Download and print: Specific Carbohydrate Diet

The specific carbohydrate diet is one that avoids all starches and disaccharide sugars (table sugar, milk sugar, and malt sugar). It is primarily used in patients with irritable bowel, colitis, Crohn’s disease, celiac sprue, pancreatic insufficiency, or hypochlorhydria (low stomach acid).

            The final digestion of carbohydrates occurs at  the inner lining of the small intestine. Patients with bacterial overgrowth or inflammation of the small intestine produce more mucous that prevents this final step of digestion and the undigested sugars promote more bacterial overgrowth and mucous production. Classic symptoms include bloating immediately after meals, intestinal pain, which may be severe, mucous in the stool, as well as diarrhea and constipation.

            Basically the diet excludes all grains, starches, and all added sugar but allows nearly everything else. While challenging, the diet is quite manageable.

TM Culp