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Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet (Paperback)
by Elaine Gloria Gottschall
| Category:
Nutrition, Diet, Health & fitness |
| Market price: ¥ 298.00
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¥ 228.00
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 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
A life-saving research and diet plan for anyone who experiences digestive problems. Kudos to Elaine! |
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Author: Elaine Gloria Gottschall
Publisher: Kirkton Press; Rev edition
Pub. in: August, 1994
ISBN: 0969276818
Pages:
Measurements: 0.5 x 6.0 x 9.0 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00409
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- MSL Picks -
Elaine Gloria Gottschall, a biochemist and cell biologist, developed this book when her daughter was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. Gottschall began a campaign of her own to develop recipes that fit within the guidelines as well as advocated in general about the benefits of this program. An informative book that tells you all you need to know to get your health and life back. Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet is a strict grain-free, lactose-free, and sucrose-free regimen, used as an alternative to medication and surgery. The book presents a well-researched theory for anyone who wishes to improve their intestinal health or boost their immune system.
Elaine does a good job of explaining the principles of the diet and is a must read for any IBD sufferers (Crohn's, Ulcerative Colitis, IBS). Elaine provides both an explanation for the diet and a simple guide of "do eat" and "don't eat" foods in list form. This diet is completely natural and relatively easy to follow and is maybe the only way people with major GI abnormalities can live a normal life. Breaking the Vicious Cycle is a must read for anyone with Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Diverticulitis, Celiac Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, and Chronic Diarrhea. As a bonus, Elaine Gottschall makes herself accessible to her readers via e-mail on the SCD website. Using scientific evidence and illustrations, with a firm dedication to follow the guidelines set forth in this book, you can find renewed hope, faith, and help.
If you want to get to the root of the problem, heal your GI tract and not just cover up symptoms, this is your best bet book. We highly recommend it to parents of autistic children, allergy sufferers, and especially anyone with "incurable" celiac disease, colitis or other serious digestive problems. This book is the probable (but uncredited) source of much of the good information in the bestselling The Maker's Diet. To complete your library, I'd also like to recommend the encyclopedic Digestive Wellness by Elizabeth Lipski. Also read The No Grain Diet by Joseph Mercola for more information about what's so bad about breads, pastas and grains (all of them, not just those containing gluten). Last but not least, get The Whole Soy Story by Kaayla T. Daniel for surprising information about links between soyfoods and digestive distress, flatulence, celiac disease and pancreatitis. I was having good luck helping patients using the other dietary tips, but success improved dramatically once I also had them remove soy from their diets.
Target readers:
Everyone who cares about their diet, nutrition and health.
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MSL research:
This popular book, written by a biochemist and cell biologist, got its start when Gottschall's daughter was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease at a young age. She developed the "Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)," a strict grain-free, lactose-free, and sucrose-free regimen, as an alternative to medication and surgery. The diet is intended to starve anaerobic bacteria in the intestinal tract, similar to the use of antibiotics for Crohn's.
The book is laid out as follows:
1. Past and Present
2. Scientific Evidence Relating to Diet
3. Intestinal Microbes: The Unseen World
4. Breaking the Vicious Cycle
5. Carbohydrate Digestion
6. Beyond Gluten
7. The Brain Connection
8. Introducing the Diet
9. The Specific Carbohydrate Diet
10. Recipe Section
This book is geared primarily to people with Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn's Disease, Celiac Disease (not cured by gluten-free diet), Cystic Fibrosis, Diverticulitis and Chronic Diarrhea.
The prescription is what the author calls a "Specific Carbohydrate Diet". This diet excludes carbohydrates other than fruits, honey, properly prepared yogurt, vegetables and nuts. However, this diet is relaxed in some ways once diarrhea has cleared.
The author offered a couple sample daily menus and gives specific lists of allowed and non-allowed foods. Approximately 100 pages of the book are devoted to recipes. Since the recipes are gluten free they are good for people watching their carbohydrates. Please note that they are not carbohydrate free since this diet does advocate honey and yogurt. This book does have bread recipes, which are made with nut flours. The cheese bread made with almond meal is surprisingly tasty. There is also a pumpkin cookie with nut flour that is nice, and reasonably low in carbohydrates since the recipe only includes 3/4 cup of honey for 4-dozen cookies.
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An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
I'm a massage therapist who has learned Chinese medicine as well. I just read this book in only an hour since a good portion is needed recipes. It gets straight to the point with the facts & I could not put it down. I realized I'd already been eating mostly only foods on this diet for almost a year now. I didn't know it though. I just knew seeds bothered me, but not nuts, dairy & soy made me very congested to the point that had trouble breathing, all grains got me including corn, all added sugars & most cooked products though I live at a health food store..., etc. My instincts have always been great, as a kid I ate almost nothing but ran around like crazy. As soon as I discovered deserts at 9, all was lost, my energy, my ability to concentrate... all slowly declined as my weight went up.
