
So, if you’ve read my last three articles about the GAPS diet (Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet), I will have you know that I was writing that from a perspective of how I have felt about the GAPS diet prior to trying it. Which was much excitement, enthusiasm, and expectation. That’s how I’ve been feeling about it for months.
Remember – theory is theory though, experience is experience.
From now on, I will be writing about the GAPS diet from the perspective of how it actually is.
What I mean by this is that I don’t want to get too carried away making it seem like this is the answer to everyone’s prayers (and my own), before I’ve actually tried it. To some people, I fully believe it may be exactly what they need to heal. To others, no (as I mentioned in the last paragraph of Wednesday’s post). I have been excited about it, but it’s dumb to be too narrow minded about one particular approach because if it doesn’t work it may make you feel like something is wrong with you. And when you’re caught up in excitement, it can be hard to take your blinders off.
Ohhh I’m being a downer…. I’m just trying to be realistic though. For my sake and yours.
How the GAPS is Going So Far
So, anyway – how is the GAPS intro going so far?
Not bad.
Overall, I would say it’s going okay, but not spectacular. Of course, it’s early, so “we’ll have to see”.
For the last 8 days I’ve been eating mostly soup. I cook broth every other day, and then I pick off the boiled meat, put it aside, and then when I want to eat, I go and take some meat, take some broth, take some vegetables, boil them all until nice and soft. Blend with an immersion blender if I feel like it. Other times, leave it unblended.
I usually add some animal fat, sea salt, and crush a piece of garlic into the soup after. Also, sometimes I eat boiled vegetables and meat not in soup…. and have broth on the side. That’s okay too, as long as everything at this stage is cooked IN broth, and eaten WITH broth.
Oh yes, and I’m making a point to eat carrots, winter squash, and beets frequently in order to avoid going too low carb.
I’ve slowly introduced egg yolk, increased my intake of sauerkraut juice, I tried ghee one time. This morning I had actual sauerkraut for the first time. That’s it. Oh yeah and I took half of a probiotic (biokult) for the first 6 days, and yesterday and today I’ve increased it to one whole one per day (it’s emphasized that you need to build up your tolerance very slowly for probiotics and fermented foods, even if you were taking probiotics and ferments beforehand).
I guess you could say I’m on Stage 2.
Things that have been good about the GAPS so far:
- The food is simple, and it tastes really good. I have yet to get sick of eating soup, and I haven’t had any cravings for anything else. I’m not hungry, and feel quite satisfied. I like it because there are so few ingredients that you don’t have to THINK about what you’re going to eat. Sometimes thinking about what you’re going to eat is the hardest part of eating.
- Over all, I haven’t felt terrible with die off. Like, I mostly feel fine, not fatigued – enough energy to get up and exercise and do stuff. In other words, I feel very functional. I’m also not overly angry or cranky or anything either (actually, that’s not 100% true… but mostly).
- My skin was actually cooperating nicely prior to starting this and was quite clear, so it was a good baseline to start with to know if I was going to get detox breakouts. So far, not really! I’d say my skin has gotten a little blotchy, and a couple of really tiny detox pimples, but yeah… nothing particularly wretched.
- I’m taking detox baths every day and they are relaxing and nice and I enjoy them 🙂
- For those of you wondering about weight fluctuations… I don’t know because I don’t own a scale, but I don’t *feel* any thinner
Lol.. uh…. I thought the good list was going to be longer.
Okay the bad stuff:
- I was pooing really good before I started the intro, but starting on day 2 or 3, I’ve been constipated every day. So I’ve been giving myself the daily enema to sort that out (I find this embarrassing to admit, only because I don’t want you guys picturing me giving myself an enema. You’re picturing it now, aren’t you? Stop it. Stop that.) I presume this is because of how low fibre stage 1 intro is compared to how was I was eating before ie. lots of fruits and vegetables, and my intestines aren’t used to it yet. I hear this is fairly normal for the intro.
- Even though the food is simple, I feel like I’m doing a LOT of dishes. But then again, that might be because Luke’s away this week and I usually make him do the dishes at least once per day (ha, sucka!). Oh yeah, and because everything in this diet is full of fat, it makes washing the dishes SUPER annoying and takes up a lot of soap. And clogs my drain and stuff.
- Mild detox reactions that I have noticed: Some mild stomach nausea on and off, bloating, gas, heartburn, stomachaches, skin blotchiness as I mentioned above, one time my knuckle got inflamed like it used to when I had hand eczema (but that went away quickly). Also, my cheeks have been flushed a lot.
Okay, the biggest problem I’m having is the indigestion, because it’s making it really hard to know when to move on and add in more foods.
See, this was a big part of the reason I wanted to do this… I was sick of getting random bloating and heartburn and stomach aches occasionally and not knowing why or what caused it.
