Health Home and Happiness

GAPS 101
Some of my most popular articles about GAPS, in
easy-to-read e-book format.
Table of Contents

1. How to 2. What Can You 3. The GAPS

Explain the GAPS Eat on The GAPS Introduction Diet
Diet to Your Diet? Stages for Faster
Children Healing through
Nutrient-Dense
Food

4. When Do You 5. Easing onto 6. It Okay to Eat

Move to the Next GAPS Intro 5-4- Raw Eggs?
Stage on the 3-2-1!
GAPS
Introduction
Diet?

7. Things You 8. Recovery 9. How to Start

Need to Know After Antibiotics: Solids with baby
About High How to Help on the GAPS Diet
Quality Prevent {and what we do
Probiotics (read Secondary in our family}
this before taking Infection and
Biokult) Stomach Upset
10. 11. Packing 12. GAPS Intro
Breastfeeding Lunches for Chicken Stock in
and The GAPS Children on the 4 Easy Steps
Diet: What You GAPS Diet
Need to Know

13. Grain Free 14. My Child 15. How

Baking: What Are Needs GAPS But Important is
We Supposed to Won't Even Organic/Free
Do About Sweets Touch That Kind Range/Grass Fed
on GAPS? of Food! (how to on GAPS?
get kids with
sensory issues on
the GAPS Diet)

16. Let's
Continue...
How to Explain the GAPS
Diet to Your Children

It's intimidating to put young children on a restricted diet. The GAPS diet is a highly
nutrient-dense diet so they will be well nourished, so that isn't the concern. But we
live in abundance and our children are accustomed to eating things like pizza (even
paleo pizza), crackers, sweetened desserts (even when sweetened with natural
sweetners), and, as happened in my house last month, treats from classroom
parties, get togethers, and other 'special' occasions that seem to happen nearly
every other day.

Yes. It bugs me that so our culture equates fun with junk food.

The last part is why we're doing a quick run through GAPS while the kids are home
from school this week. We have lots of fun activities planned this week, and lots of
soup to be consumed. We're doing one stage a day from my intro book, and then
I'm going to finish out the month on the full GAPS diet with a request that they not
get extra food at school, but not stressing if they do.

Explaining to kids
Most of my GAPS resources are about preschoolers and toddlers. Now that I'm
doing it with olders who can understand explanations I wanted to share what I was
doing so that you could use these explanations in your family.

When I explain, I try really hard to use explanations that don't belittle other
people's choices. We aren't better or worse, we're just different. In our family, we
do GAPS to feel better. Other families make other choices, and I don't want to have
my children be impolite when they talk about GAPS.

Objections

"Won't they feel like they're missing out?" "Aren't they going to
complain the whole time?"

Have you heard of the term affluenza? We really are privileged in this country. We
have thousands of choices of food products at the grocery store, and if we live in a
city or suburb, it's likely that there are 3-4 grocery stores within a couple miles.
Our homes have climate control at the push of a button, and so do our cars. We
drive on safe roads, and if we get a flat tire or our car breaks down, we call
someone from the phone in our pocket (that also can access the internet!) and a
professional with a big tow truck will come rescue us. We flush our waste down
with clean water, and every Tuesday other waste is picked up right from the end of
our driveway.

We are fortunate.

And then take a look at the GAPS food. Homemade chicken stock, fresh organic
vegetables. Sea salt to taste. Grass fed meat, cooked until it falls apart with your
choice of dozens of veggies. Filtered water. As much fat as you want.

Do you know where you can go out to eat and find soup with made-from-scratch
broth, organic meats and veggies, salted with sea salt? That's right: Only very high
end restaurants.

This food is not only highly nutritious, easy to make yourself, and not
 that expensive for how much nutrition it provides, but it is also what
chefs serve their highest class patrons.

Kids are going to complain. With all these choices that we have, and being
accustomed to being shown what is newer/cooler/more than what they have
anyway, most kids complain about something. Just because they're complaining
about GAPS doesn't necessarily mean that they shouldn't be on it. If you feel guilty
for putting your kids on a restricted diet along with the rest of the family, you'll
want to deal with those issues yourself before doing GAPS.

So, yes, "I hate GAPS!" may or may not have been heard at my house yesterday.
But that's not the end of the world. The day before there were complaints about
not being able to go sledding in -9 degree weather. Again, complaints are going to
happen. It's part of having kids.

In my experience, giving them what they think they want doesn't prevent
complaining from happening. Children lack the maturity to see things long-term.
Some are naturally compliant and easily accept your explanation. Most become
more compliant when their bad gut bugs are kept in check. Most will also complain
to learn about their world - to see what your reaction is to complaining, to see what
your answer is to their question, to check if you really mean it when you say they're
having soup for breakfast.

Now this isn't to say that everyone needs to be on GAPS ( they don't), it's just to say
that if you decide to put your family on GAPS for 5 days to boost their immune
system after holiday indulgence, for 30 days to see if it heals a chronic condition, or
for 2 years because they have autism or celiac, you are not depriving them. The
opposite, in fact, you are giving them the gift of health!

There's a War in Your Gut

My 6-year-old LOVES playing army men with the neighbor boy 3 doors down. He
watches Liberty's Kids and acts out different scenes. He loves the good/bad part
of gut flora. I told him that the bad gut bugs send signals to his brain that make him
tired, grumpy, or sick. The good bugs help you to digest your food and get all the
good stuff out of them so that you can run faster, learn more in school, and have
more fun playing with friends.

Chicken Stock is your Armour

Chicken stock contains the fats, proteins, and trace minerals needed to help your
gut seal up against bad bugs. When you drink this, you'll heal faster, and your body
will better be able to protect you against the bad guys.

Sugar and Junk Can Poke Holes in Your Armour

Sugar and additives in junk foods make your good guys work extra hard because
they feed the bad guys. This is okay if you have a bunch of good bugs in your gut
and just a few bad ones, but if you already have a lot of bad bugs, this will make
your body and brain feel sick.

Tomorrow/Next Week/Not Now

When you go through intro using my e-book, children can easily see what they can
eat the next day. They look forward to the new things. When they ask for
something that they can't have now on this stage, just tell them they can have it in
2 days/2 weeks/another time (chips, non-GAPS food).

You can also repeat what they said to make sure they feel heard, but I personally
don't engage in whining or demands. "You want an apple? Yes, we can have that
next week. We'll buy it after Church next Sunday."

Keep busy
This was my main strategy when we started GAPS with a 3 and 1 year old three
years ago.

Don't spend the whole time you're on intro in the kitchen and house! Invest in a
crockpot or two, and have a lots of GAPS food ready (you may be surprised how
much your kids eat once they're getting the nutrients in a form that their body
needs), pack in thermoses, and then get outside.

Go sledding.

Go to the zoo.

Go to the children's museum.

The pottery painting place, the thrift store, on a hike, on a long bike ride, whatever
your family likes to do.

Go anywhere where there isn't food. The movies might be an issue if they're used
to getting popcorn or candy, but wouldn't be a problem if you don't get that
normally.

Related articles:

The Health Home and Happiness Starter Packages (everything you need to start)
What Can You Eat on The
GAPS Diet?
What is the GAPS Diet?
The GAPS Diet is a temporary diet that eliminates hard to digest carbohydrates,
toxic food additives, and foods that are difficult to digest. These foods are removed
to heal the gut. By healing the gut, chronic conditions such as autism, celiacs, food
allergies, environmental allergies, eczema, and autoimmune disorders are all healed.

GAPS starts with a more restrictive, but intensely healing GAPS Introduction Diet,
and then moves on to Full GAPS, with all the foods listed below. The entire diet is
outlined in the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr Natasha Campbell-
McBride.

Fanatic attention to detail needs to be made on the diet, it's best to not purchase
anything but real whole ingredients. Even a few grams of sugar in commercial
yogurt or additives in prepared meat or bean products can completely prevent
healing. There is lots you can eat on GAPS, but it has to be prepared from either a
very trusted source, or in your own kitchen.

What can you eat on the GAPS Diet?

