The Specific Carbohydrate Diet: Introduction

I recently read the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall. This book is all about digestive health through eating the correct things for your body. Gottschall covers all of the scientific evidence and reasoning behind the diet she introduces in the book, The Specific Carbohydrate Diet.

Source: Amazon.com

"The Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ has helped many thousands of people with various forms of bowel disease and other ailments vastly improve their quality of life. In many cases people consider themselves cured. It is a diet intended mainly for Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease, diverticulitis, cystic fibrosis and chronic diarrhea. However it is a very healthy, balanced and safe diet that has health benefits for everyone. The foods that are allowed on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ are based on the chemical structure of these foods. Carbohydrates are classified by their molecular structure. 

The allowed carbohydrates are monosaccharides and have a single molecule structure that allow them to be easily absorbed by the intestine wall. Complex carbohydrates which are disaccharides (double molecules) and polysaccharides (chain molecules) are not allowed. Complex carbohydrates that are not easily digested feed harmful bacteria in our intestines causing them to overgrow producing by products and inflaming the intestine wall. The diet works by starving out these bacteria and restoring the balance of bacteria in our gut. 

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ is biologically correct because it is species appropriate. The allowed foods are mainly those that early man ate before agriculture began. The diet we evolved to eat over millions of years was predominantly one of meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, nuts, low-sugar fruits. Our modern diet including starches, grains, pasta, legumes, and breads has only been consumed for a mere 10,000 years. In the last hundred years the increase in complex sugars and chemical additives in the diet has led to a huge increase in health problems ranging from severe bowel disorders to obesity and brain function disorders. We have not adapted to eat this modern diet as there has not been enough time for natural selection to operate. It therefore makes sense to eat the diet we evolved with. 

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ was clinically tested for over 50 years by Dr Haas and biochemist Elaine Gottschall with convincing results. From feedback from the various lists and other information at least 75% of those who adhere rigidly to the diet gain significant improvement." (1)

This diet is meant to help put Irritable Bowel Diseases into remission and heal the damage that has been done. For Crohn's disease sufferers, the author recommends a minimum of two years on the diet due to the severity of the disease and damage that is done to the digestive tract. 

It will be a difficult change to make, lots of planning and cooking at home all the time, but I'm going to push myself to follow this life-changing diet to the best of my ability. 

1. "About the Diet." Breaking the Vicious Cycle. Kirkton Press Limited, n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2014.