What I was hooooping was going to happen was that once I started eating this super digestible mushy food all the time, that that stuff would go away so I could establish a baseline. And then from there, if it returned, I would know it was because I either
- a) Introduced a new food I wasn’t ready for, or
- b) was having a detox reaction to an increased dose of fermented foods or probiotics
But nooooo, it couldn’t make it that simple for me, could it? Thanks, GAPS.
So, yeah.. at this point, my stomach is even worse than it was before. It’s just downright bad! Before, I didn’t have indigestion ALL the time, but now on the GAPS, I’m getting it every day (not necessarily all day, but consistently every evening I am either bloated, dealing with acid reflux or cramping. And my stomach tends to feels “touchy” and vaguely sore off and on throughout the day, every day).
Now, of course, this all could just be part of the detox – worse before it gets better. I hope so. I often hear people say they start to feel better in the second week. I fully admit to impatience.
But the big problem is that I often hear that people judge their food reactions mainly based on indigestion stuff – bloating, cramps, nausea, reflux, gas, diarrhea etc….
But because I’m just having them every day, I’m not finding myself able to identify what’s a healing crisis and what’s a food reaction, and now I’m scared to move on in stages and add new foods, but I know I have to. Apparently, because the first stages of the intro are so restricted, it’s not advisable to spend a long time in each one. 3 – 5 days is best.
However, despite that, I often hear of people being stuck on intro for a long time, and I don’t want to be one of those people ! Especially because I didn’t think that I was going to be one of those people 🙁
*Sigh* Trouble in GAPS paradise already.
Well, that’s that! Hope things get better. If there’s any GAPS vets out there, I’d appreciate any advice or relatable experiences. Did your digestive issues go right away on intro or is this weird? 🙂
Are you sick of me talking about the GAPS yet? I’ll try to talk about something else next week (try). Anything in particular you want to know about?
60 Responses
I never have bought into the detox breakout theory. If I break out from sugar maybe it’s cleansing me somehow? I just think it doesn’t add uP pysiologically as acne is not know to be caused by toxins.
I look forward to seeing how it goes for you I’m hesitant now to start because I’m taking summer school and I do think gaps is definitely get worse before you get better.
Right. Ow I’m still in the stage of weening myself off an almost all fruit diet. I do notice some cardio symptoms whenever I switch to a high fat diet. And gaps intro phase is deep keto as the broth that I’m ending up with from chicken is almost pure fat.
We did the GAPS intro back in March and lasted only 10 days :-/ (as sad as that sounds it was actually a good thing-long story). I remember thinking the exact same thing about my son and I- how were we to know when to move on when our symptoms never got better? Was it food reaction or die off? My son is 2 and I am tandem breastfeeding so the last thing I wanted to do was stay on the intro for weeks on end to find out. I’ve never read of anyone else going through the same thing! It seems like everyone heals enough in the first week to establish a ‘baseline’! Good luck! You’re lucky to not have food cravings! That was the worst part for me. Probably in part because of the Breastfeeding, though…
Hi Hethir,
I’d like to hear your long story? haha I want to hear experiences! Why do you feel it ended up being a good thing, and which symptoms didn’t go away?
I know, it’s confusing because everywhere I read, it sounds like people’s digestive stuff clears up within a few days … that or they end up getting stuck on intro forever, which I do not want to do. I’ve been eyeing up Matt Stone’s RRARFing thing as a backup plan if GAPS doesn’t work… I just bought a thermometer to check my body temps and unless the thing is broken, I can’t get a reading higher than 96!! Which is ridiculously low. (edit: seems my thermo doesn’t work in the armpit so well… oral temp midday actually around 97.7, that’s still low… will have to take more temps and investigate…)
We shall see..
Haha. I hope this works out for you. How long do you plan on keeping it up? What are the markers you’ll use for success? Complete absense of sporadic acne? Mat stone! Haha I might go on the ray peat diet and just sit around and sip orange juice all day 🙂
I’ve been following matt stone for a few years, and I’ve been very interested in trying his way of eating to see if it works for me. Although, I’m always left a little confused since he’s changed his mind so many times, but I think it’s extremely interesting that people are healing that way. One thing to mention about the temperature. A few years ago when I went on a candida diet, I felt pretty deprived even though I ate all day. I don’t think my body could personally handle it. But I started to check my temps soon after that. Oral temp was probably a 96-97. And I developed an onset of hypothyroidism. I don’t know if the two are related but its possible. Now that I’ve been more flexible with what I eat, meaning many more carbs, I have a temp around 98. something always. So maybe there’s possible success with that route..
At this point, my stomach is killing me and I’m actually thinking I might put GAPS on hold and try RRARF first.. I mean… what do I have to lose? It sounds like it works quickly, and if it worked, it would be a heck of a lot easier, and more fun, than two years of strictness. I could always come back to GAPS if needed. I’m listening to his “filling in the GAPS with the GAPS” podcast right now and it’s extremely interesting.
