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After a summer filled with travel and lots of discussion my family is going to start on GAPS Intro. Last October my husband, Joe, and I did GAPS. The GAPS diet is based on the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Natasha Campbell-McBride, MD. The GAPS goal then was to help me with some issues I was having. Joe joined me for support and ended up really enjoying GAPS. Once we finished GAPS we added back in sourdough and other soaked grains over a few weeks time. We really learned alot of great principles on GAPS.
This time we are doing GAPS more for the children. Lulu (age 17) was the first to ask if I would do GAPS with her. She didn’t actually know the entire premise of GAPS but that we had done it and benefited from it. Then driving from from Oregon, Kes (age 15) said she wanted to do ‘that diet’ to figure out why her stomach hurts so much. Off and on for 10+ years she has a stomach ache in the mornings. It is better since we switched to real food but not completely gone. Usually when she has a tummy ache she takes a shot of whey and it helps. Christopher (3 1/2) has become a bit of a picky eater and he seems to have some food reactions. I’m not entirely sure what he reacts to so the elimination aspect of GAPS should help pin that down. Of course, I know that I would once again benefit from GAPS. I learned alot about my body last time we did it plus there are a few things still going on with me that will benefit from GAPS (I’ll share more in later posts). Joe also has issues that we are hoping will help with GAPS this time.
We’ll be starting GAPS Introduction tomorrow (Saturday). I’m a little nervous about Stage 1 since I had a pretty bad time when we did GAPS before the first few days.
Today I’m getting our food ready for tomorrow and Sunday. I’m making beef broth from meaty bones. The broth is an essential part of GAPS. Meat that is boiled is the only preparation method allowed along with boiled vegetables. You can learn more about the GAPS diet here and Introduction here. And be sure to check out this great post from my friend Wardeh at GNOWFGLINS that explains Intro and Full GAPS.
Have you done the GAPS diet or thought about doing GAPS?
Good luck with your second trial! I know GAPS can be really challenging, but you can do it. 🙂
Thanks Erin!
I started with full GAPS for several weeks before starting the intro diet. I’m pretty convinced it’s what helped me move through Intro fairly quickly without too much trouble, and it seemed to really mitigate the symptoms I’d heard others sharing. That’s not to say I didn’t have any symptoms, just none that were very harsh, and I was able to keep my normal schedule of responsibilities. It also really helped my blood sugar stabilize to have those allowable carbs; then I was able to slowly decrease them when I got close to Intro. Of course, adding them back as Intro progressed felt like I was adding candy! 🙂 It’s just a thought. It’s hard enough doing this alone, but having so many to cook for requires energy.
Another thought…when I started full GAPS I had some trouble the first few day or two with nausea, but I came across a post (can’t remember whose though) that advised keeping plenty of the allowable carb vegetables ready for the grabbing…carrots, butternut squash, etc. That was very helpful, because there are times that it seems nothing would fill me up!
We plan to do it with the whole family this time in January, and we’ll progress through it like this again. Many blessings! It’s definitely worth it!
Hi NancyO,
We thought about doing full GAPS first. I think the biggest draw for intro is the elimation aspect of it. Lulu and Christopher will both benefit from finding exactly what they are sensitive to. However, the back up plan is to go to full GAPS (for some or all of us) if necessary. I am glad that I’ve done intro before and have an idea what to expect. And you are right, cooking does require energy! I hope I have it. 🙂
For stomach aches using grapefruit seed extract (pill form)helps a ton. Not sure exactly why, but my son and my friend’s son both ate ALL the time and would get stomach aches. Helped them both.