Our GAPS Beginning

If you’ve seen my last few blog posts, you may be wondering: Why all the information on Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS)? Why did you decide to investigate it? Do you have any personal experience with it? Is it hard to follow? Does it really work? The answer to all is: YES! 

Why GAPS? 

GAPS is something Jason and I learned about at the 2017 Weston A. Price Foundation Conference; however, it wasn’t the first time we ever heard about it. A couple years ago a nutritionist recommended I look into it for my dad, who has Crohn’s Disease, an inflammatory bowel disease. I recall looking at the book online, reading through some highlights, passing the info to my mom, and that was it. 

Considering our kids have minor food sensitivities and our son has always struggled with digestive issues (bowel movements) I probably should have investigated it deeper. However, their doctor check-ups are always fine, and it’s thought they may grow out of them. Although the “sensitivities” we experience are nothing major compared to some, we still feel it’s better to be proactive than reactive. 

And God always has a plan with timing, right?!  I’m pretty sure if I had just read the book without hearing the author of GAPS, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, speak it wouldn’t have had the same effect. After attending the conference and talking it through; we decided our entire family should try.

The nutrition work and whole food supplements we use definitely help, but there was often an underlying feeling we were missing something. That somewhere along the way the body should start producing needed enzymes, breaking down food, absorbing nutrients, and functioning well on its own without additional supplements. Of course, there will be times of stress/illness/growing/etc. when the body needs assistance, but overall the body should learn what to do by itself. 

We worried that prolonged supplement use, even if compromised of only whole foods from a trusted supplier, the body would become dependent on them. Not to mention the amount of budget they take up!

We also knew that correcting as much as possible in children’s early years is key to setting them up for a lifetime of good health and establishing good eating/health habits. Feeding their bodies properly while they’re developing is huge. Having this in the back of our mind, we started to get frustrated when we didn’t see the improvements we were hoping for. Anytime we tried weaning a supplement, things were ok for a short while and then problems started up again, which reinforced our concern of being dependent.

The premise of the GAPS Protocol is to heal and seal the gut lining. It made total sense to us then that without sealing the gut lining, sensitivities to certain foods, malabsorption of minerals, and other skin related issues would continue to occur. Why? Because no matter what/how many supplements a person uses, how healthy they eat, or how clean they try to make their living environment; things meant to be kept inside the gut lining make it out and cause the body to attack it.

_{Note: The GAPS Protocol is explained here. A brief overview of gut lining here and summary of gut flora here.}  

A week after being home from the conference, the entire family jumped right into the Full GAPS Diet. It’s been an experience for sure! 

Personal Experience / Does it Work?

It’s been almost two months now. There have been ups and downs; thankfully more ups! I’m most thankful we didn’t have to adjust our diet too much. Shortly after our daughter started having digestive issues (around 3 years ago) we switched to only organic produce, raw dairy, organic pasture raised eggs, sourced where to buy local, grass-fed, organic meats, and cut out the majority of processed foods (whatever processed food we did eat was organic and we knew what all the ingredients were). 

Additional changes we’ve made include removing any and all grains (even gluten-free/ancient/heirloom varieties), removing all starches (even potatoes and starchy vegetables), only naturally occurring sugars (i.e.: honey or fruit sugars), and no processed foods (still miss those blue corn tortilla chips!!!). We started making fresh-pressed juice in the morning – it’s super tasty! Also introduced raw sauerkraut (I’m still learning to like this one) and an actual probiotic supplement (previously we just relied on cultured food or fermented beverages, like kombucha). 

Changes I’ve seen in myself are:

~ Losing a few pounds, which can be common when starches are removed from the diet.

~ There was some sizable fluid retention in my left knee that’s now completely gone. I’d been working since June 2017 to decrease the swelling via chiropractic adjustments, nutritionist/dietary changes, kinesiology tape, and supplements – all of which helped a little – but I couldn’t believe how fast it dissipated once starting the Full GAPS Diet. 

~ My complexion has cleared up and seems brighter.

~ When I have cheated on the diet, my body is much quicker to respond.

~ I haven’t really needed to take any of the digestive enzymes I used to (save the few times I’ve eaten out!)

~ My monthly cycles have lightened up and shortened in duration.

Changes we’ve noticed with our son:

When speaking to Dr. Campbell-McBride and explaining his history; she recommended taking him off the homemade dairy formula and substituting meat stock, cutting out any high protein dairy, and supplementing Chlorella. In her clinical studies, she’s found high-protein dairy can contribute to constipation, but high-fat dairy can help.

It was funny she recommended stopping the dairy formula because as our in-laws were watching the kids that weekend, they relayed he was eating his food ok but was refusing the formula – not a common occurrence! We’re constantly amazed at how it seems our children are more in tune with their body than we think!!! Since then he’s been getting 6 to 8 ounces of meat stock 3-4 times daily in addition to regular food. 

~ Bowel movements are much more frequent and better consistency.

~ Has responded well to the probiotic.

~ No longer taking daily digestive supplements.