Meat
When starting GAPS, it's important to find a good quality source of meat. Grassfed
or pastured is important, and contains the balance of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty
acids that are ideal for healing. Meat on GAPS is eaten often, and meat stock is a
daily requirement on the GAPS diet. Animal fats are allowed as well, as long as they
are pure fat without additives or hydroginated oils.

Vegetables
Non starchy vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn are not allowed) are
allowed on GAPS and are another staple. Just a roast surrounded by chunks of
veggies and tossed in the oven or crockpot makes an easy, nourishing, and
delicious GAPS friendly meal.

Fruit
Fruit is a favorite snack on GAPS. Dr. Natasha recommends eating it between
meals. Fruit can be eaten raw, cooked into apple sauce, dehydrated, or cut into fruit
salad. Some people do better off of fruit, but fruit is allowed on full GAPS.
Eggs
When we first started GAPS we went
through so many eggs that our 'egg lady'
even made deliveries to our apartment,
driving on ice covered Montana roads to get
to us. I think we single handedly supported
her flock :) Eggs from chickens on pasture,
and ideally eating GMO free feed, are
another staple on the GAPS diet.

Cultured Dairy
Dairy on GAPS is cultured (turned into yogurt, kefir, or aged cheese) to use up the
lactose. Lactose is one of the carbohydrates that will feed the pathogenic bacteria,
so it's eliminated on GAPS.

Honey
Honey is the only sweetener besides fruit (dates work really well for sweetening
too) that is allowed on GAPS. Maple syrup, sugar, corn syrup, and other sweeteners
are not allowed because their chemical makeup takes longer for the body to break
down, so they aren't immediately absorbed. Unabsorbed carbohydrates travel
down the digestive tract and feed pathogenic bacteria, which is what we are trying
to avoid.

Non Starchy Beans

Navy beans are allowed on GAPS (they're the small white ones). Some people have
success with other beans, making sure they are prepared from scratch and soaked
before cooking. I like to cook my beans in chicken stock for added nutrition.

Coconut, Nuts, and Seeds

Nuts and seeds (and coconut flour) are how we make baked goods on GAPS. you
can make some awesome sunflower seed crackers, almond flour or coconut flour
muffins, and nutbutter brownies on the GAPS diet. See my GAPS Recipes page for
recipes. Coconut and palm oil are allowed and are great for those who aren't able
to tolerate dairy yet.
Seasonings and Salt
Dried herbs, sea salt, and black pepper are allowed on the diet and make plain food
so much more interesting! Simple whole foods with healthy fats and fresh
seasonings make delicious meals.
The GAPS Introduction Diet
Stages for Faster Healing
through Nutrient-Dense
Food

What is the GAPS Intro Diet?

The Gut and Psychology Syndrome introduction diet is a diet focused on intensive
rest and healing for the gut lining, as well as slow introduction of fermented foods
to repopulate it with friendly microorganisms.

Different ways to use the Intro

Some, as we did, start the 'intro diet' right as we are starting GAPS, others go on
'full GAPS' for a while and then go down to the introduction diet. If you are
overwhelmed, this may be the better choice as doing full GAPS will help you see
improvements without being so restrictive.

After my daughter had been on GAPS for a year, I wanted to put all three of us on
the intro diet for a month before we went into warmer weather. Re-going on the
intro diet after being on GAPS for a while can give you increased healing and can
help get rid of any health symptoms that you didn't get rid of the first time around.
Even after going off GAPS we aim to re-do intro once a year, even if it's just over a
school holiday.

As a baby, my son had eczema, but when we went on GAPS intro when he was 11
months, it wasn't seen again until the next winter (over a year later) when it's
starting a tiny bit again. After doing the intro the second time it hasn't been seen
since.

It's not that eczema is a serious condition, but I know that it's a
symptoms of some underlying imbalance in his little body, and I'd like
to do what I can to correct it.

Most of you know that we primarily did the GAPS diet for my little girl with autism,
and we saw amazing results. GAPS by far gave her the most progress, but we did
(over a 3-year period, one at a time in addition to GAPS) Traditional Chinese
Medicine, Homeopathy, Supplements, reduced toxins in the home (which is part of
the GAPS protocol), and mainstream therapies like Speech and Occupational
therapy.

To Heal Allergies
The idea that you can heal food allergies is life-changing for people who are
sensitive to different foods. You can hear how I stopped getting chronic sinus
infections from dairy here, by just a few weeks on the GAPS diet.

My little one had a sensitivity to eggs , and my middle to dairy (both showing up as
eczema). My little guy is just short of a year now and he no longer gets eczema
flares from eggs, whether he's eating it or I am and he's getting it through
breastfeeding. It's too soon to tell how his gut is sealing up permanently, but my
middle child is 6 has been able to eat dairy since going through intro with me at 1
year.
Help is here
I would not try to do the intro diet without first reading the GAPS book and
understanding the philosophy of the diet, I know the book is expensive, but it
costs less than even one doctor's visit. You can purchase the GAPS book here .
Learn more about the GAPS Intro Meal Plan Here- called What Do I Eat Now?
Breastfeeding? Pregnant? Learn more about GAPS while pregnant or
breastfeeding here
When can I go to the next stage on GAPS?
How do I taper off of GAPS?

GAPS Diet Intro Stages

You can eat on stage 1:

• Meat or fish stock

• Well boiled broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onions, leeks
• Squash, winter and summer
• Boiled meat
• Sea salt,
• 1-2 teaspoons a day of sauerkraut juice

Stage 2

You can eat on Stage 2:

• Meat or fish stock

• Well boiled GAPS-legal vegetables (no starchy root vegetables)
• Squash, winter and summer
• Boiled meat
• Sea salt
• Fresh herbs
• Fermented vegetables; sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles
• Fermented fish
• Egg yolk, organic, carefully separated from the white
• Homemade ghee
• Stews and casseroles made with meat and vegetables
Stage 3

You can eat on Stage 3:

• Meat or fish stock

• Well boiled GAPS-legal vegetables (no starchy root vegetables)
• Squash, winter and summer
• Boiled meat
• Sea salt
• Fresh herbs
• Fermented vegetables; saurkraut, kimchi, pickles
• Fermented fish
• Egg yolk, organic, carefully separated from the white
• Homemade ghee
• Stews and casseroles made with meat and vegetables
• Ripe avocado mashed into soups, starting with 1-3 teaspoons a day
• Pancakes made with nutbutter, squash, and eggs- fried in fat or ghee, start with
one a day
• Scrambled eggs made with ghee and served with avocado if tolerated and
cooked vegetables.

Stage 4

You can eat on Stage 4:

• Meat or fish stock

• Well boiled GAPS-legal vegetables (no starchy root vegetables)
• Squash, winter and summer
• Boiled, roasted, or grilled meat (not burned)
• Sea salt
• Fresh herbs
• Cold pressed olive oil
• Fermented vegetables; saurkraut, kimchi, pickles
• Fermented fish
• Egg yolk, organic, carefully separated from the white
• Homemade ghee
• Stews and casseroles made with meat and vegetables
• Ripe avocado mashed into soups, starting with 1-3 teaspoons a day
• Pancakes made with nutbutter, squash, and eggs- fried in fat or ghee, start with
one a day
• Scrambled eggs made with ghee and served with avocado if tolerated and
cooked vegetables.
• Freshly pressed juices, start with a few tablespoons of carrot juice
• Bread made with nut flour, eggs, squash, tolerated fat, salt

You can eat on Stage 5:

• Meat or fish stock

• Raw legal vegetables, peeled
• Squash, winter and summer
• Peeled, cooked apple, pureed
• Honey, up to a couple tablespoons a day
• Boiled, roasted, or grilled meat (not burned)
• Sea salt
• Fresh herbs
• Cold pressed olive oil
• Fermented vegetables; saurkraut, kimchi, pickles
• Fermented fish
• Egg yolk, organic, carefully separated from the white
• Homemade ghee
• Stews and casseroles made with meat and vegetables
• Ripe avocado mashed into soups, starting with 1-3 teaspoons a day
• Pancakes made with nutbutter, squash, and eggs- fried in fat or ghee, start with
one a day
• Scrambled eggs made with ghee and served with avocado if tolerated and
cooked vegetables.
• Freshly pressed juices, carrot, mint, cabbage, lettuce, apple, pineapple, mango
• Bread made with nut flour, eggs, squash, tolerated fat, salt

Stage 6

You can eat on Stage 6:

• Meat or fish stock

• Raw legal vegetables, peeled
• Squash, winter and summer
• Peeled, raw apple
• Other fruits, raw, introduce slowly
• Honey, up to a couple tablespoons a day
• Boiled, roasted, or grilled meat (not burned)
• Sea salt
• Fresh herbs
• Cold pressed olive oil
• Fermented vegetables; saurkraut, kimchi, pickles
• Fermented fish
• Egg yolk, organic, carefully separated from the white
• Homemade ghee
• Stews and casseroles made with meat and vegetables
• Ripe avocado mashed into soups, starting with 1-3 teaspoons a day
• Pancakes made with nutbutter, squash, and eggs- fried in fat or ghee, start with
one a day
• Scrambled eggs made with ghee and served with avocado if tolerated and
cooked vegetables.
• Freshly pressed juices, carrot, mint, cabbage, lettuce, apple, pineapple, mango
• Bread made with nut flour, eggs, squash, tolerated fat, salt- use dates and dried
fruit to sweeten.

