Reddit reviews Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet

This diet is called The Specific Carbohydrate Diet. The book Breaking the Vicious Cycle details the diet, along with the accompanying website. If meds aren't working or you don't want to take them, give this diet a try. It's very restrictive and requires "fanatical adherence", but has worked for many.

• I kind of made my own diet. It's a mixture of SCD Diet / Paleo Diet minus the meat. Everything you eat should be natural, not processed, should be made from nature, not by man. I stopped having sugar, my only sweetener is honey. I don't buy any processed foods that come in packages. Jamie Oliver is a chef I like because he cooks everything that comes from his garden, although I don't eat grains (breads, pastas, etc..) because they are complex carbs which slows me down (as per SCD diet).
  
  
• As a good rule of thumb I know how things digest, water, vegetables and fruits take 20 minutes to digest and pass the colon, complex carbs like grains and potatoes take 3 hours to digest, and meat can stay in your colon anywhere from 8 hours to a month. Knowing this I eat the food that digests the fastest first, like fruits and veggies, then I eat the eggs or cheeses. I don't touch meat, milk, or grains, although very very rarely I'll have some fish or sushi (maybe 3-4 times a year).
  
  
• There are SO many vegetables, fruits, legumes, and nuts that I wasn't even aware of that are in every supermarket. Each one has it's own unique taste. Walk in the vegetable section of your supermarket and you should be able to identify every one without reading the label, this took me a few months (after eating processed foods my whole life).
  
  
• Buy sprouts, or grow your own (alfalfa,wheatgrass,sesame), buy some herbs you can grow in your kitchen that you can easily tare off like chives, oregano, basil, etc. Know your spices like cumin, paprika, fennel seeds, coriander.
  
  
• Stay clear of the middle part of your supermarket, this is where all the processed foods usually are. Overall there is a lot of great variety in fruits (berries, melons, tropical like starfruit, chinese fruits, etc.) and vegetables. There are always fruits I discover that I never heard of, like last month I discovered the New Zealand Tamarillo (tastes amazing but extremely expensive).
  
  
• Try to eat raw, avoid frying, and if you have to cook either grill or steam.
  
  
• Learn how to make smoothies. (strawberries + orange juice + banana = yum + energy)
  
  
• The Mediterranean diet is considered the healthiest diet in the world because a meal is about 80% vegetables and 20% protein/meat. You can find meat substitutes if you want to try it without meat.
  
  
  Some resources:
  
  The book "Food Rules" is a good overall guide for picking food:
  http://www.amazon.com/Food-Rules-Eaters-Michael-Pollan/dp/014311638X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300490227&sr=8-1
  
  Paleo diet: http://paleodietlifestyle.com/
  
  SCD diet: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Vicious-Cycle-Intestinal-Through/dp/0969276818/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300492319&sr=8-1
  
  Jamie Oliver recipes: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetarian-recipes
  
  Checkout the Hippocrates institute on sprouting:
  http://www.hippocratesinst.org/
  
  
  Men's Health UK has a 2011 full year issue on nutrition which had amazing vegetable only recipes that give you a lot of energy. I have this magazine, but I can't find it online. I could scan it for you if you can't find it. It's interesting because the Men's Health US magazine has really bad food recipes (hot dogs, burgers), but the UK Men's health is the exact opposite. Check out the UK website http://www.menshealth.co.uk/food-nutrition/superfoods/detox-your-lunch-box

I've heard this book has helped quite a few people with Crohn's.

It's definitely different for everyone tho. My daughter doesn't have much of a problem with anything. Just nuts and something to do with tacos. I think it's the shells.

Go for the diet! I highly recommend. My partner has ulcerative colitis and this was the only thing that worked. You're very lucky you have a doctor open to this; most refuse to investigate non-medical options, strangely. Ignore any weird references toxins or cleanses - this must be some new, lame spin on it - SCD is actually very straight forward and science-based. Yes, strict at first , but once you get your guts stabilized, you can experiment and let some "illegal" foods back in...

Books to get started:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0969276818/ref=pd_aw_sims_2/182-1240542-1141736?pi=SY115&simLd=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/159233282X?pc_redir=1412274841&robot_redir=1

Sure, gladly. First of all, I don't really believe any thing, I just know I don't know much right now, and am game to give things a fair shot. This one seems to be helping me.

It's got a long history, but I'll keep it short here. I am following the diet as written in "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" by Elaine Gottchall. Her theory, simplified, is that the SCD works by limiting the diet to monosaccharides that are digested prior to the small intestine.

