014.

The time has come to bite the bullet. Or, shall I say, to stop biting corn. And wheat. And sugar.

This might be a long story to tell. I'll start in the middle. My senior year in high school, my gastroenterologist was threatening me with surgery if I couldn't get my Crohn's disease cleared up (this sounds like somehow the Crohn's was my fault, but it isn't, I assure you). In an attempt to avoid surgery (which I did, just in case anyone is worrying), my mother found this book called Breaking the Vicious Cycle, which evangelizes the Specific Carbohydrate Diet as a way of curing Crohn's (and Ulcerative Colitis, and some other things, including autism) without drugs or surgery. The specific part about carbohydrates is that you can't eat them. No complex carbs allowed. That means no grains, no potatoes, no rice or corn, no refined sugar. Back then, it seemed an impossible task to me, and I'd rather feel sick than have to give up foods. I ended up finding ProBiotics, which got me into a mini-remission and into the good health I have today. Mostly.

Fast forward to a month ago, when I started reading The Omnivore's Dilemma (am now reading In Defense of Food, never fear). The prolificance of corn in the modern diet, if what Michal Pollan writes is accurate, is rather scary. I wanted to label everything CORN, instead of Spaghetti-Os or Fruit Roll Ups or whatever. Then I started thinking. If undigested chains of complex carbohydrates are making bad bacteria thrive in our guts (as according to BTVC), and corn is a complex carbohydrate, it stands that if we as a society (and me as a person) are eating mass amounts of corn-infused food, we have a huge imbalance of flora in our guts. And our current diet isn't helping at all.

So, with the coming together of two unrelated books (and also some hella infections, yay for having next-to-no immune system), I decided it's time to try the Specific Carbohydrate diet.

I'm a bit scared, not gonna lie. I'm trying not to think about all the tasty wheat-based products I love, or mashed potatoes. I baked my last cupcakes this weekend, and had my last quesadilla tonight. Tomorrow I'm picking up almond flour and yogurt starter.

SCD here I come.