Note: I know many of you may be intimidated by me even talking about a strict diet that is potentially two years in length. Don’t feel like, by any means, that you must do GAPS to get clear. That’s not really what I’m trying to say – I got 100% clear 90% of the time long before I ever heard about GAPS, and most people can definitely clear their skin without such measures.
For me, I personally just want to take things to the next level for several reasons that I’ll talk about on Wednesday. And for some people with extremely stubborn acne and digestive symptoms, it may resonate with them as something they want to try. If that’s not you, incorporating just some of the GAPS principles could also help your skin (like bone broth for example!)- so hopefully either way, you’ll find all this information and my experiences interesting 🙂
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Last Friday, I told you briefly what the GAPS diet is and what the potential is for curing your acne (and the rest of your health problems) with it, and why. So, read that first if you haven’t!
But, I didn’t really get too much into what exactly the diet and program entails, which is what I’ll be sharing with you today.
To give you some background, the GAPS program was developed by a mother, neurologist, and nutritionist named Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. She had a child with autism (considered incurable), and wondered why the incidence of autism was increasing ten fold from just a few years ago. She was also desperate to help her child and was upset that the field of neurology really had no answers.
After serious research, scientific study, and clinical observation linking the digestive system to autism and other mental disorders, she developed the GAPS program – which is actually based on a tried and true gut healing diet called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) developed by a guy called Dr. Haas and popularized by Elaine Gottschall and her book “Breaking the Vicious Cycle“.
GAPS is the SCD with a few tweaks that Doc Natasha found that she was needing to make to help her clients. She completely healed her child of autism with the GAPS program (which is pretty crazy) and has helped thousands and thousands of patients in her clinic heal from not only autism but the entire spectrum of mental illnesses and behavioural problems, all sorts of auto immune disorders, digestive illness (Chrohns, Colitis, IBD), and all kinds of stuff.
So, yeah.. basically, GAPS was specifically developed for autism and primarily that was who began using the program – parents of autistic children. But then (and of course this makes sense because “all diseases begin in the gut”), people started discovering that GAPS was giving relief from almost every disease and little health issue under the sun and GAPS is rapidly growing in popularity.
The Ins and Outs of GAPS
GAPs has three components:
- The diet, based on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet
- Detoxification
- Supplementation
The Full GAPS Diet
The basics of the GAPS diet is this:
- A large deal of homemade bone broth and meat stock and its resulting gelatin are required to be consumed every day, as this is extremely healing to the gut.
- Fermented foods and probiotics are required in in large quantities to repopulate the gut with good bacteria. This includes things like homemade sauerkraut and other cultured vegetables, and fermented dairy.
- All grains, regular dairy containing lactose, refined sugars, and starches (like potato and sweet potato and most beans) are avoided. This is because, according to Doc Natasha, the sugars in these foods are double bond sugars (disaccharides), which need to be broken apart to be absorbed by the gut wall. But I guess that doesn’t happen too well in people with a weakened gut, and then it goes on to feed the bad bacteria.
- The most encouraged foods on the diet (aside from broth and probiotic foods) are eggs, animal fats, fresh meats, fish, shellfish, fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, garlic, and olive oil. Fresh pressed vegetable juices are encouraged. Lactose free organic dairy such as homemade yogurt, kefir, butter and ghee, and aged cheeses are also allowed.
- Unlike the candida diet, ripe fruits, honey, and sweet vegetables like beets, winter squash, and carrots are allowed. Lentils are allowed in later stages too. Doc Natasha feels that over the long term as with this diet, candida and gut flora imbalances can be healed even with the inclusion of these simple sugars. (Personally I believe that cutting all sugars are good in the short term strategy against candida though).
- Processed foods and any food additives are to be completely avoided. Organic and naturally raised food is strongly encouraged.
Click here to read the full list of what you can and cannot eat on the GAPS.
The Intro GAPS Diet
Okay, but that’s not the end of the story. There’s actually two parts to the GAPS diet – the introduction diet, and the full diet. What I just described is the full diet.