Looking for recipes? I have a bunch on my GAPS Diet Recipes Page -

along with more informative articles like this one!
When Do You Move to the
Next Stage on the GAPS
Introduction Diet?

How do I Know When It's Time to Move to The

Next Stage on the GAPS Intro?
Dr. Natasha recommends moving through intro quickly, and trying new foods and
watching for reactions. If necessary due to reactions, go back to the previous stage
for a few days/week and then try again. Some individuals dealing with things like
seizure disorders, autism, and severe digestion issues may need to stay on some
stages longer than others.

Personally, I was able to heal my milk allergy just running through the introduction
diet quickly, in about 4 weeks. Some people get stuck on a certain stage, especially
introducing honey and fruit or eggs.
Symptoms can be behavioral or physical, watch for anything that went away and
then comes back including:

Diarrhea
Constipation
Impulsivity
Brain Fog
Tiredness
Headaches
Upset Stomach
Eczema
Yeast rashes
Aggressive behavior
Depression
Loss of eye contact (and other autism symptoms)
Stimming (another autism symptom)

Did you find this helpful? Check out my e-book that walks you through the GAPS
intro diet here!
Easing onto GAPS Intro 5-4-
3-2-1!

Do you think you should try the GAPS Intro, but are unsure how to make the
drastic change from eating either the standard American diet or even a whole
foods Nourishing Traditions style diet?

You aren't alone! This is the most frequent question that I've been getting lately,
(look down at the end of the post for more FAQ) so I wanted to answer it for you!

The gradual transition onto GAPS intro is good for most people-some people are
afraid of losing too much weight, are concerned that they won't stick with such a
drastic change, have experienced trouble reducing carbohydrates, or don't want to
change things for their children so suddenly.

How fast you do these changes will depend on your personality, family situation,
and a number of other things.
What we did
We did this quickly, taking out gluten (wheat protein) and casein (milk protein) for 2
months, then for another week we removed all grains, and then we started Intro
from the beginning, had to add in more carbs a few days later, and then started
intro again the next week and were able to stay on it until we got the healing we
needed.

I will be doing 2 more posts like this- Intro to Full GAPS 54321 and Coming off of
GAPS 54321 - soon :)

Transitioning down to GAPS Intro, Step by Step

5. Remove gluten (wheat), and then grains

Not only will removing grains help your digestion (unfortunately whole grains really
are not good for GAPS people's digestion) but it gets you most of the way to the
GAPS introduction diet!

Possible Modification: Just take out gluten and get used to that, if you need the
help of gluten free mixes and packaged products to get you through this first step,
that's ok. After a couple weeks take out all grains.

4. Remove dairy

The proteins and/or sugars in dairy (casein and lactose) often cause problems, by
removing dairy in addition to grains you will be making another giant step to heal
your gut.

Possible Modification: You may want to keep in some milk kefir, yogurt, and butter
made from milk from grassfed cows, as they are very nutritious and allowed on
GAPS, just not Intro GAPS.

3. Remove sweeteners

You may want to do these next steps very quickly, as going without sweeteners is
an adjustment for many people! In this stage we remove sugar, maple syrup, and
honey. If you need something sweet, you can still eat fruit while on this stage. This
will help get your body used to less carbohydrates, as the GAPS intro is low carb
and it's easier on most people if you don't take them all away at once.

Possible Modification: You could keep in honey for a while, since it is legal on full
GAPS, but please do away with it for intro!

2. Remove eggs

Eggs, like dairy, are highly nourishing, but unfortunately many people are sensitive
to them and eating them causes reactions or inflammatory responses. Removing
them here leaves you meat, veggies, fruit, and nuts. Get ready, we're taking some
of those next!

1. Remove nuts, coconut, and fruit

Doing this essentially puts you on GAPS intro. You may need to gradually lower
your fruit and nut intake (I know I use nuts a lot to fill me up and fruit for a sweet
fix). Now that you're down to meat and veggies, you will find my Intro Guide
helpful to make sure you introduce things in the right order on Intro, and to make
sure you include all the 'extras' like detox baths, juicing, and probiotic foods.

Go!
Get your stockpot ready and start the GAPS intro!

If you need some help, check out the free GAPS Intro email series- 45 days with
free informational emails sent every day or three. The actual intro diet starts on
day 14.

GAPS FAQ
Q: What can you eat on the Full GAPS Diet?
Read more about Full GAPS here.
Q: Okay. My kid eats buttered pasta, goldfish crackers, and fruit
snacks and that's it. How am I supposed to get him to eat this food?
How to transform picky eaters on GAPS foods.
Q: I'm allergic to some/most of the GAPS food, what do I do then?
Read more here about food allergies on GAPS.
Q: I'm breastfeeding/pregnant/both, can I do GAPS?
. Read more about GAPS while breastfeeding here.
Q: What are die off reactions?
Read more about GAPS and healing crises here.
Q: Can you cheat? Can I just do this diet most of the time?
Read here about cheating on GAPS.
Q: What is the gut-brain connection?
Read more about the gut-brain connection here.
Q: How is this related to food? My problem is genetic- my mother has
the same problems that I do, it runs in my family.
This is called being a 'GAPS Family'
Q: What do I eat on the GAPS Intro?
Learn more about Intro here.
Q: I have no idea how to cook GAPS Foods, how am I going to do this?
After over a year of getting the hang of GAPS I made Grain Free Meal
Plans, recipes that are all GAPS suitable.
It Okay to Eat Raw Eggs?

This
homemade ice cream uses raw eggs for their creamy texture, rich flavor, and
protein as well as vitamins and minerals.

Raw animal foods are controversial and debated, and there is no doubt that caution
is required with food preparation and storage when it is eaten raw. There are
benefits in taste, consistency, and nutrition all when eating raw animal foods,
including meat, eggs, and milk.

Today we are going to look into how to consume raw eggs, what the benefits are,
where we need to use caution, and what dangers may be present.

I hear you, you're skeptical. Stay with me :)

Why would it be dangerous to consume raw eggs?

Like other nutrient-dense foods, raw animal foods, including eggs, provide an
excellent medium for bacteria to grow and reproduce. Salmonella is a pathogenic
bacteria that can cause dehydration, vomiting, diarrhea, and rarely death. Anyone
who has had salmonella will assure you that it is a nasty illness that we want to
avoid.
In 2015-16 outbreaks of salmonella have been found to come from (source)

Pistachios
Alfalfa Sprouts
Meal Replacement Shakes
Nutbutter
Pet turtles (cuddling/handling, not eating)
Cucumbers
Frozen chicken dinners
Pork
Live poultry (handling)
Frozen tuna
Pet geckos (handling)

Sick chickens can be infected with salmonella, if the salmonella is in their ovaries,
usually not all eggs are contaminated, but of the few that are, the contamination
can be in the egg itself (not just on the shell) (source)

But this is highly unlikely, and if you know your chickens, or your know that your
farmer knows their chickens, they will see that the chickens are sick. (source)

Now let's look into how common salmonella actually is in the average egg.

