the answer for IBD. Diet, as Suskind has been advocating, plays a big role. At Seattle Children's there are many alternative options including exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) and SCD that can help children feel better and reduce inflammation without medication or steroids.

For 15 weeks the family started treatment using EEN, a diet that consisted of only formula. After 15 weeks on EEN, the family transitioned Adelynne to SCD with the help of her care team at Seattle Children's.

"It was hard at first," said Kittelson. "We got really good at reading labels and learning what foods were illegal, but after a while it became second nature."

A diet change, a life change

Today, Adelynne has been in clinical remission for more than two years. She's a healthy, happy and thriving 11-year-old girl.

"I can't believe how far we've come. When we first walked into Seattle Children's, she was an 8-year-old girl who was barely heavier than our 4-year-old. Now, she's growing and foods are no longer an enemy."

Adelynne and her family have embraced shopping local for natural, nutrient rich foods. And although it's been an adjustment, the family now says the diet is just part of their every day life.

"Her lunch doesn't look much different than other kids at school," said Kittelson. "There are so many options out there. We haven't felt like we've had to sacrifice. We've even adjusted holiday traditions to fit into our new lifestyle. Instead of candy for special occasions, we swap them for other things."

For Adelynne and her family, SCD was the right treatment option. It's helped Adelynne get back to her normal life and find a love for food again.

"I don't have the words to thank Dr. Suskind for what he did for us," said Kittelson. "We are so in love with that man. He's an extraordinary doctor who weighed our concerns and continues to walk us through everything. To have a doctor that is willing to explore other options and is willing to try new things, it's incredible. There is no one right option for everyone. No one responds the same way. He listened to us and was our advocate when we needed one."

And it's not just for children...

Our Doreen wrote a summary of Elaine Gottschall's Specific Carbohydrate Diet a few years back. You can read it here. :)

It is pretty similar to paleo, except allows for some dairy products. I found paleo was a lot better because dairy products also mess up my gut, sinuses, and other things. One thing that is different is that they peel and cook all fruits and vegetables, reasoning that they're hard to digest in the beginning.

I followed the Specific Carbohydrate diet for a long time because I was dealing with significant gastro-intestinal problems. You can read my story here:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=474262

I did a low carb version of the diet which primarily meant not eating fresh or dried fruit. It was the yogurt and the chicken soup which probably did me in since it turns out I am sensitive to both the protein in dairy and the protein in chicken.

Jean

When I first was hit with my issue I was so bad that I hardly had the strength to get out of bed last year. I could eat no vegetables with insoluble fiber, no raw salads, no spicy foods, no MSG. I ate a diet of what I would call pre-digested foods in that they were very well cooked to break them down for digestion. I began eating intuitively. For some reason as soon as it hit, something told me to begin putting cocoanut oil in my coffee. I began drinking only mineral spring water because of our treated tap water full of fluoride and other chemicals, I figured it couldn't hurt and I swear by it now. I also began drinking close to 100oz. of water daily.

I had to figure it out by myself because all the doctor had for me was drugs, immune suppressants/steroids. Had I not already been on low carb, I feel sure that I would have had cancer....

The one drug that I think was a life saver though was Dycyclomine which relaxes the intestinal spasms. The doctor said that the intestines are like a snake in that they keep moving especially when there is inflammation in one area so as well as a localized stabbing pain, there were also whole abdominal spasms that the Dycyclomine helped relax.

In my case, homemade chicken soup was all I could eat for months, that and eggs and bacon for breakfast went down just fine.
I also began taking pro-biotics. I also tried Aloe Vera juice which I don't know if it really helped.

In reading back through the article this " Although in some cases, the microbiome goes awry and causes a person's immune system to attack the bowel" is exactly what happened to me leaving me ill for months.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meme#1

For about 2 years I ate almost no fiber, certainly no raw vegetables and very little well cooked vegetables. Fiber clearly made everything much worse. I now make bone broth from duck's feet. I also can't eat eggs which makes me sad. I even tried duck's eggs but they made me sick also which for me means running to the bathroom multiple times a day. I lived on mostly ground lamb for a long time. I am happy just to be able to have my life back. I'll give up any food that is necessary so that I can leave my house without being anxious.

Jean

Yes fiber makes things much worse and that's what they always told people that they just needed more fiber in their diet, but it's the exact opposite when the gut is sick, it needs to rest to heal.

I've also begun looking at foods that cause inflammation or a histamine response. The first page of my J has a short list of those foods.

I ate a low histamine diet for a long time. I had learned that my almost immediate and severe reactions to eating anything were most likely a histamine reaction. That's when I went with ground lamb only. Now I no longer seem to have the histamine problem. Like Nancy I had testing done through Enterolab, learned to which foods I produced antibodies, eliminated them and things began to get better. I am convinced that keeping inflammation low is essential. For me eating low carb is just the beginning of what I have to do to stay healthy and the doctor's all purpose "eat fiber" remedy was an all purpose disaster. I had a doctor or 2 recommend it even after I told them it made me worse. I figured it out on my own.

Jean

I have never had any digestive issues before so when this hit me it was a shock, couldn't even stand up straight, couldn't even stand. Months of stabbing pain. It's still there, my spot of inflammation, I know because if I eat soy sauce or horseradish, it reacts with pain. I am also certain that MSG is the worst of all!

Yeah, that 2nd Enterolab panel I had done sure helped me figure out a lot of issues. I'm going to try testing eggs again one of these days. I found a lot of the foods I can eat infrequently and be okay.

When I went gluten free my healing gut had a very low fiber tolerance. Still not anywhere near what I am "supposed to" eat but then, I'm also not eating glue any more, either.

What I quickly identified as a big problem while trying to recover from Colon inflammation was isolable fiber.

After a couple of months into recovery, the only vegetables that I found I could eat were Zucchini squash and Yellow Crookneck squash because they both broke down very well when cooked.
I couldn't eat green beans (my fav) for many months and even now 12 months later, I only will eat them if they are very young and tender...
It took me 10 months to even try a salad again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meme#1

It makes a lot of sense when we look at natural herbivores: they have much larger digestion mechanisms, up to the four stomach "fermenting tanks" arrangement of cows. The gorilla eats lots of plant material; and has the system to digest it. But our system is not like that.

Here is something that I was very worried about concerning the Colonoscopy and sterilization of the instruments used.
Watch the video.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a..._rid=1821934260