My last two posts on the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) summarized how the environment within the gut can affect a person’s neurology and/or physiology and whether or not the MMR and other vaccines could possibly be the cause of autism.
Now we reach the section of the GAPS book that discusses how to reverse conditions that are autoimmune in nature. Examples of such GAPS conditions include eczema, psoriasis, ADD/ADHD, autism, celiac disease, allergies, asthma, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, IBS, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia, diabetes, cancer, and the list goes on and on.
These conditions all can be traced to unfavorable conditions within the gut that cause undigested bits of food as well as pathogens and toxins to spill into the blood causing an unpredictable mix of autoimmune symptoms within the body.
That’s right – all autoimmune disease is rooted in the gut!
The GAPS diet as recommended by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD limits food intake to those items that can be fully digested even within a compromised gut environment thereby allowing the gut wall to heal. When the gut wall is allowed to finally heal by removing foods that cannot be fully digested, the holes in the gut wall reseal and the toxins that are causing autoimmune symptoms stop spilling into the blood and wreaking havoc in the body.
What Foods Do People Healing Their Guts Need to Avoid?
At first read, the GAPS diet can seem quite complicated. In actuality, it is really very simple.
There are primarily two types of food molecules that folks in the process of healing their guts need to avoid:
- Disaccharides
- Starches
Disaccharides, or double sugars, are present in many carbohydrates including ALL grains. The compromised gut is unable to digest double sugar molecules because the lack of beneficial gut flora compromises the function of the enterocytes.
The enterocytes are the cells that reside on the villi of the gut wall and produce the enzyme disaccharidase which breaks down the disaccharide molecule into easily absorbed monosaccharide molecules. When the enterocytes are not nourished and strengthened properly by adequate beneficial flora, they become weak and diseased and may even turn cancerous. They do not perform their duties of digesting and absorbing food properly.
The critical importance of the enterocytes to health cannot be overstated!
Weak and diseased enterocytes also have trouble digesting starch molecules which are very large with hundreds of monosugars connected in long branchlike strands. People with weak digestion due to an imbalance of gut flora and messed up enterocytes have a terrible time digesting these complex molecules leaving large amounts of it undigested- the perfect food for pathogenic yeasts, bacteria, fungi and other pathogens to thrive upon.
Even the starch that manages to get digested results in molecules of maltose, which is – you guessed it – a disaccharide! This maltose also goes undigested due to a lack of the enzyme disaccharidase and becomes additional food for gut pathogens.
The Bottom Line
Therefore, all foods containing disaccharide and starch molecules must be removed from the diet of a GAPS child or adult in order to allow the enterocytes to strengthen and heal the gut wall.
Dr. Campbell-McBride MD writes that clinical practice has shown that given enough time, the gut usually will again be able to digest these foods without any ill effects (aka, autoimmune disease) to the person consuming them.
The GAPS Diet is not a forever thing. It is a temporary measure to heal the gut wall and restrengthen the enterocytes so normal life can be regained without the burden of autoimmune disease.
Foods To Eliminate
The GAPS child or adult must avoid all grains and any food that contains them. This includes wheat, rye, rice, corn, oats, amaranth, kamut, spelt, barley, buckwheat, millet, teff, triticale, bulgar, tapioca, quinoa and any others.
Starchy vegetables like white and sweet potatoes, parsnip, arrowroot and taro must be eliminated from the diet for a time.
Starchy beans and peas must also be avoided which includes pretty much all of them with the exception of green peas and navy beans.
All sugars including the lactose in milk and cream must be avoided. Honey and very ripe fruit would be the only sweets allowed. Fermented dairy like yogurt and kefir as well as butter and ghee are permitted unless the GAPS condition is severe.
How Long to Healing?
Dr. Campbell-McBride says that, on average, it takes a child 6-18 months on the GAPS diet for the gut to heal. For an adult, it may take longer.
