Key Message: Great health starts in the gut
Action Point: The SCD diet helps to reduce inflammation and improve overall digestive health
If you’ve ever studied ancient history, you’ll have heard the saying “all roads lead to Rome.” Apply a similar saying to the human body and you could quite easily say, “great health starts in the gut.” So prominent is this organ, that if it’s in poor health, so are you. Period.
Stress, antibiotics, poor sleep, pollutants, and bad diet have lead to the average person’s gut becoming more inflamed than it’s ever been in history. As a result, allergies, asthma, eczema and auto-immune diseases are becoming more common. Fatigue disorders are through the roof, and so too is depression, anxiety, and a general feeling of ill health.
The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) diet, an eating plan created in the early 20th century but later popularized by Elaine Gottschall, looks to reduce chronic inflammation and improve overall digestive health. If you believe you suffer from either of those things, this diet may just change your life.
The History of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet
Sidney V. Hass, the original creator of the diet, found that certain foods made inflammation worse . He found that by eliminating certain foods from the diet, the body was able to overcome this inflammation and therefore heal itself.
Originally, the diet was intended to treat patients with major gut disorders such as Celiac Disease and Crohn’s. Later, however, it was found that even those without major gut disorders could still improve their health by following it and reducing their own inflammation.
An Overview of the Diet
Those taking part in a SCD are required to limit their intake of simple and complex carbohydrates, sometimes to the point of reducing them completely.
This means, grains, potatoes and dairy products are all off limits. So too are processed foods such as sugar and those containing starch.
Instead, people following the diet are to increase their intake of protein, fat and fiber considerably. They rely on foods such as fish, eggs, beef, carrots, coconuts and apples to nourish them and their body.
To make sure someone following the diet isn’t accidentally eating something that disagrees with their body, they’re usually required to begin the SCD Diet by completing an intro diet first. This intro diet consists of little else other than carrots, bone broth, and eggs. [1]
What the Diet Aims to Achieve
It doesn’t matter why somebody has inflammation, what is more important is to find a way to reduce it.
The SCD Diet offers one route to breaking such a vicious cycle.
Once the gut is able to heal, the whole body functions better as a result. Skin is clearer, immune health improves, the speed of aging reduces, and so too do symptoms like urticaria, food allergies, and acne.
It can take several months to a year for the gut to return to normal again, but once it does, a person’s hormonal profile and level of good gut bacteria will also improve for the better. The result is a well-rounded person, free from the pain and misery caused by ailing health.
References:
- SCD Lifestyle – http://scdlifestyle.com/about-the-scd-diet/
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Written by: Sandra Di Giacomo |