So the thing about GAPS is that it’s not just a diet – it’s also an elimination diet and you only get to eat the full range of foods on the full GAPS diet as your body can handle them. You start from bare minimums and add foods in one by one to find out exactly what your body likes and doesn’t.
So it’s highly encouraged that you start your GAPS experience with the introduction diet, which is a time to really kick start and supercharge your healing as you begin only with a very few, extremely gentle and easy to digest foods. (hint: you eat a lot of soup on the intro). You slowly introduce foods one by one, watching for reactions, and slowly up your intake of probiotics.
There’s 6 stages to the introduction diet. On stage 1, all you’re allowed to eat is meat or fish stock, well boiled GAPS-legal vegetables, winter squash, boiled meat, sea salt, and some sauerkraut juice.
Over the course of the next 6 stages (each stage introduces a couple of new foods), you will introduce egg yolk, avocado, fermented fish, ghee, herbs, spices, sauerkraut or kimchi, GAPS pancakes made with nutbutter, squash, and eggs, fresh pressed juices, raw vegetables, fruits, honey, nut bread, olive oil. You will continue adding things until you reach the full GAPS diet.
Apparently on GAPS, particularly when you start from the beginning of the intro, your body becomes very in tune with what it it can tolerate and what it can’t. If you try to introduce a new food, you will find that if you are not ready for it, your body will produce a noticeable symptom that will tell you so. If this happens, you remain for a few days on the earlier stage, and then try to introduce a different food. You can try the problematic food a few weeks later. Often people will find that they can reintroduce the food no problem at the later date because their gut has healed more.
Now, I know your question.
How long does the introduction diet take?
Well, as annoying as this answer is: it depends. You spend as long on intro as your gut needs. Doc Natasha recommends moving through it as quickly as you can, challenging foods every couple of days, but ultimately your gut will tell you how fast or slow you can go.
But since that answer is so annoying, I’ll just tell you that, right now as a ballpark figure, I don’t plan on spending more than a month on intro. Five days for each stage. I really hope it doesn’t take any longer than that, anyway.
Detoxification
The second part to the program is detoxification. This is because as people with damaged guts, we’ve been letting a lot of toxins into our body that we shouldn’t have. The gut wall becomes permeable and lets in food toxins and chemicals, toxic waste from the bad gut flora, and undigested food particles. These toxins then deposit around the body’s tissues, our immune system reacts to them, and we get sick (or break out).
So anyway, in order to get well, at the same time as healing our guts, we gotta get rid of these toxins and also reduce our exposure.
What Dr Natasha recommends in the GAPS protocol is:
- Reducing Chemical Exposure. So along with removing all processed foods, this means switching over to non-chemical or food based beauty and hygiene products (which if you’re a regular follower of mine, hopefully you’ve already done that!), natural cleaning products and soaps, safer cookware, etc.
- Detoxification Baths (the poor man’s sauna). Doc Natasha is big on the detox baths, which are just regular baths with a detox aid added. She recommends having one daily, and rotating between a cup of epsom salts, apple cider vinegar, baking soda, and seaweed powder. The detox baths and the detox aid help you to release toxins out through your skin, and can also help relieve die off symptoms. You can also absorb the magnesium from the epsom salts transdermally, which is a very important mineral for good health and low stress.
- Juicing. She notes the cleansing and detoxification effects of raw vegetables, and fresh pressed vegetable juices are the most digestive friendly form of raw veg you can get – no fibre, no problems. Optimal absorption and no irritation. Also, in case you were wondering, store bought juice isn’t cool on GAPS.
- Enemas. Although this is not required for everyone, Dr. Natasha encourages enemas if they are needed (ie, if you’re constipated), and also coffee enemas for detoxification of the liver. I guess coffee, when given rectally, is super beneficial. Not when drunk though – sorry. Not the most pleasant way to take your morning cup, I know.
