From SCD to Vegan

[Diane]

My son was diagnosed with Crohn's 2 years ago, had surgery 4 months later, then has been strictly on the SCD since his surgery (1 yearand8 months), with no medicationsandsymptoms at all! Now he just became Vegan, omitting all animal products, but still somewhat following SCDandPaleo and eating all Organic. He tracks his daily food intake to make sure he is eating a proper balanced diet. He added Organic Quinoa and Organic Steel Cut Oats each week, with no symptoms and is now thinking of Sweet Potatoes However, I worry about this added starch and the Crohn's returning.\n Any thoughts on this are welcomed.

[kalmang]

Diane,\n\nIn my experience as the gut heals you can add some foods, even go back to a normal healthy diet. \n\nSCD is not a life long diet, if you are really careful for a long enough period, the gut heals. This allows for the introduction of more foods, and a normalisation of diet. \n\nAfter the gut heals there may still be a food sensitivity or proneness to relapse. As long as one stays on a proper healthy diet, and retains some of the lessons and is guided by the principles of SCD they should be OK. \n\nGood luck with your son. How old is he?

[Diane]

Thank you Kalmang. He is 22. And yes, I would say he is still following a combo of SCD / Paleo, all unprocessed, organic healthy foods.

[julie.cochrane]

Hi Diane,\n\nMy daughter (age 15) has been on SCD for 2.5 years and achieved remission 6 months ago. Under the guidance of her doctor, she has added back sweet potatoes without any problems. Yay! Everyone's reactions to foods are different, however, so your son should continue to monitor his symptoms if he decides to try sweet potatoes. I hear you about adding back "illegal" foods and worrying about relapsing back to inflammation, flares, etc. The diet is so restrictive, though, and to be able to add back "illegal" foods feels like such a victory. Just adding sweet potatoes feels like we've opened the floodgates to new tastes - sweet potato fries (be careful with coatings if ordering from restaurants), sweet potato chips (Trader Joe's makes some with just oil and salt), baked sweet potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, sweet potato casserole made with nuts, pumpkin pie spices, honey, and topped with homemade marshmallows (a Thanksgiving favorite), etc. Good luck!\n\nBest,\nJulie