I’m guessing that most people on the SCD are properly motivated to stick to the SCD. You can tell when you get an illegal by the way your body responds. It can be as simple as the equation sugar = pain.
Even though sugar = pain may be true for your gut, it seems pretty clear that sugar can have decidedly opposite effects in your head. Yes, it can elicit negative effect there too, but your brain is the place that sugar feels good. Witness the nascent research into sugar addiction.
I’m sure that at least some of you are like me. You’ve had great results from SCD, but struggle to keep the sugar monkey off your back. In that light, perhaps you’ll find podcast from Radiolab an interesting listen. From their site:
What do you do when your own worst enemy is…you? This hour, Radiolab looks for ways to gain the upper hand over those forces inside us–from unhealthy urges, to creative insights–that seem to have a mind of their own.
And here’s the link.
Eating SCD 
Getting my sweet tooth under control was a crazy time for me. There have also been some studies showing that Crohnie’s are much more likely to have a major sweet tooth. There are also studies showing we are much more likely to be colonized by Candida. Although I have yet to see anyone study both of these factors at once. I can’t help but think our skewed gut flors may be pulling some of the strings. I think it’s something that is a challenge for some of us yet we’ve got to get it under control to be healthy, so it’s a good topic for us to be discussing openly.
Tracee,
Thanks, I agree.
-Paul
Tracee,
Thanks, I agree.
-Paul
Getting my cravings and sweet tooth under control was a real trial for the first few months of the diet. I did find Larabars at that time, which are SCD legal (except, of course, for the chocolate flavor). I couldn’t get enough of them. But for those new on the diet, when you are religious about SCD, it does get better. My cravings gradually diminished, even for the sweets. I think because I eat so much fruit now, and that pretty well satisfies. Then one day I woke up and could not eat another Larabar. After months on a very strict, but very nutritious and good-for-you-diet, the Larabars were too sweet and rich! Do I miss candy bars now? Not at all! It’s been almost two years, and I’m very satisfied with the foods I can have. And feeling much better all around. Everyone, not just those with Crohn’s, would do so much better on a diet free of processed foods and rich in organic produce and meats.
Penny,
Thanks for the comment. I was glad to have your experience added to the post.
For the strictest of SCD, I’d caution against Larabars simply because they are a processed food, now owned by a large company. In addition to the chocolate varieties, I’d caution against bars containing banana and/or concentrates. It’s easy to imagine that the bananas aren’t SCD ripe and of course concentrates are forbidden. I know that someone had gotten a letter from the original company that made them sound legal, but that was before the buyout of Larabars.
-Paul
Hi there,
Thanks a ton for your site, I find your experiences with Crohn’s both informative and inspiring.
I have a question for you or any of your readers: have you found that, after getting past the intro stages and a spending a good amount of time in full symptomatic remission that you’ve been able to increase the amount of honey you consume without going into a flair?
I’ve been on a restricted version of SCD for 2.5 years and have been fully symptom free for 1.5 years. Things are great but I’m finding that during high intensity exercise my muscles really don’t have a ton of strength. From the research I’ve done it looks like muscles switch from fat to carb consumption as one moves from moderate to high intensity exercise which does a good job of explaining my experiences. For this reason I’m really trying to find a source of carbs that I can rely on during exercise – honey seems like the best option on SCD. I just don’t want to send myself into a flare on it. Any experiences people can share would be appreciated – are there people out there who can consume a fair bit of honey after having a lengthy stretch of success on SCD?
Cheers,
Ryan
Ryan,
I have not had any food send me into a flare.
When I am playing hockey, I have one bottle of water and one bottle that is half water and half white grape juice. This seems to help me.
-Paul