I always had tummy aches, tired, get sick easily, moody, irritable, need a nap after any meal, etc. but I thought it was normal. I ask most people & everyone says they feel tired & less able to function after eating. By age 17 I had migraines that was last for 2 weeks straight. By 20 though I started a low-fat diet eating mostly , cut out soda & lost weight, I was always sick with something & my energy was completely gone. Massage college taught nutrition & the first thing was to cut out all synthetic ingredients & dairy which I did. Since I had horrible diet for 20 years & stressed out with a tough school load, it took many months to detoxify during which I felt very sluggish but my migraines disappeared. I was suddenly feeling so clean & light inside & wonderful, but I still didn't get back all my energy or get rid of acne.
With advice from health store owner in 2002, I cut out gluten & sugar for 2 weeks out of desperation. I felt like I was 8 years old again, lost 5 lbs in one week & my acne was 40% better. When I sneak some back in my diet, I would die from pain.
Over the years I have been getting better & a celiac free diet helped a lot with pain, etc., but not as good as I should. Since I naturally have been very close to this diet already, through trial/error (pain/tiredness & loss of fun/work/life) it makes perfect sense...
If you can't digest it, bacteria does & they proliferate until they compromise the body. The body tries vainly to defend itself with mucous we all get nowadays but it only makes it harder for our intestines to absorb nutrients from foods it normally can. We all know too much mucous can then cause more problems such as respiratory allergies, etc.
In studying macrobiotic whole food books based on Chinese medicine, they agree 90% with the facts of this book to get rid of most poor diet conditions & get rid of bacteria/parasites. This book & sites based on it tell you every single food you can & cannot eat & why to make it very easy to do along with recipes. I have been on it only short while, but already my skin looks better & my pains are gone. I have cheated & she was totally right & my body paid for it. There are numerous sites & groups to join or research under "specific carbohydrate diet or SCD" to get more assistance.
There is one thing... always be true to what you know you can & can't tolerate. Don't always follow everyone else blindly. If you know you can't tolerate too much fat, don't change that to agree with another diet, just add that modification to it. Just like any other diet, there is no food you can go crazy on without overloading your body, whether it be sugars, fats or proteins. Always listen to your body first for pain, fatigue, sluggish, muscle weakness, blah mood in body or mood, irritability, etc. to know when you went too far.
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An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
I want to start this letter off by thanking Elaine Gottschall who's book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle, has brought my health back to a healthier state than before I even got Crohn's. To Lucy, conqueror of Colitis, and author of Lucy's SCD cookbook, for all her great recipes, including the coffee cake (my favorite)and all her great advise, oh, can't forget the many orders of almond flower you sent me. And of course, the love of my life Rachel, thank you so much for making all those SCD meals that allowed me to kill that crohn monster. You are my savior, and I love you sooo much;)
Here's where my story begins: After receiving a colonoscopy a week before Christmas 2002, after continued stomach pain and severe diarrhea (about every 20 min at one point)...I was diagnosed with Crohn's involving 14in of my small intestine (near the ileum). The doc said it was a moderate and classic case of Crohn's. He said it looked like someone had scraped my insides with 80 grit sandpaper (ouch)!! (To those of you reading this right now, I have been where you are, thinking hopeless thoughts... "Why me!.. My life is ruined!...etc." There is hope, there is a cure, no matter what the doctor, or anyone else, says... I am the proof...as well as sooooo many others who have followed, and I mean vigorously followed the SCD diet. The most important aspect of the diet is patience, patience, and more patience, and (no cheating)...
After eight months on the diet, I felt that the Asacol and Pantasa were only hampering my progress and decided to taper off. (Caution) Don't cold turkey the meds! Ask someone in the medical field with help on developing a program to taper off the meds. ...Anyway, getting off the meds was a bit scary. This is the point at which the SCD is put to the true test. All of my doubts and skepticism about the diet were put to rest after being med-free for the first time in eight months. After three months med-free, I was a TRUE BELIEVER!!
After five months med-free and feeling great, I decided to go see my GI. I told him I'd been med-free for 5 months with only one bowel movement, sometimes two, a day and no diarrhea (maybe only 3x over the last year). He was shocked!! He said he's never seen anyone go into remission and stay there without maintenance drugs. Then he said, "Maybe you didn't have Crohn's after all... Maybe it was a virus or something else." I explained the diet to him and how serious I was about it, but I don't think he got the picture. Anyway, he ordered me another exam...a small bowel follow-through w/Barium (Yuck!). My thought before the exam was that the results would show improvements, but that I still had Crohn's.