Note that it will not necessarily take this long for symptoms to subside, however. It is possible for symptoms to be substantially gone within weeks of eliminating these foods from the diet. Subsiding of symptoms does not mean the person is ready to consume grains and starches again, though.
Every person is different and the severity of his/her gut imbalance will determine how long it takes for the enterocytes to become strong again, the gut wall to heal and seal, and the ability to digest disaccharide and starch molecules regained.
Taking a Probiotic Alone Will Not Heal Your Enterocytes
I’ve had folks say to me that they don’t need to go on the GAPS diet as they take a probiotic on a daily basis and eat probiotic rich, whole foods.
Please be aware that changing to even a completely unprocessed, whole foods diet and taking a daily probiotic will not necessarily heal your gut!
This approach alone will not heal your enterocytes and heal/seal the gut wall from years of abuse by antibiotics, the pill, other drugs, and processed foods.
The reason is that the enterocytes reside on the gut wall and the balance of flora on the gut wall cannot be changed. A probiotic supplement is not able to re-colonize this area of the gut!
Dr. Campbell-McBride MD writes that probably the only time that in our entire lives where we can populate the gut wall with beneficial bacteria is at birth.
Therefore, the only way to heal the enterocytes and the gut wall is to take away the food of the pathogens (disaccharides and starches) so that they weaken and the beneficial flora consumed by a probiotic can take hold and re-establish dominance in the rest of the gut.
Then, when these foods are re-introduced at a later time, the enterocytes will be strong and able to digest and handle them properly. This simply will not ever happen unless a period of time to heal these important little cells occurs.
Also note that even after healing, the gut will require constant infusion of probiotics on a daily basis. You can either supplement your diet with probiotic rich foods like yogurt, kefir, homemade saurkraut, kombucha and others or you can continue taking a therapeutic strength probiotic such as Bio-kult, which is recommended by Dr. Campbell-McBride.
Conclusions
One autoimmune disease begets another, so if you or someone you love has allergies or another mild form of autoimmune disorder, more severe autoimmune disease will very likely take hold in the future unless the root of the problem (gut imbalance) is addressed.
Autoimmune disease never gets better – it only gets worse over time.
Of course, severe autoimmune disease mandates the GAPS Diet as perhaps the only viable option for reversal and healing.
For this reason, it may be worthwhile to consider the GAPS diet as a measure to fix gut dysbiosis once and for all.
* This post was shared at GNOWFGLINS Tuesday Twister blog carnival.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
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{ 70 comments… read them below or add one }
I finally ordered this book off Amazon (used). I have a mild autoimmune disorder (ever heard of Linear Morphea?) and would love to eliminate it or prevent future AIDs. This is really compelling. The diet elimination would be tough but worth it.
I have the same thing how is the Gaps Diet working for it?
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I have been waffling on what to do about my eczema and food allergies and sensitivities and other symptoms, knowing that untreated they are likely to get worse! I even have the GAPS book and read it all the way through, but the diet itself did seem confusing! Thank you so much for clearing this up for me!
Hi Megan, I have never heard of Linear Morphea – what is that? Yes it is tough for the first few weeks to figure out what to eat on GAPS as grains are such a huge part of the Western diet. Fortunately, nut and coconut flours can be used to make baked goods that are delicious and a fantastic alternative.
I am seriously considering buying the book on Amazon as well, for I too have an autoimmune disease called Sjogren's Syndrome. I produce too many antibodies so they attach my moisture glands-dry eyes, dry mouth, etc. I have found that the cod liver oil help relieve the dryness a little, but I would love to heal myself completely. Thanks for the info.
Our 13yr old ds has OCD, I've been interested in this diet since last fall. The difficulty I have is getting my dh and ds on board. I brought the book to our dr visit yesterday, and was strongly advised that dietary changes were not likely to result in any changes and that meds are the best decision. I've also been to an integrative medicine specialist who is on board with the diet, but is out of plan with our insurance and had our ds on ascorbic acid 2,000mg a day in addition to amino acid supplements all of which are expensive and do not have traditional medical support. It is very difficult to be confident that the treatment is right and safe. I think with the right support we could at least try this diet for 3-6months. Will you be posting more in regards to menus and recipes? Thank you for your post.
