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“All disease begins in the gut.” – Hippocrates

Friday, August 20, 2010

Breaking the SCD

A word of warning: If you're just starting the SCD, if you're struggling with the lifestyle change, or if you're still fighting cravings--DO. NOT. READ. THIS. POST.

I've been on the SCD for about 15 months and I've never, ever, never, never, knowingly violated it. During my time on the diet, I've had some trouble teasing out which SCD-legal foods bother me, and along the way I've had some very mild symptomatic episodes that I just can't explain; I've reconciled myself with the presence of uncertainty in my treatment(s).

Along the SCD road, I've discovered some foods that don't agree with me. I've been to restaurants and eaten SCD-friendly meals that have upset my gut, probably due to some hidden non-SCD friendly ingredient(s). But I've never knowingly violated the diet--until last night when I indulged myself in a full can of Coke and a Tootsie Roll. Why in the...would I jeopardize 15 months of recovery for something as trivial as a Coke? The why doesn't matter, really. It's the what happened that's more interesting.

Gut-normal folks might say to me, So what? That's nothing. People often eat a full order of magnitude more sugar than that in a day. 

Not me. I consumed, in that single can of Coke and one little piece of candy--in that one glorious, gluttonous, and reckless moment--more processed sugar and caffeine than I've ingested in over a year. And you know what it did to my body?

Nothing.

I woke up this morning and had a normal (for me) movement.

No change whatever.

Like I said, I've reconciled myself with the presence of uncertainty. Even so, I still don't plan on breaking (or dropping) the SCD again. The SCD proved effective for me, and that's unquestionable.

Bottom Line: The SCD is an effective treatment for oodles of people, including me. IBD is enigmatic and can surprise you. This was a pleasant surprise, not to suffer from my moment of weakness. I don't plan on testing the waters again for a long time.


Onward (through uncertainty) to Health.


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