I just got my thermometer today, so I haven’t been able to check my temps too much yet, but they were very low for midday/late day (it’s supposed to be higher in the evening?), and.. I’ve always had a problem with cold feet and now on the GAPS they are positively frigid.
So after you started eating more carbs and got your temps up, did you notice any improvement in other areas of health? Skin, energy, digestion, whatever?
Yeah thats how I look at his program, If it doesn’t work you can always go back to what you were doing.
Honestly, there may have been subtle improvements in my skin, but I think it may be due to the whole stress factor. When I was very restrictive, it was so stressful for me because i felt undernourished most of the time, and i broke out a lot. For me personally, I think I get more energy with carbs, and my digestion is better compared to eating something like a candida diet. I do notice if i eat too much gluten or something, my digestion starts acting up. Then again I’m not RRARFing, so maybe all that stuff would improve when i start doing it in a couple months. Basically I’m eating how I was(but obviously a little healthier) before I became obsessed with nutrition, which could be classified as a healthier SAD. I can say I feel a lot less stressed, which leads to acne and other problems for me. But when I did start to develop hypothyroidism soon after the candida diet, I had very low energy along with many other problems. when they gave me synthroid, which i only took for a couple months, just getting my thyroid and metabolism back up improved a lot of problems including acne. I’m against taking synthetic medicine and I don’t need it anymore, but it did let me know that i need to heal my metabolism and not go that low carb ever again.
As for my temperature, The more I eat(usually meaning more carbs as well), the more it goes up. I’ve always had a problem with cold feet too, but that also improves If I’m eating quite a bit. And also I think temps are usually higher in the evening, but improving your temp when you wake up is important. Mines always lowest in the morning.
I am on day 3… I was recently diagnosed with SIBO (already have Celiac and IBS) so I was hoping this would be a good way to restart my system and kill the bacteria… I am already wanting to quit! I have stomach pain still all the time and it gets worse when I drink the broth… I am going to stick it out a few more days, but I do feel fatigued and foggy and I have to get on with my life at some point. Any suggestions?? Also I’ve had a massive headache for the last two days in addition to everything else…
That sucks that you are having digestion problems :/, I feel for you as I had stomach cramps yesterday due to sitting forward at a conference.
Are fermented foods like sauerkraut 100% essential for the GAPS diet? (I’m guessing yes). The reason I asked is because I made sauerkraut a few months ago and I HATED it! I could barley bring it to my mouth due to the smell. It made me want to vomit, which even terrible smells don’t induce. Perhaps I made it ‘wrong’, but I can’t see myself every making it again.
I have found some online, it’s £8 for a large glass mason jar and it’s “Raw”, but is it pointless buying it if I for one don’t like it and for two don’t know the true source or process they used?
Thank you for going through this in order to help us – we really appreciate it and I for one am not sick of reading about GAPS – I want to get on it in 3-4 weeks.
You can ferment other vegetables, it doesn’t have to be sauerkraut 🙂 there’s lots of recipes for all sorts of fermented veg all over the internet
Call me a GAPS vet. 🙂
You indigestion was probably less symptomatic before starting GAPS because as your body starts to heal it is actually able to identify more readily problems that have always been there. So the problems seem worse for a time. It sounds like you might have low stomach acid, so you may considering supplementing with HCL and a digestive enzyme like Pancreatin.
Lucky you with no major die off…probably because you were eating a good diet already without sugar, etc.
Cheers to GAPS! Feel free to email if you have any questions.
Thanks Becca 🙂
Yes, it makes sense that symptoms would get worse (as I know your body becomes quite sensitive and you have acute reactions that you wouldn’t have had before), but I still don’t know what to do if I can’t tell what’s what when it comes to moving forward.
@ Becca + Lily regarding HCL:
I’ve known about HCL’s role in the body and its role in heartburn/bloating etc for a long time now… I believe that this is a huge problem, but I’ve been really confused about it for myself.
Personally I feel that I have all the classic low stomach acid symptoms down to a T – I fit the low stomach acid profile SO GOOD!! yet, the first time I tried HCL betaine challenge, I couldn’t really feel a distinct burning sensation when I went up (except maybe worse heartburn?? I don’t know, I expected it to feel different), and anyway… I got to 2 or 3 or 4 pills per meal (can’t really remember), and I ended up with horrible digestive symptoms, much worse than normal, until I quit taking them… bad gas, bloating, heartburn
I tried them again in Australia… I was afraid to take too much, but I took a couple per meal, didn’t notice any burning, nor any improvement in symptoms (but no worsening of them). I quit after a while. I’ve also tried bitters in the past, and other digestive enzyme aids etc that haven’t ever done much of anything as far as I could tell.