Well, after the 3 hour exam, my GI said, "Your intestines are perfectly normal...absolutely perfect...not one blemish." ..."YOU DON'T HAVE CROHN'S," he said!!! We were both shocked! To sum up this whole story is to say, "IT'S NOT A MIRACLE, IT'S THE SCD DIET!" Actually, there may just be a miracle to this story, her name is Elaine Gottschall ... |
An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
It took me a while to become convinced that the science behind the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) was sound. I first started the diet during a severe flare-up of ulcerative colitis. I didn't see any improvement, though the book said improvement should be seen within a week with the strict starter diet. After several months of prednisone induced remission, I had another severe flare-up. After much study, I became convinced that Candida yeast overgrowth was the main cause of my UC. About 100 million Americans are thought to be affected by this overgrowth, caused by antibiotic use (and other drugs like Prednisone), drinking chlorinated water and swimming and bathing in chlorine, eating a lot of sugar/starch, drinking alcohol, coffee, etc. The SCD is a good start in fighting Candida, but the diet allows too much fruit and honey in my opinion. Elaine mentions yeast but doesn't emphasize it, but does discuss "bad" bacteria in the gut quite a bit. I got excited after reading The Body Ecology Diet (which I read in one day) and thought I could modify my diet a bit by adding some sprouted grains. This was my first grains in 6 months. For the next day or so after eating them, I could tell my system was not digesting this, and ended up with a lot of bloating and gas. I tried this for several days with the same result. I believe Elaine wholeheartedly now; that many people are not able to break down complex carbo- hydrates, that everyone has at least some degree of difficulty with them, and that humans have been eating complex carbs for a very short time in relation to our overall history (1% of our history approximately). It's pretty simple - foods that have a single sugar (monosaccharide) are ok, multiple sugars (disaccharide and polysaccharide) are not. There are also a lot of additives and a few other foods on the "not legal" list - especially bad fats.
Unfortunately my Candida was too severe to be treated just with the SCD alone. Eating a lot of coconut oil and shredded coconut has helped (a major natural grain distributor has shredded coconut in 25 lb bulk. Coconut is a potent fighter of yeast and bad bacteria and it's fat is very healthful), but Primal Defense is what has cured this problem for me. My digestive system is extremely healthy now, and my many other symptoms are gone as well, I feel years younger, and have plenty of energy. The SCD says Primal Defense is not "legal", and the online nazi's will say to avoid it at all costs, but I can actually eat a lot more foods while I'm taking it than I could before (such as fruit, some cheeses, and certain properly presoaked beans). The maker of Primal Defense is well aware of SCD and at one time talked to Elaine every day on the telephone, and the diet he recommends for IBD is about the same. (a good dosage is 6 regular or 3 Ultra Primal Defense per day, Ultra is a bit cheaper). I make 24 hour yogurt as the book recommends, and eat it regularly, but it doesn't have the same effect.
I will forever be grateful to Elaine Gottschall (who passed away last year) for bringing this diet to the attention of the world, though perhaps she could have sooner. She brought her daughter to Dr. Sidney Haas and Dr. Merrill Haas in 1958, and they put her on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet which they had formulated, and this cured her severe ulcerative colitis within 2 years. Since then Elaine spent years researching and acting as a consultant for many people until this book was finally published in 1994. To give an idea of the research involved, there are 176 references to other works in the book.
The diet was difficult for me initially to adjust to, I'd been mostly vegetarian for 20 years. I had to adjust to eating organic meat and eggs instead of grains and soy, I eat more vegetables, and I buy almond flour in 25 lb bulk to make bread. The book has a fair amount of recipes, and there are a number of websites with a lot of SCD recipes, and I've found a lot of recipes in regular low-carb cookbooks. This has helped me make my meals delicious and varied. An unexpected side benefit is that I can eat all I want and not gain weight. On my high carb low fat diet, it was a constant struggle to try to control my appetite and my weight. I have no problem at all following the SCD when I think about how it has helped save my colon from being removed and a host of other problems caused non-digestion of complex carbs. The diet alone probably would have worked before my problem became extremely severe, but it is and will remain an essential part of my life to maintain good health. At the official Breaking the Vicious Cycle website there is an extensive list of legal and illegal foods that can be printed. I used this list extensively, taking it with me to stores and restaurants. I have it memorized now and the diet is a way of life for me. PS, There's a great shower filter called Vitashower which uses vitamin C to dechlorinate the water. (The body absorbs about 8 glasses worth of chlorinated water in a typical hot shower). |
Charles Anderson (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
I picked up this book 3 years ago. I had also bought a LOT of other books - this book had what I considered to be the "hardest" diet to follow. It required me to change my life. I had racked up 20,000 in medical debt, had been hospitalized several times, had fistula drained, was on prednisone, asacol, flagyl, cipro. My wife was a wreck worrying over me while I wasted away.
I finally had an attack that put me in the hospital for a week. It was all the incentive I needed. At the time I started, I was 5'6", 97 pounds, and could barely scrap together the energy to stand for 15 minutes. The first two weeks were the hardest, but I went from diarrhea 8 to 10 times a day down to 2 or 3. A month in, perhaps once or twice. Two months in - diarrhea had stopped. Three months in - no more meds. Six months in - felt better than I had before college(eight years prior), my weight was back to 135 pounds. I'm now three years in. I had a colonoscopy three months ago - all the massive damage to my large and small intestine were 98% gone - only minor scarring remains.
God willing, in another three I'll have completely cured this "incurable" disease. Your results will be better than mine, give the book a try. By word of mouth alone, three friends have turned their problems around too. |
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