I hope you’ve found some relief for your son by now. I just wanted to say that the only risk with the GAPS diet is aggravation and adjusting the diet is not likely to be as expensive as the supplements; and that your doctor is trained and paid to treat pathology with pharmacology. Doctors aren’t bad people – they picked their job to help people after all – but like anybody they can get into a rut in their responses. As a client, you are allowed to respectfully disagree with your physician’s recommendations if you feel they don’t fit your family, just as you would with an accountant or mechanic. A true professional in any field should be open to that challenge.
Does this book make specific diet suggestions, like meal plans, recipes, etc.? If not, do you know a source that does to help those who may feel overwhelmed by the restrictions?
There is now a GAPS recipe book available to purchase called “Internal Bliss”. You can also Google GAPS recipes and find lots of great blogs of recipes that have been created for the diet. We have been on GAPS for 1-1/2 years and have never eaten so well.
Yes, I will be posting more recipes etc. A great resource for those who are on this diet already or thinking about GAPS is the following discussion board:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/gapshelp/
Yes, recipes or realistic diet suggestions would be helpful for someone weaning off grains!
Have you heard of SevaMed Institute in Lutz? They practice integrative medicine and I just heard a lecture from their MD (Dr. Saxena) about "enterocytes" and the gut walls. It was very good! From my understanding, they will work with patients to change their diets. I'm on a waiting list to be seen!
Sarah-Linear Morphea is a version of Linear Scleroderma. It's the less scary version, thankfully. Basically, my body produces too much collagen (hmm…isn't wanting extra collegen why women get botox??) on my leg and it looks like deep, tough bruises that can make the skin taut. I've been controlling it with a cream and it lessened its "tautness" but I've always wondered what else I could do. http://www.aocd.org/skin/dermatologic_diseases/morphea.html
I've heard great things about Dr. Saxena. Let me know how it goes when you get in to see her!
I know this is an old blog. Sarah, Do you have experience with Dr. Saxena? I know that you cannot and will not give medical advice. I just am curious. My care has been mismanaged thus far and I am looking for a doc who can look at what is actually causing the problem and not mask it with anti-depressants, etc. I would like someone who supports and practices based on the WAP principles. The local chapter leader does not have anyone she knows in this area so looking to broaden my search now.
The diet's not complicated. It's just what all of humanity ate before agriculture was developed. Look at any nomadic or hunter/gatherer tribe today, or to any of the "primal" or "paleo" eaters. marksdailyapple.com is one of many blogs I've seen devoted to applying primal wisdom to modern living, and has lots on what is basically this same mode of eating: meat, veggies, fruit, dairy, eggs, & fermented foods.
Our family is almost GAPS by default. We just do better w/o many grains, and potatoes are one of the few tweaks we'd have to make to adapt. I think that 6mo of GAPS may be what we need to boot sugar addiction & tics here for good, returning afterward to a moderate grain intake.
Unless you attempt to make "grain-free" versions of all your favorite baked goods, this way of eating is really simple. Just let go. We have eggs for breakfast (fast! & omelets w/ leftover veggies are yummy) (ssg or bacon on the wknd), leftovers or deli meat w/ chs for lunch (rolled up or on lettuce leaves or long slices of cucumber), yogurt/nuts/cheese/fruit/etc. for snacks, & for dinner, we grill/roast/saute some meat & veggies & add a salad. Simple. Done. Don't forget plenty of butter, tallow, lard, & fermented foods to go with it!
Talked to my son's pediatrician this morning at our 12 month check up. While he is a conventional doc he supports using diet and lifestyle changes first. After discussing some of the ongoing issues we've been having he not only gave us his support in doing GAPS but is looking forward to monitoring it's effects on Little Man. Even his medical student was interested in it.
