SCD Spotlight: The Specific Carbohydrate Association

One of my favorite things about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) has been “meeting” so many people who also follow the diet, are thinking of it, and are living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). I put “meeting” in quotes, because pretty much all of my interactions have been virtual.


I talk to people who contact me about my recipes or ask questions about my experience with the diet and I chat with others on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. The problem with SCD is that it can be isolating. Not only are you isolated from social occasions that involve food you can’t have, but there aren’t often other SCDers around.

For me, the online community has become an important part of my relationship with the diet. That’s why I’m excited about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet Association. S.C.D.A will host annual SCDROCKS Conferences bringing together the SCD Community, promote awareness and education to the medical community and public about the benefits of the SCD and one day launch it’s own clinical study for the SCD.  It’s long been a dilemma of followers that their doctors often don’t believe SCD works, but are also actively against following it.

Jeffrey Berger (lower right) at the SCD Rocks Conference 2018.

S.C.D.A. was founded as a nonprofit by Jeffrey Berger, who was officially diagnosed with Crohn’s in 1984, but like so many of us, had GI symptoms for most of his life. Jeffrey has been following SCD since 1995. He had the opportunity to meet Elaine Gottschall when she was first promoting Breaking the Vicious Cycle. He stayed in touch with her, until her passing in 2005.

As Jeffrey stated at the first SCDROCKS conference in October 2018, “After reading the Science of the SCD, I was committed fanatically.”

Over the past 23 years since starting the diet Jeffrey he has been documenting his progress, noting that he has been in remission for 18 years. As he puts it to anyone skeptical, he is the captain of his own ship and does what works for him. The 5 years he was not well, he shares, were the years he tried non SCD foods and went through what he calls the “amnesia stage”, you feel so good, you forget you have a GI issue.

Since coming online a few years ago, Jeffrey discovered that there was a great need to  unify the SCD community. This led to the formation of SCD groups on Facebook.  With 100% support of the SCD community and Elaine’s daughter’s blessing and approval, Jeffrey took it all a huge step forward and founded the  Specific Carbohydrate Diet Association as a nonprofit to follow in Elaine Gottschall’s footsteps.

Dr. David Suskind speaking at the 2018 SCD Rocks Conference.

The S.C.D.A. hosted its first-ever SCDROCKS conference, held in Boston, brought together many followers, caregivers and supporters SCD as well as clinicians from the medical community and SCD food vendors – something that didn’t exist when Jeffrey started the diet all those years ago.  In addition to the SCDROCKS Conference 2019, the Association will be releasing their short and long plans, so stay tuned at specificcarbohydratedietassociation.org.

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet Association’s annual SCDROCKS Conference will be held September 13-15, 2019. It is the only event where the SCDers, Clinicians and Companies come together as a cohesive community. Attendees gather each year to connect, learn, collaborate, and bring further awareness of the benefits and successes of the SCD™.

As someone who has been on the journey myself since 2000, I’m very excited about the future of S.C.D.A. Jeffrey is already planning the 2019 conference and I’m hoping there will be many more in the years to come.

 

Sherry Lipp
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