# Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet, Elaine Gottschall B.A., M.Sc.



## Jeffrey Roberts (Apr 15, 1987)

Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through DietFormerly:Food and the Gut Reaction[This message has been edited by Jeffrey Roberts (edited 04-11-2000).]


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## Bill (Dec 13, 1998)

This has been re-printed as "Breaking the Vicious Cycle". The book is essentially two things. First it discusses the theory behind the "Specific Carbohydrate Diet", how various food substances affect the digestive system, and dietary approaches to alleviating various functional intestinal disorders, Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, IBD and IBS. Second, it discusses specific foods to avoid, methods of preparation and various menus/combinations that make up the diet, along with an appendix of various resources for people on the diet. I found the book both interesting and credible, and following the diet fanatically virtually eliminated my IBS symptoms (diarrhea), along with the need for medication (Immodium). The diet is supposed to be followed strictly for *at least* 2 years, before a return to "normal" foods is allowed. Unfortunately, I personally lacked the self discipline to continue the diet beyond about 6 months.


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

I didnï¿½t know this book was the same as that one.Unfortunately, from a physiological perspective, the concept ain't very credible, the idea being the bacteria in the gut are responsible for problems in the gut and the treatment is to starve them.First, there are really no bacteria in the upper intestine where sugars are absorbed.Second, the bacteria in the colon that do feed off of food do so on many of the foods the diet say is OK. In addition, these bacteria are believed to be important to nourish the colon.Many people claim benefit from the diet, but it is not known to what extent it is responsible.


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## stinky too (May 21, 1999)

I found great recipies in this book that helped me live with out the refined sugars and starches that are typical of the American diet today. Lots of people claim they were healed using this diet. I cannot say healed but was helped some.for more info on this check it out at:http://www.inform.dk/djembe/scd


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## Guest (Aug 23, 2000)

For years my doctors told me diet had nothing to do with colitis. I had been on prednisone for 4 years and a specialist suggested I remove the colon. Thanks to this diet, I am finally off pred. I am working on getting off Imuran and Asacol, because I truly believe this diet is all I need. Its a tough diet to stay on, but it gets easier with time. I now have no symptoms of colitis. Give the diet a try. http://home.jam.rr.com/cborchert/uc.html


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## Guest (Nov 27, 2000)

Before going on the 'Specific Carbohydrate Diet' I had never experienced more than 2-3 hours in my adult life without symptoms -- & believe me I have tried many things. After following this diet I experienced long periods of time without symptoms (days at a time). It was such a blessing! However, I too lack the stamina to follow this diet as closely as I should. If I could find a substitute for chocolate I'd do much better!


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## Guest (Dec 22, 2000)

One questionoes anyone know if psyllium or flax is contra-indicated on this diet? The diet itself almost totally eliminated my pain & bloating & I found that the almonds worked wonderfully for me to eliminate C. However, I recently had a severe allergic reaction - my doctor thinks it was from the almonds & has asked me to avoid them. I need to increase my fiber, but not sure what altervatives exist that won't bring back pain & bloating.


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## sweetie (Oct 26, 2000)

Psyllium and Flax seed are allowed on diet but it is really up to you to find out if you can 'tolerate' them. Whatever you do, start out with a very small quantity and gradually work your way up. Our IBS guts are very sensitive in general!


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## Jeffrey Roberts (Apr 15, 1987)

