slippery elm & scd diet

Hi ewa

i've followed SCD diet twice, adhered extremely closely to the food list, and failed. Others have had success with it as they've said here (probably why I gave it a second try). But I don't think it fair to call it stupid or a money-making fad any more than any other diet or supplement is. The originator of SCD Elaine Gottschall certainly never made a fortune. You don't need to spend anything to follow the diet because all the information is online.

Some SCD followers talk smack about people they think didn't do it right and that's not fair either. The one thing we learn on this forum is how we are all different and respond to different treatments.

Yes I question some of SCD's "illegal" food/supplement list but for some people it works and I don't believe it's only due to removing junk food. The best thing SCD did for me was showed me that diet modification helped, it just took longer to figure out what my food list was.

Different plants can be very helpful to our guts. Humans and plants evolved together and have used each other to survive for millions of years. We can learn a lot by looking into plant therapy but in the US it's not done because it's not patentable.

I gave slippery elm a try (more than once) and didn't see much positive benefit. Other people here say it's great. Butterworts sound interesting. My genes are Northern European so likely to respond to plants from that area IMO.

ya, i don't understand where your seemingly hostile belief re the scd diet comes from ewa ?? while i've never attached myself to any specific diet since UC, i certainly look at most of them from a learning standpoint - none of them are going to work for everyone, but there do seem to be a definite number that benefit greatly from them -

To my knowledge, nobody has a definitive answer on the best course of action for those with IBD. Who is it that you believe is making money off SCD? The author of the book did not get rich off of it. She's dead now. There are a whopping 800 reviews of the book on amazon...not a new York times bestseller to say the least. The author would take calls personally and guided hundreds of people through the diet for free after it helped her daughter. She did this until the day she died. All of the information in the book can be found online for free. There are no special SCD foods or supplements for sale anywhere. Its just meat and vegetables from the grocery store.

"Cult like following" is just a phrase parroted by people on the internet that you have also now parroted, so someone else can parrot it again next week. Because you follow a strict diet you are in a "cult?" Have you read "Breaking the Vicious Cycle?" The author's story is actually very inspiring (whether you think it is bull$*** or not) and she comes across as a very genuine person that really just wanted to learn about, and spread the word about something that helped her daughter. You should try reading about her even if you think SCD is stupid. Whether her theory is right or wrong, I don't think profit was her number one motive.

Supplement makers have a profit motive. Groups of SCD "cult members" are just regular people on social media sites trying to help others for free. Supplement makers are not selling you pills out of the goodness of their heart. I don't insult people who spend hundreds of dollars a year on slippery elm, aloe vera juice, or any other supplements touted on healingwell, although I would not personally waste a penny on any of them. I would never call them "stupid" because they may be beneficial...I don't know and neither do you. If you don't buy into the theory behind SCD then just don't follow any of its advice. Do what you think is right based on your own research.

I have done SCD for 2 years.
In remission now.

SCD does not make money. There aren't any "products" I own that are labeled SCD besides Elaine's book. It cost $15. Worth it.

One of the reasons why SCD is so popular, because it works well for a lot of people. How does it work, no one really knows yet. Bacterial starvation is a little to simplistic in my opinion and doesn't even completely make sense.

Of course it won't work for all, but I imagine there are a lot of people who tried SCD improperly and concluded it doesn't work for them. That being said, it's a darn hard diet to maintain and causes a lot of unpleasant side effects, at least for me.

No doubt there are people out there trying to profit from SCD, but the person who came up with the diet was not one of them. If that concerns you as a motive, you really should avoid supplements. There are plenty of people trying to profit from them. It's a massive and hugely profitable industry with little or no regulation and there's no guaranty that the supplements you buy even contain what they say they do. In fact many do not!

It's healthy to be sceptical, and it is perfectly reasonable to say a particular approach isn't for you, but I find calling a diet stupid when it has worked for quite a few people is unnecessary and not entirely well informed.

The truth with IBD is for every person helped by some treatment (whether SCD or slippery elm) there are just as many for whom that approach made no difference or made things worse. It's not a disease where one treatment works for everyone.

DD had excellent results with SCD. She gained all her lost wt and couple more while on SCD diet. I feel it's a very nutritious and healthy diet.

The only selling part in that diet is buying the book and that too only if one is interested to have a hard copy. All information is available online and in SCD forums. No money involved .

Success with diets varies in the same way with meds. DD couldn't tolerate asacol HD and had to suffer with nausea and headaches but zero problems with Lialda. Both are mesalamine!!

Whenever I see more powerful drugs preferred over diet and FT , as a well wisher - I always get the urge to share my opinion about what helped us. But rarely do this simply because people's life situations and expectations varies. What I see valuable may not be that interesting and workable to others.

I feel it is best to be open and give due to credit to whatever one shares as a successful approach . It's better not to make statements or opinions unless someone ask specifically about it.