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Monday Health & Wellness: GAPS FAQ

admin June 20, 2011

**This post has been entered in Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist!**

Almost everyday, I get questions from people wanting to know different things about the GAPS diet.  I’ve gotten so many similar questions that I thought I’d address them here!  Hopefully this is a good starting place for those interested in the GAPS diet.

First, if you’re unfamiliar, you might want to check out some of my previous posts on GAPS/grain-free diets to learn more about why one might choose to do the GAPS diet or otherwise go grain-free.

 

Q: Is GAPS safe while pregnant or breastfeeding?

A: Yes, but you should only do full GAPS (not intro) and go slowly.  If your gut needs healing, you will want to introduce stock, fats, and probiotic foods slowly so that you don’t experience severe die-off.  If you are nursing, detoxing too fast can lead to dumping toxins into your milk, which can negatively affect your baby.  Of course, chances are if your gut flora is not so good, your baby’s isn’t, either, so you should ideally do GAPS while still nursing to give your baby a better start!

 

Q: If I do GAPS while nursing, should I start my baby on solids soon or should I keep exclusively nursing for awhile?

A: First, you should ideally never start solids before 6 months, and later is better too.  Second, if your gut flora is messed up, your baby’s likely is, too.  Keep exclusively breastfeeding for awhile and allow your baby’s gut to heal.  When you do introduce solids, the best plan is to introduce GAPS foods – sips of stock, ground meats, egg yolks (after 8 months), plain yogurt or kefir, etc.  It’s best to wait on vegetables, even those that are well-cooked.  Some babies do tolerate them, but many don’t because of their fiber content.  Starting with animal foods is much safer.  Go very slowly and watch for reactions, and never introduce grains before age 2.  It is also fine to introduce probiotic foods and drinks to an older baby directly.

 

Q: Is it safe to start kombucha while nursing?  Or to give it to my baby directly?

A: Yes.  Go slowly on the kombucha initially, just a couple ounces a day, because it can cause die-off and that’s not always pleasant.  Watch your baby for any reactions (especially if you’re exclusively breastfeeding) and back off if needed.  Babies over a year can feel free to try drinking kombucha for themselves, a few sips at a time.  Many toddlers end up really loving it!

 

Q: How can I get enough to eat on GAPS?

A: It’s not unusual to be absolutely starving when you first begin GAPS.  Your body is crying out for nutrients.  Make lots of soup and have it on hand for snacks.  Sneak bits of liver or other organ meats into the soup, along with other meats, to make it extra nourishing.  Fill the soup with plenty of vegetables and also fat – add ghee or coconut oil to the soup.  Small amounts of probiotics served mixed into the soup or alongside it will help.  If you need to and can tolerate it, bake some breads with almond flour and smear them thickly with butter (if tolerated) or coconut oil and eat these.  Don’t be afraid to eat extra meat as desired.  Protein is a huge need for GAPS patients.  Eat whenever you are hungry and know that this ‘starving’ stage will not last forever.

 

Q: I’m an athlete, how can I get enough protein?

A: Eat plenty of meat, eggs, plain yogurt, etc.  Jerky is a great snack, as are nuts.  Smoothies made with plain yogurt are good for breakfast – add raw egg yolks to them if you can find pastured eggs.  If you can tolerate honey, bake with almond flour to make “breads” for snacks (there are some options to bake with almond flour without any honey).

 

Q: I’m craving ____, should I eat it?

A: If it’s sugar/grains…no!  You will crave this as you’re healing, because the bad gut flora in your body thrives on this.  It doesn’t want to die, so it forces you to crave sugar and grains to try to stay alive.  You would feel temporarily better if you gave in, but ultimately you would feel worse.

If it’s meat/fat…yes!  Eat it to your heart’s content.  I know that if I don’t eat enough fat I will crave it and I will try to find anything I can that contains fat.  I have been known, on occasion, to sneak bites of plain butter when I was really craving fat.  Your body needs these foods to heal, so if you are wanting them, eat them as much as you desire.  You can pour olive oil over your food (right before serving) for added fat – this is recommended on GAPS.

 

Q: If I follow GAPS, won’t I gain weight and have high cholesterol?

