Yesterday I posted my thoughts on a review of SCD from the WebMD website.
Today I received a message from a reader that was so good I had to share it. I was going to post it in the comments, but then decided it warranted it’s own blog post (and it’s too long for the comments section anyway).
So this breakdown is from Stevie (Thanks!):
Kathleen Zelman, the reviewer, is a registered and licensed dietician, but she is NOT a medical physician. She also has extremely weak arguments, which I will attempt to address in this reply.First of all, Ms. Zelman was incorrect when she said that SCD bans all dairy products. If she had done her homework more thoroughly before attempting this review she would have known, as do those of us who follow SCD, that yogurt (homemade) and most cheeses are included.Ms. Zelman also quotes someone by the name of Dee Sandquist, who was a registered (not licensed) dietician and medical STUDENT (not a physician) at the time of this review. Interestingly, both Ms. Zelman and Ms. Sandquist are spokeswomen for the American Dietetic Association which receives a percentage (approximately 10%)] of its funding from food companies, including Abbott Nutrition, CoroWise, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Mars, McNeil Nutritionals, Pepsico, SOYJOY, Truvia and Unilever. In addition, the ADA lists Aramark, The CocaCola Company, The National Dairy Council and the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition as partners. SO….it’s not surprising that promoting grains and dairy will likely benefit the financial interests of the ADA. You be the judge..Ms. Zelman states, “When you eliminate whole food groups like dairy and grains, you significantly reduce the nutritional quality of the diet, which may result in nutritional deficiencies.”She then quotes her fellow ADA spokeswoman, Ms. Sandquist , as saying, “When you don’t eat grains you miss out on B vitamins, fiber, and iron. Eliminating dairy pulls out the best source of calcium and vitamin D along with potassium.”Now lets examine this intelligently. We’ll start with the B vitamins. The B vitamins are: thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, biotin, and pantothenic acid. Let’s look at other (often better) sources of these B vitamins that we are supposed to be “not getting” on the SCD diet:Thiamin – Some of the best sources are pork, ham, dark green leafy vegetables, fortified whole-grain cereals and baked goods, wheat germ, enriched rice, green pea, lentils and nuts such as almonds and pecans. Notice that the grains and baked goods are fortified, meaning that nutrients were added to a food that weren’t originally present. Also the rice is enriched (nutrients were added back after being lost or diminished during food processing). Now, aside from the ham, grains, baked goods, wheat germ and rice, we on SCD can still turn to pork, dark leafy green vegetables, green peas, lentils and nuts. No thiamin deficiency here!Riboflavin – Milk and milk products such as yogurt and cheese are rich in riboflavin. Asparagus, spinach and other dark green leafy vegetables, chicken, fish, eggs and fortified cereals also supply significant amounts of riboflavin to the diet. SCD folks get plenty of riboflavin from homemade yogurt and a most cheeses, not to mention the dark leafy veggies, fish, chicken and eggs. Don’t need the cereal and milk!Niacin – Chicken, turkey, salmon and other fish including canned tuna packed in water are all excellent natural sources of niacin. Fortified cereals, legumes, peanuts, pasta and whole wheat also supply varying amounts. Are you getting the picture? We don’t NEED the fortified cereals, pastas, wheat, etc.Folate – Found in leafy greens such as spinach, kale and turnip greens. Other fresh fruits and vegetables are all excellent sources of folate. All grain products such as breads, pastas and rice are fortified with folate. There’s that word fortified again, applying to breads, pastas and rice. We don’t need to fortify the leafy greens, fresh fruits and veggies!Vitamin B6 – Some of the best sources of vitamin B6 are poultry, seafood, bananas, leafy green vegetables such as spinach, potatoes and fortified cereals. SCD provides plenty of this without the potatoes and fortified cereals!Vitamin B12 –Animal foods are the only natural source of vitamin B12, and are found in shellfish, such as clams, mussels and crab, fin fish and beef. Many products, including soy products and cereals, have to be fortified with B12. I’ll stick to the natural sources, thanks!Biotin – Liver and egg yolks are the richest dietary sources of biotin. Salmon, pork and avocado are also good sources. Most fruits and vegetables contain a little biotin, as do cheeses and grain foods. Grains are not helpful here much at all. We SCD followers get plenty of biotin, though, through our egg consumption!Pantothenic Acid – Yogurt and avocado are both excellent sources of pantothenic acid, but it is also available in a wide variety of foods such as legumes including lentils and split peas, sweet potatoes, mushrooms and broccoli. Who needs sweet potatoes? We’ve got all the other sources available to us!
Now, let’s talk about the fiber we’re supposedly missing out on. According the Mayo Clinic:Fiber is commonly classified into two categories: those that don’t dissolve in water (insoluble fiber) and those that do (soluble fiber).
- Insoluble fiber. This type of fiber promotes the movement of material through your digestive system and increases stool bulk, so it can be of benefit to those who struggle with constipation or irregular stools. Whole-wheat flour, wheat bran, nuts and many vegetables are good sources of insoluble fiber.
