Practical considerations for implementing the gaps diet
Whenever you consider a major life-changing event, forward planning is essential, as is counting the cost.
Here I intend to overview the practical considerations that it would be wise for you to consider before embarking on the GAPS diet.
Here I intend to overview the practical considerations that it would be wise for you to consider before embarking on the GAPS diet.
Don't think of starting the gaps diet until you have read and understood the official GAPS diet book.
In it, Dr. Natasha Campbell Mc Bride outlines the theory behind her diet protocol so that you understand what you are aiming for and how it will be accomplished. Secondly it will make sure that you are a suitable candidate for the GAPS diet. Then it will teach you what foods will be permitted and how to prepare them. There are some recipes in here to get you started. There are very helpful chapters on how to get fussy eaters to accept healthy foods and how to help youngsters with eating disorders. Finally it will teach you the importance of the supplements that the author deems essential to the working of the diet. These are few in number, but must be done correctly so as not to sabotage the diet.
Also see the official web-site:
http://www.gapsdiet.com/
And this one that's a bit easier to navigate:
http://gaps.me/
Also see the official web-site:
http://www.gapsdiet.com/
And this one that's a bit easier to navigate:
http://gaps.me/
Do I need to work with a GAPS certified practitioner?
It is advised that you do, but Dr. Natasha states that many people implement the diet successfully by themselves. I would be guided by your state of health. If you have complicated health needs and are on several medications, you will at the very least need the full cooperation of your GP, and possibly a certified GAPS practitioner. We were only on Levothyroxine (me) and Carbimazole (Husband), so we have remained under our GP + consultant for my Husband, and nothing else.
If you need a practitioner, see here:
http://www.gaps.me/find-a-gaps-practitioner.php
If you need a practitioner, see here:
http://www.gaps.me/find-a-gaps-practitioner.php
How much will it cost?
This of course will vary from family to family depending on the number and age of the people doing the diet. I personally would find it very difficult to just do it for one person in the family, so we all did it and have all benefitted. Also. it would be hard for the one doing the diet to watch others around them eating chocolates and sweets and other non-allowed foods.
The main foods are meat and vegetables, but you will be eating a lot more than you did before (unless you are already eating that way of course!) For a family of four adults we spend on average £150 a week on food. Although many will say it has to be organic grass-fed food, we cannot afford that and Dr. Natasha Campbell Mc. Bride states quite clearly in her book that the diet can still be successful without organic produce, so I get the best I can, not using supermarkets if I can help it to buy meat and vegetables. We have a vegetable delivery service of local produce, non-organic. We have Abel and Cole organic milk to make milk kefir, and I use the local butcher for most meat.
The most expensive part of the diet however is the supplements as they must be of the highest quality. Cod liver oil is not cheap and we have cut costs by only giving it to Husband and Son 1 whose needs we deemed greatest and only probably for a few months. The same for the probiotics. We use Biokult, again very expensive although Amazon often have a price reduction on it when it is worth buying it in bulk. Again, we only give to husband, the rest of us eating as many fermented foods as possible.
To see which supplements we use see here.
The main foods are meat and vegetables, but you will be eating a lot more than you did before (unless you are already eating that way of course!) For a family of four adults we spend on average £150 a week on food. Although many will say it has to be organic grass-fed food, we cannot afford that and Dr. Natasha Campbell Mc. Bride states quite clearly in her book that the diet can still be successful without organic produce, so I get the best I can, not using supermarkets if I can help it to buy meat and vegetables. We have a vegetable delivery service of local produce, non-organic. We have Abel and Cole organic milk to make milk kefir, and I use the local butcher for most meat.
The most expensive part of the diet however is the supplements as they must be of the highest quality. Cod liver oil is not cheap and we have cut costs by only giving it to Husband and Son 1 whose needs we deemed greatest and only probably for a few months. The same for the probiotics. We use Biokult, again very expensive although Amazon often have a price reduction on it when it is worth buying it in bulk. Again, we only give to husband, the rest of us eating as many fermented foods as possible.
To see which supplements we use see here.
The biggest price - TIME
This has to be considered. I was cooking most meals from scratch before we started GAPS, but even I was not prepared for the time spent cooking meat, bone broths, fermenting cream/yoghurt etc.. There are few items you can buy ready made. I list things here.
Admittedly, it got much easier as the first year went on, but to begin with a lot was new to me, like thinking up enough soup flavours for breakfast, lunch and tea while on the intro diet. Or finding grain free recipes. I have now come up with a lot of my own. Please browse this site for recipes - especially chocolate ones! (You can only have cocoa powder once all digestive issues have cleared.)
There was also heaps more washing up, and not wanting to use a dishwasher to minimize toxin exposure (you'll learn about toxins in the GAPS book) meant the whole family gets involved, The worst bit I found was all the grease from cooking so much meat and fat. You need to be careful what you let down the sink so it doesn't get blocked!
Over time, you do find time saving ways and get used to the new routine. But be prepared!
Making a meal plan is vital for survival.
http://mindthegapsdiet.weebly.com/follow-our-travels-posts/menufood-planning-ideas
http://mindthegapsdiet.weebly.com/follow-our-travels-posts/kitchen-efficiency
Admittedly, it got much easier as the first year went on, but to begin with a lot was new to me, like thinking up enough soup flavours for breakfast, lunch and tea while on the intro diet. Or finding grain free recipes. I have now come up with a lot of my own. Please browse this site for recipes - especially chocolate ones! (You can only have cocoa powder once all digestive issues have cleared.)
