I am on Day 1 of the GAPS Introduction Diet Stage One. So far I’ve had chicken vegetable soup, ginger tea, a cup of beef broth and soup that consisted of beef broth, ground beef, turnips, onions, garlic and spinach. Yum! 🙂
I had mentioned here that I was just going to do the full GAPS diet because I didn’t want too many toxins being passed through breatmilk to Cameron. After further thought and research though I decided to go through the introductory stages.
I’ve had a couple of people ask why I’m doing this. So I’ll share with all of you why I am choosing to do the GAPS diet.
1. Because I have been reacting to foods I used to be able to eat with no problem. The recent ones being beets, blueberries and cherries. To many almonds, a small amount of sugar or to much fiber in a meal can cause: an itchy rash on my hands and legs, bloating or constipation.
2. I have an autoimmune disease.
Hashimoto’s Thyroditis/Hypothyroidism runs in my family.
Autoimmune diseases can be put in “remission” by strengthening the immune system of which between 60%-70% is in your intestinal tract.
3.
Most people with Hashimoto’s Thyroditis have leaky gut or candida.
I have struggled with yeast overgrowth for at least 8 years and I believe I now have leaky gut because of these recent new reactions to low sugar fruits. I have done a candida cleanse before but the purpose of that was simply to get rid of sugar overgrowth. It did do the trick, but I really feel that more indepth healing is needed.
Here is what I can eat in Stage One of the introductory diet:
GAPS Intro Diet
Stage 1
beef, boiled in water or simmered in broth
bok choy, cooked
broccoli, cooked, no stalks
carrots, cooked
cauliflower, cooked, no stalks
chicken, boiled in water or simmered in broth
collard greens, cooked
eggplant, peeled, cooked
fermented vegetable juice, 1 tsp with meals
fish, boiled in water or simmered in broth
garlic, cooked
ginger root
raw honey
kale, cooked
lard, homemade
lamb, boiled in water or simmered in broth
onions, cooked
poultry: duck, turkey, and quail boiled in water or simmered in broth
pumpkin, cooked (fresh, not canned)
sea salt
summer squash, cooked
spinach, cooked
tea (chamomile, ginger or mint)
turkey, boiled in water or simmered in broth
turnips, cooked
winter squash, cooked
yogurt, homemade, fermented 24+ hours (start slow 1 tbsp daily)
zucchini, cooked
As you can see in the above list everything is cooked to allow for the easiest digestion. I’m also supposed to take 1 T of fermented saurkraut juice with each meal to help with digestion.
How long will this stage last?
I’m not sure. It all depends on how my body responds to it. I have seen a general answer of between 3-5 days, but again it could be longer or shorter for some.
Do you have any questions about the GAPS diet? If you have done GAPS do you have any tips?
I have never heard of the GAPS diet, but I wish you well! I can tell you that eating half of what’s on that list would create a reaction in me, which is why I’ve gone vegetarian, and so far it has helped! I hope this helps you out!
It is based off the Specific Carbohydrate Diet but it’s focus is gut healing. It is sorta like the AutoImmune Protocal but more restrictive in the beginning.
I’m glad you are feeling so much better Kate!
I admire your patience and commitment! I think you’ll see some great results doing GAPS. I only wish I had it in me to stick to it but I guess if I was really struggling with staying strong and healthy it would be easier to make the commitment. Good luck, I’ll be looking forward to updates! 🙂
Kat
Thanks Kat! Yeah, if I wasn’t having these reactions to new foods that I had been able to eat previously with no reaction, I wouldn’t have the persistence and determination to stick with it.
I’ve never heard of it – but I hope you check how your body responds 🙂 Good luck girl!
Thanks so much Heather!
Diet changes can have such an influence in our lives. I’m in the stages of praying through my meals so that my food cravings don’t master me but the Spirit does. Good luck to you on your diet!
I’m a big believer in using food as medicine. God created our bodies to work with food a certain way, but obviously that doesn’t always happen correctly, so diet changes are necessary.
I like how you are taking control of your cravings. I’m a big emotional eater, didn’t realize that til a couple of weeks ago. It is something I need to work on.
Good for you! I’ve been hearing a lot about how dietary changes can help people with autoimmune issues. It’s amazing how food plays a role in many parts of our bodies!
Keep us posted on how it goes! I pray it helps you feel better!
Thanks Maria!! On to stage 2 right now. 🙂
I haven’t heard of this diet before, but it sounds interesting. I have a lot of allergy/asthma issues that have worsened lately, so I’m thinking of looking into some dietary changes. I’ll be interested to see how this plays out for you!
I’ll be posting an update next week sometime. 🙂
My brother has asthma, no fun! I hope you can find relief some way.
Also Dr Axe has a lot of good info on healing leaky gut and its ‘s symptoms through food. And anything you find on GAPS or the AutoImmune Protocal might be helpful.
Good for you! I found your blog through the Blogelina class, and I’m so glad to find a fellow mom living this crazy kind of life!
My husband and his siblings all have autoimmune issues (one of his sisters has Hashimoto’s) and our three boys have inherited a lot of his problems. We started the autoimmune protocol last August. It’s made a huge difference. When our boys get older and can communicate a little better, we’ve talked about doing GAPs for them, especially for the one who is extremely sensitive.
Keep it up and let us know how it goes!
Hi Ellen! Nice to meet you. 🙂 I’ll have to come check your blog out. 🙂
It is so hard when there are littles with food issues. I hope you can find something that works for them.
Thanks for stopping by! I will definitely be updating everyone as this progresses.
Rebekah, I did the GAPS diet a couple of years ago for about four months, and then partly after that. I have Celiac Disease and like you found that I was starting to find foods that I had previously been ok with hard to digest, such as onions, meat and other staple type foods. It really, really helped me but was hard to maintain long term. I got to really like the sauerkraut, it was a big digestive help I think.
Thanks for sharing this with me! I am working on slowly adding more fermented vegetables into my diet, I’m a little scared about saurkraut right now because I was having issues with it before starting GAPS. I might wait a couple more weeks and stick with the kraut juice and fermented carrots and turnips for now. I love the flavor of kraut so I’m really hoping the sensitivity isn’t a permanent thing!