Something else that makes me wonder about the true status of my stomach acid is that when I was in Australia I took a hair mineral analysis test. On the test, it said my sodium levels were like… insane. And that I was what they call a ‘fast oxidizer’. And it mentioned that with high sodium levels and fast oxidation, often you produce too much stomach acid, because the body makes the hydrochloric acid from the sodium chloride.
I often read that high stomach acid symptoms are the same as low stomach acid symptoms, yet I can find no information on the internet about what to do if your stomach acid levels are too high. Any time you google ‘high stomach acid’, you just get stuff that says “Well, actually, heartburn and reflux are caused by too little stomach acid, not too much. Here’s how to fix it”.
*sigh*
I’m curious if it’s true that I have high stomach acid that maybe GAPS is actually aggravating it greatly because it’s designed for low stomach acid – sauerkraut and bone broth and sea salt are supposed to draw gastric juices in.
Also, I’m starting to wonder if I actually have an ulcer :/
Oh gosh, that sounds so confusing! I really hope you don’t have an ulcer, that would be awful. If the burning comes a lot, please do try the sodium bicarb, it’s really protective of the stomach lining, can help with ulcers… For me, what triggers the symptoms is when I have huge meals (which I do have a lot since I’m trying to put on weight). What seems to help me is spacing out my meals as much as possible and not eating in the 3h before bedtime. I really hope it gets better for you Tracy.
Hi Lily – if you had low stomach acid, wouldn’t baking soda not be the greatest thing? Because it’s alkaline and would neutralize it.. therefore help with symptoms, but worsen the problem?
For me, my heartburn and sore stomach/bloating issues seem totally random, it’s not necessarily if I eat too much. Occasionally I’ll have WATER and it’ll set it off :/
Basically, when your stomach produces HCL, it also produces sodium bicarbonate which protects your stomach lining from being damaged by the HCL. When the stomach produces too little HCL, it also produces too little sodium bicarbonate, which is exactly when ulcers can appear. However, if you have doubts, have you thought of taking the Heidelberg test? It can tell you with certainty what the particular issue with stomach acid you may be experiencing.
My partner saw a nutritionist who prescribed a HCL supplement, along with cutting out gluten, dairy, sugar etc — not quite the GAPS diet, but nearly. He immediately began to get terrible stomach pains, constantly. The nutritionist said that he probably has a stomach ulcer, hence the HCL was aggravating it. She advised him to take glutamine with meals: one tsp in a cool drink or smoothie, or water. Since he started taking the glutamine he’s been fine. (He phased the HCL supplement back in after a few weeks, with no problems.)
Hmm yeah I might give L-glutamine a try. I’ve known about it’s use for leaky gut and ulcers for a long time but have never gotten around to taking it myself.
Hi Tracy!
Maybe the digestive problems are caused by too little stomach acid? This sounds a lot like what’s going on, and could happen for 2 reasons:
1. Your current stage consists of a much higher proportion protein than what you were used to eating when you had veg and fruit with it. Stomach acid is crucial for breaking down protein.
2. You are no longer eating as much sauerkraut as you used to, which is very beneficial in helping your stomach produce more acid.
Also, low stomach acid can (supposedly) cause mild breakouts due to the protein not being digested properly, so maybe this is what’s going on? There’s a few things you can do. Add sea salt to every meal, this will help your stomach produce more hydrochloric acid (from experience I can say it really does make a difference). Do not overcook meat/eggs, as this causes protein to bind closer making it harder to break it down in your stomach. Chew really well to make food easier to digest. Finally, avoid raw veg as the cellulose is harder to deal with compared to when cooked. If you want to increase acid without sourkraut you can take Betaine HCL with meals, but idk if this is allowed on GAPS on or not.
If you want almost instant relief from the burning sensation you get in your stomach (is that what you mean by heartburn? Sorry my first language is not English!) all you have to do is fill a level teaspoon with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), put it in your mouth and quickly drink water to swallow it. Your stomach naturally produces sodium bicarb when it produces acid in order to protect the lining, but sometimes it doesn’t produce enough. You will get relief within minutes, and it’s a good idea to protect your stomach if you get burning, because this could potentially cause ulcer and you don’t want that on a diet that’s supposed to heal your gut! Personally even half a teaspoon is enough for me, I’ve seen people take a whole spoonful but I really don’t think that’s necessary… see what works for you.
I think once you start adding in more sourkraut on the diet and consume protein to a smaller percent of your meals, the acid problems will be gone. Anyways, I’m sure you knew all those things, but just thought I’d write them anyway! 😀
There are 2 types of fermented food. type 1 is animal fermented food which are healthy (yogurt, cultured butter, cod liver oil). type2 is carbohydrate fermented food which are unhealthy (sauerkraut).
