![]() Elaine Gottschall, the author of Breaking the Vicious Cycle, was inspired to write the book when her daughter developed severe ulcerative colitis. In her daughter's case, no matter what she ate, it went right through her. The doctors, like our doctors, told her that food had nothing to do with her daughter's symptoms. Thankfully, we all know that's not true. To make a long story short, Elaine ran into an kindly old doctor who prescribed a natural diet for digestive maladies. Within two years, her daughter was thriving, growing, and slowly but surely, regaining her health. Elaine, at the age of 47, went on to get degrees in biology, nutritional biochemistry, and cellular biology. As she grew older she became afraid that what she had learned from this doctor would be lost. So, she self published Breaking the Vicious Cycle. Which is now in I don't know how many printings. The question begs to be asked; Which came first? The food or the disease? If the answer is only food, then why, when people have bone marrow transplants do their symptoms (and the disease) disappear? What drove me to this book is the idea that I could do with food what my doctor is trying to do with Humira. With Humira there were promises: you'll go into remission, you will be able to eat more food, you'll feel better. There is no cure but we can reduce the inflammation. Humira isn't working and I'm scared, yes, scared, to up the dose. Especially after reading the horror stories associated with the drug. All kinds of cancer, fungus', whatever can take up host in me that I will have a hell of a time fighting off. The idea grew. Can food really make a change? First off, I know it can. If I eat too much sugar it makes me sick. If I eat dairy, it makes me sick. If I eat salad greens, they make me sick. I was/am at the point where no matter what I eat it makes me sick. So, what if I stop eating? I did for three days. (Not a recommendation) One thing I did notice is that my tummy quieted. By the third day I actually had a hunger pain which I haven't experience in quite some time. Back to the book. I brewed up some chicken soup. No problemo. Lived on it for a few days--still pain--but no gas. Not a bit. Not a smidgeon, which makes sense as nothing I'm eating promotes gas. Felt pretty good, but I've still got a heck of a lot of burning going on which is quite painful. I added some fruit juice, grape 100% per the diet. Did a 50/50 thing with water and the juice. It's good. Go without sugar for a few days and your sweetness level will soar. Seriously, the one big issue I had was a craving for sweets. Everyone knows I love chocolate and chocolate is a no no. The big C for craving vanished by the fourth day. Living on soup and water/juice made me feel pretty good for a few days. Until today. My stomach is in an uproar. I haven't given it anything to be upset about, well except... Last Saturday night I was sound asleep. In my dream my legs were cold, the fan was blowing right on top of them. For some reason I had it locked in my head that my dog, Chelsea, a rather large pit bull/labrador mix had stolen my blanket. I sat up, grabbed the comforter, and pulled with everything in me. I expected resistance. I didn't find any. Now, I have a rather high bed. I few off the mattress, hit the ottoman, and tumbled to the floor, totally blowing out another disc in my back. My husband sat up in bed and screamed, "Are you all right? What's going on? Why are you on the floor?" I was too stunned to answer. Anyone who's had a blown disc knows what it feels like, the burning sensation that travels up and down the nerve, the ache in the legs, the back, the... Oh, why whine. It is what it is. Anyway, it could be the pain medication setting me off. I've been doing okay, but did take two Tramadol yesterday because it hurt so bad. I will stop that today and see if my gut feels better. It also might be the slice of hard cheddar cheese I had. Seemed to be a little on the greasy side, but we'll have to see. It's trial and error. Basically the diet is meat, eggs, fruits (not all), vegetables (not all), and fruit (not all), and hard cheese. It isn't a difficult diet once you get beyond the sugar cravings. Of course, I wasn't able to eat bread due to a partial blockage, so it didn't bother me much to lose it completely. You can use almond flour to make baked goodies, but I'm not ready yet. I'll put a post up next Wednesday, because on Thursday I'm having the endoscopy and colonoscopy. One stop shopping at my doctor's office. (((hugs))) Louann
Loni
7/24/2013 08:36:19 am
Great book, great diet. I wish you luck.
Louann
7/24/2013 11:17:04 am
Thank you. Comments are closed.
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