Two Views: Mother and Scientist

A Mother's View:
From 1952 to 1960, there seemed to be no answers to the series of health problems facing our child. Periods of severe diarrhea, severe constipation, spontaneous nosebleeds, night-time siezures, failure to thrive, and, finally, the diagnosis of ulcerative colitis. The years of treatment with prednisone and sulfonamides, plus innumerable other medical approaches, had been unsuccessful and surgery seemed imminent. The prospect of the removal of an eight year old child's colon can be described , as one Mother said when faced with the same prospect, "it was like every black cloud ever
created was hovering over us." And then, it happened! An acquaintance pointed us to the office of Dr. Sidney Valentine Haas, a specialist practicing pediatrics in New York City. Ninety-two year old Dr. Haas placed our child on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and within days, the neurological symptoms went, never to return, the colitis symptoms were
completely gone in one year . She began to thrive leaving all the previous problems behind and making up for lost time.

How could a simple diet cure an "incurable disease?" The mystery haunted me and launched me on a "treasure hunt" through academia for the next 12 years.

A Scientist's View:
The pieces of the puzzle began falling into place during the process of integrating old and new findings in the science of digestion, immunology, nutritional biochemistry, microbiology, cellular biology, and histology. Even as this odyssey progressed, discoveries were rapidly being reported in the medical literature. It became apparent that in those suffering with intestinal problems there is injury to the intestinal surface, specifically, to the digestive enzymes residing on the intestinal cells. This prevents
the completion of digestion of most carbohydrates and some protein and, therefore, these undigested foods provide excess nutrition for the unseen world of intestinal microbes. Result: they overpopulate. Their increase in numbers results in an increase in fermentation. This results in :

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet, developed by Dr. Sidney V. Haas, provides an intervention to this vicious cycle by depriving intestinal microbes of their energy source while providing excellent nutrition to the patient. By providing a diet that contains predominantly "predigested" carbohydrates, the individual with an intestinal problem can be maximally nourished without over-stimulation of the intestinal microbial population.

Slides show biopsies taken from children, all with chronic diarrhea, (including soy-protein, milk protein, and gluten sensitivities). It can be seen that the intestinal mucosa has an increase in mucus covering in which colonies of microorganisms are found. There is increased cell shedding and turnover, damage to the intestinal microvilli, partial and complete villous atrophy, and resulting carbohydrate intolerance.

To summarize, the continual, indiscriminate feeding of undigestible, and, thereby, unabsorbable carbohydrates to individuals with chronic diarrhea (with various diagnoses) can only perpetuate and exacerbate the problems.

Information published on Breaking the Vicious Cycle Web site is intended to support the book Breaking the vicious cycle by Elaine Gottschall and is for information purposes only. It is not the intention of this site to diagnose, prescribe, or replace medical care. Your doctor or nutrition expert should be consulted before undertaking a radical change of diet.
© 2005 Breaking the Vicious Cycle