There was also heaps more washing up, and not wanting to use a dishwasher to minimize toxin exposure (you'll learn about toxins in the GAPS book) meant the whole family gets involved, The worst bit I found was all the grease from cooking so much meat and fat. You need to be careful what you let down the sink so it doesn't get blocked!
Over time, you do find time saving ways and get used to the new routine. But be prepared!
Making a meal plan is vital for survival.
http://mindthegapsdiet.weebly.com/follow-our-travels-posts/menufood-planning-ideas
http://mindthegapsdiet.weebly.com/follow-our-travels-posts/kitchen-efficiency
There are lots of allergies in our family, how can we do the diet?
A typical GAPs diet candidate has allergies. It is a sign that you need to heal and seal the gut. This subject is handled extensively in the above book.
How will I cope with the food restrictions? OR My child would rather starve than eating something they don't like, OR Fermenting foods? That sounds weird!
These are major concerns of many and fussy eating is typical of GAPs diet candidates. Again these subjects are dealt with extensively in the above book.
Depending on what your diet looks like now, depends on how you will cope. If you are eating a high carbohydrate diet, full of processed foods (bread, cereals etc..) and low fat, then it will be hard to suddenly switch and therefore I recommend that if you are serious about doing GAPS that you start to move towards a high saturated fat, no processed food diet. To start with, replace spreads for butter. Get full fat milk. Eat cream. The rationale for this is in the above book. Some folk have not time to reduce slowly as their health needs are of a critical sort and they have to jump straight in. This can be a bit of a shock to the system! Megan Stevens was one such lady, and she has written a fantastic grain-free cookbook to help families like hers transition. She blogs here:
http://eatbeautiful.net/about/
Others worry about fussy eaters. This lady has a lot of helpful information about feeding youngsters, and a good guide on surviving the introduction diet.
http://www.healthhomeandhappiness.com/picky-eating-solution
http://www.healthhomeandhappiness.com/30-days-on-the-gaps-intro-diet
If you have longer, once you have introduced more fat, learn how to cook in a more traditional manner; soaking grains and fermenting.
The best resource for this is here:
http://traditionalcookingschool.com/lp/fundamentals-ebook/In fact you may see big improvements to your health just by implementing these cooking methods. If you then decide to go on to do GAPS, you will be well prepared. When you finish GAPS you will have the skills to prepare the food you can transition back on to as you come away from the healing diet.
Fermenting dairy is so easy, and once the taste buds are adjusted is so nutricious. Have a go! See here.
Experiment with baking grain free. Try out some of my recipes and start changing your family's taste buds.
Depending on what your diet looks like now, depends on how you will cope. If you are eating a high carbohydrate diet, full of processed foods (bread, cereals etc..) and low fat, then it will be hard to suddenly switch and therefore I recommend that if you are serious about doing GAPS that you start to move towards a high saturated fat, no processed food diet. To start with, replace spreads for butter. Get full fat milk. Eat cream. The rationale for this is in the above book. Some folk have not time to reduce slowly as their health needs are of a critical sort and they have to jump straight in. This can be a bit of a shock to the system! Megan Stevens was one such lady, and she has written a fantastic grain-free cookbook to help families like hers transition. She blogs here:
http://eatbeautiful.net/about/
Others worry about fussy eaters. This lady has a lot of helpful information about feeding youngsters, and a good guide on surviving the introduction diet.
http://www.healthhomeandhappiness.com/picky-eating-solution
http://www.healthhomeandhappiness.com/30-days-on-the-gaps-intro-diet
If you have longer, once you have introduced more fat, learn how to cook in a more traditional manner; soaking grains and fermenting.
The best resource for this is here:
http://traditionalcookingschool.com/lp/fundamentals-ebook/In fact you may see big improvements to your health just by implementing these cooking methods. If you then decide to go on to do GAPS, you will be well prepared. When you finish GAPS you will have the skills to prepare the food you can transition back on to as you come away from the healing diet.
Fermenting dairy is so easy, and once the taste buds are adjusted is so nutricious. Have a go! See here.
Experiment with baking grain free. Try out some of my recipes and start changing your family's taste buds.
Do I have to do the introduction diet stage?
This is the most healing part of the diet, so for most people, Dr. Natasha strongly recommends doing it. There are a few exceptions. See the book for details. It won't do any harm, so if in doubt, do it. If you have allergies, you must do it. You can move through it fairly quickly, if you have no reactions, however we found it tricky knowing what was a reaction to food, or whether it was a reaction to the change in diet, or whether it was a reaction to eating more fermented foods (what's known as die-off). My thoughts on this now, in retrospect are to go slowly. The above '30 days on the GAPS intro diet' is a bit misleading. Ideally, it will take longer, but to start with it's such a shock for most of us that we rush through to desperately get back on some 'normal' food. We rushed the dairy introduction and came back on cheese way to soon, only realising, nearly a year later that husband was reacting to it. That was partly because he showed no outward signs and we relied on blood tests 6 weeks apart. Once we removed cheese, his results improved dramatically. It was obviously his autoimmune trigger.
This web-site is very helpful:
badenlashkov.com/category/intro/
This web-site is very helpful:
badenlashkov.com/category/intro/
Where can I find help for thyroid disease?
Dr. Natasha is writing a book about autoimmunity, but it has not yet been published. We bought this book to help:
In addition, Dr. Eric's website is a mine of information and good webinars. It's where I got the bulk of my info on healing and reversing Graves disease from.
http://www.naturalendocrinesolutions.com/archives/advice-to-those-with-thyroid-conditions-who-cant-afford-a-natural-endocrine-doctor/
http://www.naturalendocrinesolutions.com/archives/advice-to-those-with-thyroid-conditions-who-cant-afford-a-natural-endocrine-doctor/