Highlights of SCDROCKS 2023

 

I wanted to give the highlights of the third SCDROCKS conference held in Bellevue Washington earlier this month, put on by the Specific Carbohydrate Diet Association. In a nutshell, the speakers were fascinating, we gorged ourselves on spreads of SCD catered food, the weather was heavenly, the Blue Angels were in town both days, and there was plenty of time to socialize with like minded people. It was a delightful weekend. As usual, Texas was well represented, even though this was a smaller conference. I even met new Texans!

The keynote speaker was the world renowned Dr. Alessio Fasano (picture above with me and Miriam). His presentation was titled "How nutrition can impact the microbiome composition-permeability-immune response". He discussed his experience in discovering the endotoxin "zonulin", and the role it plays with genes, the immune system, and epigenetics in causing chronic inflammatory diseases (CID), plus the role of diet in disease.

Tracee with Sherry Lipp (Happy Gut for Life), Dr. Ali Arjomand (Modulla Health),

 Miriam Richard (Dogs in Vests), Tali Guday (Gut Harmony), and Stella

Dr. Christine Bowen, ND, FABNG (Bothell Natural Health) spoke about IBD and other conditions. Her talk and slides were loaded with nuggets of valuable information. I have Celiac disease and learned more than I thought I knew. Her slides were great:

Dawn Sabine talked about her experience as a UC patient and award winning professional bodybuilder while following the SCD. 

Sherry Lipp, (Happy Gut for Life) blogger/author/health coach, shared her journey and motivational tips.

Dr. Ali Arjomand, PhD. (Modulla Health), spoke about the oral microbiome and oral health. A look at how everyday products and devices can change our oral microbiome and therefore our health. He also taught us about the role of the oral microbiome in nitric oxide production.

Natalie Hill, RD, LD, (GI Care for Kids), spoke about pediatric SCD. She went over each age group, starting with infants. She talked about issues each group dealt with and strategies for success. I found the teen and early adult section very useful since my son is now that age. 

Notice the windows behind the speaker. The Blue Angels were in town for a Seattle event and performed in the afternoon on both days. The window blinds raised up and we had an amazing view of the show. (thank you Jan for the pic)

And of course, who could forget the food! It was a fabulous spread 4 times a day. Here was our daily feeding schedule: In the morning there was a breakfast spread (which included salmon the first morning), followed by the first speaker, followed by a snack spread, followed by the second speaker, followed by a lunch spread, followed by the third speaker, followed by a snack spread, followed by the Blue Angels, followed by lots of social time. We were so spoiled! I wanted to try every dish offered but just didn't have enough room.

Chef Laura Taylor (Honest to Goodness Personal Chef Services) was the talent behind the food. She has also catered for Camp Oasis, a camp for children with IBD, so she is an SCD pro. 

We received a Wellbee's swag bag which included honey sweetened Halva and a Wellbee's catalog. The catalog has recipes in the back. A few Wellbees products were served during the meals, which allowed a chance to sample their products. The BBQ sauce was very good on the chicken nuggets.

You can watch the presenters from prior SCDROCKS conferences in the video library here. Eventually this conference will likely be in the library as well.  It's definitely worth watching. But I have to say, if you ever get a chance to come to a SCDROCKS! conference in person, it's a wonderful experience. I think the friendships I made are my favorite part, and you can't get that from a video.

DINE-CD Study Results are In!

 The results of the DINE-CD study were recently published. The study goal was to determine if diet really can make a difference in Crohn's Disease. Both the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and the Mediterranean Diet were studied. The good news? Diet does indeed matter!

"Researchers compared the effectiveness of a Mediterranean style diet to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ in nearly 200 Crohn’s disease patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms on stable doses of medications. With both diets, nearly half of the patients experienced resolution of their symptoms. After six weeks, 43.5% of patients following a Mediterranean style diet and 46.5% of patients following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ achieved symptomatic remission.."

"FC {Fecal Calprotectin} response was achieved in 8/23 participants (34.8%) with SCD and 4/13 participants (30.8%) with MD (P = .83). CRP response was achieved in 2/37 participants (5.4%) with SCD and 1/28 participant (3.6%) with MD (P = .68)."

The study was funded by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and another grant.

To see the announcement at the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation click here.

More Information on Diet and IBD

For those of you just beginning your journey of researching diet for IBD, here are valuable links to gastroenterologists experienced with this topic. Of course, the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall, a microbiologist, is a must read.

--The Specific Carbohydrate Diet Association has a video library that includes several from doctors:

https://specificcarbohydratedietassociation.org/video-presentations

-- Dr David Suskind of Seattle Children's Hospital does an excellent presentation explaining how diet affects the microbiome and what goes wrong in IBD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBTrD4m1vGU

Parents SCDROCKS Conference November 14, 2020

 The Specific Carbohydrate Diet Association is hosting an online SCDROCKS conference on November 14, 2020. It is a free Zoom conference for parents with children on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Included speakers are:

• Dr. Eric Vasiliauskas (Director of the Cedars-Sinai Nutrition & Integrative IBD Multidisciplinary Subspecialty Program and Professor of Medicine & Pediatrics, UCLA School of Medicine).

• Dr. David Suskind (Director, Quality Improvement; Co-chair, Nutrition Subcommittee at Seattle Children's Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington).

The following is from the Specific Carbohydrate Diet website:

PARENT'S SCDROCKS CONFERENCE

November 14, 2020 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm (EST)

We are hosting the Parent's SCDROCKS Conference via Zoom on November 14, 2020 at 12:00 pm until 4:00 pm (EST). Hear from and talk with Dr. Eric Vasiliauskas, Dr. David Suskind, Jessica Gartenstein, parents, children and more! We are excited to offer this Conference to provide parents and the community with support, guidance, inspiration and tools to help them manage and cope with life's challenges.  The moderated Open Forum is always a great experience! This event is open to anyone!  Everyone will leave the event with new information.  

For more information and to sign up

SCD Survey and Free SCD Video Library

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet Association is doing a survey that is open to SCD followers, caregivers and their supporters. It's a 5 minute survey but very important. Everyone will learn from the results, including the medical community. There is no identifying information. No Cookies. https://specificcarbohydratedietassociation.org/scd-survey

There are also free videos from the 2018 & 2019 SCDROCKS Conventions: https://specificcarbohydratedietassociation.org/