I see these are 2 very different diets. What diet have you had success with?
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It’s my opinion that almost all of these diets are rooted in the same core principles, which are that processed carbs and sugars are no good for a Pouch because they more easily feed bad bacteria, leading to bacterial overgrowth and an inflammatory immunoresponse. I believe in these core principles and do not consider the subtle differences between the diets to be of significant consequence. Eat natural Whole Foods and avoid the processed carbs and sugars and the Pouch function will improve.
You don’t say what problem you’re trying to solve, which makes it tricky to offer any advice at all. I’m a bit skeptical about both diets, and I’m skeptical about the notion of “processed carbs” as well. Nevertheless, some people seem to benefit from SCD, and others seem to benefit from a low FODMAPs diet. Still others benefit from a very-low-carbohydrate diet, without trying to distinguish between processed and unprocessed carbs. Both SCD and low FODMAPs are based on the notion that *specific* (albeit different) categories of foods create digestion problems that lead to additional problems. No one here can know if your particular GI tract will respond well to either of these diets, or any diet change, but it’s not that hard to try them and see how they work for you.
Whole, unprocessed foods are great nutritionally if your GI tract tolerates them. The worst thing I’ll say about processed food, though, is that it crowds out better food. If your GI tract functions better on processed food than unprocessed food, it seems more important to do what works than what follows some general theory of nutrition.
The greatest empirical evidence of the evils of processed carbs is to look at IBD rates in African countries and assorted third world nations where processed carbs do not exist and diets are almost entirely Whole Foods. The stats speak for themselves.
One of my clients owns a business that imports whole organic foods from Africa. He is the fittest 57 year old man I have ever seen and it’s because that’s all he eats. In any event there is a reason why IBD doesn’t exist in these countries. Industrialized nations in effect created the disease or at least allowed it to flourish. However, none of us needs to accept this consequence. We all have choices on what food we put in our bodies and those of our children. It’s the one thing we control in this battle and never lose sight of that.
More recent studies show that as the developing nations become industrialized the IBD rates have gone up, not surprisingly:
CT, since I have three relatives affected by IBD it’s reasonably clear to me that my diagnosis has more to do with genetics than diet. And pretty much the last thing I want for myself is the average health status of a third world nation. As I wrote, some people seem to benefit from dietary manipulation, and I *always* encourage them to give it a try. Some instances of IBD may be amenable to such control, but research makes it pretty clear that many are not. I’m very glad that diet has helped you, but the assertion that it will help everyone is simply incorrect.
This is for my son who has pouchitis that is not responding to meds. I just thought it couldn’t hurt to get him on the right path with diet and possibly relieve some symptoms. I know it is not going to cure pouchitis but I really think it could help maintain remission once he’s gets there.
It definitely could help. It did for me. But, I don’t think the proper inquiry is which is the best diet as opposed to what principles from all of these diets are going to best benefit your son.
scott, I am not accepting of the theory your post puts forth that having 2, 3 or 10 relatives with IBD shows it’s genetics and not diet. It’s the other way around. The genetics provide a disposition to IBD that is then realized when a certain type of diet is consumed. Until the industrial revolution occurred these genetic predispositions lay dormant because the people who had them didn’t eat diets that exposed the pre-disposition. Numerous studies have demonstrated the data that supports this conclusion.
However the question does remain of which diet works best for any one person. We can speak in generalities about what the stats show and tend to prove but they are not universally correct for every person. I think it’s just a logical starting point to start at a place where science and stats say you should start and then work from there. It’s all trial and error but you want to start at the place most likely to produce results, as opposed to the place least proven to produce results, even if you end up there after trial and error.
Last we have a board reflective of society at large which wants treatments or diets that provide instant results/instant gratification. The diets that are mentioned here reduce bacterial levels over the course of many months and patience is required. Results are neither instant nor immediately palpable but can nevertheless be demonstrated over the course of time with the bacterial counts. Those who want to diet for a week, snap their fingers and see results are likely to be disappointed by any of these diets. Others will find justifications to persist in a diet which in reality could be damaging to Pouch health over the long term. I have had the benefit of talking to some seasoned Pouch experts about this and they all seem to agree that diet plays some role especially with SIBO patients.
So here are my thoughts, for what they are worth. Sure, studies show an increase in IBD once regions become industrialized. So, maybe, yeah diet may play a part in triggering IBD in those who are genetically susceptible. On the other hand, there just does not seem to be a strong correlation that diet does much to induce or maintain remission, once IBD manifests.
In regard to eating a “great” diet and being more healthy and fit goes, eating a varied diet with fresh, whole foods is healthy, but by no means any sort of guarantee. Healthy people get sick and/or die every day. We are all healthy until we are not.
Anecdotally, some people have improved symptoms and function with various diets, but it is individual. There is nothing wrong with trying a diet to see if it is helpful, but it is a long process and may not help that much.
Jan 
When I try making dietary changes or a supplement, sometimes I think it's as much my way of feeling like I'm at least trying. It may just be my way of feeling hopeful. There is always the danger though of making ourselves crazy trying every suggestion we come across. (Whether it helps or not, I stick to a pretty low carb diet. Can't hurt. Might help?)