There are other random ways to detoxify as well that you can incorporate if you want: saunas, colonics, exercise, yoga, skin brushing, deep breathing in the fresh air, oil pulling, and whatever else. (That’s just my own little list, none of that is mentioned in the program)
Supplementation
Heavy supplementation isn’t required like some healing programs. Much like me, Dr. Natasha would prefer if you got your nutrients from whole foods!
The ones she strongly recommends though are:
- A Commercial Probiotic. You can get tons of probiotics from fermented foods, but I think she wants you to take a commercial probiotic to ensure you are getting a lot of different strains of bacteria. The one that is recommended is called BioKult. It’s a very strong probiotic with very particularly aggressive strains of bacteria for killing bad guys and repopulating your guts. Dr. Natasha is actually one of the inventors of it, so it’s specifically tailored for this program’s purposes.
- Fermented Cod Liver Oil, like I was talking about the other day. This is for Vitamin A and essential fatty acids, two much needed nutrients for GAPS patients. And if possible, for extra essential fatty acid support, she also recommends a good seed/nut oil Omega blend, and a good fish oil.
- Digestive Support. This is only if it’s needed, but since most GAPS patients have low stomach acid, Betaine HCL (hydrochloric acid) supplementation is recommended. Digestive enzymes and/or digestive bitters may also be used as needed.
All supplements are to be discontinued in the very beginning of the program, even the cod liver oil, and they can be added in slowly over the course of the intro.
As for other supplements, like vitamin and mineral pills – you can use them on the full program if they have GAPS legal ingredients, but it’s recommended to keep supplements to a bare minimum. Most supplements are synthetic and contain fillers, additives, and illegal ingredients. This diet is so nourishing, you really don’t need them anyway.
No Cheating
So, you really shouldn’t cheat on this diet. Luckily if you cheat one time, it doesn’t send you back to square one or anything (hey, we all make mistakes), but the more you cheat, the more you prolong the amount of time you have to stick to this diet. For me, this will definitely be the hardest part of the whole shebang, mostly due to social situations.
GAPS Resources and Books
If you are interested in this, I’d highly recommend actually reading the GAPS book written by Dr. Campbell-McBride to understand the whos and whys behind it all. It explains all the mechanisms of how the diet works, and I think that if you’re serious about doing the dedicated diet, it’s important to fully understand the goal which you are trying to accomplish.
Unfortunately, it’s not available as an online book yet. Which sucks.
Anyway, you can buy the book here:
While the actual GAPS book explains everything and the protocol, there’s also a companion guide called the GAPS Guide, which takes all the information presented in the GAPS book and helps you to actually put it all into action and answers a lot of the questions that people have after reading the initial book. It’s pretty handy, and so is her website: www.gapsguide.com
Also, another absolutely crazy awesome resource that I have found indispensable is an ebook from Cara at Health Home, & Happiness called “What Can I Eat Now? 30 Days on the Gaps Intro“. This is a 30 day step by step guide and menu plan for the intro diet. I refer to it, like, every day.
And finally, there is a GAPS cookbook called Internal Bliss. This is the only GAPS book I don’t have yet, but I will probably end up getting it at some point or another.
There’s also lots of blogs out there blogging about their GAPS experiences, so google around 😀
Not quite ready for the full GAPS experience? Check out my acne ebook “Ultimate Secrets to Acne Freedom“.
30 Responses
Hi Tracy,
I was actually expecting the intro diet to be 6-10 weeks! (based on a possible 2 year full diet)… 6 weeks is nothing though! I did the candida diet very strictly for 5 weeks and I was under stress.
I’m definitely going to give this a go, most likely when you can report more things or put some form of program together (no pressure, the links you provided seem very helpful!) And also when University finished in 3 weeks… I just can’t get over my stupid dark under-eye cycles. Seriously, they are just as bad as mild acne! I’ve tried all sorts and currently taking a oil that you put up your nose to help congestion and breathing. It’s called Nasya oil… made from sesame seeds.
