GAPS: The Diet Portion
My Grandma was an excellent cook. Everything she made tasted fabulous and was made, for the most part, from scratch. All her produce came from the garden and fruit trees in the backyard and my grandpa went to the market for fresh meats. She cooked this way for as long as I can remember and lived on her own, in her own house, until she passed away at the age of 97. My grandpa lived to be 95 years old. Obviously, they did a few things right! I’m a firm believer their healthy cooking habits factored into their age.
A quick google search relays the average life expectancy is now 77 – 81 years. Why the decrease? Many medical personnel would say genetics. Did you know a person’s gut flora can be considered genetic? Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, author of the GAPS book, says this about genetics and gut flora:
“As far as science knows, an unborn baby is sterile. Its body has no bacteria, viruses or fungi living in it. When the time of birth comes, as the baby goes through the birth canal, it gets its first doses of microbes. Its skin, eyes, and mucous membranes in the mouth and nose acquire their first micro-flora.”
So, if a mother’s gut flora is compromised, which is probably a large percentage of the population, the compromised flora is passed on to the baby. Unfortunately, this puts the baby at a disadvantage from the beginning. But it’s also good news, because it means we have a chance to fix it. We have a chance to restore our own, our children’s, and as a result an unborn baby’s beneficial flora.
The process to healing and sealing the gut, which includes restoring beneficial flora and reducing opportunistic flora, can be found in the GAPS book. Dr. Campbell-McBride discusses three areas to work on: diet, supplementation, and detoxification. While each area is equally important, the diet portion can be the most overwhelming.
The following information breaks down each “phase” of the GAPS diet and offers a few notes/tips. If considering working through this, please, please read the GAPS book before starting. You will gain a better understanding of why things are done in the order described, the reason why some food groups are allowed and others are not, and more detailed information on gut flora and how it’s connected to the body. The GAPS Diet website is also a helpful resource!
The Introduction Diet
It consists of a pretty strict list of foods designed to start healing and sealing the gut lining. The basis of it is meat stock (short cook time), soups, meats, limited vegetables and fruits, certain fermented foods/dairies, probiotics, raw egg yolks, fresh pressed juices, and a few others. No fiber. The intro diet is broken up into six stages.
Before any dairy products are ingested, she recommends doing a dairy sensitivity test. Place a drop of the product on the inside of your wrist and let dry just before bedtime. If the spot is red or raised in the morning you will need to skip the dairy until further healing is done. The GAPS book outlines a specific structure for introducing dairy if there is a sensitivity issue.
The first stage starts with homemade meat stock, homemade soups, and probiotic foods. If your body tolerates those well (no diarrhea, constipation, sickness) you move onto the next stage. Each additional stage (stages 2-6) entails maintaining the foods already tolerated and adding in new foods. If you try a new food and experience an adverse reaction, it means the gut lining is not healed enough to digest it. If you try introducing and/or increasing a probiotic and have an adverse reaction, most likely you’re experiencing a die-off reaction. The GAPS book clearly outlines what foods are allowed in each stage, how much of each you should start with, and what amount you should try to build up to. It also relays what to do in case of a die-off reaction.
Dr. Campbell-McBride selected foods with large amounts of amino acids, gelatin, glucosamines, fats, vitamins, minerals, etc. She removes foods that can irritate and/or cause inflammation, such as those high in fiber. Lastly, she adds in foods to help restore the beneficial flora: sauerkraut, yogurt, creme fraiche, fermented veggies, etc.
It may seem tedious, but it will allow the gut lining to heal “quickly”. I put that word in quotations because some people get through the introduction portion in a couple weeks and others with a severely damaged gut may spend months there. By stripping away all the processed foods, unhealthy fats, starches, sugars, etc. – you’re allowing the body to expend its energy on healing the gut lining instead of working overtime simply to digest foods.
Note:
Remember the purpose of eating like this is to heal and seal the gut lining. If possible, it is highly recommended to source vegetables and fruits that are organically grown, meats and bones that are grass-fed and organic, and unprocessed (raw) dairy.