The acne is not caused by detoxing the old toxins, but it is only caused by detoxing the toxic food that you are currently eating.
Acne and pimple is caused when you eat fermented carbohydrates and fructose. fructose is the bad vegetable sugar. fermented carbohydrates have toxic by-products which are not limited to alcohol and vinegar. Also any bacteria that eats fructose is a bad bacteria.
GAPS diet is based on anything but science.
Fiber free fatty animal foods never cause any digestive problem. The sauerkraut is causing the digestive problems from bloating to constipation.
Interesting conclusions…. I don’t know if the sauerkraut is causing it or not, but I don’t feel like i’ve had more sauerkraut on the this diet than I was having before… in fact, I’ve cut back on sauerkraut, and I’m mostly eating fiber free fatty meat and well boiled vegetables and thats it
Hamed,
On what do you base your claim that “There are 2 types of fermented food. type 1 is animal fermented food which are healthy (yogurt, cultured butter, cod liver oil). type2 is carbohydrate fermented food which are unhealthy (sauerkraut)”. I have never read anything to indicate that sauerkraut is unhealthy. In fact, it is quite the opposite, as a simple study of it’s importance in traditional diets proves. It can cause bloating because it is very strong probiotic-wise. That’s why it is recommended to drink the juice first, increasing from one teaspoon up to eating the vegetable until your body acclimates.
Alcohol is part of traditional mediterranean diet. This is illogical to conclude that Italians live 100 years because they drink red wine. The logical conclusion is that Italians don’t live more that 100 years because the drink alcohol.
Humans who sadly don’t naturally migrate in winter must pickle the vegetables for the cold winter. I recommend seasonal migration. cabbage has glucose and fructose. When you ferment these sugars, you always get bad bacteria, yeast, ethanol and acids other than lactic acid. It is impossible to make a sauerkraut without bad bacteria, yeast, and ethanol. before eating, you must always discard the fermentation water. Note that bad bacteria and yeast are not probiotic. Bread is made with yeast, but we always cook the bread to kill the yeast and evaporate ethanol and bad bacteria. Good yeast is always dead yeast. below are references which tells you that traditional people where always cooking their pickles before consumption. You must especially boil the fermented cruciferous vegetables to destroy the goitrogens and glucosinolates. And then discard the water. Some biased researches tell you that glucosinolates destroy cancer, but if read the reference you will see there is no unbaised research.
1- This is on cooking fermented glucose: http://www.fao.org/docrep/x0560e/x0560e10.htm
2- This is on lactose:
http://www.google.pl/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=16&ved=0CHMQFjAFOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pieternieuwland.nl%2FMenu_Items%2FProjecten%2FSymposium%2Fsymposium2009-2010%2FFEL%2Farticles%2FFEL34_Cecile_A.doc&ei=CKTIT6ndCMi98gPMmoH7Dw&usg=AFQjCNGAWjWPtesLqv82iMF5zxr8W1Ql-Q&sig2=zBDD1a7BfcpRnL5dRhwzhQ
3- This is on cruciferous research and biased research by the big pharma: http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/foods/cruciferous/
4- The good yeast is a dead yeast. we bake the bread to kill the yeast. Below video kills the yeast by drying. In reference [1] also traditional people sun-dry (or boil) to kill the yeast and evaporate the ethanol and volatile compounds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt1qK7eAsA8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afPRhQJKXbw
The only non-toxic yogurt is cream-top which must also be fruit-free and No added gelatin. Other types of yogurts cause digestive problems. cream-top is not homogenized. Using raw milk is better but yogurt can neutralized the pasteurized protein into gelatin.
Dishonest GAPS people tell us that yogurt is bad. Raw cream-top yogurt is consumed for thousands of years without even a single side effect.
Ask the GAPS people how the ethanol in sauerkraut juice which produced by fermentation of glucose and fructose is safe. Ask them about acne causing toxins which are caused by bad bacteria easily fermenting fructose in early stages.
I’m experiencing much of the same things you are Tracy. The constipation just started becoming an issue for me on Stage 3. I’ve read that you can introduce the pressed veggie juices a little early to help with this, so I’ll be doing that soon.
As far as the heartburn, I was wondering, have you ever had an endoscopy? When I had one, it gave me some answers as to why my heartburn was so bad, which is due to esophagitis, reflux and gastroparesis. The foods that trigger it in GAPS for me (and don’t ask me why) are excessive squash, garlic or whole scrambled eggs. So I just make sure to eat these foods in small amounts. Have you tried smaller meals throughout the day? Also, I make sure to not eat anything after 7pm which has helped. Lastly, you say you exercise every day. Do you notice any change in heartburn with this? For me, sometimes exercise, even if I’m just doing yoga will trigger my reflux. Anyways… these are just some of the things that I have noticed. Maybe you can play around with them (ie. taking some foods or activities out then gradually adding them back in). I hope you find out what’s causing your reactions. Heartburn is no fun!