The risk of an egg being contaminated with salmonella is about 1 in 20,000

(source)
Even if the egg is contaminated, refrigeration keeps the risk minimal as the
bacteria do not have the warmth needed to grow.
Now eggs are washed when sold commercially, as it is most likely for salmonella
from the GI tract to be transferred to the egg as the hen lays the egg. Prior to
1970 this was not standard practice and most outbreaks of salmonella were
from shell eggs. (source)

Why would we want to take this risk at all?

Because chefs everywhere know that raw eggs, especially the yolks, have unique
helpful properties in cooking. And while traditional cultures have been consuming
raw eggs for a long time (source), modern knowledge is again seeing the health
benefits of consuming this nutrient-dense, easy-to-digest food.

And because it really is not that risky, especially if you check your eggs when a
recall is listed (see a list of recalls here - note that recalls are primarily due to
mistakes in inspection, not from illness or outbreaks).
What do I do personally?
I happily use raw organic eggs as a protein, vitamin, mineral, and fat source for my
whole family. When I am pregnant, I find that raw egg yolks in a smoothie is the
easiest way to get needed protein, and my family has healthy immune systems so I
really don't worry about raw eggs at all.

I'm thankful for the awareness about salmonella, as those who raise chickens can
keep a careful eye on the health of their flock, and we can take safe handling
procedures such as washing the eggs before use, and investigating illness of
chickens, and use caution.

Some people give their infants raw egg yolks starting at 3 months ( per the Weston
Price recommendations), and I personally do not do that, but rather I start with
liver and then introduce runny yolks to them closer to a year. As a nursing mother, I
do continue to consume raw eggs, especially the yolks.

I find that my family gets tired of cooked eggs, so I'm thankful for the nutrition,
versatility, and economic advantage of being able to use raw eggs in our food.

When I can, I source eggs locally from trusted farmers, but I also purchase and use
organic eggs from the grocery store. If money is tight, we do purchase
conventionally raised eggs, and I am less likely to eat those raw.

As you know, I am more concerned about our children consuming 'food-like items'
with known health risks than I am the less than 1/20,000 risk of consuming an egg
that might contain salmonella.

Some recipes that I use raw eggs in:

Smoothies
Ice Cream
Mayonnaise
GAPS Intro Protocol
Things You Need to Know
About High Quality
Probiotics (read this before
taking Biokult)

"Yeah, Aaron's dad gave us kefir that he made, it tasted really good but then we
were all sick the next day." A friend explains his first experience with probiotic-rich
naturally fermented water kefir to me. Some people take probiotics, or probiotic-
rich fermented food, and then assume that they're allergic to it, or it isn't good for
them because they have a reaction.

Today I'm going to share 5 things you need to know before taking a high-quality
probiotic. I've gotten lots of questions about what probiotic I take lately, and I feel
like I need to explain a little bit as I recommend probiotics.
I take Bio-kult (I buy it on Amazon) , it's recommended by Dr. Natasha Campbell-
McBride, and it's worked well for our family. There are lots of quality probitics, but
I personally stick with this one and Blue Bonnet Acidophilous just because they've
worked well for our family.

I have trust issues with supplements, and I will only take supplements when I can
see a noticeable difference when I take them vs when I don't. I have tried a few
drugstore brand supplements (usually picked up alongside an antibiotic
prescription) in the past, and I didn't see a difference when I took them vs when I
didn't, and I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't actually have any live probiotics in
them.

If you're not seeing a difference in physical or mental symptoms (everything from

eczema to anxiety can be tied to gut health and probiotics) I would encourage you
to re-evaluate the kind that you're taking.

If you're taking Bio-Kult, here are the things I want you to know first.

1. Start slow.
When starting Bio-Kult, or another high strength probiotic, start with just a dusting
- about 1/10th of the capsule, once a day. Every few days increase your dose until
you achieve the dose you want to stay at, or your symptoms stabalize. If your
symptoms are exacerbated, go down to a lower amount and try again in a few days
or a week or a month - it'll be very individual.

I have worked the kids up to take 2 capsules a day (I open them and put them in
applesauce cups), I take 4. I have the baby just take acidophilous, I think that Bio
Kult is too aggressive for him, and he can get some through my milk. I started him
on acidophilous when he was about a week old and was spitting up often, it helped
with the spit up and I've kept him on it.

I've heard of people being stuck at just 1/10th the capsule of Bio Kult for months
at a time - more is not always (or even usually!) better.

The most common 'side effect' (I put that in quotes because it's not really the same
thing as a side effect from a pharmaceutical drug) from starting Bio Kult too fast is
constipation - this is because the aggressive strains of beneficial bacteria go to
work killing off the bad bacteria. This dead bacteria then is in your colon, and your
body can't keep up with getting it out, so you get stopped up.

Another 'side effect' is often stomach upset. When the pathogenic bacteria are
killed off, they release toxins into the blood stream and the body can have a
purging response to this - trying to get rid of the toxins in any way possible.

Hopefully I haven't totally scared you off from using a high-quality probiotic - they
are tremendously useful in reestablishing a healthy digestive tract, but they also
need to be treated respectfully.

Just because something is natural and good doesn't mean that you
should take high doses! And with billions of beneficial microorganisims
in each tiny capsule, it's easy to take more than is beneficial at this
specific time!

2. Don't neglect probiotic-rich foods.

Even though commercial probiotics contain many strains of beneficial bacteria,
naturally fermented food like sauerkraut, contain even more. Don't fall into the
trap of neglecting the beneficial microorganisims available to us through food in
favor of just taking a pill. Try to include probiotic-rich food with every meal.

3. You've gotta poop.

As we talked about in #1, when the good bacteria start killing off the bad bacteria
in your gut, a bunch of toxins can be released into the blood stream. We want to
clear all this bad stuff out as soon as possible, so do what you need to do to
prevent constipation.

Some things that will help: Start slow with probiotics to manage die off, epsom salt
baths (see #4), drinking fresh juice (without the fiber - the dead bacteria is already
providing plenty of bulk for your poop), using a squatty potty for good poop-
posture, and making sure you're drinking enough fluids.

4. Make sure you're using epsom salts in the tub.

To process toxins being released by killing off the bad bacteria, our body needs
sulfur and magnesium, both of which many of us are deficient in. An easy way to
get these minerals gently is through epsom salt - through the skin, not the digestive
tract. Adding 1/2 a cup or 1 cup of epsom salts (they're cheap, and found in the
pharmacy section of nearly every grocery store or stores like CVS) to your bath - or
just plugging up the tub portion of the shower and standing in epsom-salt water
while taking a shower - will increase your magnesium and sulfur so that you can
detoxify.

5. If you take too much, take a charcoal.

This shouldn't be used often, since charcoal ( you can find charcoal here ) binds to
the vitamins and minerals in your digestive tract as well and can cause deficiencies
if used often, but if you take too high of a dose of probiotics and notice an
exacerbation in symptoms, you can take a charcoal and it will bind to the excess
probiotic and your symptoms will calm down again. Just remember to take a much
lower dose next time :)
Recovery After Antibiotics:
How to Help Prevent
Secondary Infection and
Stomach Upset

After the plethora of antibiotics prescribed in the 80s and 90s, it's now common to
see posters in pediatrician offices reminding care providers and parents that
antibiotics do not help a cold, they are ineffective against viruses, and they are to
be used with caution.

The overuse of antibiotics has left moms with poor gut flora. Antibiotics damage
your normal gut flora, which leave your body open to become imbalanced with
pathogenic yeasts, bacteria, and other microorganisms.

Antibiotics also create super bugs. When they're overused, the bacteria that once
responded to them quickly become more resistant.

Antibiotics do have their place, and we are fortunate to live in a time where they
exist. When you're dealing with an infection, especially in a vulnerable infant or
mother who has just had an exhausting childbirth or surgical birth that made her
susceptible to bacterial infection, antibiotics can be a life-saving intervention.

After you've had antibiotics, it's important to replenish your good flora
to help prevent what is called secondary infection and other conditions
 associated with poor gut flora like digestive upset, leaky gut, and even
food allergies.

