What is the GAPS Diet – An Easier Explanation
Do you want to start the GAPS Diet but feel overwhelmed where to start? Read this article for an easy to understand breakdown and know what to expect and how to get started.
What is the GAPS Diet
GAPS stands for Gut and Psychology Syndrome and is a diet designed by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, who originally designed the GAPS diet to help her son recover from autism. Dr. Campbell-McBride has degrees in neurology and human nutrition and discovered the connection between gut health and brain health. Dr. Natasha has helped thousands of people recover from allergies, auto-immune disease, asthma, eczema, feeding issues, chronic ear infections, and digestive disorders such as diarrhea, constipation, and IBS. Eating the GAPS diet also has a large impact on those with autism, ADHD, sensory disorders, depression, and more, due to the gut-brain connection. I highly recommend getting a copy of Dr. Campbell-McBride’s book Gut and Psychology Syndrome – I still reference this book regularly after many years!
How Does the GAPS Diet Heal the Body
Gut health, or the condition of your digestive organs and intestines, impacts the body physically and neurologically. We enjoy good sleep, energy, mental clarity, and overall mental and physical health when our guts are healthy. Much of our immune system is also dependent on the health of our digestive system! Eating nutrient dense foods works to optimize digestion by sealing any holes (“leaky gut”), balancing bacteria, and removing toxins from the body.
What Foods Can I Eat on the GAPS Diet
Meat stock, vegetables, eggs, healthy animal fats, fruits, honey, homemade desserts, and probiotic-rich foods comprise much of the GAPS diet. Gut healing and the ability to eliminate bodily toxins are improved with these foods.
Is This Diet Hard
Hard is a matter of perspective and sometimes choice. While change can be difficult, living with chronic health conditions associated with poor gut health is also difficult! Fortunately, we can choose change for the better! Once the initial learning curve is underway, this way of eating becomes a pleasurable way of life. It is hard to imagine going back to living with previous symptoms and disease. And the quality and taste of the foods are incredible! If you are starting from ground zero on how to cook from scratch, check out this post: How to Start an Ancestral Diet (without Overwhelm)
How Long Do I Need to do The GAPS Diet to Heal
Dr. Campbell McBride advises that two years is a good amount of time for full and complete restorative healing to take place. Younger children and those with milder symptoms may heal sooner. It can be very helpful to consider this traditional eating style as a lifestyle change that will bless your family in all manners of health. Those who do the Introduction GAPS Diet may experience more effective healing faster.
Do I Have to do the Intro Diet or Can I Do Full GAPS
The GAPS Diet has two phases: the Introduction Diet and Full GAPS Diet. The Introduction Diet slowly introduces new food groups to allow for complete restorative healing more efficiently. The Intro Diet is a good plan for those who have significant health concerns, those who want to have deep healing, or those who want to potentially move through the diet within two years (or sooner). Significant healing occurs on the Full GAPS Diet as well, and some will choose not to do the Intro. Many people find it helpful to work backward on the diet; that is, to start with Full Gaps and ease into the Intro stages.
Transitioning Off the GAPS Diet
The GAPS Diet is not meant to be a long-term or forever diet. Eventually, the body will heal, and more foods can be introduced-yay! However, eating processed and toxic foods again after will likely cause setbacks. Instead, follow a whole foods, Paleo, or Weston A Price type diets are best to maintain healing and long-term gains.
Our Family Allergy Recovery Story
Following our son’s anaphylactic (life-threatening) food allergy, who was 2 at the time, we immediately implemented GAPS Intro in our home. Within just a few days, we saw immediate improvements in skin (no more eczema), sleeping through the night, speaking in full sentences, and elimination of sensory-seeking behaviors. His stool normalized and he could eat more of the foods he had previously been allergic to, a few months later. We transitioned beautifully to more of a Weston A Price diet after following GAPS for about 2 years.
During this time, my husband’s hearing improved, and the acne I had lingering into young adulthood completely cleared and hasn’t returned.
8 years and 4 new babies later, about 85% of our daily diet is still comprised of GAPS foods; it is nutritious and delicious! We followed the New Baby plan with every child, and everyone is growing beautifully and enjoying great health. We continue to be so grateful our family found such profound healing through this of life.
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