~ On days he’s feeling better he has a calmer demeanor.

~ More energy all around!

Changes with our daughter:

I’m so thankful we caught/started working on her digestive issues right away. We’re blessed her health has always been pretty good. If she does start to come down with something, she usually kicks it in a day or two. (Knock on wood!)

~ Consistently two bowel movements a day.

~ Responded well to the probiotic.

~ Eats vegetables once if not twice a day and likes them! (A huge accomplishment for us!) 

~ Requests and enjoys her fresh-pressed juice in the morning; even if it’s mostly greens. 

~ The remaining cradle cap spots on her scalp are reduced every time she has a healthy dose of meat stock. 

~ More energy; because I wasn’t tired chasing her before!  But thankfully she still has the amazing ability to turn it off in 2 minutes and sleep all night.

Diet Execution

I could lie here and say it’s been easy, but it hasn’t. We’re settling into a routine, finding everyone’s likes/dislikes, discovering how far we need to plan ahead with certain foods, and learning a lot about our bodies! 

I’m not one that adapts to change quickly or easily! So when we decided to jump into the Full GAPS Diet I immediately started reading the GAPS book from cover to cover. Knowing the reasons why Dr. Campbell-McBride does things in a certain order, why she includes certain foods and not others, and why specific nutrients are so vital to the healing process made it much easier. 

 As previously mentioned, not many dietary changes were needed, but they were hard. The biggest one being the removal of starches. We used to eat a fair amount of rice, quinoa, and sweet potatoes. Our substitute has become various squashes and properly soaked black beans, which has become my husband’s new favorite food!

The morning breakfast of soaked porridge (oats are a grain) has turned into a mass consumption of eggs. Still struggling with this one as the kids don’t like “stuff” mixed in with the eggs yet and going through a dozen eggs a day adds up. (Note: We’re soon getting our own laying hens!!!)

Our intake of vegetables has increased, and we’ve also tried some new ones. I never knew I’d like brussel sprouts! Lol Our little girl is also much more open to tasting and eating them. My favorite way to cook them is in the cast iron skillet with some coconut oil, salt, and garlic salt. I try very hard to purchase fresh produce but have a supply of organic frozen on hand. 

Making fresh-pressed juices has been fun for everyone. It’s like art class deciding what to put in. This tends to be our main way of getting spinach, kale, dandelion leaves, etc. Fresh orange juice made this way is phenomenal! 

Cooking oils have also been switched. I’ve used grapeseed oil and bacon grease for pretty much everything the last couple years. After learning about proper ratios of Omega 3 and 6’s we now use coconut oil, bacon fat, or homemade rendered lard when cooking/heating up foods. Cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil for cold use. Raw butter for baking purposes. 

I made the mistake of introducing a new food the same day the kids had something they haven’t had in a couple weeks (just because I didn’t get to the grocery store for it). Our son became bound up the next day after a streak of bowel movements every day for almost two weeks. For most people skipping a day might not seem like a big deal, but for him it’s almost a guaranteed congestion since that’s how his body detoxes if the other end is not available. Lesson learned – only one “new” item a day and wait several days after!!! 

Getting enough fats has been somewhat of a challenge, especially for Jason, who is a hard gainer to start with. Lots of animal fats, coconut oil, butter, etc. 

We’ve worked through several recipes in the Heal Your Gut cookbook. They’ve turned out wonderful and it’s a huge help to not start from scratch. I’ll be looking for one or two other GAPS based cookbooks for additional ideas soon! 

Meal planning – kind of a MUST! Especially with needing to soak/prepare some of the ingredients in advance. Remembering to start the next pot of meat stock is also important (there have been a few late nights due to poor planning!). I also find we tend to eat the same exact thing (tacos) when I don’t have a list of meals ready for the week. There are a few crock pot recipes in the cookbook, but generally, most meals are prepared fresh – meaning I need to thaw the meat in advance. 

Probiotics – We’ve introduced sauerkraut and its juice, cultured creme fraiche and yogurt, and an actual supplement. Starting small and increasing in small amounts has been key. We’ve all experienced reactions/symptoms we believe to be die-off related, which lets us know things are working! (more on this topic in a later post).

Cheating – I must confess I’ve done this…ok…a few times! Not surprisingly for the Holidays, but I’ve always had a large sweet tooth and need to practice greater self-control. Afterall, if I want to reap the full benefits of healing and sealing the gut, I can’t keep eating foods that will cause backward progress! (Pep talk complete.) 

Overall

All in all, we’re happy with our journey! There has been definite healing. Some of it is slow, but we’re learning the body responds better to small adjustments at a time. Going slow also allows us to manage the detox somewhat. Detoxing is hard work for the body, especially when a leaky gut is involved, so not overloading the system is important. 

We do intend to go through the 6 stages of the Introduction Diet. I’m still prepping for it (mainly in my head)! It’s hard work in the sense that most meals require preparation and cooking, but we’re learning to embrace it. And when the food tastes amazing and both kids gobble up their plates it makes it easier to keep going.