Colitis & Me is Raman Prasad's story of recovering from
bowel disease. After a year of following the Specific
Carbohydrate Diet he was able to taper off of medications
and return to health.
Suggested retail price $18.95
First Printing - March, 2003
Fourteen years ago, at age 17, a gastroenterologist
diagnosed him with ulcerative colitis. Over seven years
his health steadily deteriorated resulting in hospital
stays, a bloodied intestine, heavy use of prescription
steroids, poor spirits, and probable surgery. Fortunately,
he came across Elaine Gottschall's book Breaking the
Vicious Cycle which details the Specific Carbohydrate
Diet (SCD) which he used to recover from bowel disease.
BOOK FOREWARD by Elaine Gottschall
Author of Breaking the Vicious Cycle
Raman Prasad's odyssey through the perils of ulcerative
colitis is no less heroic than those of the original hero
of the epic poem. His return to health, although not a
product of modern medicine, is a product of good science.
Suffering with an illness such as ulcerative colitis has
a few distinct and humiliating aspects. One is that
because it happens below the belt the disease reduces
one's dignity because the patient is constantly in fear.
The patient with ulcerative colitis is secretive and
suffers in silence, unlike the patient with a triple
bypass who talks about his successes at gatherings,
even to baring his chest to show his incision. Add to
that, the hopelessness of being told his/her disease is
incurable and the helplessness of being told he/she can
do nothing about changing his/her diet to effect a cure.
But Raman and hundreds of others have found that what
they are told is without foundation. The Specific
Carbohydrate diet has brought many back to health
because the doctor who developed the diet, Dr. Sidney
Valentine Haas, was a scientist in the true word. He
understand the world of intestinal bacteria and the
effect of the modern diet on this world of microorganisms
and, subsequently, the immune system.
When Dr. Sidney Valentine Haas cured my child in the
1970's of ulcerative colitis, after three years of a
perilous and painful experience such as Raman's, I knew
I had found a workable solution. One cannot be quiet
about such a miracle and, after years of academic study,
years of watching the diet works its magic on hundreds,
I wrote Breaking the Vicious Cycle.
We have a saying among us Specific Carbohydrate Dieters
which reads, "we will reach one person at a time and
will keep planting seeds." Raman's personal journey
through ulcerative colitis recorded in this memoir
Colitis & Me: A Story of Recovery is doing just that.