I don’t know much about all of the supplements, but digestive enzymes have helped me a lot even before GAPS. I take 2 with every meal and sometimes more if I feel that I need it.
Hope this helps! Stick with it! 🙂
Thanks Kalyn 🙂
Hmm.. very interesting..
Exercise, I don’t really exercise hard, just ride my bike. Yoga, I know what you mean with the heartburn, I assume it’s because of gravity :/
So, are your digestive symptoms actually WORSE now that you’re on the GAPS? Constipation aside, are you more bloated with more reflux than prior to starting? For me it just seems like it’s getting worse and worse
In the first 2 weeks, my gas and bloating were really bad. Like ridiculous. Now, it’s still there but not as much. I feel like the constipation kinda took it’s place. Win/lose lol. I do feel that overall it’s getting better although it’s still not great like I had imagined. Maybe it’s the yeast & fungi finally getting a chance to die off. My reflux is touch and go. If I eat a lot of meat, it’s a little worse, more soups and veggies, better. I feel as though I’m seeing it gradually get better though.
Enema’s rock! Do you ever do coffee enema’s? What do you think about them?
I just tried them for the first time this week. I kinda liked them 🙂 I did feel pretty good after. I think I’ve given up on them though, it’s too time consuming
Coffee enemas for the win. Don’t quit! Only if you do one like every couple days.. so good for constipation, bloating, really good with the toxin removing. I wouldn’t do it all the time, but especially while detoxing/ GAPS. I think it would help with healing reactions too.. And they take less time as you get used to doing them
Eeek, good luck Tracy! Sounds a bit uncomfortable right now but you can do it! 🙂 Just some words of encouragement.
Question…I finished my first batch of sauerkraut..and I’ve been drinking the juice..just as you mentioned above…good or bad??
Yep, go for it. Nothing wrong with drinking the juice!
Hey Tracy,
I’ve been reading your articles on GAPS, and researching on the Gaps Diet website, and wow, it does look like a true to God cure for so many ailments (I want to give it a shot too, especially after having been on oral birth control for over 10 years, I’m sure I have gut flora imbalances).
I think the intestinal trauma you seem to be enduring at the moment might be the result of too much fermented food combined with a low-fiber diet (without getting too graphic, it’s easy to see how bloating and gas can occur when there’s no fiber to help things along the way). It could also be that you’re adjusting to the probiotic. If I’m not mistaken, it’s quite a strong one, and maybe your symptoms will subside a little if you stay on a lower dose for a while longer… You’re the only one who can really judge if the GAPS thing is beneficial for you or not, obviously, but based on the symptoms you describe, I’d cut down on the sauerkraut (and maybe stick to 1/2 of the probiotic), and see how you feel.
Anyway, thanks a million for all these really informative articles, and for the first-hand accounts of your experiences with all these diets & skincare regimens. It’s brave of you to put yourself through these things, and I’m sure lots of people appreciate your honesty (I do).
Aaand… in other news, my pill-weaning journey is going very well (for the moment). I’m down to 1/2 a pill, and still getting regular periods, no spotting, hardly any cramping, and not a pimple in sight (for now, I can’t cry “victory” just yet, but so far so good. One day I’ll write an article about it 😉 )
Thanks Christelle 🙂 I guess we’ll just have to see what happens!
Have you ever tried HIT before or any kind of more intesity training? I went to paleo and I start to run HIT and weight training a bit, but probably my body could not handle it. It stressed so much that I lost my period for 9 months. Have you ever heard about it? I mean many people do HIT workout daily and have no problem. I did not loose any weight actually gain 5 pounds, yes I am still skinny, but this has never happened to me when I was doing yoga or just walking everyday even when I was thinnier I have always regular period
Hi Michaela,
Yes, it’s really interesting, from what I’m reading/looking into right now, I get the impression that people and women especially probably need more carbs and starches in their diet than paleo would have you believe. And also that any stress, whether it’s emotional, starvation due to lacking a certain macronutrient, or super intense exercise, may not be so great for the hormonal system. So yes, light to moderate intensity, as you mention, may be better for you – especially if you were not having your period! Personally I have never been into hardcore exercising… sometimes I have felt like I should be more motivated to, but I have always felt drawn to lighter activities like walking, bike riding, and yoga… I felt it suited my pace better, but always wondered if I was doing “enough”. I’ve always had my period though so I guess that’s a good sign!
Thanks a lot.
