Following dietary therapy can be challenging. The Specific Carbohydrate Diet has evolved over the years since Dr. Sydney Haas first reported on it. Since then we have learned much but there is still much more for us to learn. Below are foods that are allowed (legal) and foods that are not allowed (illegal) based off of Dr. Sydney Haas's initial description of the diet and Elaine Gottschal's Breaking the Vicious Cycle and our current research. In addition this food list includes up to date evidence based information on current research in foods.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
| Type of Food | SCD Approval | Explanation | NiMBAL Research | ||
| Daikon | Unclear | Although within the radish family, daikon radishes have not historically been noted to be legal/illegal. Black radishes are legal. | Daikon radishes have antioxidant activity according to this study. | ||
| Date sugar | Illegal | Minimally processed sugar derived from dates. Watch out for the oat flour. | Date sugar has a large amount of antioxidants according to this study. | ||
| Dates | Legal | Medjool and California dates are allowed. | While no studies have been conducted examining the effects of dates on IBD, according to this review dates have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. | ||
| Decaffeinated products | Illegal | Decaffeinated products are not legal since the manufacturing process may introduce questionable ingredients or reactions. | If the substance is decaffeinated using the solvent method, harmful ingredients such as methylene chloride, a carcinogen, may be added. | ||
| Dextrose (contained in commercial products) | Illegal | Dextrose and fructose being sold in a granulated form is illegal, since it contains other complex sugars and is derived from cornstarch. | High sugar intake has been linked to increased risk for ulcerative colitis in this epidemiological study. | ||
| Dill | Legal | A fragrant herb used in many cuisines. | While there haven’t been any studies concerning dill and IBD, dill has beneficial properties such as being anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant due to its many phenols. | ||
| Dragonfruit | Legal | Also known as pitaya, a fruit of the cactus family. | No studies have been conducted examining the effects of dragonfruit on IBD. | ||
| Dried milk solids | Illegal | Also known as powdered milk. Contains lactose. | Studies have been inconclusive so far concerning the effects of lactose on IBD. | ||
| Drumsticks (Moringa oleifera) | Illegal | Considered a mucilaginous food, they are illegal. | While some studies have found mucilaginous foods to be beneficial for IBD, starch has been shown to aggravate IBD symptoms. | ||
| Dry curd cottage cheese (DCCC) | Legal | As there is no added milk, dry curd doesn’t contain lactose. DCCC sources. | Consumption of cheese has been shown in this study to support healthy bacterial species and decrease harmful bacterial species. | ||
| Duck | Legal | A member of the waterfowl species. Duck meat contains a lot of fat. | While an epidemiological study found that high meat consumption increases risk of IBD, it’s important to get your protein. | ||
| Durum Flour | Illegal | A type of wheat grain flour, durum flour contains gluten. | This cross-sectional study showed that a gluten-free diet reduced clinical symptoms in patients with IBD. |
