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.
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| Type of Food | SCD Approval | Explanation | NiMBAL Research |
| Ice cream | Illegal | Commercially prepared ice cream is not allowed. However, there are many wonderful recipes for homemade ice cream. | Since ice cream is high in fat, emulsifiers are commonly added. Emulsifiers have been shown to harm the mucus layer, increase pro-inflammatory bacterial species, and increase general inflammation in IBD animal models. |
| Inositol | Illegal |
Inositol is a sugar alcohol. Sugar alcohols will feed bacteria, possibly causing too much growth. Small amounts in supplements are okay. |
Dietary supplementation of myo-inositol, a type of inositol, reduced inflammation in mouse models with colitis and reduced the numbers of activated stem cells in patients with UC in this study. |
| Inulin | Illegal | Inulin is a FOS and so is a potent prebiotic. | Inulin has been shown to be an antioxidant; however, it may cause bacterial overgrowth harmful to patients with IBD. |
| Iron supplements | Illegal | Please do not get vitamins with iron; they encourage all kinds of infections especially in the gut, and iron has had much research done on it concerning other diseases. No oral iron if you can help it. | Over-supplementation of iron increased intestinal permeability and pro-inflammatory gene expression in an animal model. |
| Isoglucose | Illegal | A glucose-fructose syrup with at least 10% fructose. Also called high fructose corn syrup in the US. | Complex carbohydrates are poorly absorbed in the intestine. Excess carbohydrates then act as food for bacteria, leading to excessive fermentation and intestinal permeability. |
