Fortunately, while researching his condition online, Prasad came across a book called Breaking The Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall. The book outlined a strict dietary regimen called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (TM) for putting inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in remission.

Since then, the New Haven native has taken control of his ulcerative
colitis (a form of IBD). He has helped lots of other people do that, too. He started a website (click here) in 1998 through which the millions of people with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (both forms of IBD), celiac disease, IBS, and autism share recipes and stories that point the way to healthy, independent living free of dependence on drugs and unpredictable dashes to the hospital.

Prasad shares some of those recipes and stories in a new book, Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet™. The recipes and stories are drawn from his parents' Indian and Italian-American backgrounds; they work for readers whether they have gastrointestinal disease, generally want to eat more healthfully (80 of the recipes are non-dairy), or simply enjoy eating and cooking.

Following are excerpts from the book as well as an introductory personal message. (Note: In an unrelated capactiy, Prasad designed the New Haven Independent's crime map.)

* * * * *

A Life Shattered, Then Reclaimed

At age 17, I was diagnosed with IBD, specifically ulcerative colitis, a chronic disease marked by stomach cramps, diarrhea and intestinal bleeding. Although 1.4 million people in the U.S. have IBD, it isn't something people can easily discuss with friends or co-workers. Most of us suffer in silence, many live in a state of being not-quite-sick but not-quite-well while facing a lifetime of medication and probable surgery.

Having ulcerative colitis shattered my world of small-town high-school soccer meets, first romances, and daily teenage routines. The fairly secure suburban world my parents had created for me and my siblings quickly fell apart - over the next 7 years, I ended up in and out of hospitals, on and off many different medications, and life veered off-course for a while.

I was born in New Haven, and grew up in North Haven. My father is Indian, and he met my mother when he came to the U.S. to pursue work and study further. Both my mother and grandmother were born in New Haven, and were rooted in the local neighborhoods that flourished there then. Growing up in close proximity to my maternal family, I always heard vignettes of what the New Haven neighborhoods used to be like: the State Street open markets, the bustling downtown/green area, the old familiar neighborhoods. As a young boy, I also remember going to my grandmother's neighborhood store in New Haven, near the Quinnipiac River.

In my early 20's, after several hospitalizations because of my ulcerative colitis, with both hope and health waning, I came across a book called Breaking the Vicious Cycle where a biochemist, Elaine Gottschall, describes a strict diet to lessen the effects of IBD. She called it the Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ (SCD). Starting the diet allowed me to slowly wean off medications. The diet gave me back my life. Within a year, I went from relying on steroids to keep the disease in check and barely getting through the work day - to resuming a normal life, earning a masters degree while working full-time, as well as meeting my future wife, a Bombay-born and U.S.-educated graphic designer. After years of living from day to day, not knowing how I would feel in the next 24 hours, I was able to settle down and look ahead to the future.

Despite the SCD's continued success with thousands of people, it has had a hard time gaining acceptance in the medical community. A 2002, half-page Wall Street Journal article summed up the situation as follows:

"The failure of the IBD diet to gain widespread acceptance within the medical community is a lesson in the grim financial reality of medical research. Doctors don't accept treatments that aren't validated by controlled studies, and drug companies, which fund most medical research, pay to study pills, not diets."

Wanting to share my recovery with others, I published Colitis & Me: A Story of Recovery in 2002. In it I discuss my steady decline in health, which resulted in hospital stays, heavy meds, destroyed friendships, and the nightmare prospect of surgery to remove most of my intestines. The book also contains an analysis of IBD politics and presents crucial resources for those with the disease. It has been re-printed since and has sold over 2,000 copies.

Around the same time, I also started a website called www.scdrecipe.com, which contained a database of SCD-friendly recipes. Over the past ten years, this well-visited website has grown to offer not only recipes, but also other relevant information about the diet. In 2004, wanting to pull together recipes from scdrecipe.com, as well as from our families - my wife and I collaborated on Adventures in the Family Kitchen a collection of Italian-American and Indian recipes.

Because of the success of this book and my work within the IBD community, we were approached by Fair Winds Press to write another cookbook. After many months of measuring, stirring, baking, and editing, we put together a new volume that contains an international repertoire of SCD recipes.