If antibiotics are taken it's important to rebuild healthy flora after your good
bacteria have just been wiped out along with the bad. Here are some things that
can help you to get started recolonizing your gut as quickly as possible:

Take probiotics while you take the antibiotics (though it's likely that the
antibiotics will wipe them out, they may help prevent secondary infection).
Good quality probiotics can be found in your health food store in the
refrigerated section, this is the brand I use (and a caution about using these
high-powered probiotics here)
Continue taking probiotics after discontinuing your antibiotics, for at least a
week.
Consume naturally fermented foods with live cultures with every meal. This
includes yogurt, milk kefir, kombucha, Bubbie's pickles, and real (live)
sauerkraut.
Consume chicken or beef stock daily. This helps rebuild the gut, which often is
damaged with antibiotics, and provides essential amino acids that your body
needs.
Limit sugars as much as possible and focus on eating especially nutrient dense
foods after a period of taking probiotics to give your body the nutrition it needs
to make a complete recovery.
Drink filtered water, avoid chlorinated water that can prevent the good bacteria
from populating.

A 42-week guide to the decisions made during

pregnancy, birth, and the baby's first few weeks.

Did you like this article?

Did you like this article?
Yes?

This is an excerpt from the e-book The Empowered Mother: A 42-week Guide to
Decisions (just like these) made during pregnancy, birth, and the baby's first few
weeks. This is a guide to get you through all these options for childbirth and
pregnancy to give your family a healthy start. (click here to buy )

(top photo credit)

How to Start Solids with baby
on the GAPS Diet {and what
we do in our family}

Starting babies on solids is something all mothers think about, some wonder when
the soonest they can introduce a baby to solids is, others want to put it off as long
as possible. Every family needs to choose a method that works for them; it's my
belief that not only are all babies different, but all families are different as well.
Here's what we did, as well as what Sally Fallon of Nourishing Traditions advises
and Dr Natasha Campbell McBride of Gut and Psychology Syndrome.

How I Introduced Solids

I was super relaxed about feeding solids to my kids. With my two older children, I
waited until they met the 'baby led weaning' (could sit up unassisted, were at least
6 months old, had at least one tooth) and then offered some whole single-
ingredient foods to them.

Breastfeeding and The GAPS

My third child showed a huge interest in solids early, and he was on the small side
so I started chicken liver (cooked and salted) with him at 5 months, which he still

Diet: What You Need to

loves now at 12 months.

When introducing first foods, I offered a bite off my plate, as baby usually sat with

Know
me at meal time anyway. As they

Both of my older children had no interest in swallowing solids until about a year. I
would offer a couple times a week (it's messy! I'm lazy and don't want to clean
mashed squash from the ears of a baby who isn't actually eating anything!) and see
when they started swallowing food.

We avoid grains for the babies, and for our whole family really as much as possible
as other foods are much more nutrient-dense. My second child started solids just
as we were starting GAPS (his first birthday 'cake' was whipped butternut squash
with some salt and a candle!) so he was primarily grain free until he was a
preschooler and we went off the GAPS diet.

I breastfed my babies on demand; my daughter nursed all.the.time. and my son

often went 4-5 hours between feedings from birth. My children were totally
different sizes; my first being about 6.5 lbs at birth, and my second 11 lbs (yes, 11),
and then my third was a nice easy 8.5 pounds. Different babies are different, that's
why it's so important to research things like feeding, but then watch your individual
baby and do what is working for them. On my children's totally different feeding
schedules they both grew, and both were happy, so it worked.

Once solids were introduced, I watched for reactions and then pretty much just fed
my young toddlers table food. Nursing continues in our family until at least 2 years,
but after a year I start nursing less on demand and scheduling breastfeeding
sessions more.

Can I Do GAPS if I'm Breastfeeding?

.

This question comes up nearly every time I write about GAPS - so all the time!
Some things that worked for me:

For the pregnant or breastfeeding mother, Dr. Natasha, author of Gut and
Don't stress if they don't eat, they will eventually (I questioned this a lot around
Psychology Syndrome, recommends the Full GAPS diet, which includes fruit,
11-12 months with my daughter!)
cultured dairy, nuts, and coconut products in addition to everything allowed on the
If your baby is still hungry and is breastfed, look up block feeding to encourage
GAPS Intro. The reason for starting with the full GAPS diet is to limit the amount of
them to get the fatty hind milk out
die off you have.
Salt their food! Use real salt to taste. Babies need salt.
 Hold off on sweet foods like cooked fruit until baby is eating proteins and
veggies.
Smile, nod, and do what you were previously doing when given well meaning
advice about feeding your child.
Watch your baby like a hawk when you think someone might slip them some
unauthorized food. Don't be afraid of offending them, nobody needs to be
giving your infant a lick of a lolly pop or bite of ice cream and it's your job as a
parent to protect them.
Don't stress if your baby is ready for solids early, some babies are. Trust their
bodies. Introducing solids as late as possible isn't the goal any more than
introducing them as early as possible.
Introduce fish, cod liver oil, egg yolks, and liver early, most babies like these.
What
Teaistree
die off?
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sure baby bloodenough
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as they do so. This is the goal of the
milk.
SCD/GAPS diet, to re-balance the gut flora so it is healthy, but in doing we don't
want
. to put any extra toxins into the nursing baby's system- that's why it's best to
go slow while breastfeeding, especially a very young baby. The GAPS intro causes
Nourishing Traditions on Feeding Babies
many people to have lots of die off because it is an intense diet that quickly starves
out 'the bad guys'.
.
Die off affects different people differently, in our family it has never been much of
Sally Fallon
an issue buttalks aboutother
it knocks traditional
peoplecultures supplementing
out in what breastmilk
Donna Gates, at The
author of 4 months.
Body
She stresses
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calls a Healing nutrition,
Crisis which is much likeespecially with a flu!
the full blown focus on if
Even
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mom doesn't anddie
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off,meats.
it's stillShe
bestwarns
to goabout a mother
very slowly with aitlow
because may
quality diet producing low quality milk;
affect the infant more than it does her. while I don't disagree with this, I do think
that human milk in nearly all situations will be better for a baby than non-human
We
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Breastfeeding infanttotocontinue
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it is important for yolk
One egg momato dayreally
withcontrol
a smallher die off.
amount of
Epsom
grassfedsalt baths
liver andcan help
some seathe
saltbody detoxify as well
is recommended and are
to start at 4part of the GAPS
months.
protocol.
Click here to get the liver recipe that I use
Foods that commonly trigger die offs and should be introduced slowly into a
Cereal
nursinggrains
mom'sare advised to avoid until age 1 or 2. I like this quote on page 601
diet:
from Nourishing Traditions, "Remember that babies should be chubby and children
Cultured/fermented
should foodsnot slim. Babies need body fat to achieve optimum
be sturdy and strong,
Coconut
growth. The products
fat around their ankles, knees, elbows, and wrists is growth fat that
Probiotics
ensures adequate nourishment to the growth plates at the ends of the bones. Fat
Fresh
babies Pressed
grow juices
up into sturdy, well-formed adults."