I was convinced to try it after finding this brand new book by a seated Professor of GI at the University of Washington and a working Pediatric GI at Seattle Children's. He doesn't bother trying to do any deciphering of the why, just gives his reasons for recommending it to his IBD patients, and how to succeed with it. It's a great resource.

Rather than try to give you a food overview, here's the legal/illegal list from the original author's website.

Let me know if you need other resources.

I just messed up taking a few Prescript Assist. 65 years old, great digestion, omnivorous, Hashimoto's, curious as hell about "autoimmune" and chronic disease epidemic in North America. I'm not too concerned about regaining balance. But I was out looking around and a bunch of things sort of popped up, including MaximilianKohler. Howdy from Michigan my friend. Here's a bit of where I've been.

I ran across a critique of RESTORE at https://cfsremission.com/2017/04/16/coal-tar-and-restore-for-gut-health/

Leesesen seems like a stand-up guy who dives deep. Says he did AI programming for Amazon, so lots of brain cells. I have no doubt. Same reason I'm posting here. I'm an old Marshall Protocol guy, unsuccessful. Now I'm doing a Zero A diet per Grant Genereux's hypothesis at ggenereux.com (3 free ebooks). He's a geologist and thinks differently.

Anyway, P.A. and Restore may share Leonardite connection. Leonardite is an oxidation product of lignite. I don't know much about brown coal other than Doc Willard (DuPont chemist) was able to deactivate the benzene in it to create his "dark" version of Willard Water that I've been drinking off and on for 30 years. See YouTube - 60 Minutes with Harry Reasoner - circa 1980.

I ran across your posts at another site and saw that you came here to read every day. So I thought it wise to stop by and ask you a couple of questions. I ran across a comment section about the SCD diet at Amazon and there's this guy "rethink" commenting in disagreementabout the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle. He's got a good story.

See https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Vicious-Cycle-Intestinal-Through/product-reviews/0969276818/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_paging_btm_5?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=5&filterByStar=critical

His garlic-first-take-out-the-bad-guys makes sense, if indeed garlic can do that.

It made me think of the old days, Bernard Jensen and those cats, and how we figured we one-upped his bentonite clay methods by using Homozon to blast out the pipes and then we'd proceed to repopulate eating a variety of foods. It always seemed to settle the gut, even while eating a whole lot of tofu, ha. I usually managed about 5 days of Hershey-Bar-Squirts, doing the Homozon protocol twice a day or more. It was crude but uncomplicated. This was circa 1985 - 1995. That was also in the Master Cleanse days. We'd alternate our "cleanses".

Have you run across anyone else who has gone after the "bad guys" in this way? Not necessarily Homozon per se, but garlic or some other "natural" method of eradication?

This is a fairly serious concern, not particularly for my own issues, but I have a dear friend house-bound due to ulcerative colitis. Almost lost him last year. He's stubborn, has tried most everything including fecal transplant; but not Homozon or SCD or Marshall Protocol or Zero A diet. I'm ever trying to clarify the landscape for about 10 years now, passing on whatever results I've gleaned. Not just for him but also for an increasing number of people I know and meet who have autoimmune and chronic illness.

I'm almost living in an old folks independent living facility (taking care of my mother-in-law) with people in their 80's and 90's and almost all of the caregivers here are in such ill health I worry about them each day and hand out info and advice constantly.

They all have gut issues that lay them low at least once a month if not sooner. They're just kids in their 20's. It makes me shudder. I remember the stress of single moms working in Michigan factories in the 1980's, but this is way off the charts now.

I use as much of Occam's Razor as I can without cutting myself. I'm even willing to consider George Carey's Cell Salts and Zodiac stuff. There's more going on here than meets the eye imho. I'm tuned into Dr Jack Kruse and I think in some way his stuff is tied in with what Grant Genereux has to tell us about the etiology of autoimmune, cancer, Alzheimer's and autism.

Last, I'll leave you with a recent find at PubMed that I think is revealing. The paper was titled Retinoic Acid, Leaky Gut and Autoimmune Disease. The key line is in section six.

quote >> Therefore, many of the short-term observations described in our review may be temporary consequences due to the feedback inhibitory effect of RA and that longer-term observations could actually reveal toxic effects that may, in fact, indicate a causal role for RA in these same autoimmune diseases. << endquote

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6115935/

There is one other study that I found that could reveal why autoimmune is often preceded by a stress event - given the toxicity of Retinol hypothesis.