One question though: I really think that I have a problem with all dairy. (as in real dairy not eggs – ‘dairy’ is in my mind classed when it comes from the mammary glands…) I see that fermented dairy is quite important in the GAPS diet, but should it be eaten everyday later in the diet? It’s not in the intro diet is it?
Thanks for the insight, I’m really excited 🙂
Nathan
I’ve always read that dark under eye circles are called “allergic shiners” and are caused by sensitivities… so the intro diet might be a good way to suss out what the deal is.
As for dairy, I think it’s usually recommended that you cut it out for the first 6 weeks (except ghee).. that’s if you’re doing the intro diet. If you just go into the full diet, then it’s like… 6 months or something that you’re supposed to wait. Then you can see if you can tolerate it or not. I mean, that’s the whole point of this is that if you can’t tolerate it now, you will heal enough to be able to tolerate it later.
For those who do have candida would you suggest the candida diet first then progressing later into the Gaps diet?
Yes, or you can start the gaps diet without any of the sugars too and phase them in, although I think the gaps intro stages may be tricky not to go too low carb that you go into ketosis without some of the sugary vegetables in there, what with the so few foods you can eat. I guess you just have to make sure you are eating a LOT of mushy non-sugary vegetables in your soups
Hi Tracy!
That’s a very good point you make about ketosis. I personally think that following a very low-carb diet (no grains, legumes or starch at all) for a prolonged period of time (2 years) is not suitable for everyone, especially people who are trying to gain weight and certainly not for athletes. I followed a paleo style diet for quite some time and lost too much weight, so I had to re-introduce brown rice, sweet potatoes, peas etc. Check out this link for a discussion of some of the long-term effects of very low-carb diets: http://www.quackwatch.org/06ResearchProjects/lcd.html
Also, yoghurt is not technically lactose-free. It does have a lower amount of lactose, because some of it is predigested by the bacteria who also generate lactase (enzyme useful for digestion of lactose): http://www.gastro.net.au/diets/lactose.html. Still, yoghurt is great for your skin because of the high amounts of probiotics and CLA, so the benefits outweigh the downside.
As for saunas, they might be great for detox, although I would say they aren’t as great for acne-prone skin, as the intense heat and steam can cause breakouts…
If you’re doing GAPS, could you please keep us posted on any weight fluctuations that you notice? I’m curious, does the diet tell you the daily caloric intake of the meal plans so as to ensure you’re taking in enough?
Hi Lily 🙂
It’s actually big misconception that GAPS is meant to be a low carb diet, or is recommended that way. Although you can’t eat all the usual sources of carbs, you can have tons of vegetables, fruits, honey, lentils, and sugary vegetables like winter squash, carrots, and beets. Although from my research, it sounds like one of the biggest issues with GAPS is that it can be too easy to go too low carb by accident without noticing… many people (particularly women) have noticed that they felt great on GAPS for a while but then started losing energy because of inadvertent low carbing. I find this actually really interesting because it’s proved to me that maybe the whole paleo low carb thing isn’t really all that great for everybody like they are always claiming, and that has shown me that carbs just ain’t the devil!
By the way though, if you believe in diet and holistic healing in the slightest, I would never bother reading Quackwatch. It discounts practically EVERY alternative remedy out there, because it is written from a very staunch medical viewpoint. And since the medical community is extremely close minded, so is that site. I kind of feel like believing in what that site has to say, and believing in anything mine (or other heal yourself kinda sites) has to say is almost like an oxymoron.. if we believed the medical establishment was able to help us heal, we probably wouldn’t be trying to heal ourselves with something like GAPS anyway.
As for yogurt, you’re right, yogurt does have lactose. On GAPS, store bought yogurt isn’t allowed for that reason, you have to make your own and ferment it for 24 hours because apparently that is the amount of time in which all the lactose has been eaten up. And saunas… you are right! The detox baths are probably actually better for that reason, because you might sweat a little bit you don’t have to put your face in.
