Hi John-
First of all, I get that it's a big change. Those 6 foods are probably my 6 favorite foods in the world. I could eat nothing but bread and cheese and potatoes. And a pain au chocolate and latte is my ideal breakfast too.
That said, we have been doing strict SCD at home for my daughter for nearly 2 years. It's made a tremendous difference for her, she is in remission without immunosuppressants to date, and it has been beneficial for the rest of us too. It's absolutely doable, with a little bit of a steep learning curve at the beginning.
I should also clarify that I use SCD as a base, but have made some tweaks based on reading all of the dietary studies done in IBD to-date. I particularly like the IBD-AID diet (Google it) from UMass in Boston. It's based on SCD but adds factors such as food texture, phases of food introduction and pre-biotic and probiotic foods. It is a little bit less restrictive, and, although we remain strict SCD, I have observed a lot of people doing particularly well on that diet, maybe even better than SCD. But that's my anecdotal observation. I think the reason for this is the focus on whole plant foods. Traditionally, people with IBD were told to avoid fiber but that thinking has been flipped on its head based on more recent research (unless a stricture is present). Long-term low fiber diets are not beneficial for the microbiome and for production of short chain fatty acids. Traditionally, some people on SCD ate low fiber too-- lots of meat, eggs, hard cheeses, bacon, and bananas. That isn't the version of SCD we do. We eat lots and lots of veggies and fruits, peeled, deseeded and well cooked at the beginning, but not now.
I hope this rambling is remotely helpful to you, but I assume the big question is: what do we eat?
For breakfasts, we often eat eggs. We like poached, scrambled, frittatas, omelets (especially with veggies or fresh herbs). We eat lots of fruit. Smoothies. And sometimes baked goods. Many of these things can be made ahead. There are many recipe sites and cookbooks that will help you make crepes, waffles, muffins, banana or zucchini bread, madeleines or whatever you like. I love the Comfy Belly site, Elana's Pantry, Against All Grain, A Life of Happenstance and Cantillon Kitchen (she lives in the UK). There are many others. The baked goods most often use almond flour or coconut flour. I try to limit these and have found that nut butters like almond and cashew work well and are easier to digest.
For lunch, you can have sandwiches on SCD sandwich bread. Soups and salads are great. Most often, we eat leftovers from dinner or tuna salad and apple or egg salad.
For dinner, we eat a protein (we avoid beef but eat lamb, poultry and fish) with two veggies sides. Butternut squash makes fries (chips) that aren't bad. Roasted beets and celery root also give you a starchy feel, but aren't. Green veggies and the cruciferous family are staples for us. All have great health and anti-inflammatory benefits.
We bake every Sunday. There are special occasion cakes etc. We are also making Easter chocolates with cocoa butter (minus the cocoa powder). Not sure if I mentioned it but we totally avoid dairy too.
Another important thing to avoid is all food additives. Watch out for nut milks in stores. We make them, it's incredibly easy.
Bottom line is that we try to eat a large variety of plant foods, some lean protein, healthy fats like olive oil, avocado and coconut and bake breads and desserts.
One last note to say that we have largely stopped eating out. I loved fine dining for many years, but at the end of the day, my daughter's health is more important. On vacation we manage it with advance planning, but we bring our own food too. I have found that building a relationship with one particular favorite restaurant or chef can be very helpful for special occasions.
I hope that helps! Don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions at all.
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Topic: Specific Carbohydrate Diet - a how to guide (Read 13050 times)