Fantastic Mama G!! You must be one persuasive gal. I am so sure GAPS will help him tremendously!
Great summary Sarah! I just finished my first go through of the book. This was helpful. Anonymous. . . you summed it up nicely IMO; yep it's not rocket science–let go–I like that.
If symptoms improve quickly, but it takes 6-18 months to fully heal the gut, how do you know how long to continue on the GAPS diet?
Thank you for the great summary!
AFter your symptoms have been completely gone for about 6 months, try to slowly reintroduce the foods that you eliminated and note if any return of symptoms occurs.
Anyone know if a child has had eczema/food allergies since birth, is it a gut problem? I am very interested in this diet for my daughter and myself (we both have lots of allergies/eczema and I have asthma)although I'm not sure I could get the rest of the family to follow it strictly. I've been eating almost 100% grain free for a little while now, just because I realized they were making me bloated and itching and foggy brained. It would be HARD to give up potatoes though. I think I'm going to have to finally buy this book.
Hi Jessica – absolutely, gut problems are at the root of the allergies/eczema.
Sarah – have you done the GAPS diet yourself?
I have a question about GAPS versus candida syndrome. As I read different things I wonder if I have both issues. The solution diets are somewhat different though, as the anti-candida diet doesn't allow any sugars including honey. Would you recommend treating one issue before the other, or doing it at the same time? How can I tell which is a bigger issue for me?
Hi Beth, on page 76 in the GAPS book, Dr. Campbell McBride discusses the anti-candida diet. She says that almost without exception, GAPS children and adults suffer from candida overgrowth. Candida, however is just one of the many pathogens that are uncontrolled in the gut – GAPS diet will take care of candida as well as the other pathogens. Honey is fine as long as it is in moderation. The anti-candida diet does not work as it does not eliminate grains and starches. These are bigger contributors to candida problems than a bit of honey could ever be as honey is fully digested even by a messed up gut and is rarely a food for pathogens unless eaten to excess.
Actually, my husband and I are both on GAPS right now and have been for several months. The kids are not, however as they have no GAPS issues. We have recently reintroduced potatoes as they do not give us any issues. It seems to be grains – even sprouted, soaked, or sour leavened that are the big problem.
Sarah, i am so grateful that you are posting this information on the GAPS diet on your blog. My partner and i are hoping to start the diet in the next few days. I am struggling a little to understand the specifics of what we need to eat each day. I listened to Baden Lashkov (sp?) at the WAPF conference last year and she talked alot about the Intro stage of the GAPS. I haven't been able to find the same info in Natasha's book. We're looking to understand 100% what we can and cant eat as we've both got quite bad GAPS symptoms. If you have any further info for first-time-GAPS dieters, and the Intro Stage i would be most grateful.Thanks so much again. I love your blog and have shared it with many others:)
Hi Arabella, the book you want with Intro Stage I is called "GAPS Guide" you can see it below in the Amazon list of recommended books at the end of this post.
Good luck on the diet! I feel sure you will feel a whole lot better very soon for taking this step.
My dd tested allergic to several foods including wheat and dx as having leaky gut. Only symptoms we noticed were headaches. Dr Saxena's advice was to eliminate all the foods, take a GI supplement to heal the leaky gut and take probiotics for 3 months. Then reintroduce foods even before the 3 months was up. We did all this except have not reintroduced any of the allergic foods and it's been 6 months. Headaches were gone within a few weeks. We have improved the diet too with raw milk, eggs, raw butter, high quality meats. I am wondering if we need to do GAPS diet too to be sure the gut is healed.
If so, we would need to eliminate all milk, even raw? But butter and kefir are ok? What about cheese? Kombucha? And add back the BioKult? Or would daily kefir be enough or both but take less BioKult?
Thank you Sarah for this important info!