The
. Full GAPS Diet
The full GAPS diet is a very healthy diet that eliminates all grains and starches. A
Gut and Psychology Syndrome on Feeding Babies
nursing mom often has a hard time keeping her calorie intake up enough (I know
that
. by the time both my babies were 9 months old I was starving.all.the.time!) so
the fresh fruit and cultured dairy will help. The full GAPS diet allows nuts, ripe fruit,
Natasha
meat, Campbell-McBride
veggies, has acheeses,
eggs, seeds, aged chapter dairy
in thekefir,
new and
version of Gut
coconut. Forand
the full list
Psychology Syndrome
of allowed food see the(page 351)Psychology
Gut and that explains her views
Syndrome on feeding a baby in a
Book.
GAPS family. Because these babies are more likely to have poor gut flora and be
Meal/snack
nutritionally suggestions
depleted duefor
tothe nursing
poor healthmom:
in their parents, special considerations are
taken. Breastfeeding is, of course, encouraged, and if that is not possible a wet
Apples and peanutbutter or other nut butter
nurse or milk donor is encouraged (I love this- human milk for human babies should
Jerky
be normal). If for some reason baby must take formula, probiotics should be added
Yogurt with berries and/or coconut
to the bottle from the start (Nourishing Traditions has this in their handmade
Savory yogurt with avocado, dill, and cubed meat
formula as well). As with the entire Gut and Psychology Syndrome protocol,
Dried fruit
emphasis is placed on reducing toxins as well as eating wholesome foods. Natural
Smoothies made with yogurt, frozen fruit, and a couple tablespoons of coconut
crib mattresses should be used, and commercial baby care products with toxic
oil blended in (buy healthy coconut oil here)
ingredients should be avoided.
Cheese and grain free crackers
.
What if the rest of the family needs Intro?
The Order of Starting foods in the Gut and Psychology Syndrome Feeding Babies
It seems to me that so many of you nursing moms want to add one more thing to
Protocol
your full full plate! I generally encourage moms to focus on the breastfeeding
relationship for the full first year of the baby's life, or until they have started to go
Breastmilk
longer betweenmeat
Homemade nursing andstock,
or fish are starting
no salt,a start
bit ofwith
solid1-2
food. But really,
teaspoons mamas,
starting at for
6
themonths
newborn forperiod pleasebaby.
a breastfed try to relax and enjoy the baby if at all possible!
Freshly pressed vegetable juice diluted with warm water between meals, carrot
The GAPS introduction diet is a lot of cooking, cleaning, and feeding. I have tried to
then cabbage and celery
help the best I can by making the 30 days on GAPS Intro Ebook , but it still is a lot
Add probiotic food to stock, start with 1/2 teaspoon a day: Whey, sauerkraut
of cooking!
juice, yogurt
ThatVegetable soupcases
said, in some or puree
it isfrom
best peeled
for the and deseeded
family to start well cookedintro
the GAPS veggies
whileand
mom
stock (no starchy
is exclusively foods like
breastfeeding thepotatoes or yams)
baby. Maybe there is a sibling with autism or
Boiled meats
hyperactivity that could greatly benefit from the diet and make the baby's newborn
Ripemuch
period avocado
more calm, or another family member's daily life is being affected by a
GAPSRawcondition.
organic egg yolk added to vegetable soup
Cooked apple as apple puree, butter, coconut oil, or ghee added
In that case, Imade
Pancakes wouldwith
recommend that
nutbutter, mom and
squash, eat the
eggsintro foods with the family, but
addAdd
in some
freshextras
appleslike cookedjuice
to veggie fruit and nutbutters or smoothies for easy calories.
ThisRaw
canvegetables:
be done in aLettuce,
couple peeled
snacks cucumber,
a day- perhaps a smoothie
carrot, mid morning
celery, cabbage- all and
some apple sauce and a handful of nuts after the kids go to bed in the evening.
blended/pureed
Gently scrambled egg with raw butter
I personally feel it's too much work for you to be cooking two separate meals, and
it would
Ripe raw
be hard
appleonwithout
the kidsskin
if you were snacking on food that they couldn't have
all throughout
Ripe bananathe
withday.
brown spots (fruit should be given away from meats)
Homemade cottage cheese
What if my
Grain freebaby
breadis allergic to dairy/nuts/fruit/etc?
Small already
If you're amountsbasically
of natural salt to the GAPS intro foods by your or your little
limited
Table foods that are GAPS approved
one's food allergies, you may have no choice but to just go ahead and go on. You
can still be very careful to reduce die off as much as possible, even putting off
probiotics completely until the baby is eating more solids and very gradually
introducing cultured veggies. Epsom salt baths should help with detoxifying, and
drinking lots of gelatinous broth should help heal your gut quickly and provide your
baby with much needed amino acids.

I hope this has helped answer some questions about GAPS and breastfeeding!

I have done the GAPS intro twice while breastfeeding- I did intro while nursing a
toddler (he was 2 and was on intro too) and it wasn't an issue at all. I did a
'modified' intro when he was 11 months old and still pretty much exclusively
breastfeeding (I added cooked apples and coconut oil after a couple days).
I'd love to hear your experience, have you done GAPS while breastfeeding?

This is all just opinion and not intended as medical advice. I have no
credentials, and am just a mom myself! Please check with your
healthcare provider for your and your nursling's specific needs.

Resources:
Coming soon:
Where to find the Gut and Psychology Syndrome Book
Meal Plans for the Full GAPS
Click
Diet
here!
(which includes nuts, optional cultured dairy, and
fruits)
Clickon
What Can I Eat Now? 30 Days here
thetoGAPS
get the liver
Intro recipe that I use
Handbook
Starting Solids with a GAPS baby or in a GAPS Family
Packing Lunches for Children
on the GAPS Diet

I pack my daughter's lunch every day, but I don't make a big fuss about it.

I'm a busy mom, and while I do love sending my daughter nourishing delicious food,
I don't enjoy spending any more time on it than is necessary. So you aren't going to
be seeing cookie-cutter cut sandwiches, faces, or shaped hard boiled eggs here. I
think it's awesome that moms do that- it's just not me!

Here I want to talk about packing lunches specifically for the GAPS diet, and for
children with special needs. These tips are good for all busy parents, though!
 Baked-Fried chicken, ranch dressing,
sauerkraut, sliced apples, sugar snap peas

1. Keep it Simple
The majority of our lunches are packed as I'm cleaning up dinner- leftovers become
tomorrow's protein, a different sauce is added, and as I'm slicing up fruit for the
kids' dessert after dinner, I slice some for her lunch as well. Add another side and a
couple snacks, and lunch is done.

2. School-approved containers and other issues

that arise in schools
Our school doesn't allow glass containers or metal utensils. There is limited amount
of supervision in the lunchroom, so containers need to be easily opened by the
children on their own. We have three of these divided plastic containers, and we
use cornstarch based utensils (they hold up fine for at least a few washes through
the dishwasher). I do use this thermos, which is more expensive, but does a great
job keeping things the right temperature. We have 3, and often use them for
outings on the weekends as well. The water bottle we use is a little tricky to open,
but my daughter does just fine.

I anticipate things being lost at school (so far so good, but we're only a month in),
so I don't send anything that costs so much that I'd be devastated if it didn't come
home. I also use plain plastic ziplocks for snacks, everyone else in the class tosses
their snack wrapper after snack and then heads to the playground, so I think it
would be hard for my daughter to remember to bring-home reuseable bags.

My main goal is for her life to be easier and for her to get the nutrition she needs,
so we do use more disposable products than I'd like. But it's ok. We can save in
other areas.
I also have my daughter's IEP (individual educational plan- most children with
special needs have this) specify that she only eat food sent from home. Just telling
the teacher wasn't enough, things kept coming up and classroom aides, other
teachers, etc, kept giving her other food and school lunch. IEP is law, and it has to
be followed, so it ensured that she only had what I sent.

3. Sensory Needs
Many children on the GAPS Diet have sensory issues, mine included. Children with
sensory integration issues (this is a fantastic book on the topic ) are often slightly to
extremely stressed by some of the school environment. For my daughter, the loud
busy cafeteria is one of the more overwhelming parts of the day.

To help with this, I provide food that she is familiar with and is easy to eat. I never
send something to school that she hasn't had before, and I do a lot of repetition.
She usually watches me make her lunch, so it's not a surprise. We use the same
containers every day so it's predictable and she doesn't have to think about
opening it.

There are many different sensory things to be aware of for different children, some
children are sensitive to different textures, some children only like white food. I
encourage parents of children struggling with this to work on having them branch
out at home, and keep the food at school to what you know they will accept.
4. Backup Meals
Sometimes there are *those days* when everything's gone wrong, you need to be
out the door in 10 minutes, and nobody has their shoes on yet and lunch hasn't
even been started. I do keep some packaged food on hand for that.

I have a box of Lara Bars that I keep in a high cupboard for days like this. Avocado
oil chips aren't GAPS friendly, but they are gluten free and a good real food
alternative. We normally make our own yogurt, but I keep a few individual servings
from the store on hand just in case (it has a long shelf life in the fridge). Cheese
becomes the main protein in a pinch, and these bison snack sticks are fantastic as
well.

