Photo by Kelly Cline © 2010
My name is Alyse. I am a senior at Ohio University studying Informational Graphics/Publication Design and Online Journalism. This blog was started in September 2009 as a project for my Journ 314: Online Journalism Fundamentals class. I was a diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in March 2009 and have been using the Specific Carbohydrate Diet to treat my disease.
Crohn’s Disease is an inflammatory bowl disease that involves chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Visit WedMD for more information on Crohn’s Disease.
The Specific Carbohydrate Diet, or SCD, is a grain-free, lactose-free, and sugar-free diet that is geared toward starving out the intestinal bacteria, which causes pain and inflammatory bowel diseases. The basic SCD guidelines include no grains, no flour, no starchy vegetables such as potatoes and yams, no canned vegetables, no processed foods, no sugar, no sweeteners other than honey and saccharin, and no milk products except for homemade yogurt fermented for 24 hours.
Alyse K
Hi Alyse,
My wife and I are treating my son’s Crohn’s Disease (dx’d December 2008) solely with SCD as well after a bad episode with 6-MP. We hope you continue to write about your experience with SCD and Crohn’s beyond your journalism course. We are constantly on the lookout for people who share their experience with the diet as it relates to symptoms. We’ve seen decent, but slow, improvements with our young son — but, most importantly, he seems to feel good.
Good luck to you,
Bryan
Bryan,
Thanks for your comment! I love getting feedback. I’m glad someone out there is reading my blog. I do intend to continue writing after my class ends. I may not be able to update as often, but I really want to keep writing.
Best wishes to you and your family. I know sometimes the healing process can be slow but the results are worth it!
-Alyse
HI Alyse
I have just been diagnosed with CD and am thinking about changing my diet. Thank you for taking the time and making the effort. It is appreciated!
David
David,
I’m sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I know how rough it can be right when you’re diagnosed. I believe that a change in my diet made all the difference with my Crohn’s. Sometimes a strict diet like SCD is difficult for people, depending on their lifestyle and tastes, but in my opinion, it never hurts to try!
I hope you find a diet and treatment that fits you! Good luck with everything and I hope you’re feeling well and unCrohn’sy soon!
–Alyse
I was diagnosed with Crohn’s in 2006, and went on this diet the next month (January 2007). It has worked wonders (thank God!). I just began my own blog on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (www.freetofeast.wordpress.com). Please do check it out, and spread the word!
Hi Alyse – You have a great blog here, I love your recipe posts because they are easy to follow with all your steps! How are you doing? Are you still on the diet? I would love to connect with you if your interested shoot me an email at SCDlifestyle at gmail dot com.
Hi Alyse,
Your blog is fantastic. Well done. I can’t find a way to contact you via email, so I’ll just throw this out there and see if you respond.
I work for a website called Healthline, and we’re currently seeking a regular columnist to contribute articles about living with Crohn’s disease to our website. I’m ideally looking for someone with writing experience, particularly in a creative field, who can bring a unique voice and interesting insights to our currently growing team of expert/advocate writers. We are growing our roster to include advocates for many different health concerns. I wanted to see if you were interested in sharing your experiences with our readers. You would be compensated, of course.
I have lots more information for you about the position, so please email me if you have any interest: ewolfson (at) healthline (dot) com.
has anyone taken antibiotics prior to there diagnosis. i was wondering if antibiotic usage might have caused my CD.
Read “Why Doesn’t My Doctor Know This” by David Dahlman, DC to learn more about antibiotics and Crohn’s as well as other good information. My son and I (Crohn’s and UC) have followed Gottschall’s SCDiet for almost 3 years. Our severe cases are flare-free with this diet and the Food Allergy Testing Dahlman supports. VERY HELPFUL!
Hi! It doesn’t appear that you update this blog very often, however, I just wanted to let you know that I enjoy reading your posts, and your recipes look delish!! I am only 3 weeks in, and am only tolerating chicken, beef, pork, acorn squash and butternut squash so far, so it will be a little while before I can actually try them, but I am looking forward to it
Hope you are doing well!