Hi Sara,
This is very helpful. I have been considering GAPS for some time now and decided to look into this coming month and most likely will go on it for about 6 months. Problem is I haven't read the book yet, but plan to pick it up soon. So this was timely for me. Do you know, can you drink Kombucha while on GAPS? I am assuming so, but was wondering because of the initial sugar content that feeds the SCOBY.
Thanks so much!! Peace to you!!
Hi Lydia, yes, you can drink kombucha on GAPS .. just take care to ferment at least 7-8 days (longer would be even better) to make sure all the sugar is fermented away.
Thanks Sarah, that is GOOD to know!!
This is great info! Do you know if snap peas are allowed on the GAPS diet? Just curious as I was planning on planting some for a Fall garden, but would rather not waste my time if they aren't allowed.
Hi Sarah, I assume snap peas are fine as regular peas are fine too.
Did you and your husband take any probiotics while on GAPS, or perhaps just up your intake of kefir, sauerkraut, etc?
Hi Sarah, yes we both took BioKult probiotic. If you scroll down to the Amazon store below this post, you can click on this in the "supplements" category to check it out.
Thanks for the info!
One (hopefully last) question about the probiotic: did both you and your husband actually end up taking the recommended therapeutic dosage of 8-10 capsules daily? It is such an expensive probiotic that it would be hundreds of dollars/month if we all worked up to the therapeutic dosage; that would really break the bank considering we recently took a 50% pay cut so I could become a stay-at-home mom. I'm really hoping we can still get great results without taking quite so much probiotic considering none of us have any "severe" symptoms (mostly just nagging things such as some joint pain for me, plus eczema and sinus troubles for my husband). Sorry to ask so many questions, and thanks for taking the time to respond!
Hi Sarah, yes, we took the max dose for 6 months (you have to work up to it very slowly else you can get very uncomfortable with die off symptoms). However, I think you can derive great benefit from just working up to the maintenance dose of 4/day (2 in the am and 2 in the pm).
In case you are interested, I found a source for Bio-Kult that saves about $10/bottle. https://www.blueherbs.com/shop/pc/Bio-Kult-c60.htm
the toxins you speak of are they leptins? if so you should be able to test blood for them? no unnecessary diet control then. ive heard it described as perforated gut..due to fungal invasion usually?
without references it seems easier to be clear by putting question marks after a statement.
Hi Russell, Dr. Campbell-McBride MD didn’t identify the toxins by name if I recall from her book, but there are many, many of them. Each type of gut pathogen produces a different one and there are hundreds of possibilities which accounts for the myriad of autoimmune diseases and symptoms. The book Gut and Psychology Syndrome is a great read if you want to dig in further.
Is the GAPS diet safe to do while pregnant or nursing?
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Not a good idea to start it while pregnant or nursing as there is typically some die off symptoms that manifest for a period of time as the body detoxes. If you are already on GAPSit, it is fine to become pregnant of course as your body will have had time to adjust.
I’m thinking about starting this diet for my 5 year old daughter. She has struggled with eczema and food sensitivities her whole life. My only issue is that she is allergic to tree nuts–would this eliminate all baked goods of any sort for her? That’s a lot to ask from a child.
Hi Tabitha, With all the sympathy I have in my heart, I mean this in the best of ways, but asking a child to suffer with eczema, and have to deny her self of all the other foods she’s allergic to for the rest of her life, when there is a solution that could take 1.5 years of her life is no small thing to ask of her either….
Dear Sarah,
I was thinking of trying the GAPS diet for our whole family since our three kids suffer from severe allergies and eczema. What would you recommend first? The GAPS diet or the Nourishing Traditions cookbook? The GAPS diet seems very challenging especially with the three kids..but if it really works it would be worth a try. I’m overwhelmed and not exactly sure where to start.
Thanks.
GAPS is a subset of Nourishing Traditions so if you do that you are doing both. It really does work but it will take a complete overhaul of your kitchen/shopping/food preparation habits. It will be a huge stretch and growth process but so worth it and your kids will thank you for years to come that you healed them before they are adults when it is much harder to deal with.