5. Getting kids to actually eat the food

My children are usually happy to eat their entire meal, so I was surprised when I
had a few entire lunches come home without being eaten. It turns out that I need
to plan her snacks to be low calorie, she gets two snacks before lunch, so if she has
a snack that's filling (like the lara bar pictured above) then she isn't hungry for her
lunch. The reason she can eat her Lara bar as part of her lunch and continue eating
the rest is because the body hasn't completely registered that it's 'not hungry' for a
good half an hour- so by then she's finished her meal.

For us, one fruit (which she eats at her first snack I'm sure, she loves fruit) and one
veggie works well for keeping her hungry. Nuts, Lara bars, cookies, or crackers with
cheese all filled her up too much. She eats a good breakfast at home before going
to school, and at home we don't generally snack, so this isn't making her
uncomfortably hungry.

In my grain-free meal plans I do have a pack-able lunch included every

day, usually using some sort of leftover from the day before. I have
many families that use these meal plans for this even though they are
not grain free- as far as I know mine are the only ones that have 3
meals a day, 7 days a week. I did this because it's what I really *needed*
in a meal plan. Click here to learn more and purchase.
GAPS Intro Chicken Stock in
4 Easy Steps

GAPS Intro Chicken stock

This is taken from What Can I Eat Now? 30 Days on the GAPS Introduction Diet
Handbook. GAPS Intro chicken stock is different than stock later on, as you don't
brown the bones at all so the stock is pale. This is to prevent any harder to digest
well cooked pieces of chicken from slipping through into the stock. You can still
salt it to taste with sea salt, and broth is recommended to be served with every
meal while on Intro.

Equipment:

Stock pot

click here for berkey water filters

Half Gallon Mason Jars

GAPS Intro Chicken Stock in 4 Easy Steps

Recipe Type: GAPS Intro, Gut and Psychology Syndrome

Cuisine: Stock

Author: Cara Comini

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 8 hours

Total time: 8 hours 20 mins

Serves: 1 gallon

This stock is simmered for a short amount of time, and made with
meat, not just bones, for extra protein.

Ingredients
Whole Chicken or Chicken pieces (thighs, backs, etc)

Instructions
1. Rinse chicken. Reach inside cavity and remove giblet package if using a whole
chicken. Remove giblets from package and add to the stock pot. Place chicken
in the stockpot.
2. Fill pot ¾ full with filtered water. Cook on medium-high until bubbling, then
reduce heat to low and allow to simmer, covered, at least 8 hours. When done,
allow to cool then pour stock through a strainer and transfer to mason jars to
store in the fridge.
3. To strain, I use a mesh strainer over a pitcher-style 4-cup measuring cup. This
makes transferring the stock to the mason jars easier; I do one jar at a time,
cleaning out the strainer as needed during the process.
4. Do not discard the soft gelatinous parts around the bones or the skin; reserve
that and use an immersion or regular blender to blend it into your stock and
soups.
5. The fat will rise to the top of the jars in the fridge, which can be included in
soups or used as a fat for cooking.
6. Pick any meat off the bones that you can after the chicken stock has been
removed, reserve meat to add to soups or serve alongside. Discard the
remaining bones in the pot.

3.5.3208

This is taken from What Can I Eat Now? 30 Days on the GAPS
Introduction Diet Handbook.
Grain Free Baking: What Are
We Supposed to Do About
Sweets on GAPS?

What's the deal with sweets on the Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) Diet?

There are a few different ways to look at this question.

Dr. Natasha says that 85% of our food intake should be healing nourishing foods
like meat, vegetables, and fats. The remaining 15% is where sweets and baked
goods come in.

In simple terms, that's about one average serving of sweets per day- it's not dessert
for lunch, dinner, and a sweet snack. But it's also not depriving yourself of anything
sweet ever.

As you start or work toward GAPS, you may rely more heavily on sweets and
baked goods just to get used to the diet. That's ok, it's just not ideal. But it's ok, and
if it's the only way you will realistically stay on GAPS, it's going to be better for
your body to have multiple GAPS friendly baked goods a day than it is to have a
food that your body is reacting to (wheat, gluten, etc).

On the GAPS Intro, there is a little fuzziness on the issue of honey. In the GAPS
Book Dr Natasha allows honey stirred into tea from the beginning, and mixed with
butter to control blood sugar crashes. In previous versions of the intro, honey
wasn't allowed at all until the end or after. We always do intro without any honey,
my daughter had trouble with sugar in the past, so we wanted to make sure the
sugar in honey wasn't irritating her gut as it was trying to heal or feeding any
pathogens.

Blood sugar
You might be like I was prior to GAPS and think that you could never
go low carb, since your blood sugar crashes and you start to get dizzy
or pass out. I was like this for 26 years, and then one intense run
through intro, and my body figured out how to regulate its blood sugar
without a constant source of carbs. This has been so freeing to me- I
used to have to eat right as I woke up, and at regular intervals, or I
would get light headed and eventually pass out. Now, while eating on a
predictable schedule is good, I no longer have to worry about my body
shutting down if I don't.
Obligatory reminder: I'm a mom, not a healthcare professional. Always
talk to your healthcare professional before you eat or don't eat
anything new.

Losing your Sweet Tooth

As you progress on GAPS, you may lose your sweet tooth. I sure did (and I was the
kid who, ahem, would buy a Snickers and Peanut M&Ms from the vending machine
for lunch every day in high school). Now that we're done with GAPS we eat fruit
daily, usually as 'dessert' with lunch and dinner, and we make something sweet like
banana bread, cake, or pie on Saturdays. But there isn't the overwhelming craving
for sweet things that we had before.

The first year on GAPS we ate a lot of macaroons, nutbutter brownies, jello, and
custard. But it slowly lost its appeal. We've been off GAPS for over 6 months now,
and the sweet cravings still haven't come back. I attribute the intense cravings for
sweets that people either to not getting enough calories overall, so your body is
crying out for fast energy, or to pathogenic bacteria that rely on refined
carbohydrates to function and have invaded your gut. We talk about the gut-brain
connection and how pathogens can send out chemicals that make it to your brain,
requesting more of the very food that is preventing you from healing.
Takeaways

So, overall, you're not being 'better at GAPS' if you never eat any baked good-
having some fun and celebration with food is good for the mood and good for the
body. But if you are better off without it, work on getting healed enough that you
can enjoy sweets sometimes. And for most people on GAPS, it's okay to include a
sweet treat weekly, if not daily.
My Child Needs GAPS But
Won't Even Touch That Kind
of Food! (how to get kids
with sensory issues on the
GAPS Diet)

"Eggs? Meat? Nuts? All my child will eat is bread and ketchup"

"He's a picky eater. He'd starve"

"It's genetic, our family is full of picky eaters, she would never eat the GAPS food"

"It's the textures... the only thing he will swallow is pureed food"Yep, I understand.
Many "GAPS Kids" or as I refer to them while talking with other parents who have
special needs children, 'our kids,' have very strong likes and dislikes with food, and
we can already feel like we're battling to get them to eat our favorites. I just wrote
a post about how I get my kids to eat - and this works well for our family now, after
years of the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) diet and years of understanding
her quirks and what wording or situations encourage or discourage her to eat
healthy food.

So, how do I introduce the GAPS Diet with my

special needs child?
1. I'm a mom, not a medical professional, before changing your child's diet you
should run it by qualified professionals.
2. After you've done that, I recommend slowly removing things from their diet.
We were already dairy free when my little one was 2-1/2, so we next took out
gluten. There are lots of child friendly gluten free casein free foods on the
market now, so you most likely can find gluten free alternatives to what your
child currently is eating.
3. Going gluten free can cause a healing crisis, so allow your child to become
completely comfortable gluten free before pushing it any more.
4. Try different GAPS foods and see if any of them are enjoyed by your child, and
gradually increase those as you can, while continuing the GFCF. See my GAPS
Recipes page for ideas.
5. Introduce probiotic containing foods like homemade sauerkraut and probiotic
supplements if desired. These also can trigger healing crises so watch carefully.
6. Next, go down to full GAPS, which is grain and refined sugar free. This could
cause a rebellion, since when you pull the rest of the foods that are feeding the
bad gut flora, the brain is flooded with messages that this diet is NOT what the
bacteria want (see It's the Bacteria Talking, below)
7. And then finally try the GAPS Introduction diet. The Intro diet is so so healing
and helpful, but jumping right in is a big change for many kids.

