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Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet Paperback – Big Book, May 20, 2020
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- Print length205 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherThe Kirkton Press
- Publication dateMay 20, 2020
- Dimensions5.75 x 0.6 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100969276818
- ISBN-13978-0969276814
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- Publisher : The Kirkton Press; Fourteenth edition, October 2012, ships within 24 hours (May 20, 2020)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 205 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0969276818
- ISBN-13 : 978-0969276814
- Item Weight : 12.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.75 x 0.6 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #20,148 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #218 in Other Diet Books
- #322 in Special Diet Cooking (Books)
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The SCD was like flipping the off switch on her disease. The day after starting the SCD, her fever disappeared. After four days, essentially all symptoms were resolved (other than those that are plausibly side-effects of the steroids). Two weeks later, bloodwork showed zero markers for inflammation. Three weeks, still fine.
I'm a scientist, I work in health services research, I understand the potential for mistaking spontaneous remission for the effect of a treatment. But this change was so abrupt and so clear, against an extended history of no definite effect of any treatment, that I'm convinced. This diet worked, for my daughter, full stop.
That said, I'll offer some advice. We looked at and dismissed the SCD early on in my daughter's disease. And it's largely because parts of this book are confusing and unclear -- until you understand enough of the underlying science. And parts are unclear because the legal/illegal list in the book does not clearly distinguish foods that you can try, once the gut has healed (e.g., beans, which are in fact a starchy food). And these apparent inconsistencies are highlighted by critics in mainstream health care.
A few things make this diet a lot easier. Gwaltney sugar-free bacon. And pure dextrose (glucose) provides an easy-to-use substitute for granulated cane sugar, available on Amazon, of course: http://www.amazon.com/Now-Foods-Dextrose-Powder-10-Pound/dp/B002JNM8YM
If you want some understanding of the science behind this, you should Google up this article: "The Link between Ankylosing Spondylitis, Crohn's Disease, Klebsiella, and Starch Consumption". The gist is "molecular mimicry". That bacterium (Klebsiella) has antigens that are so close in structure to some human proteins that, in some people, when your body produces antibodies to kill Klebsiella, those antibodies cross-react with normal human tissue, resulting in autoimmune disease. A low-starch diet results in a 40-fold reduction in Klebsiella in the gut. Fewer bacteria --> fewer antibodies --> reduced autoimmune symptoms. Simple as that.
Medicine is beginning to take this seriously. There are now a handful of small-scale studies of the SCD in the medical literature, and they all suggest that about 75% of people who try it go fully into remission. Exactly what this book says. There is now a clinical trial registered at NIH using this diet to maintain remission in pediatric patients. So at least some physicians must think this has some merit. Finally, the patent runs out on Remicade (the top-line drug for Crohn's) next year. Johnson and Johnson (the maker of Remicade) has bought one company, and partnered with another company, both of which are looking at ways to treat Crohn's by -- surprise -- manipulating the bacteria in the gut. Just what the SCD does. So if you still hesitate to try this, just consider that addressing Crohn's via the gut biome could very well be the wave of the future.
If you find yourself in the situation we were in, I can only urge you to try the SCD sooner rather than later. In my opinion, mainstream health care critics of the diet simply misunderstand some of the more ambiguously written parts of the book. The science behind this is good, and while it won't help everybody, it helps some, and it definitely helped us.
Edit: 7/17/2014. So far, so good. We are now three and a half months on the diet. My daughter is taking no medications, just vitamin D and zinc (to promote healing of the intestinal wall). She has no symptoms, and her bloodwork just came back completely normal. We all follow the SCD. No exceptions. And when I think of where we'd be, without this diet, all I can say, for us it is well worth it. I cannot express enough thanks to Elaine Gottschall and to the people who have kept this alive over the years.
Update as of 9/23/2014:
This will be my last update, because I really have nothing to add after this.
We've now been on the diet for more than six months. My daughter feels fine and just got a clean bill of health from the gastroenterologist. We were instructed to check back in three months. If this continues, the gastroenterologist may or may not want an MRI or endoscopy at two years, just to be safe.
The only change we are making is to add a couple of generally-recognized-as-safe supplements that have anti-fibrotic properties. Even in patients who appear healthy, Crohn's can lead to slowly developing fibrosis (scarring), resulting in a narrowing of the intestine that eventually requires surgery. The obvious solution would be for the doc to prescribe some anti-fibrotic as a preventative, but gastroenterologists just don't do that. So, we've added about a gram a day each of resveratrol and curcumin, based largely on Canadian research in reversing liver fibrosis in Hep C. That seems safe, and is about as much as we can do to slow down or stop any fibrosis that may (or may not) be occurring.
When I think of my kid going from a frail, anemic steroid-refractory Crohn's case, to this, all I have to say is, thank you, Elaine Gottschall. And thank all the people who have kept the SCD going.
I actually appreciated the length of this short book. It's not overly medical or scientific. Anybody with a basic reading comprehension level SHOULD be able to follow the theories and diet. This book doesn't go into all the myriad of bowel disorders, but treats them all the same and tackles them with diet only (not meds or surgery). If I were given a choice to have my colon cut out or change my diet, I'd choose the latter thanks. I feel the author was qualified as a microbiologist to write this especially since her family was helped by it's effects. Also, I feel that it was well researched. The first several chapters are devoted to the research of others, which were breakthroughs in their time, which guided the author to what is this diet program. If this book doesn't answer all your questions there are several great websites out there that will. The recipies are easy to follow. I do wish there was a calorie count and breakdown nutritionally. I could see how someone could get out of balance without them. I was floored by the gut-brain connection and can think of several psych hospitals that should pilot this diet! BTW these concepts are NOT covered in nursing school, and doubtless mecial either. Which makes me ask, "WHY NOT?"