I was not doing so hardcore workout, you know like 2 times a week HIT and some 3-4 times bodyrock, but yes it was change for my body that might stressed too much. It took me whole 9 months to admit it, that I just can not do it. Well I can I had great resuld, but for me it is more important to have regural period and have second baby than have muscles with no period, loosing bone density and NO second baby. I regret that 9 month that after first month when my period stopped I did not quit with all workouts I only slow down. I think some should write it that not everyone can do it without any harm. You know because I have felt like I want to do best for my body cause everywhere you are reading HIT is the best etc. Thanks a lot:-)
I remember when I started the primal diet with high meat/ veggies and I too was constipated … I really think it’s because there’s a lack of fruit in the diet (are you allowed to have any right now?). I remember after I started adding fruit back in I started going everyday again.
BTW, what are “detox” breakouts? I just started taking MSM and I’ve gotten a few strange whiteheads in random places that go away in a few days — are those “detox” pimples?
Hi Jeff – no, no fruit right now, just… mostly.. soup! hah
Detox breakouts, or healing crisis breakouts, are when you temporarily break out from something that’s helping you, either because bacteria is dying and releasing toxins or something else… it usually happens if you add in something healing, or take out something detrimental
oo okay. yeah, i’m taking MSM right now and it’s been weird. my allergies have gotten a whole ton better but I’ve gotten these small whiteheads pop up on my chin and such (never breakout there…)
are you allowed to take psyillum husk anymore (i’m guessing not b/c it kinda irritates the gut w/ the fiber?)
in other news, I made my first batch of sauerkaut! thanks for the recipe! i used purple cabbage and it tastes AWESOME! 😀 i’m having some before every meal now.
I also talked to an ayruveda specialist and he told me to try a liver cleanse (using this product: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QUL2R4/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00
it’s interesting b/c i’ve been so focused on the gut that perhaps it’s due to another organ that i’m getting acne?
Jeff,
Which kind/dosage of MSM are you taking? I’m using the MSM cream a few times a week, and it has somewhat helped my uneven skin tone, however I’ve fallen off the wagon so I’m eating junk 😕 (as well as all the nutritious food though, not just on it’s own!)
I’m 100% certain that I have allergies, and whilst I cut out all dairy and grains for months, my under eye circles did not clear up… I’m thinking a MSM supplement may help with that.
I’m actually not sure what type, LOL. My mom and dad have been taking it for awhile so I just decided to start taking some from them … 🙂 I take a small spoon and just scoop a little bit out, probably a teaspoon or so. Not that much.
I’ve really noticed the last few days that my sinuses have been clear (I CAN BREATHE THROUGH MY NOOOOOOSE! haha)
So it’s not like a pill? Do you just take it with water like you would psyllium husk?
I’ve been using Nasya oil which is suppose to help with sinuses (and also dark circles), however it hasn’t made any difference yet!
it’s in powder-ish form (crystals?). Yes, it dissolves in water. I mix it with lemon so that it doesn’t taste that badly, haha.
hi tracy,
this is actually a lot of what i’ve experienced being on scd- not the increased pain part, but the not knowing when to move on.
i started the scd because of chronic constipation that started when i was a raw vegan… but since the intro of scd made me even more constipated, i had no idea when to move on or what foods(or lack of foods) were causing it…i also really don’t feel comfortable with the whole enema thing…i just know way too many people who have become dependent on them and just have the same constipation problems as me when they try to stop. i’m still going to try gaps, and i do think it’s worth trying something for a few months before switching… unless the discomfort is really terrible in which case you should stop for sure. i am getting some allergy testing done next month so that should be interesting too.
i’m not sure about the whole matt stone thing…(although i think you have to do what you have to do!) for me, i just hate his personality so much i can’t spend too much time on his blog. to go from reading blogs all about healing and nourishment and meditation and calm to one written by someone super arrogant and aggresive (his header is literally a big muscular man shouting in a woman’s face) is too much for me. i also can’t get a handle on what he stands for(i think he keeps it cryptic on purpose so people will buy his books)… lots of his blog posts quote dr natasha and use her as this valid reference but then he’s so anti-gaps… that said, his personality and weird inconsistencies don’t have much to do with if RRARFing works, so…
i don’t know. just my 2 cents.please keep doing the gaps posts! i’d love to know how you continue to progress!
Yeah, I know what you mean – I don’t especially like him either, and I do think he often just says stuff that is the opposite of everyone else just to get attention.
For example, on the comments of his anti-gaps post, someone asked him what he thought of cod liver oil, and he says “I would not take cod liver oil. You won’t see me going anywhere near that stuff.” … no explanation. I replied and asked why, but no response yet.
I totally would not have paid any attention to him if other people weren’t saying that RRARF was working for them. If I do it, I’m not going to overthink it too much since much of what he says is opposing what I *think* I already know. If it works it works, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t
hey Nathaan,
what kind of msm cream are you using? ive been taking msm withlemon juice and its been helping alot with allergies and acne but not so much with the discoloration.