The Retinol Circulating Complex Releases Hormonal Ligands During Acute Stress Disorders

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2018 Sep 4;9:487. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2018.00487. eCollection 2018.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30233492

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I recommend reading Extinguishing the Fires of Hell, Poisoning for Profits and Breast Cancer at ggenereux.blog

That's about two days for us readers. It's eye-opening.

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Follow the doctor's advice.

If he wants to try a dietary approach, there are a bunch of different options, many different books. He will have to try different things to figure out what works best for him. If he's really determined, with some luck something will work for him.

Life Without Bread is a low-carb approach.

Breaking the Vicious Cycle works for some.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease by Hunter may be useful; haven't read it yet myself.

I think Cordain's Paleo diet book addresses autoimmune disease. I liked his approach.

Robb Wolf's Paleo book is only slightly different, and also addresses autoimmune disease.

No one diet works for everyone. Some people never find specific dietary guidelines that work. Many people can identify foods that are particularly problematic, and finding these may start with a particularly monotonous diet, followed by adding in individual food items to determine tolerance. I think Hunter's book goes that route, but I'm uncertain.

Things that work for some: extremes, such as vegan/extreme vegetarian, or total carnivore. Highly recommended: fermented foods. Avoid sugar.

Ask the doc about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. My doctor had recommended it as an option to me, but kinda down played it since it's pretty strict. I read the book on it, implemented some of the practices, but eventually stopped and started eating whatever thinking that my medication was enough. Eventually had another flare up, and switched to the diet right away. Was amazed by how rapidly I improved. I really think anyone with UC or Crohn's (like me) or anything similar should check out the book. On amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Vicious-Cycle-Intestinal-Through/dp/0969276818/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Happy to chat more on it.

Hey, I'm undiagnosed, and perhaps just crazy, but.....I read through the comments, and have not seen anyone recommend the Specific Carbohydrate Diet yet. If you have given Low Fodmap a good, strict effort, and it's not getting you there, I recommend giving the SCD a 30 day trial. You gotta be super strict or it's not even worth doing, but so far, it's having a profound difference in my life.

Two resources for you:

The original, Elaine Gotshchall's "Breaking the Vicious Cycle."

And, the convincer...two months old, written by a GI prof at the University of Washington who also is Pediatric GI at Seattle Childrens' Hospital. He uses this diet for his IBD patients with great success.

Good luck, if you need cooking tips or menu help, hit me up. This diet coincides with most of the advice here, btw, but it gives a clear roadmap for recovery. I'm going to say that Paleo and Keto are diets I can get behind, but both terms are too broad to address what you are dealing with, in my opinion. The guidelines are good starting points though.

I was diagnosed with moderate Ulcerative Colitis in early 2009. I had ignored my symptoms for years, which was mainly a small amount of rectal bleeding, lots of gas, and the loose stools once in a while. Eventually, it got to the point where I was shitting nothing but blood and water, and I couldn't tell the difference between a fart and a shart anymore. I was in pain and gassy all the time. And when I did 'go #2', i could never seem to get it all out.

I went in, got the scope, and the doc diagnosed me. I didn't know anything about ulcerative colitis. I was put on steroids immediately, and had my first followup appt scheduled for a week later to discuss everything.
In that week, i researched everything I could about the disease, and I stumbled onto Ellaine Gottschall's book 'Breaking the Vicious Cycle' or go directly to her site here.

And that book was a godsend to me.
I read about tons of people who had great results from this book. Without outlying every detail (you can get the info from her site or the amazon reviews), the basic gist of her research is that bacteria in your colon are feeding on the unprocessed sugars that don't get broken down earlier on in the digestion process. In their feeding, the bacteria produce byproducts and gasses which damage your colon wall, which in turn produces mucous to protect itself (hence the loose stools and blood, bloating, etc) And the way to stop this is to stop ingesting the complex sugars that don't get digested earlier on in your digestive cycle.

I didn't want to have to take drugs for the rest of my life for this condition, or do what I felt per doctor's orders was treating the symptoms instead of curing the problem. When I talked about this with my doctor, his words exactly were "Diet has nothing to do with it" and something about natural healing mumbo jumbo.
He gave me a prescription for Lialda that I never filled. I figured I'd give this method a sure shot first before committing myself to drugs.
Well, it worked for me.
It's a very restrictive diet, and it will require lifestyle changes more than likely, at least initially. For myself, after i got rid of the initial flareup, i didn't have to be as restrictive as some people do. I still eat crap food of various sorts that the book outlines you shoudn't, and I'm fine as long as I don't do it for too long. If I go a month of eating wrong, I will get the beginnings of those symptoms, very minor, and that's my cue to kick it into gear. But for the past year or so, I've been good and haven't had even twinges of a flare up.

