- created by Steven W. Hines, N.D., N.E.
Exactly what is the MSCD? |
| Steven W. Hines, N.D., N.E. |
The Modified Specific Carbohydrate Diet (MSCD) is based on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, presented by the late Elaine Gottschall in her book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet. Gottschall’s book focuses on the healing of the digestive tract for those suffering from Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis, celiac disease, cystic fibrosis, chronic diarrhea, and even autism. Because of the direct correlation between an individual’s health and the condition of his or her digestive tract, Steven Hines began using the Specific Carbohydrate Diet for his patients and saw great success in his patients’ ability to recover from their illnesses. One of those success stories is mine. Though I was plagued for years with extreme joint pain brought about by my struggle with Lyme disease, within four days of being on the diet, my joint pain began to leave. The numerous stories like mine were enough to convince Hines and myself that what you eat is essential to your health and healing.
The problem for many patients came in the implementation of the diet. The rules presented in Breaking the Vicious Cycle were, for many, difficult to understand and hard to put into practice. And there were several foundational nutritional beliefs that were missing from the book that we found essential for health. Gottschall’s approach was directed primarily at digestive diseases; our approach is broadened to include all people, regardless of the health issues present. Gottschall’s diet was one of extreme strictness for a year or two of healing, after which you went back to your old way of eating. Our approach is one of progression, beginning strictly, then adding foods back into the patient’s diet as the digestive tract heals and the immune system increases in function. The progressive nature of the diet is designed to gradually lead patients to a lifestyle of healthy eating, a lifestyle not limited by what patients can and can’t eat, but by what they choose to eat based on their new perspective about health and nutrition.
What is the "progressive nature" of the MSCD?
The MSCD is a progressive diet. The beginner phase is very restrictive in order to jump-start your body back on the road to health. Checkpoints on the diet are at months 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. These checkpoints give you the opportunity to evaluate your health. If at 3 months you can see a significant improvement in your health, you can begin to add back foods that were previously not allowed in the beginner phase. The same is true at the 6, 9 and 12-month checkpoints. A detailed table of what foods are allowed when is located in Chapter 7 of The Road to Health.
However, since everyone's body responds differently, and since folks with chronic illness have a lot of damage to repair, some people have to give their body more time to heal and have wait longer than 3 months to reintroduce certain foods. That's the beauty of the MSCD. It's flexible and customizable, meeting the specific needs of each person.
For more detailed information on the Modified Specific Carbohydrate Diet, please refer to Chapter 2 of The Road to Health.