Hi Sarah, thanks so much for sharing this article. GAPS (book and diet) is wonderful and has so much healing knowledge. I am actually a testament to all of this information myself. I healed my autoimmune thyroid disease using these basic principles, although I never specifically followed the GAPS diet. I now work with people in attempt to help them do the same. There is so much power in all of these principles and I love how people are opening themselves up to the possibility of healing. Ultimately, many people do not and will never be able to get the benefits that Dr. McBride has written about. It’s all about being open to the possibility. Thank you so much again!
I’ve been wondering the same thing about nuts. my son is allergic to peanuts and due to cross-contamination risks, has to strictly avoid all nuts. how would you go about convincing a 3 year old that he can’t have anything baked anymore?
and can gaps really heal a full-out peanut allergy? or is it more for food sensitivities (rather than true allergies) and environmental allergies?
With regards to the nuts allergies – you can use coconut flour to make baked goods, which would give you a bit of variety.
(We have just finished our first month on GAPS and are learning as we go. Thanks for this post!)
Important to note, in the case of Celiac Disease, the removal of gluten-containing grains must be PERMANANT, not temporary, regardless of symptom relief. Even in asymptomatic Celiac, gluten triggers a villi-damaging reaction. This disease cannot be cured, only managed by lifelong adherence to a gluten-free diet.
Have you talked to Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride about this? I would think if you truly heal the lining of the intestines (villi) and repopulate/rebalance the gut flora that you would be able to reintroduce soaked grains in moderation into the diet. That would be an excellent question for her as she answers questions each month on her website.
Hello Sarah
Thank you so much for this website! It is truly informative…… I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a few months ago and a friend of mine introduced me to the GAPS diet and I have been on it since April. So far it has been working pretty well. I still have good and bad days but all in all the diet has been helping a great deal. The only thing that I get irritated about is when the pain gets unbearable I have to take pain medication. I try to avoid taking anything, but that doe not always work. I realize this is a long process, so each day I am hanging in there! Thank you again for this site
I liked Seeds of Change
Hi,
U must be correct.
To say milk is not good, its incorrect
Our raw donkey milk heal people with atopic syndrom = Atopic Dermatitis, Azema and all the list u wrote.
We have near 100% recovery
We r oversea
on the land of the Holyland of Israel
4 any q. pls feel free to ask us
Genesis
(Sorry 4 my poor English, we speak the bible language)
I’m confused. Is raw milk on a GAPS diet ok? Are potatoes ok if they don’t bother you? Thank you so much for all this great info!
I have rheumatoid arthritis, and I highly doubt the validity of your claims. I’ve had a couple of colonoscopies, and watched the entire procedure on the video screen. There’s nothing in my “gut”–it’s totally squeaky clean and void of any “holes” that need to “heal”, so how do you explain that I have RA?
Your theory is quackery, and it does harm to people by giving them false hope.
RA is nothing to play around with, as it can and does affect internal organs (heart, lungs, etc.) as well as cause crippling deformities if not treated. Allowing people to believe that a diet can get rid of RA, which has a genetic component, only prolongs the amount of time they go untreated and allows untold damage to be done internally.
Your blog is irresponsible at best.
SNilsen,
A scope of your gut would not show the holes that the GAPS diet adresses. They are microscopic and have to do with how the nutrients in your gut move through the gut to the bloodstream. If the “holes” (which is very much a lay term to aid in understanding for non-medical folks) are too large they allow larger molecules of nutrients through to the blood where they travel throughout the body. That activates the immune system which recognizes it as a foreign body and attacks it. This attack can also affect healthy tissue, including those that cause pain and inflammation in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Your body is a cohesive system. Where one part is affected the rest of the body will also feel the effects.