Desperate parents have tried jumping to Intro right away, and saw great benefits
for it, but if you can try a more gradual approach, this is what we did and I feel it
worked well. The previous steps took us about 10 weeks, so it's not too too long,
and we saw results with every step.
Wouldn't it work to just not give in?
Nope. You can't just put a plate of GAPS food in front of a child that has previously
only eaten a very limited range of foods and expect them to finally give up and just
eat it, it's not a discipline issue, it's a sensory issue. This advice might have worked
for well meaning grandparents with typically developing children, but with GAPS
kids this is a sensory issue - and they literally will starve themselves to the point of
harm rather than eat a food they don't find suitable.

It's the bacteria talking

In the gut-brain connection post we talked about how bad gut flora can give off
toxins that affect our brains like drugs. That's what this sensitivity to textures and
tastes is all about, in the same way our body tells us to avoid bitter foods because
they likely are poisonous our kids with sensory issues are being 'told' that this food
is not good to eat. That's what makes picky eaters when it comes to sensory issues.

Give it just 7 days

The good thing about it being a gut flora issue is that it's generally easily corrected!
After just a week on the GAPS diet, or even gluten free, many kids are eating many
more foods. I commonly get emails from parents that tell me that after a week on
GAPS their 4 year old is happily eating tons of squash, soup, meat, and eggs- all
foods that had been disliked in the past.

For the 3-7 days that you're starting the diet, I wouldn't worry about anything
other than only limiting your child to GAPS approved foods. Even if they will only
eat apple sauce for days, this often starves out enough of the bad gut flora that
they can then tolerate more GAPS foods.

Your job during this time is to make sure they're not getting any cheats at all- even
a crumb of bread or couple grains of rice at this stage will feed the bad gut flora
and prevent them from dying off, and all your hard work will be negated. Watch
for sugar or additives in supplements, and get different versions if they have
offending ingredients. GAPS, especially in the beginning, isn't something you can
do 80% or even 99%, it requires 100% adherence to be successful. After the gut
has healed quite a bit (this was after about a year for us) occasional cheats won't
mess the GAPS person up so much, but at the beginning it's mandatory to be strict.

Jump Starting Eating and Other Behavior

Techniques
Even though starting GAPS will help considerably with eating new foods, parenting
techniques can still help our children eat healthily. My little one has a combination
of being easily overstimulated visually (lights, colors, movement), and under-
stimulated with sound and touch/pressure. If any of these are out of balance, or if
she's overly hungry or tired she has a harder time focusing on eating, and this being
hungry can just add to her being overwhelmed and inability to focus on eating.

To break the cycle if we get into it, I will do anything I can to get her to eat a few
bites of food. Usually once she's eaten a few bites she sees how good that feels,
and will continue eating. To get the first few bites in, I often sit her on my lap (still!
She's 6!), put one arm behind my back, hold the other hand, and put a bite of
whatever she's most likely to eat from my plate in her mouth.

Another thing that works for her is to make a silly, loud, energetic game with it.
Yes, I'll still do the 'airplane' game with buzzing the fork around in the air, she
enjoys it, I enjoy it, and it's meeting her developmentally where she is at that
moment.

Some parents have reported success letting kids do their favorite activity, and
building taking a bite of food into it as a game. For example, the child might love
stairs, so encourage them to walk up 3 stairs, and then in a happy encouraging
voice say '3 stairs, then a bite, here you go, then 3 more stairs!'. Opening doors is a
big one for us, we have used that to get her to do what she needs to do in the past
too, "Open, shut, bite! Open, shut, bite!". When doing diet therapies, it's really
important to just get the kids to eat however we can. Once we're a few days or
weeks in, it becomes so much easier, I promise.

For some children the 'when, then' approach works well. My daughter didn't like
that, but this is what's described in the GAPS book and works for many parents.
The diet is started by allowing one bite of favored food (any food, even non GAPS
food) after a bite of GAPS food (soup, meat, etc) is eaten. This way the child gets
used to the taste of the GAPS food, and slowly is weaned off the favored foods.

Start Young
When we have toddlers with special needs, it looks like it might be easier to wait
and start when the children can talk and reason. I personally advocate you start as
soon as possible. When we started I could easily prevent my child from accessing
foods that weren't on the diet by putting them high in the pantry, putting a latch on
the fridge, or just not having them available in the house. The older kids get, the
more independent they are and the more access they have to illegal foods, and
during the start of GAPS when the bad gut flora are dying off and sending
chemicals to the brain that says you need bread, sugar, and grains, it's really hard to
have that much self control as an adult, much less a child.

Set a time period, a start date, and go!

When we started GAPS, I decided to start Nov 1, 2009, and we would try it for 30
days. That gave me the motivation to give it a good try. We obviously found it
worth it to continue the diet, but getting through the first week was the hardest. If
you have any other questions about getting a picky eater to start GAPS, please ask
below!
How Important is
Organic/Free Range/Grass
Fed on GAPS?

I occasionally get frantic emails, presumably from people who just went to the
grocery store and priced out organic free range meats and vegetables as they
prepare to start the GAPS Intro.

Some common questions:

Is there a point to doing GAPS if I can't afford all organic/pastured

meats and eggs?
How important are organic veggies on the GAPS Diet?
How do I prioritize what to buy organic on GAPS?
How do I justify this expense? It's 4 x what I usually spend on food!

You will still see an improvement even if using conventional

(not organic) foods.
The Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet is based on the Specific Carbohydrate
Diet, which is a very easy to digest diet full of healthy fats, proteins, vitamins, and
minerals. Refined sugars are removed, along with gluten and grains, which often
are causing hidden problems of inflammation in the body but go unnoticed because
they are eaten so often.

Prioritize Organics with Animal foods, Ferments, and the

'Dirty Dozen'
Animal foods are the most important to buy organic/grassfed. When they are high
quality food, they are even more nourishing. The protein and fats in healthily raised
animals are higher quality than conventionally raised meats, and will provide better
fuel for the body to be nourished and heal.

The least expensive way that I've found to get meat is to get it directly from the
farmers, in bulk. In Montana I found my farmer by visiting my local health food
store, seeing what 'local' beef they were selling, and then contacting that farmer.
He sold it to me for about 60% of what the health food store was charging, and it
was a win-win. He even delivered, but that was just a bonus! In Arizona I found a
butcher who did the whole thing- he raised cows, then owned the butcher shop
that processed them too. I went in and asked him if he had cuts that were less
expensive, or if he could put together a package of things that could cost
less/pound. He happily did that, and I picked up one of his 'packages' once every 3
months or so.

Being an easy to please customer goes far with farmers.

If you can only choose some organic/grassfed foods, I would first choose to make
my stock out of organic meat/bones. Then choose the rest of my meat to be
organic.

For vegetables, because the ferments are so important in GAPS choose organics
for ferments, juicing as well (organic juicing carrots aren't expensive), and then
either choose organic or avoid the dirty dozen- the list of foods with the most
pesticide residue.

The expense of GAPS

The cost of food on the GAPS diet is often a shock- adding up the cost of meat
alone is enough to make frugal grocery store shoppers twitch. There's no doubt
about it, grains are cheap fillers to round out meals and fill up bellies. I look at
GAPS as being a medically necessary diet for my family. If a prescription
medication could do all of what GAPS does, with no side effects, I know I would
find a way to pay $200/month for this 'medication'. In the same way, I see the
money spent on food as an investment into my children's health- money spent on
the GAPS diet is money that isn't spent on doctor's visits, missed work due to
health issues, tutors, adaptive equipment, and prescription medications.

Believe me, I know that sometimes the money just is not there to work with. In
that case try to prioritize as I talked about above, or think about if there is any
other way I can cut expenses or bring in a little extra income to pay for good
quality food. If it helps, when we started GAPS we had less money to spend per
month than a family of our size would get on food stamps and we were still able to
swing it.

Since we have a little more money to spend on groceries now, I don't keep such a
low budget because that just isn't a huge priority for me right now- I'd rather cut in
other areas and have a little more wiggle room with the groceries.
 Let's Continue...

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