And as for weight, yes, I’m interested to see what happens… most say they lose a little in the beginning, but it comes back quickly. Many also say that with GAPS, if you need to lose weight you will, and if you need to gain weight, you will. I am hoping that maybe it will help me gain a little weight over the long run, but I’m not holding my breath over it. Also I feel like I am getting enough plenty of calories because you eat a lot of fat on this diet and fat has twice as many calories per molecule as both protein or carbs. 🙂
Good luck with it Tracy and keep us posted 🙂
Hi Tracy, have you heard much about the Gerson Therapy, this reminds me a lot of it with the juices and coffee enemas. Anyway, I am hesitant to jump right into this diet because I’ve got little ones in the house & it seems daunting, so for someone with a family would you recommend just jumping in head first or maybe easing into it before starting the introductory diet? I do struggle with skin problems & have had a surgery to remove some of my small intestine because it had fused together. I cannot believe I was never instructed in nutrition so your blog is truly a blessing to me!
Hi Cori,
I’ve heard of the Gerson therapy, and I know it’s big on coffee enemas, but I’m not overly versed in it.. ie, I donno what their diet was like exactly, I don’t think it was the same. I suppose that means these are pretty effective detox methods though.
Yeah, anyway, it is definitely something that needs easing into, especially if you aren’t already eating a traditional style diet. There’s lots to learn with the bone broths, homemade ferments, rendering your own fat, etc and it can be way too daunting if you just jump straight into it. Even I needed a few months to work my way up to it! So yeah. If you don’t know how to do any of this stuff, try it one by one, and then start the intro.
If you’re worried about doing it with children, that’s definitely a legitimate worry – they keep you busy, I’m sure! Part of the reason I convinced myself I could do it is that I am always reading about parents with like 3 children doing the GAPS… and I’m like, well… I have none … so… .. anyway, it’s possible. Mad respect to those moms out there.
If it helps, I’m finding the intro diet to not really be all that complicated now that I’m on it. It does take some time in the kitchen, but it’s actually simple enough. And the food is quite satisfying and yummy I’m finding.
I’m a vegetarian though… will vegetable stocks do the same job??
Unfortunately, no. Veggie stock doesn’t have any of the same nutrients as bone broth, and the broth is a non-negotiable part of the protocol. From my understanding, later on in the full gaps diet, you can do it without consuming much meat at all (although you do still need the bone broth on a regular basis). The intro diet would be almost impossible and I don’t believe you’d get the same amount of healing without it anyway.
This article might help to explain it:
http://healthyfamilychronicles.blogspot.ca/2010/08/can-you-heal-your-gut-on-vegetarian.html
Also, the author of “GAPS guide” was a long time vegetarian/vegan until turning to GAPS, and here’s what she says about vegetarianism and the GAPS diet in her book:
“Can one be vegetarian or vegan on this program?”
‘This question was one I had too. I had been vegetarian (and at some points vegan) for most of twenty years. As is made clear by my dietary history, my primary interest in veg*nism was animal welfare (as opposed to personal health). During pregnancy I did though, give into my sudden cravings for chicken.
When I located the SCD, I noticed that meat seemed to play a big role. This deterred me somewhat. However, my son was ill and I needed to do whatever it took to bring him wellness, so I had to consider this. Because this question is such an important one, I’d like to take a few paragraphs to delve into it.
Gut Healing – Other Practitioners
Most health practitioners using diet to heal the gut recommend meat be consumed for at least the first 6 – 8 weeks. This is because the introductory stage of any elimination diet would otherwise be too restricted. These practitioners advise that, as the gut healing allows a wider variety of foods to be reintroduced, the quantity of meat be progressively reduced’
SCD/Elaine Gottschall
Although Elaine used meat regularly, she indicated that the SCD could be done without flesh, but also stated that anyone attempting to do SCD without eggs and or/dairy would have to take responsibility for ensuring their nutritional needs were met.
