Dr. McCandless/SCD

[Guest guest]

Hi !

These are quotes from her 2nd edition, updated in 2005.

" For some children who do not respond to the GF/CF/SF diet and continue to have

gut problems, parents have gone on to implement even more restricted diets. One

of these, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) is based on Elaine Gottschall's

book, " Breaking the Vicious Cycle, " originally intended for those suffering from

Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Celiac Disease, IBD, and IBS. This diet is

a strict grain-free, lactose-free, sucrose-free dietary regimen that works by

severely limiting the availability of carbohydrates to intestinal microbes

leading to the formation of acids and toxins which can injure the small

intestine. SCD is based on the principle that specifically selected

carbohydrates requiring minimal digestion are well absorbed, leaving virtually

nothing for intestinal microbes to feed on. At the present time, some ASD

parents are transitioning their children for GF/CF/SF to SCD with generally good

and some exceptional results. Adjustments have had to be made for the autism

population, as many parents found they could not rapidly give their children

dairy and honey until after a period of several months or more on the SCD. A

website with much information on this diet as well as recipes and lists of

" legal " foods is available. . . .

I will have more to say about the important role of nutrients in the next

chapter. However, I want to again emphasize that the GF/CF/SF and sometimes

SCDiet may be the most effective initial action parents can take (before the

doctor comes, who may or many not know anything about the importance of diet in

autism) to start helping their ASD child move along the road to maximal

recovery. "

So she may be like Dr. Megson who believes that SCD is highly beneficial.

However, Dr. Megson doesn't usually recommend SCD initially because she fears

that it will push most parents " over the edge " (her words) in the beginning when

they go through all the initial transitions of learning the diagnosis,

implementing a supplementation protocol, and everything else that happens in the

nightmare we live at the beginning. Therefore, if parents seem open, she

recommends SCD. But if she thinks it might " do them in, " she starts them off

GF/CF/SF so that they will at least begin eliminating the gluten, casein, and

soy. A switch to SCD doesn't seem as scary after you have already eliminated

those things.

HTH,

Jeni Lynn (gastrointestinal problems)

SCD 3 months