Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) (see below) hasn't been completely forgotten by the celiac community �?a number of people with celiac disease have discovered the benefits of the SCD and choose it over the gluten-free diet. One reason celiacs sometimes prefer the SCD is that, in many ways, it's easier to follow, despite its tighter restrictions. For example, the SCD's almond-flour baked goods are simple to make and authentic tasting, while standard gluten-free baking recipes can involve long lists of hard-to-find ingredients and produce baked goods that don't always measure up in terms of taste and texture. The SCD is also extremely nutritious because it is a whole-foods diet, unlike the gluten-free diet, which allows many processed, less nutritious foods that are loaded with preservatives, fillers, and refined sugars.

In addition, people with celiac disease and diabetes are becoming interested in the SCD because it lets them simultaneously meet the dietary requirements of those two conditions �?the SCD not only heals the intestines, but can also help control insulin levels thanks to its low-carb, nut-based baked goods.

Not surprisingly, celiacs who are refractory or don't respond quickly to the gluten-free diet are also drawn to the SCD and can find it to be highly effective (see Jenny's Story, page 2). Canadian food scientist Elaine Gottschall, who studied SCD after Haas's death, was finally able to provide more information about why a mostly complex-carb-free diet seemed to work better than a diet that only eliminated gluten �?her research identified the biochemical reasons the SCD was so successful.

According to Gottschall, the damaged celiac gut can't digest certain carbohydrates, such as grains, starches, and some sugars (including lactose). These undigested carbohydrates, ferment in the intestines, causing the harmful accumulation of "bad" bacteria (bacterial overgrowth) �?this bacteria leads to more intestinal damage and diarrhea. By eliminating harder-to-digest carbohydrates, the SCD deprives "bad" bacteria of their fuel and allows damaged intestines to heal. More recent research presented in a 2003 volume of the American Journal of Gastroenterology further supports this theory by documenting intestinal bacterial overgrowth and lactose intolerance in many celiacs who don't respond quickly to the gluten-free diet.

It is essential to continue studying the SCD in the context of modern science, not only so the sickest celiacs can get well, but also to revisit the diet's reported ability to cure children with celiac disease. There is clearly a powerful healing mechanism involved in the SCD that needs to be investigated further by researchers. Fortunately, hope exists for formal SCD studies because modern physicians are beginning to notice the diet's postiive effect on other conditions, such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, and autism spectrum disorder.

Jenny's Story
When I was an infant, I was formula-fed and suffered from chronic diarrhea. I could only digest corn syrup and water for much of the first year of my life, but I seemed to outgrow most of my intestinal problems, until I hit my mid-twenties. In 1998, I began to get sick again. My diarrhea increased steadily over a period of months and eventually I was running to the washroom up to ten times every day. I was diagnosed with celiac disease, and because I wasn't absorbing nutrients properly, I also had osteopenia (thinned bones). When the gluten-free diet didn't work, i tried the SCD �?the next day, my symptoms started to disappear. My symptoms are still under control and my thinned bones have begun to rebuild density.

[http://www.canadianliving.com/health/nutrition/the_specific_carbohydrate_diet.php]

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