Hi Saran,
I’m using this one:
http://www.highernature.co.uk/Products/MSM-Cream
It has helped slightly to even out my skin tone, which became stained after using dark honey for so many months! I think the next step (along with GAPS) is to take a supplement of MSM which I hear is good for allergies (which are as annoying as mild acne)
How long have you been using lemon juice? Lemon juice should do a good job over time to help skin tone… or at least fade blemishes due to the natural acid.
Hi Nathan,
Thanks for the link, ill have to give it a try. I was also reading some of tracy’s post and saw a guest blogger, Tamara, who found some MSM cream at a local Henrys. I may give that a try since its right down the street. And her skin looks beautiful as well!
Ive been taking MSM with lemon juice daily for the past two months, every morning. I started off with a really low dose; maybe 1/4 tsp. but now i take about 1 tbls with freshly juiced lemon, which is also helping tremendously with seasonal allergies and lightening some facial scars.
Hey Tracy, Just wanted to tell you I think you’re awesome. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself on this blog. I love your candidness and openness. Keep up the great work! I was also wondering if you had ever tried taking aloe internally. I have heard that is supposed to be very balancing for digestion no matter what your problem is, too low or too high of stomach acid, it’s supposed to help soothe and create equilibrium. Any experience with it?
Thanks! I have heard all about aloe and it’s digestive benefits, it’s one of those things I just haven’t gotten around to trying yet… may have to though!
Are you still running?
I think it’s impossible to have indigestion when you’re a runner, hehe 😀
Hi Tracy,
If you haven’t already, I would love for you to talk about your diet vs. your boyfriend’s and how you approach/manage to stick to your own diet if your boyfriend isn’t on board with you. Thanks!
Thanks Elaine, that’s a good suggestion, although I guess everyone’s situation is different. I’m sure it would still be interesting to hear how my boyfriend and I work it out.
It is possible even half a capsule of probiotics was too much. Too much too soon in probiotic land has similar effects to not enough. Hmmmm.
Have you ever checked out the Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook? It is written by a couple in my town Bellingham, WA. Along with many recipes they have an elimination diet that help to establish a baseline. They have a wonderful recipe/information blog as well at nourishingmeals.com
Ha. I’m one to give advice. I’m in a similar boat! Live and learn and share, that’s all we can do eh?
When I started GAPS I hard a horrible reaction to the stock/broth just by itself. The reaction was in my stomach and up into my mouth, I thought I was going to die from discomfort. Burping, throwing up in my mouth, etc. I bought digestive enzymes and took them after the broth and had no problems at all. Now I do not need to have the digestive enzymes with the broth it just took a small amount of time. Not sure if that will help you.
Hi There!!!
I would like to know how you are currently doing. Did you stop the GAPS?
I’m about 3 weeks in. Felt horrible then felt okay and now I feel gross again.
Please let me know how you are doing so I can compare our experiences.
Thank you
Janine
Hello my name is Lauren and I am 19.
I had read your posts and some of the comments a few months back and at the time was having the same problems you were( cramping in my stomach and gut, indigestion, bloating, etc…) and some others such as inflammation in my joints, head aches and migraines, asthma, and I am all ways getting sick.
At first (that is before I started the gaps diet) I only had mild cramping in my gut, and I thought I might be allergic to dairy or gluten. So I started the full gaps diet in July and did not see much change. So I decided to start the intro diet on October 5 and I felt wonderful for about 5 days(which was the first stage). But when I started introducing new things the stomach and gut cramps came back even worse and that’s when I started having bad gas, bloating, and indigestion. (That was when I read your posts and the comments) and so I tried starting over and other numerous things thinking that I was doing something wrong.
I stayed on the intro diet for around 60 days and and was still having the same problems when my mother had me call her cousin who’s a nurse practitioner, and when I did she told me about “MTHFR” which is a gene mutation that 45% of people have and don’t know it. she had just learned about it herself and thought i should be tested. and so I got tested and found out that I have a double mutation (homozygous 677t) which means that I methylate at about 7-10% which means that my body dose not detox properly or absorb nutrients properly, without the proper supplements. Which totally explained why I am having such a hard time on the gaps diet because gaps is a detoxing diet and my body can’t detox.
So I have been on the supplements (methyfolate and the active form of b12 and b6) for 2 1/2 weeks and am slowly feeling better. This really has changed it all. my stomach and gut cramps, indigestion, bloating are almost gone, I’m not having as many head aches and am having no migraines at all. I don’t know what your going through but I hope that this helps you or someone else that reads it.
With prayers Lauren
Ps here’s a website you can read about mthfr.
http://mthfr.net/read-this-first/2012/01/25/
Hey Lauren,
Thanks for sharing that. I’m going to look more into the MTHFR gene mutation, sounds very interesting! Appreciate your insight!