Hi Randy – alcohol is inflammatory in general and can cause bloating in the stomach – which in turn can put pressure on the LES where the acid comes through.

Alcohol is a very weak acid though. I don’t think that is why it causes acid reflux. It’s a much more insidious type of acid reflux than one due to other causes.

Hello Neil, was wondering if you you made any discoveries? Any feedback is greatly appreciated…

Hi Tatiana – this article can help you decide about jaggermeister: https://healthygut.com/scd-legal-alcohol-part3/ I’d check out the ingredients a little more closely as well as the preparation process, as I believe they add sugar at some point.

Hi Kim, we are not aware of the product you speak of, but if it contains alcohol it could still have an effect on the GI tract. You may just need to test it out. If you are in need of a practitioner to address the Lyme disease, please go here: https://healthygut.com/practitioners/

Hi Jessica, thanks for reaching out. Unfortunately, that is an illegal ingredient on the SCD diet as well. You can view the complete list here: breakingtheviciouscycle.info

Neil, have you tried any of these beers? Curious to hear what the results were.

Do you know how your “good pilsner” rates on a gluten-free scale? Most beer still contains some damaging amounts of gluten. There are a couple of newish brands of gluten-free beers, Estrella Damm Daura, and Omission (they have an ale and a lager) that are really tasty and proven to have <20ppm of gluten. They're actually both brewed with barley, so they taste just like real gluteny beer, but somehow they get nearly all of the gluten out. This makes them great for a gluten-free diet, however, the carbs left in this beer (and maybe your "good pilsner") might be the wrong kind for SCD. I believe long-chain/complex carbs are illegal. It's definitely worth looking into.

On this basis I too am struggling to understand why ‘some’ beer/lagers are not SCD legal. Especially when wine is legal and most likely contains some sugars.

The Holsten Pils advert claims that all of the sugar turns to alcohol and is a favoured drink by diabetics. There are other pilsners out there where all the sugar is converted to alcohol – although ‘sugar’ is a loose definition.

I shall try a few pilsners and let you know how they effect me. After all life is for living.

Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to this thread. Since I posted my question, I did try the SCD — but a modified version, and only for a week and a half. My problem is that I’m a vegetarian, so there’s no possible way to try the SCD from the ground up, including the intro week. So I simply made a list of the allowed non-animal foods, and stuck to those.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much change. And on top of that, I found the diet almost impossible: I was eating a lot, and was usually hungry anyway. Whether the diet would work for me or not is still an unanswered question, since I didn’t follow it exactly. My symptoms are mild enough that going back to eating meat after 20+ years as a vegetarian just to try it out with no guarantee would be a difficult decision to make. I haven’t ruled it out, but for now I’ve gone back to a “normal” diet.

In the meantime, I’ll keep reading and learning.

Thanks,
Rich

@Ad – There can also be gluten and other remains in beer depending on the type of ferment used. Beer is very diverse term. From the large to the microbrews it can be very hard to be sure that there isn’t added sugars and that the sugars are as low as you say they are. That being said we’ve always said this is your life, if you can drink it, you want to drink and it doesn’t affect you go for it.

Anyone have an answer for this one yet? I’ve noticed a trend of my inquiries receiving no answers on the site…

As a note, I’m not trying to decry SCD. I follow it religiously. I’m just trying to understand /why/ it works and the rationale behind the restrictions. If we don’t have an understanding of why this diet works, then it makes it that much harder to figure out what exactly is responsible for the myriad conditions that it can treat.

@Rich – decreased motility can lead to diarrhea or constipation totally depends on gut flora, infections, hormone status. If the food takes longer to get through the system it sits around and gut bugs eat it for dinner. Their by products cause diarrhea, gas, bloating and a bunch of other bad by products. Try SCD for 30 days to get off the Imodium.

“Alcohol impairs digestive motility (muscle control and contraction), which slows the movement of food through the esophagus and intestines and usually leads to diarrhea”

I’m taking Immodium twice a day in order to decrease motility. I don’t understand how decreasing motility leads to diarrhea.

Wine seems to help me, maybe decreased motility is the reason.

Thanks,
Rich

I’m sorry, that should read why /isn’t/ beer SCD legal.

I have trouble understanding why beer is illegal under SCD. As I understand it, the reason that beer is illegal under SCD is because of the trace amounts of maltose and isomaltose (disaccharides) left after the brewing process. However, the amount of those disaccharides left is comparable, if not much smaller in many cases, to the amount of lactose present in SCD legal aged cheeses. So my question is why are maltose and isomaltose more difficult to digest than lactose and why is beer SCD legal by this logic.

This question also draws upon my continued confusion as to why starches and disaccharides in some foods (squash and carrots) are tolerated, but others aren’t.

Ive been on the SCD now for 3 weeks! Im wondering if anyone has any insight on when i can add in a once a week couple glasses of wine?

MUCH appreciated!!

Great points Martin. I think what we can deduce from the research is that Alcohol does impair digestion… so doing it atleast 2 hours after a meal is important. The 2nd is that research continues to pile up showing alcohol causes SIBO, so those that can’t naturally defend against a temperary increase in SIBO shouldn’t drink.

In good health,

Jordan

Thank you for sharing that Katie, I’m so happy that you’re doing well!

Jordan

Thanks Danielle, awesome tip!

Jordan

Hi Astra – Tequila is a “grey area” on SCD, If you do drink some I would keep it to the clear Tequilas and in moderation. Check out part 3 in this series for more info.