If you really wanna find a way to get rid of or at least manage your UC completely and without medication at all, check this out. It doesn't work for every single person, but for the vast majority it seems to really make a difference. It has helped people who are on the verge of having their colon removed because it's so damaged.
It definitely cured me, or at least as cured as I can ever be I think.
3 years without a flare up and going strong...and my doc said diet had nothing to do with it...Meh!
Edit: I just saw in your later posts that you did try the specific carbohydrate diet. Did you give it a thorough honest shot? Did you really cut out every thing that was required? Did you try the 24 hour fermented yogurt? That stuff really kickstarted it for me

I have Crohn's as well. Been med free for 3 years, by following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (similar to Paleo). I highly suggest buying Ellaine Gotschell's book and giving it a try.

http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Vicious-Cycle-Intestinal-Through/dp/0969276818

A great online resource for this diet is http://pecanbread.com/

The main theory behind the diet is it balances the bacteria in your gut, allowing you immune system to return to normal (not attacking you from the inside)

I wish you the best of luck on your journey. I've been through hell (to the point of having surgery etc) and I now feel the healthiest I ever have.

The first thing I did was carefully read this book->

https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Vicious-Cycle-Intestinal-Through/dp/0969276818/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1478037625&sr=1-1&keywords=breaking+the+vicious+cycle

It's a diet developed to help people with even worse digestive issue than we have, but it works. The catch is, it's very restrictive, but it DOES WORK. I had dramatic results after a month, and gradual continuing results after about six months. Basically you starve off all the bad bugs in your gut by depriving them of the sugars they like (as a bonus I also lost about 20lbs).

I also was put on a low dose of anti-anxiety/anti-depressants to help me cope with the mental side of this illness.

Excercise, get a good nights sleep, and meditate for 20 minutes a day.

Stay positive, and let me know if this works for you!

Just a follow-up: this is the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Vicious-Cycle-Intestinal-Through/dp/0969276818/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343136953&sr=8-1&keywords=breaking+the+vicious+cycle

I have just started the SCD diet for my Crohn's and Colitis.
The book is found at: https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Vicious-Cycle-Intestinal-Through/dp/0969276818/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Lots of content online about this diet.

https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Vicious-Cycle-Intestinal-Through/dp/0969276818/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1473729134&sr=1-1&keywords=breaking+the+viscous+cycle

Read the reviews.

If you're interested in reading the book (Breaking the Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall), you can find the PDF online if you're really starving for money (seek seekhapiness' comment below). I read through the ebook and eventually decided that it'd be worth my time to buy the book off Amazon and commit to the diet.

EDIT: Removed link.

Tell your brother to read this book and follow it religiously: https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Vicious-Cycle-Intestinal-Through/dp/0969276818

Your brother needs to eat things that basically our species evolved to eat, not the things our species has come up with in the past 10,000 years or so. I have two friends with UC who live normal lives because of this book. They have a website that lists out TONS of different foods as legal or illegal. Essentially there are foods which are complex and don't absorb into our intestines correctly, and then there's foods we can digest just fine. If he follows this, he might not need treatment at all. A lot of that food is stuff you'd never guess was bad for you.

Absolutely not. I bought the book on December 15, 2012 and it's been a damn miracle. You probably don't need the book but should read the positive and negative reviews on Amazon to provide further insight.

Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet https://www.amazon.com/dp/0969276818/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_mIsHybT3H7YDZ

While I don't have the condition I have a few close friends that have either UC or Crohn's, and I know how difficult it can make life. I am still researching the potential of this for one of my friends, but I would recommend looking into the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). It's a dietary approach to gaining control over the symptoms of Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Celiac Disease, and other such conditions. These conditions all stem from a bacterial imbalance in the gut. The diet has helped thousands of people and many have seen their symptoms completely go away. People have even been able to return to a normal diet after a year or two on this diet! The author of the book, a nutritional biochemist and cellular biologist completely cured her own daughter's Ulcerative Colitis using the SCD. Unfortunately, there have been no large-scale clinical studies of this diet since there is no money in it for the pharmaceutical companies, who would normally fund such studies. But the anecdotal evidence is absolutely amazing! Please check the website above or even just read some of the related book's 270+ positive Amazon reviews! I hope these links are the least bit helpful to you. Message me if you want to talk more about this subject. And Happy Birthday and best of luck to you, my friend.