The Specific Carbohydrate Diet: Simple SCD Recipes and Quick Snacks

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) was developed by Dr. Sydney Haas. It was later popularized as a treatment for Crohn's Disease, celiac, irritabile bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, and autism by Elaine Gottshall, whose daughter was healed by following the program. The diet restricts complex carbohydrates including all grains and refined sugar under the premise that these are more difficult to digest than simple carbohydrates. What the body cannot digest, becomes food for undesirable bacteria, which then overgrow in the gut, causing intestinal dysbiosis. There is research behind the efficacy of the diet as well as many anecdotal cases. Although the diet might seem impossible to implement at first glance, it's actually quite easy once you get the hang of it. Follow this easy SCD recipe guide and you can enjoy your food again.

It may seem that the SCD leaves a huge gap at breakfast. If you can't eat foods such as cereal, toast, and waffles at this meal, what's left? However, it's surprisingly easy to create a delicious and healthy breakfast while on the SCD. My son has been on the SCD for about a year and a half. His favorite breakfast is a hard boiled egg, a banana, and a homemade SCD compliant blueberry muffin. There are many variations on this theme. Any type of egg can be eaten. The banana can be swapped for any other type of fruit, and the muffin varieties are only limited by your imagination. My blueberry muffin recipe is as follows:

SCD Blueberry Muffin Recipe

• 4 eggs, beaten
• 3 cups blanched almond flour
• 1/2 cup honey
• 3/4 cup natural or homemade apple sauce with no added sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries

Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add all other ingredients except blueberries. Stir. Add blueberries and stir gently. Place in a lined muffin pan sprayed with vegetable oil. Bake in a 350 degree oven until golden brown. Enjoy.

If you're preparing lunches for your child to take to school, you might wonder what on earth you can put in their lunch box if not a sandwich. Well, the good news is that you can give your child a sandwich, if you make your own SCD compliant bread. I usually pack a peanut butter sandwich, an apple, a cup of natural or homemade apple sauce, and a LaraBar in my son's lunch box. Again, the variations are endless in terms of how you mix and match these items. You could also add nuts or carrot sticks. The quick and easy bread recipe I make takes only a few minutes to whip up and about ten to fifteen minutes to bake. Here it is:

SCD Flatbread Recipe

• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups blanched almond flour
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon natural vanilla (make sure there's no added corns syrup!)

Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Place a sheet of wax paper on a 9 x 13 cookie sheet and spray with vegetable oil. Spread batter evenly on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. After it cools, cut into 16 pieces.

Dinner is probably the easiest meal while on this diet.  Most people have some type of protein at dinner, such as chicken, burgers, steak, or pork.  Simply prepare the protein in a way that complies with the diet.  Use honey or fruit as a sweetener in sauces and stay away from thickeners like starch and flour.  Add a vegetable side dish and a slice of SCD bread.  Or you could serve beans as long as they don't have any added sugar.  I like to mix black beans with salsa. 

The best snacks while on the SCD are simple things that you can purchase easily without a lot of preparation.  Fruit of all kinds is the perfect sweet snack.  If something savory is desired, nuts are good, as is natural peanut butter.  I like to slice apples and dip them in peanut butter - it tastes a lot like caramel apples.  Another great snack is a Larabar.  Finally, I make homemade popsicles for my son using Welch's grape juice, which is SCD compliant, or diet soda.