- Soluble fiber. This type of fiber dissolves in water to form a gel-like material. It can help lower blood cholesterol and glucose levels. Soluble fiber is found in oats, peas, beans, apples, citrus fruits, carrots, barley and psyllium.
SCD followers can easily get their fiber from nuts, vegetables, allowed legumes, apples, citrus fruits, and carrots.Finally, we’ll look at the issue that we’re allegedly missing out on iron.Meat – Mayo Clinic doctors report that meat sources of iron are more easily absorbed in the body than other sources. Iron-rich meats include beef, poultry, pork and seafood. Beef and chicken livers are the highest source of iron in meat products. Lean beef that comes from round, flank or chuck steaks are the best sources of iron after liver. The dark red meat of chicken and turkey contains higher levels of iron than white meat. Pork loin chops are a better source of iron that lean ham, which does contain small amounts of iron. Oysters, salmon and tuna are the best seafood sources of iron-rich nutrients. Egg yolks also are high in iron.Fruits and Vegetables – The National Institutes of Health reports that some fruits and vegetables contain higher amounts of iron than others. Those rich in iron include dried fruits like prunes, raisins and apricots. Dark green vegetables such as broccoli, kale, spinach and asparagus are the best sources of iron in vegetables.Grains – Some grains, such as wheat, oats, millet and brown rice are iron-rich food sources. Many grain sources, however, are fortified, including cereals, breads, pasta and white rice, all of which provide only small amounts of iron.Seeds, Nuts, Legumes – Some seeds and nuts are particularly high in iron as well and include Brazil nuts and almonds. Various legumes also can be a good source of iron. Kidney beans, dried peas, soybeans and lima beans all are iron-rich sources of food..Vitamin C – When iron-rich foods are combined with foods high in vitamin C, the iron can be absorbed more efficiently. Drinking a glass of orange juice when eating meat, legumes or eggs helps to increase the dietary iron’s efficiency. Other good sources of vitamin C that can be combined with iron-rich foods include strawberries, mangoes, tomatoes, broccoli and cabbage.Ms. Sandquist also claims that we who follow the SCD, by eliminating dairy (of course we are NOT eliminating dairy—we still eat homemade yogurt and most cheeses, right?), are not getting the best source of calcium, vitamin D and potassium. So, let’s take a look at the facts, shall we?We all know that to be healthy, we need calcium, but the Harvard School of Public Health (this is from a 2012 article) says that “milk isn’t the only, or even best, source.” Their website The Nutrition Source details some of the better ways to get calcium. For individuals who are unable to digest—or who dislike—dairy products, other options are available. Calcium can also be found in dark green, leafy vegetables, such as kale and collard greens, as well as in dried beans and legumes.
Be sure to get your Vitamin D, too, (about 15 min. per day from sunshine is best) for maximum calcium absorption.Potassium is so widely available in the SCD that it is laughable to suggest we might suffer a dietary deficiency of it by cutting out dairy products (which we don’t anyway—we STILL consume HOMEMADE YOGURT and MOST CHEESES!). In any case, fruits are the best sources of potassium (bananas, strawberries, cantaloupes, papaya, melon, oranges and other citrus fruits are on the top of the list), with vegetables next in line (baked potatoes, beets and beet greens, spinach, canned tomato products such as tomato paste and tomato sauce, sweet potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, mushrooms, rutabagas, parsnips, broccoli, winter squash and canned pumpkin); but, potassium can also be found in significant amounts in dairy products (including yogurt and most cheeses that SCD allows), fish, meats and some nuts and seeds (including sunflower seeds and almonds. It can also be found in smaller amounts in grain foods such as cereals and breads. So you see, if you take out the grains, potatoes, milk and a few cheeses, SCD still has a bountiful supply of potassium-rich sources!In summary, I find Ms. Zelman’s research and reporting INCORRECT, and her promotion of grains and dairy suspicious, when viewed in light of her association’s financial ties to the food industries which support it.
Founder at Happy Gut For Life
Sherry is a Certificed Holistic Gut Practioner, author, and recipe creator. Sherry started the Specific Carbohydrate Diet in 2000 and has been creating delicious, grain and gluten-free recipes ever since. She is the author of the Don't Skip Dessert SCD cookbooks.
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This is an awesome response! Dieticians are trained to recommend carbohydrates in the form of wheat, rice and potatoes and actually forget that carbohydrates can be also be obtained from other sources. Leafy green vegetables are an excellent source of many nutrients and, I think, often overlooked by “professionals”. We were given advice to include “easily digested” foods such as rice and potatoes in my son’s diet – but we had already read the theory about the SCD by this stage and fortunately then knew better!
Way to go! Your run down is professional and totally correct. We need more people providing the naysayers with credible information such as yours.
Thank you for posting this! I am new to the diet, but remember reading this review (after I’d read the book) and thinking, what is this woman talking about? What a great point-by-point rebuttal!
Great reply Why is it that when I keep my diet SCD I have much more energy than usual…must be the benefit of all those nutritional defficiencies!