Sadly Elaine Gottschall passed away on 5th September 2005She Linked Health With DietAn Obituary from the Toronto Star Oct, 31, 2005 by Catherine Dunphy Book eased suffering for thousandsGottschall began by helping her daughter She became a hero to hundreds of thousands of people around the world, a best-selling author of Breaking The Vicious Cycle, a book that first connected intestinal health with diet, because she was first and always a mom who couldn't and wouldn't allow her youngest child to suffer any more.Elaine Gottschall always said her defining moment was when a doctor pointed a finger at her â€" when she was then a New Jersey housewife â€" and said: "What are you crying about? You have done this to her!". For three years she had taken her daughter to every specialist, allergist, psychiatrist in New York City, none of whom could help the 7-year-old whose intestinal pain was so severe she was bleeding all day and suffering from delirium at night. Gottschall had given up and was about to authorize the colostomy that would mean the child would live with a bag for her fluids for the rest of her life, when a chance encounter with an acquaintance in a grocery store led her to the New York City office of 92-year-old Dr. Sidney Valentine Haas. "She was a mom. She had to cure me," said daughter Judy Herod. And she did, using a diet devised by Dr. Haas. Within 10 days, the girl's neurological symptoms were gone and after two years, her intestinal problems healed. Gottschall had found her calling: There were many other people out there suffering from Crohn's disease, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome and celiac disease who needed to know about SCD, the specific carbohydrate diet. But first she needed to understand how it worked. At 47, Gottschall went back to school, earning a bachelor's degree and eventually a master's degree in biology, nutritional biochemistry and cellular biology. She continued her research up until her death at 84 of cancer in Cobourg on Sept. 5. "She wanted the science," said Herod, now 53 and symptom-free for more than four decades. "And she kept figuring it out because she was fascinated by the gut and brain connection. "She also wanted the acceptance from â€" if not approval of â€" the medical mainstream, which she never got. She was told stories by mothers who said their doctors would refuse to treat their children if they followed her diet, which eschews flour and sugars, complex carbohydrates, additives and sweeteners, and recommends almond paste flour and home-made yogurt."The medical community continues not to embrace it," said Herod. "There are no double-blind studies. It would be wonderful if there could be. She didn't achieve that acceptance and that is a defeat. Not that she needed to be glorified, but you just have to have a sick kid to know how important this information is. "If the medical community didn't embrace her, everybody else did. Or so it seems. Since the book was published in 1987 (under the name Food and the Gut Reaction), it has sold more than a million copies, run in 10 editions, and been translated into seven languages. Thousands have contacted Gottschall to tell her she saved their â€" or their children's â€" lives, including parents of autistic children."She did save my life. It is not an overstatement," said Jodi Bager, who was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis after the birth of her second son in 2000. The Toronto mother said the SCD was "the magic bullet" that turned around her life a year later. In 2002, she met Gottschall when she went to a Mother's Day lunch hosted by Gottschall at her Grafton, Ont., hom"There was no generation gap with Elaine," she said. "She was exciting and daring, and so much fun, a woman who flew by her pants. " Bager, a co-author of The Grain-Free Gourmet cookbook, now runs J. Gourmet, a company that ships SCD baked goods throughout Canada and the U.S. "Because of Elaine, I have my health, my business and a wonderful friendship for 12 years," said Lucy Rossett of Bellingham, Wa., who runs Lucy's Kitchen, which sells Rossett's SCD-based cookbook, almond flour and yogurt makers. Rossett had been suffering from ulcerative colitis for 13 years when she saw Gottschall being interviewed on a Vancouver television show. "I tried the diet and, bang, it turned my life around and suddenly everything worked the way it was supposed to do," she said.She and Gottschall became close friends, holidaying together and travelling in both Canada and the U.S. where Gottschall would just as happily talk to a group of five as 500."I've seen people coming up to Elaine, crying, to thank her," said Rossett. That happened at the DAN (Defeat Autism Now) conference in Washington, D.C., in May 2004, where Gottschall was introduced to about 2,000 parents and professionals as a saviour. "Elaine was like an icon to us, a rock star," said Laurie Mawlam, a Chatham, Ont., mother of an autistic son who "lost his autistic diagnosis" after being on the diet. "She stole the show." Gottschall, born Elaine Reichbaum, grew up in a poor family that moved from Pittsburgh to Brooklyn to Baltimore and back in an unsuccessful attempt to survive the depression. Any dream of going to university ended when her invalid mother, Jenny, died and she had to move in with Brooklyn relatives and go out to work as a secretary. She met her husband, Herb Gottschall, when both were working on the Manhattan Project, the U.S. nuclear weapons program. A chemical engineer, his work later took the family to Canada where they settled on a farm near Exeter. It was Herb who encouraged his wife to go back to school for a post-graduate degree at the University of Western Ontario and who started Kirkton Press to publish her book."He understood there was an urgency to get the message out," said their daughter, whose husband, Stew, now runs the operation in Roseneath, Ont. But the book hadn't sold even 1,000 copies when Gottschall was invited onto the Dini Petty television show to talk about it. Petty said her producer read the book, phoned Gottschall and "fell in love with her." She made three appearances on the show."Her daughter always said I was the light her mother couldn't find," said Petty, who spoke at Gottschall's funeral. "I take full credit for the fact the Dini Petty show opened the door for Elaine, but she strode through it and onto the international stage and never stopped." Catherine Dunphy can be reached at cdunphy###thestar.cahttp://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/ne...ronto_star.html


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## SpAsMaN* (May 11, 2002)

She's now in a quiet place,free of her body.Thanks Jeff.