GAPS
Dr. Campbell-McBride does not make a suggestion one way or the other about the amount of meat consumed. However, she does recommend
a) That no child be fed a vegan diet and,
b) that a cup of meat/bone broth be consumed daily
Indeed broth is one of the mainstays of the GAPS program. IT has copious nutrients and also actively heals the gut lining.
Personal Conclusion
GAPS excludes soy, tofu, chick peas, and other foods that many vegans rely on. Doing the program as a vegan then would prove to be overly restricted. At the beginning, we’re depending very much on meat broth or bone broth for many qualities, including calcium.
Because we could not yet tolerate eggs, dairy or nuts, my son and I did use meat daily for the first several weeks on GAPS. After about 8 weeks on GAPS, and with eggs from pastured chickens incorporated, I found our intake of meat naturally dropping. A few months in, with nuts and seed successfully introduced, my son and I were eating only a small amount of wild fish about once a week. However, we were also using fish oil, fish liver oil, and bone broth. When winter set in, our consumption of meat increased again to two or three servings weekly.
My own sense then is that without at least dairy and or eggs the over all diet would be too restricted, so:
With meat but no dairy/eggs = yes
With dairy or eggs but no meat = yes
No dairy, no eggs, no meat, no broth = no
As far as I am aware, no one has yet developed and presented to the public a balanced vegan approach to healing the mind through the gut – if you know of one, I’d truly like to hear about it, because this is a common question, and many committed vegetarians continue to suffer rather than do the SCD. It would be great if there was a program supporting that specific niche.
There is a vegan program related to the SCD that is purported to heal bowel problems. It does not offer any testimonials regarding cognitive or behavioural issues, though. It is also permanent and, even among the most devoted natural hygienists, there is concern regarding permanent vegan diets, as well as regarding veganism in children, such that even they recommend against it for anyone whose interest is health”
Whew… anyway… I hope that helped you. I know I didn’t need to type all that out, but I remember reading it in the GAPS guide and thought it was a great, well explained answer to this question, especially coming from someone who was a long time vegetarian.
Tracy – thank you for this long answer, however, doesn’t it sound like you could get along when having eggs and dairy?
Yes, on the full diet it sounds as though it’s do-able with just eggs and dairy and no meat, but not the intro diet. Also, you still need to have bone broth either way
Hi there, I have mild adult acne. It’s worse when I’m stressed or hormonal, like right now when I am pregnant. I seems to always have one or two blemishes and some healing I am terrible at restricting my diet because I love food so much and I serve meals family style (we all eat the same food together, except at lunch).). This diet seems tough to me. Do you know if it is safe/possible while breast feeding due to the detox effects? I wouldn’t want any toxins being eliminated through my milk…
Hi Rachel, it is tough, no bones about it. However, the food itself is actually very delicious and you get very accustomed to it (and your taste buds change), but I know it’s very difficult especially if you are eating differently than your family/cooking different things for your family.
But anyway, for mothers who are pregnant or breastfeeding, yes, it’s not really recommended to do any sort of detoxing. Apparently they recommend doing the full GAPS diet in this case (easing into it if it’s very different from how you normally eat), and avoiding the introduction stage.
Hey Tracy,
Do you mind explaining the skin brushing and oil pulling techniques that you mentioned? I haven’t heard of those before and might want to give them a try as I’m limited with my detox options, mostly sticking to yoga, outdoor time, planting plants around the apt. and trashing the remaining non-natural cleaning/hygiene supplies. Also, what do you use for dish and hand soap? I haven’t found a replacement for those items yet.
Thanks and great post!!
Hi Kalyn,
Oil pulling: http://realfoodforager.com/oil-pulling-for-detoxification/ (I came across that article, and funny, he just so happened to be doing some GAPS… anyway, oil pulling sounds totally weird, but I think it works… I noticed it created detox symptoms in me when I tried it before, but I didn’t keep up with it. If nothing else, it’ll whiten your teeth and freshen your breath!)