The SCD changed my life and allowed me freedom to travel and explore beyond the restrictions of home, hospital and medications - whether it was simply living a "normal" life with my wife in New Haven, or visiting relatives in India. I wanted to re-create these experiences in the new cookbook by offering a culturally diverse set of recipes, but that also contained personal stories behind each one. Family recipes, cooking, and food itself can often connect an individual to memories that have been long-forgotten, and I wanted to bring alive the local Connecticut vignettes from my grandmother, mother, and other members of our families.

* * * *

Aunt Maggie's Butcher Block

In the corner of my Aunt Maggie's house stands a worn but solid block of wood on four short legs. The edges of the block are smooth to the touch and the top slopes and ripples. The butcher's block hasn't been used for decades, but it was once part of my grandparents' store in New Haven, Connecticut, Swanson's Market at 100 Pine St.

After returning from World War II, my grandfather, George Swanson, started a small store that sold meat, canned goods, and a few vegetables. One of the first purchases for the store was the butcher's block. The block followed them when they moved down the street to a larger space and began carrying a wider selection of groceries, as well as a memorable counter of assorted penny candy. When not making deliveries, Grandpa George spent much of his time wearing his apron, standing behind the butcher's block, and sharpening his knives to prepare orders.

Sunday mornings were some of the busiest. At 5:30 a.m., he would go to the bakery to buy bags of bread--crusty seeded loaves and rolls. By 6:30 my mother and grandmother had lined up the bags, identified by customers' names and filled with their orders. By the time church let out, the family would be ready for the morning rush. People picked up the bags, ordered deli meats, and walked around the store to buy a few more items.

Although she's too humble to say such a thing, my grandmother was well known in the neighborhood for her cooking. My aunt tells of many newly married women coming to the store, not only to buy food, but also to ask her advice on certain dishes. Also, in the summers, boaters on the Quinnipiac River would pull ashore and walk the few blocks to the store. They'd buy sandwiches made of Italian bread, layered with cold cuts, lettuce, and tomato, and then add a side of something my grandmother had prepared that morning: potato salad, macaroni salad, or coleslaw.

Occasionally, a tanker in need of provisions would stop in the harbor. My grandfather would drive down to pick up the chef, who would make a large order: 40 pounds of potatoes, 25 pounds of ground beef, and boxes and boxes of food for the crew. During the holidays, the church would order food for people harder hit by the economy. My grandfather, mom, and aunt would deliver the groceries to the families' homes.

My grandfather died before I was born. In most families, heirlooms are often passed down through the generations. The same is true for our family, except one item is larger than average: my aunt has helped keep alive memories of the store with my grandfather's butcher's block, now retired to hold a dried flower arrangement that sports tiny white lights.

* * * *

Sue's Stuffed Mushrooms

My mom often makes this recipe as an appetizer when the family gets together. The mushrooms are quite addictive, as it is easy to keep popping them into your mouth.

Ingredients
1 pound (455 g) white mushrooms
4 ounces (115 g) fresh chopped spinach
3 ounces (85 g) dry curd cottage cheese
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 egg
1/8 to 1/4 cup (13 to 26 g) grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC, or gas mark 6).

Clean the mushrooms. Separate the mushroom stems and caps. Set the caps aside.

Chop up the stems. In a bowl, combine the mushroom stems with the remaining ingredients.

Place the mushroom caps in an ovenproof pan. Heap the mixture from the bowl into each cap. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 15 minutes.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Lime-Infused Chicken with Basil

Basil is an herb that has been cultivated in and around Asia for more than 5,000 years. The name means "king" in Greek, which also reminds us that it is the most often used herb, especially in its fresh form. The myths attached to it vary according to country--as a protector against scorpions in Africa, as a transcender to God and heaven in ancient India and Egypt, and as a symbol of desire in Italy. Perhaps you can create your own myths after you sample this wonderful recipe below.

Ingredients
Marinade
2 limes, juiced
1 cup (40 g) fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
3 tablespoons (45 ml) canola oil

1 pound (455 g) boneless and skinless chicken breasts

To make the marinade, combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl.

Pierce the chicken with a fork or knife, place it in a dish or shallow bowl, pour the marinade over it, and let it marinate for 8 hours or overnight.

Put the marinated chicken in a stovetop pan, reserving the excess marinade, and cook over medium heat until done, 20 to 30 minutes. You don't need to add oil to the pan because there is enough oil in the marinade to prevent sticking.

Brush the chicken with the excess marinade if necessary during the cooking process.

Yield: 2 to 3 servings

Note: You could also grill the chicken on a barbecue.