$25.95
The Grain-Free
Gourmet cookbook series helps people with limited food choices rediscover the
joy of eating. Each book contains over 100 gluten-free, low-lactose,
refined-sugar-free recipes that use only whole foods.
The dishes in the
Grain-Free Gourmet books are inspired by the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD),
which was made famous by Elaine Gottschall in her book Breaking the Vicious
Cycle: Intestinal Health through Diet. The concept of the SCD is simple. It
eliminates most complex carbohydrates so food is easier to digest.
The basic SCD
ingredients — beef, veal, chicken, lamb, pork, seafood, eggs, honey, some forms
of dairy, nuts, seeds, pure spices, fruits, and most vegetables — are combined
in the Grain-Free Gourmet books to make delicacies such as sand cookies, classic burgers,
sweet and
spicy squash soup, basic biscuits, crispy southern
chicken, and peanut butter
ice box truffles.
Renowned
pediatrician Dr. Sydney Valentine Haas developed the SCD in the 1920s to treat
people with celiac disease — in fact, according to Haas, hundreds of celiacs who
started the SCD in childhood were reportedly cured of their condition. However,
the SCD fell out of favour when Dutch physician Dr. Willem Dicke discovered
that gluten was a key trigger of celiac symptoms and the gluten-free diet
became the standard treatment for celiac disease.
Even though not all
celiacs respond well to the gluten-free diet, most people with celiac disease
choose it over the SCD due to a lack of awareness. There is also currently no
formal research being conducted on the SCD, despite its potential for curing
celiac disease and demonstrated promise in treating other conditions, such as
ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and autism
spectrum disorder.
Nevertheless, the
SCD has been adopted by thousands of people worldwide and there is hope that it
will undergo clinical trials so it can be integrated into mainstream medicine
and provide new treatment options for millions of people.