Skin brushing (gets your lympathatic system moving, good to do before you have a bath or shower. If you have active acne on your face, avoid that part): http://www.whole-body-detox-diet.com/dry-skin-brushing.html
As for dish and hand soap… well, I’ve switched over to more “natural” organic handsoap and dish soap, but I still don’t think that’s great… I feel that ideally if you wouldn’t eat it, you shouldn’t use it on the skin during this program. I just haven’t gotten around to finding an alternative yet. I have switched my toothpaste over to coconut oil and baking soda though and I really like it!
Ive done both of these, though I gave up due to laziness really.
Oil pulling is quite odd, but it definitely helps, plus you don’t really have to ‘do anything’… I used a tablespoon of organic unrefined cold pressed coconut oil, mainly because it’s the only oil I use and it has a nice taste!
As for body brushing; I think it works too. Always brush in strokes towards the heart, always starting from the feet, then arms, across the shoulders/chest and down into your abdomen. (which is actually away from your heart but that’s where the majority of lymphatic nodes are). The lymph system has no ‘pump’ to keep it flowing, unlike the blood, so excursive is also a good way to keep it moving, but body brushing is far more convenient and faster.
I’ve done both too, but also gave up due to laziness
Would you say that eating red meat, or any other meat other than chicken would still work? I don’t like red meat at all and I never really have, nor do I want to if I’m honest. But I do consume about two dozen eggs per week, 3 servings of salmon )size of your hand) and a few chicken breasts…
I pretty much know that answer to this question, but does the bones for the bone broth have to be organic? I’ve never seen a local bother ‘advertise’ that they sell organic produce, but I could probably search a little and find out. Also, do the bones need to be fresh from the butcher to be used fairly quickly, or can they be frozen and ‘cooked’ from frozen in a slow cooker?
Thanks!
Well, it’s highly encouraged, but Dr. Natasha on the GAPS faq says that many people have done GAPS with conventional meat (due to money or location restrictions) and still seen great results. Kalyn is doing it in China and doesn’t have access to anything organic is still seeing some huge benefits.
As for red meat, well, it’s good to eat a variety of meat for all the different nutrients instead of only eating one type all the time, but you could definitely do it without any red meat, I’m sure
On a TV show in the UK about bodies and health, they featured a woman who became addicted to self-administering coffee enemas…needless to say, it was horrifying!
Good luck with this diet! I’m VERY tempted to try it when my exams haved finished and I have more time to plan my diet and I’m not so stressed.
lol… uhh what happened? Although I’m sure whatever it was was sensationalized
anyone can become addicted to anything. It’s not the thing that is the problem. It’s the addictive state of the person doing it.
I’m not sure if you’ve seen/mentioned these but I’ve found a blog for GAPS called Nourished and Nurtured. Also a meal plan site that is always gluten free and says if there’s an ingredient not GAPS legal. Their son did the GAPS diet http://www.naturalhealthathome.com/wholefoodmealplans/.
Just fyi 🙂
Thanks! I actually hadn’t seen those. And here I was thinking I had seen practically EVERY gaps blog on the internet lol. Whenever I google something GAPS related, practically all the links have already been marked as read
I’ve had a lot of success with the GAPS Diet for healing my acne. I’m still on the intro, but it’s taught me that much of my breakouts is caused by an inflamed gut. So I’m still working on healing and sealing my gut. I’ve wrote about my experience here: http://www.marvelous-girl.com/breaking-news/how-i-got-rid-of-my-acne-naturally/.
Hi Tracy, thankyou so much for building this site it has helped me understand GAPS allot more. I am actually just starting my own journey in implementing GAPS diet to fix my acne. I’m looking forward to positive results 🙂
Great!! Good luck with your journey Ash 🙂 I hope it goes well for you
Hey Tracy
Just wanted to clarify…would you reintroduce grains after 2 years or after a point in which you are able to go to the washroom regular after introducing new foods?