This does not discount the aid that comes through more modern medical intervention, but a large part, if not all, of your symptoms could be alleviated through diet changes. I have found that my arthritis symptoms are significantly relieved through diet changes.
Please reconsider the possibility that what you eat could affect how you feel. Even if you have a medical diagnosis and medical doctors helping you. Diet changes are not something that they know much about nor will typically recommend because A, they haven’t spent the time to learn much about it and B, they are focused in a completely different direction of putting a bandaid on the problem rather than finding a root cause.
Oh my gosh! Diet is everything!
My doctor did a stool test and found I have leaky gut. I also have RA. Let me tell you it is what you eat! I do not take medication for it but eat low inflammation foods and exercise. I am doing the GAPS as best as I can and it makes a huge difference. My Dad has RA and has lived on Aleve for 20 years and now has leukemia. I do not want to go down that road and know diet IS the key!
I would love to try GAPS. I have multiple food allergies that cause me to get acne and itchy spots on my face and neck. I didn’t develop any of these allergies until around the same time that I went through puberty. I grew up eating mostly fast food, was on lots of antibiotics and was put on the pill for my acne and heavy periods at around age 13! I also took accutane which now I know did huge amonts of damage, no thanks to the stupid dermatologist who told me that there was NO connection between food and acne! I already started eliminating grains and I feel much better, I have more energy and I’m not constipated anymore. Has this diet helped anyone to get rid of their dairy allergies?
Hi Sarah,
Would like to know to if the GAPS diet can heal a person suffering from multiple sclerosis.
I read disaccharides compose 7% of honey. Is it ok to eat honey because it is such a small amount?
Any suggestions for people who have sensitivities to nuts and meats and grains? Lots of allergies. We tried GAPS on our 3 yr old and didn’t see much improvement. She lost weight, tried it for 8 months. No growth, her nails stopped growing, she did horrible. There was hardly anything she can eat. I am sure she has leaky gut and need help for that desperately. She is currently paleo, doing better but still suffering from a lot of the behavioral and skin and gastrointestinal symptoms. Please help. We’ve been consulting w/ someone who’s supposed to be an expert on GAPS and traditional diets(in CA) and we’re not getting much help.
Izzy, please check out some of the other diet protocols, such as low FODMAP out of Australia or the RPAH/Failsafe diet out of Britain. I enjoy this blog and have been learning about GAPS for my own health (I am nursing so have to wait a while b/c of detox). However, my daughter has some severe gut issues and was prescribed low FODMAP by our city’s best children’s hospital pediatric GI. Although very allopathic in his approach, he believes very strongly in the efficacy of dietary interventions. You will definitely find some similarities among all of these protocols, but GAPS does not work well for some of the sensitivities that these other protocols specifically address…worth looking into so that you can perhaps combine them or do one protocol first and then another.
My 18 month old daughter has eczema and is allergic to cow dairy, eggs, and peanuts. I am wondering if we should try GAPS, but I worry that the lack of carbs will effect her brain development or weight. She is very tiny for her age (10th percentile) and can’t afford to lose any weight or have slowed growth. Any advice?
Thanks!
Can you point me to where this is discussed in the revised GAPS book? I cannot locate it.
Thanks
Isabelle
Do you think Gaps would heal Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis?
I have scoured the internet for testimonials of people who have completely healed
from their ailments from this Gaps diet there are none ?? Even here, there are none.
I at least would hope to see someone’s testimonial of their eczema clearing up.
This is the best article I’ve read on the GAPS diet. Makes it very simple — thank you!
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Sarah,
Do you know anyone who was actually healed of a peanut/tree nut allergy on GAPS? I can’t find any writing about this online–of actual cases–just people saying that it could happen. We started GAPS last November for my 2 year old who has those allergies plus eczema/asthma. The eczema and asthma are better now (eczema totally gone), but she recently had a severe reaction to pecans that opened my eyes to the severity of her allergy. We went to an allergist who confirmed the allergies and we are also working with a natural doc. Thanks for the info.
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