Why Everybody’s Talking about the GAPS Diet?

Did you hear about the GAPS Diet? Well, nowadays many professionals are recommending this diet for treating certain health ailments ¹ .

The GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) Diet is an inclusive healing protocol settled by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, a nutritionist and neurologist who specializes in healing of health problems like leaky gut syndrome, ADD/ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, dyslexia, and dyspraxia by treating the root cause of several of these conditions: compromised gut health ² .

While it might seem strange or unbelievable that neurological disorders as autism can be alleviated or even addressed through dietary changes, peoples that have been dissatisfied by some currently available treatments have tried GAPS diet, and many have experienced great recovery.

Health Benefits of GAPS Diet

Generally, the GAPS Diet offers a great array of benefits by just taking a common sense approach to eating. This diet is related to the grain-free eating plan and is an ideal way to reduce grain intake, by consuming much probiotic rich food and bone broth. The GAPS diet is also a part of the Paleo diet.

The GAPS diet health benefits most individuals start to experience all start with healthy and regular digestion. People who have followed the GAPS diet in individual cases studies have experienced the following GAPS diet benefits:

• Support Detoxification
• Reduce Food Sensitivity
• Boost Immunity
• Kill Candida
• Heal Inflammatory Bowel Disease
• Improve Neurological Function
• Reverse Type II Diabetes
• Reduce Anxiety and Depression
• Improve Lactose Digestion
• Improve Autism

Additionally, research has associated consuming fermented foods, as the GAPS Diet suggests, to killing many different types of cancerous tumors in some animal studies. According to an animal study published in the Journal of Dairy Science, regular kefir consumption can help stop breast cancer growth ³ .

If we scientifically evaluate how every component of the GAPS Diet heals disease like this, we not only see the great array of diseases it could reverse, the synergistic results of all of these components coming together seem limitless!

GAPS Intro

Just like any Elimination diet, the intro of this diet is comprehensive, omitting numerous foods: fibrous vegetables, grains, fruits, starchy vegetables, and legumes.  During the introductory stages, some of these foods are gradually reintroduced to the diet, but starting the GAPS diet could feel overwhelming – not just in determining which foods to consume (and which to omit) depending on the stage of the intro, but also the systemic detox process can be confounding, mostly for those who are new to the concept of natural living.

GAPS Diet: Foods to Eat and Foods to Avoid

Foods to Avoid

To follow the GAPS diet, you should avoid ⁴ :

• All Grains
• Processed foods
• Processed sugar
• Conventional meat and dairy
• Artificial chemicals and preservatives
• Starchy carbs and potatoes

Foods to Eat

This is the complete list of foods that Dr. Campbell-McBride suggests as part of the introduction GAPS diet ⁵ :

1. Vegetables:

• Arugula
• Avocados
• Artichoke
• Asparagus
• Broccoli
• Beets
• Bok Choy
• Brussels Sprouts
• Bell Peppers
• Broccoli Rabe
• Cucumbers
• Celery
• Cabbage
• Collards
• Carrots
• Eggplant
• Fennel
• Green Beans
• Garlic
• Jerusalem Artichoke
• Kale
• Mushrooms
• Onions
• Olives
• Radish
• Pumpkin
• Romaine Lettuce
• Parsnip
• Spinach
• Seaweed
• Squash (winter and summer)
• Turnips
• Tomatoes
• Watercress
• Fish (NO Farm Raised, Wild Caught only!)
• Anchovies
• Bass
• Cod
• Grouper
• Halibut
• Haddock
• Herring
• Mahi Mahi
• Mackerel
• Red Snapper
• Sardines
• Salmon
• Seabass
• Tuna
• Trout
• Walleye

2. Legumes and Nuts (sprouted or as nut butter)

• Almonds (as raw nut butter or sprouted)
• Brazil Nuts
• Coconut
• Hazelnuts
• Lima Beans
• Macadamia
• Navy Beans
• Pine Nuts
• Pecans
• Walnuts
• Nut flours (moderately – no more than 1/4 cup per day)

3. Fats/Oils (Organic Unrefined)

• Almond Oil
• Avocado Oil
• Butter
• Coconut Oil
• Flaxseed Oil
• Ghee
• Hempseed Oil
• Macadamia Oil
• Olive Oil
• Palm Oil (sustainable)
• Sesame Oil
• Walnut Oil

4. Dairy

• Kefir (fermented 24+ hours)
• Goat Cheese (aged 60+ days)
• Sheep Yogurt (fermented 24+ hours)
• Raw Cows Cheese (aged 60+ days)
• Raw Sheep Cheese (aged 60+ days)
• Raw Cows amasai, yogurt and kefir (fermented 24+ hours)

5. Meat (organic, grass-fed)

• Bone Broth
• Bison
• Beef
• Chicken
• Duck
• Eggs
• Lamb
• Turkey
• Quail and other wild game
• Venison and other wild game

6. Fruit (in moderation)

• Apricot
• Apple
• Banana
• Blueberries
• Blackberries
• Coconuts
• Cherries
• Cantaloupe
• Figs
• Grapes
• Grapefruit
• Kiwi
• Lime
• Lemon
• Mango
• Nectarine
• Orange
• Plums
• Papaya
• Peaches
• Pineapple
• Pomegranate
• Pears
• Rhubarb
• Raspberries
• Strawberries
• Watermelon

7. Herbs and Spices

• Black Pepper
• Basil
• Coriander Seeds
• Cilantro
• Cumin
• Cinnamon
• Dill
• Fennel
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Mint
• Peppermint
• Parsley
• Rosemary
• Sea Salt
• Sage
• Turmeric
• Thyme
• Tarragon

8. Condiments

• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Coconut Vinegar
• Sea Salt

9. Flours

• Almond Flour
• Coconut Flour

10. Beverages

• Almond Milk
• Coconut Milk
• Coconut Kefir
• Herbal Teas
• Raw Vegetable Juices
• Spring Water (or Filtered)
• Sparkling Water
• Wine, in moderation

11. Sweeteners (in moderation)

• Raw Honey (try to replace refined sugar with raw honey as much as possible. Here are some great ideas that can help you: http://yourhealthtube.com/7-ways-substitute-sugar-honey-food/ )
• Dates made into paste

12. Supplements

• Digestive Enzymes
• Probiotics
• L-Glutamine Powder
• Fish Oil or Fermented Cod Liver Oil

Conclusion:

According to the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, consumption and preparation of bone broth is being increasingly suggested to patients, for instance as part of the gut and psychology syndrome (GAPS) diet for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, dyslexia, depression, schizophrenia, and dyspraxia, and as part of the Paleo diet ⁶ . However, bones are identified to sequester the heavy metal lead, pollution with which is throughout the contemporary environment. Moreover, such sequestered lead could then be mobilized from the bones. They thus hypothesized that bone broth may carry the potential risk of being contaminated with lead.

The GAPS diet eliminates all sugars and dairy products, is low in grains and fruits and includes bone broth made from meat and fish to help restore gut barrier function, along with probiotic foods to repair a healthy mix of gut flora. This diet can be an effective meal plan for healing autoimmune disease and gut issues. However, there is no any published evidence to support it. The initial introductory stages might not provide adequate nutrition; the complete diet is possibly healthy but is onerous.