Someone on our support list recently asked a question that was, in essence, this: “Why not rice? Is it because it is contaminated with gluten? If so, would a rice guaranteed to be free of gluten be fine? If it’s because of the starch, well, shouldn’t we be removing carrots then, too?”
SCD does include some starch, but only that which is easy to digest. It includes that present in, for example, carrots but not that included in, for example, potatoes.
SCD is based on science and experiments that most of us (myself included) have not bothered reading up on. Trying SCD, then consuming ‘illegals’, has given us our proof and motivation!
Experiments completed in the development of the SCD included methodical testing of foods by patients and observing both subjective and objective responses. Rice has been poorly tolerated.
I don’t know if, when the experiments with rice were conducted, gluten-contaminated rice was used or rice free of gluten was used.
I used my post ‘How to Find Answers’ and found no discussion of rice.
For those curious about the background of the SCD, I would recommend reading the newly re-released The Management of Celiac Disease by Drs Haas and Breaking the Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall. The latter, for example, states on page 40: “…Additional reports implicated rice as being harmful to intestinal cells.” That statement references two studies which one could perhaps locate and delve into.
BTVC pgs 28-30 seems to specifically implicate the starch in rice. It is too long to type out, but some key phrases are: “starch can be of two types…types of rice contain only amylopectin starch…highly branched…appears that genetic breeding [...] also affects the type of starch formed by the plant…The varying proportions of different kinds of starch might affect the ability of the intestine to completely digest them. Or, the proteins of certain plants may prevent the starch from being completely split…Vegetables that contain more amylose than amylopectin starch are simpler to digest…At present, very limited information is available as to the amounts of amylopectin and amylose starch present in the many kinds of grains and other starchy foods.”
In the meantime, simply use this fantastic rice substitute: Grate cauliflower, steam three minutes, use exactly as you would rice. Thanks to Jodi Bager and Jenny Lass, authors of two SCD cookbooks, for this tip!