I've seen a small number of pretty bad reviews of this book and it sounds to me they did not follow protocol, or they are just mock readers (haters). From my perspective, this is a well balanced diet and there is a section on supplementation to those who need it. Of course, if you limit yourself by cutting out major parts of this diet (like meat) then you should expect problems (like iron and vitamin b12 issues leading to possibly severe anemia). I thought I have is that it is sad when people get into the thought pattern that unless we eat grain products or junk food we'll lose all sorts of weight. In one sense, calories are calories. But this is not a carb-free diet, or a vegan diet for that matter.
Finally, I've read testimony after testimony of its benefits and healing properties. Also, since reading this book, I've noticed there are more people with bowel disorders than I once suspected! In one week alone I met several families that were completely wrecked with celiac or autism. I thought it my duty to recommended the book to these families. One dear woman gave me the biggest hug and thanked me in advance for her son.
Hope this helps someone in need!
As it turns out, there is a little more to doing SCD correctly than a food list. For example, I hadn’t added the homemade yogurt, I was eating under ripe bananas, I was using too much honey, among other things.
The book explains everything about why they believe SCD works for so many people. It gives you some basic, elementary information about digestion, the gut and the flora, and why some foods are allowed and others that you might think are okay aren’t, along with a little historical timeline about the creation of the diet and the evolution of it and our understanding of its mechanisms.
There are some great resources online, but it’s so difficult to piece the details and rules together by reading random pages from websites (and some of it is wrong and/or incomplete).
I’ve read others say they “tried it and it didn’t work” and now that I see my own mistakes, I wonder if they were making some similitude mistakes. The rules are explained in full detail in this book. Get the book so you can do it correctly, because getting it right matters. If you aren’t doing it exactly, you aren’t doing it at all.
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I have to admit that I prefer the list of allowed foods in this book over the website "updated" version which includes a lot of processed non-foods.
A year later and I have been slowly reintroducing foods - without any difficulties :)
And generally I have come to really prefer this diet.
Si les malades savaient qu'ils peuvent être soignés définitivement, je pense qu'une majorité feraient l'effort de suivre le régime. Avec à la clef, de bonnes baguettes bien croustillantes a manger le matin :-)
Encore faudrait-il que la médecine moderne arrête de soigner le symptôme au lieu de soigner la cause.... ce que fait ce livre.
Ce livre est génial, j'ai testé le régime avec mes deux enfants, comme elles étaient petites, 4 mois ont suffi.
Aujourd'hui, 6 ans après, elles sont en pleine forme, mangent de tout et la plus grande a même vu ses symptômes allergiques et son asthme disparaître.
This has helped me immensely. In fact, it changed my life. I have UC, and UP, and this diet changed everything. About a year into it, and I am 99% better. You just have to follow it. I am at a point now where I can experiment, and can have some things that are not on the diet - now and then, I don’t do it daily, or even weekly. I also have combined the FODMAP diet with this to some extent. It is very limiting, but it works. And as you go you start to find you really don’t miss what is not on this diet. It may not be for everyone, and everyone is different. It takes time and experimentation. But if you suffer as I have with UC, it was a game changer.
The first few months are tough. Unless you are so sick, it just matter anymore, that’s where I was. But, I followed it and continue to daily. For the first 6 months, I didn’t stray from it once. You can’t. You have to follow it to the letter, if you don’t, it won’t work. It’s sort of like being pregnant. You either are... or are not. You are either on this diet, or you are not. Cheat on it once, and go back to the beginning and start over. But I can say, it gets easier. Just remember to ease into new things, even ones that are on the diet, not anything else. It will take time to do that. Even if it is listed as legal on the diet, still doesn’t mean I could have it at first. I kept my diet very simple for months. It wasn’t until recently I’ve tried a few things off diet to see what would happen. And, I can have a few things, simple things. Lots of things I still can’t. And may never be able too. But that’s ok, everyone is different, and everyone’s healing rate is different. I am down to taking one medication twice a week now, and tapering off more as time goes.
Be prepared though to do all of your own cooking. Everything. I trusted nothing. I ate out at a restaurant a couple of times near the beginning, and live to regret it, even though it was on the diet. 90% of the grocery store simply didn’t apply, and doesn’t apply to me anymore. And that’s ok. Trust me you get use to it. You actually start to not like the ‘stuff’ you used to eat. Processed food, junk food, sugars, etc etc, just wont be a part of your life anymore following this. But you have to be prepared to leave that all behind, and trust me it was worth it for me.
The biggest problem I faced was changing my life style to accommodate. I was house stricken for a long time anyway, but still not used to cooking and preparing every single thing I ate. It took planning, and foresight. But after a few weeks, it became routine to me. Now, I can’t imagine it any other way. Even my wife who is quite healthy follows along with this. As I said, It has become a life style. A much healthier one, and much much better standard of living with this for me. I said earlier I have a few things that are not on here. I should mention, that I still do not have any refined sugars or spices, just salt and pepper. I do occasionally have bread now, but not often. I think I have had bread 6 times in the past year, it’s simply a treat. Junk food like potato chips I’ve had a couple of times, just a few, just to try as an experiment. Quite frankly, I didn't like them very much. Processed food, none.
As I said, everyone is different, who knows if this will help you, but I’ve read so many success stories with this I had to try it for myself. And it is a huge help. Huge. I remember my first doctor telling me that diet wasn’t a part of it. “Doesn’t matter what you eat” he said. Well, personally I could not disagree more.
If Elaine were alive, I’d send flowers weekly.