SCD Diet Food List: 33 Legal Foods & 25 Illegal Foods
Knowing what you can and can't eat on the SCD diet can feel complicated! So in this short guide, we list out all the legal and illegal foods (according to the diet principles). Finally a SCD diet food list you can pin on your fridge!

Table of Contents
Food Group |
Legal Foods |
Illegal Foods |
Meat |
Unprocessed meats, poultry, eggs, and fish |
Preserved, packaged deli meats, canned meats |
Vegetables |
Most fresh vegetables |
Canned vegetables, starchy vegetables (e.g., corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, jicama) Algae (Chlorella; Spirulina), Aloe Vera, Jerusalem Artichokes, kohlrabi, Okra, Parsnips, Seaweed, turnips, water chestnuts |
Fruits |
Most fresh fruits or fruits canned in their own juice |
Plantains, Canned fruits in syrups (syrups may contain “illegal” ingredients/sweeteners) |
Nuts and Seeds |
Most nuts (almonds, pecans, peanuts, cashews, walnuts, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, etc.) Some seeds may be permitted after 3 months of no symptoms |
Chestnuts, flaxseed, hemp seeds, hemp protein, seed butters, seed flour, sesame seeds |
Grains and Starches |
None |
All grains (wheat, wheat germ, barley, oats, rye, rice, corn, quinoa, amaranth, etc.) arrowroot, maltodextrin, tapioca, yucca root |
Legumes |
Kidney beans* lentils* navy beans* split peas* lima beans* *May be tried when symptom-free. Dried beans are supposed to be prepared using methods described in Gottschall’s book. |
Bean flour, butter beans, black-eyed peas, cannellini beans, chickpeas, pinto beans, fava beans, mung beans, pea flour, soy, miso |
Dairy |
Aged cheeses > 30 days, dry curd cottage cheese, homemade 24-hour fermented yogurt |
Buttermilk, cottage cheese, cream, cream cheese, dried milk solids, chevre, mozzarella cheese, ice cream, milk, Lactaid milk, ricotta cheese, sour cream |
Sweeteners |
Honey, Saccharine |
Corn syrup, dextrose, date sugar, maple syrup, Splenda (sucralose), stevia, turbinado, molasses, xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol, sugar, agave |
Beverages |
Gin, Cranberry juice (no sugar added), tomato juice, vodka, whisky, very dry wine, weak tea or coffee, scotch, bourbon, water, club soda |
Apple Juice, soda, beer, brandy, instant coffee, decaffeinated products, grapefruit juice (legal if fresh), juice from concentrate, liqueurs, pineapple juice, port wine, sake, sherry, V8 juice |
Fats and Oils |
Most fats and oils (e.g., corn oil, flaxseed oil, butter, ghee, grapeseed oil, olive oil, walnut oil, etc.) |
|
Condiments |
Horseradish, most kinds of vinegar, mustard, wasabi |
Balsamic vinegar, ketchup |
Spices |
Most spices |
Cocoa powder |
Table compiled using information from: S,S
The entire legal/illegal foods list can be accessed here. |
Evidence Based
An evidence hierarchy is followed to ensure conclusions are formed off of the most up-to-date and well-designed studies available. We aim to reference studies conducted within the past five years when possible.
- Systematic review or meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
- Randomized controlled trials
- Controlled trials without randomization
- Case-control (retrospective) and cohort (prospective) studies
- A systematic review of descriptive, qualitative, or mixed-method studies
- A single descriptive, qualitative, or mixed-method study
- Studies without controls, case reports, and case series
- Animal research
- In vitro research