The conventional way food is grown and processed these days depletes the nutrients, alters the composition, and injects it with pesticides, herbicides, growth hormones, antibiotics, etc. Those are some of the very things we are trying to detox from our body! Local farmer markets and CSA’s are a great place to look for healthier options.
The Full GAPS Diet
This phase allows a broader group of nutrient dense foods to continue the healing process, feed beneficial flora, and strengthen the body. Again, her book includes a detailed list of foods allowed and not allowed. The easiest way for me to summarize this list of foods allowed is to picture the outside aisles of the grocery store (minus starchy vegetables, grains, bakery, and a few others). Basically, starting fresh with everything!
Having made it through the Intro Diet, you should know what to look for (how your body responds) when introducing new foods. Hopefully, you’ll also have learned (or brushed up on) how to make healthy meals and some ways to make kitchen life easier.
When introducing new foods, follow the same directions for the Intro Diet, watching for any adverse reactions. If you do react, wait another 4-5 weeks and then try another small portion. Many of Dr. Campbell-McBride’s clinical patients have found their food intolerances/allergies disappear after following this protocol! When your gut lining is sealed, undigested food no longer leaks out causing the body to attack it.
Dr. Campbell-McBride recommends maintaining this diet for two years. That might seem crazy; however, if we think about how many years we’ve been feeding our bodies processed garbage, two years might not seem so bad! This is a time to pay attention to your body and how it feels. And don’t worry – there are a few baked items allowed (a saving grace for me)!!!
It’s also a time to get creative in the kitchen! Get your kids involved and make them part of the process! If you’re pressed for time, invest in a few cookbooks centered around GAPS. We’ve been using the Heal Your Gut cookbook and everything we’ve made so far has been awesome! You could also try the Nourishing Traditions cookbook for ideas; although some of them may need to modified to make it GAPS legal. And please, reach out and look for people going through the same thing or those who’ve already gone through it. (Facebook groups!) They can be a wealth of information and help.
Notes:
As you find foods you like, prepare them in bulk and freeze or can! We’ve done this with black beans and pureed squashes. It also saves money to purchase beef or pork by the quarter, half, or whole. If needed, ask someone to split the meat with you!
Meal planning is a huge plus! After you’re done planning, the grocery list becomes simple and you can take meat out of the freezer ahead of time. It also allows you to look ahead for busy nights where slow cooker meals are easier to manage versus meals that need time for baking or additional prep work. Save more time by picking a day of the week for food prep (i.e.: we cut up veggies one time for the week) and making meat stock.
And while it can be tempting to make the same 7 meals over and over (I’m guilty!) it’s important to switch things up to get a broader spectrum of nutrients. Each vegetable, fruit, meat, etc. has its own values and while some may overlap, not all of them do. So mix it up!
Coming Off
This is the final phase. I cannot stress enough that it should not be rushed, and it does not mean you go back to the prior ways of eating!!! Most of the time you should still be adhering to the Full GAPS Diet, including probiotics. Dr. Campbell-McBride suggests waiting to try foods on the “not allowed” list until you’ve had at least six months of normal digestion. Her book includes a list of things to start with. As usual, introduce new foods one a time and in small portions.
Completing the Full GAPS Diet will help form healthy eating habits, both at home and away. Adhere to those as close as you can! It’s not to say you can’t splurge here and there with a meal out or something sweet. However, when you do – keep ingredients in the truest form possible and practice moderation.
Tip
If going through a period of stress and/or find antibiotics necessary; revert to the Full GAPS Diet. The last thing the body needs is to waste energy digesting foods that aren’t healthy or easy on the body. Antibiotics kill off both the bad and good pathogens, so the body will need time and extra help replenishing them!
As. Dr. Campbell-McBride states:
“In conclusion: at first glance the GAPS diet appears to be very hard work. However, it is a very wholesome and healthy diet and will allow your patient to heal and seal the gut lining and lay a strong foundation for good health for life. It means the majority of GAPS people do not have to adhere to a special diet for the rest of their lives: once the digestive system starts functioning normally, they can gradually introduce most wholesome foods commonly eaten around the world.”
For more information on what roles gut flora plays in our bodies read here and for general information on gut flora read here.