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## Popp (May 31, 2004)

Thanks for posting!I recently finished her book and have not yet taken steps to start the diet. Maybe now would be a good time.God Bless Elaine


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## Jeffrey Roberts (Apr 15, 1987)

Globe and Mail Thursday March 2, 2006LIVES LIVEDElaine GottschallJUDY HEROD Author, nutritional biochemist, mother, grandmother. Born Aug. 18, 1921, in Pittsburgh. Died Sept. 5, 2005, in Cobourg, Ont., of cancer, aged 84. From the age of 47 when she entered university to the day she died at 84, Elaine worked tirelessly to help those suffering from diseases such as ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome and, more recently, autism.One e-mail of condolence read: "Elaine was one of those rare individuals who, having found her way through her own personal crisis in the form of her young daughter's ulcerative colitis, felt compelled to help those who are still suffering."The messages of condolence often included photographs of now-recovered children: a son receiving his master's degree after three years on Elaine's Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), a young woman on her wedding day or a healthy six-year-old. None of this would have been possible without Elaine's work, each note repeated. Initially, Elaine's mission had been to figure out what had happened to her own family: how her daughter, after being treated by so many doctors yet so near death, could have been cured by diet. As Elaine's academic research became more advanced, so did her effort to understand the complex relationship between food and the human body. She never ceased working. At times she became discouraged and emotionally drained, but she would always pick herself up to fight on. Elaine was angry. Too many people were suffering needlessly when the answers were so simple. Elaine wrote her first book, Food and the Gut Reaction, in 1987. She was in her mid-50s when she received her master's degree from the University of Western Ontario and was about to start a PhD, but she decided she wanted people to know what she had found.The subject of her research, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet that had cured her younger daughter of ulcerative colitis when she was 8, was not Elaine's invention. It was the diet of Dr. Sidney Valentine Haas of New York. Her daughter was grown up, living life free of the disease that had nearly killed her and had almost destroyed the entire family. So for Elaine, getting the message out was urgent. Shortly after the book's release, Elaine appeared on television. Hours later, Food and the Gut Reaction was flying off the shelves from the basement of the Kirkton, Ont., farmhouse where Elaine and husband, Herb, had set up a publishing company. As the years went by, Elaine lectured across North America and abroad, pursuing her academic research. She expanded the book to explain the neurological effects of intestinal disease. Renamed Breaking the Vicious Cycle, the book has sold more than one million copies and been translated into seven languages. Through Internet sites and on-line support groups, thousands of people worldwide have been helped by the SCD. One of the most important breakthroughs Elaine made in recent years was the diet's beneficial effect on autism. An Internet website devoted to explaining the diet and autism has helped thousands of parents who would never have heard about Elaine's work. As one mother of an autistic child wrote, "When you see them emerge -- the true child -- with a loving personality, like an iridescent butterfly breaking out of its cocoon - well, that's why we all persevere." Elaine died without realizing the one achievement that could have helped hundreds of thousands of more people: the diet's acceptance by the mainstream medical community. For those of us who have been helped or cured, we believe that day will come. Judy is Elaine's younger daughter who was cured by the SCD.Â© Copyright 2006 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.


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## Patman75 (Mar 9, 2008)

I found this cliffnotes version of the book after I read the book. Highspeed connection recommended.www.autismone.org/uploads/2006/Goddard_Jody_1.ppt This one is just recipeswww.autismone.org/uploads/2006/Goddard_Jody_2.ppt


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## Moises (May 20, 2000)

I bought _Food and the Gut Reaction_ after hearing Gottschall on Dr. Ronald Hoffman's radio show one evening, in New York City. At that time, late 1980s, I "knew" that meat and fat were bad for me. I never prepared meat at home. I wasn't a vegetarian, and would only eat meat very occasionally at other people's houses or at restaurants.I tried the specific carbohydrate diet. It didn't help me. But I could tell that I was pigging out on the nuts and fruit and that was part of my problem. I could tell that the meat was a good influence.She got me started exploring low-carb eating, which, ultimately, make a huge difference in my life. I went from 9-10 bowel movements daily to 5-12 bowel movements a week. So, although her diet did not work for me, it got me exploring alternative ways of eating which led me to a much higher quality of life. I'll always be grateful for that.


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