A: Probably not.  If you were underweight, you may gain weight, but this is not bad!  It’s a sign your body is actually absorbing the nutrients from your food and so you are able to gain weight.  If you were overweight, you may lose weight (I lost a lot – too much – when I first did GAPS).  Also, since natural forms of cholesterol do not raise blood cholesterol, no, you will not have high cholesterol.  It is usually the damage from digesting the grains/sugars that causes your body to produce more cholesterol, and since you are no longer eating these foods, your cholesterol levels should get lower over time.  Fats and meats are not bad for you!

 

If you have any additional questions about GAPS, please don’t hesitate to ask!  I will do my best to answer, and if I have a fair amount of other questions, I will do another FAQ in the future.

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7 Comments

  1. Hi! I'm so glad you posted this.
    I started full GAPS the first of this month. I'm also nursing my 10month old. Three days in I felt awful. Shaking, chills, nausea, and a migraine. The next day I got horrible stomach cramps. Ever since then, I've felt great. But a few days after all that my daughter developed eczema like patches on the back of one of her legs. The patches are still there now. I've been giving her lots of extra beef broth but continued with her usual feedings (egg yolk, meats, steamed veggies, some yoghurt). Nothing else has really changed. We're in Texas and we go to the pool a lot. I'm pretty sure her patches are connected to my diet change but my husband isn't convinced. What do you think? I have also put some hydro-cortisone cream on it some. My husband wants me to take her to the doctor if it doesn't clear soon. I want to treat it naturally. Do you know of anything else I can do internally for her or put on it to make to clear it up?
    Thanks for any advice!

    Reply

  2. I love the way you present facts, it is always so thorough. Thank you !!!

    Reply

  3. My biggest GAPS question is, what am I supposed to feed my 18 month old who has a huge appetite but no molars yet. I do ok on dinner because we have cooked meat and veggies usually. I try to do eggs for breakfast – but she won't eat yogurt unless I put something in it like granola. But I really struggle with quick snacks and lunches. She can't eat nuts or jerky or dried fruit which is all I hear as far as GAPS snacks. She'll put them in her mouth and suck on them a while and then spit them out. I feel like I'm starving her when I withhold grains. She still nurses all the time, but it is not enough. We started her on meat and veggies at 11 months old, but as her appetite grew and her teeth didn't come in, I felt like my only options were grain based snacks. I always buy organic, but I still hate how many of her snacks seem to be grahm crackers or granola. After reading this post, I feel even worse about it, but I'm still really struggling with what I'm supposed to feed her for snacks that won't take me half an hour (at least) to prepare.

    Reply

  4. Jennifer,

    Give her bits of raw cheese, fresh fruits or veggies (frozen ones are good), leftover cooked ground meat, that sort of thing for snack. You can mix yogurt with fresh fruit and a little honey and serve it to her that way, or freeze it in ice cube trays and let her play/eat it that way too (my daughter won't eat "yogurt" but will eat "popsicles" just fine!). If your daughter can tolerate nuts, bake mini-muffins with almond flour and give her those. Nut butters with fresh fruit or veggies are good snacks too. White bean hummus could work too. There are lots of options! They're more perishable, but if you're mostly looking for at-home snacks, these will definitely work. 🙂

    Kristi,

    It's probably diet-related, but it COULD be exacerbated by chlorine in the pool. Coconut oil or another natural oil is probably a better choice than hydrocortisone. There's a recipe on here for "diaper rash cream" but I honestly use it on any skin rash. I haven't heard a single person who's used it and NOT loved it. And it's natural so even if a kid tried to eat it, well…it doesn't matter. If she is not bothered by the eczema, it is not spreading, and she doesn't have any other symptoms, I would not worry about it for now. Try a natural cream, keep feeding her GAPS food, take a break on swimming in case she's sensitive to the chemicals in the pool (likely), and it should clear up pretty soon.

    Reply

  5. I have DAIRY and EGG allergies! How would I be able to do GAPS since almost everything requires eggs here. What should I do?

    Reply

    • GAPS removes dairy in the early stages anyway, as well as eggs for stage 1 or 2. You can still do it with veggies, stock, nut flours, etc. And it is possible that you will be able to tolerate eggs, or at least the yolks, after awhile as well. The Yahoo group GAPS Help can help also because many people there have/had egg allergies.

      Reply

  6. what about egg allergies? how can I do GAPS with egg allergies?

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Kate.  I love medical freedom, sharing natural remedies, developing real food recipes, and gentle parenting. My goal is to teach you how to live your life free from Big Pharma, Big Food, and Big Government by learning about herbs, cooking, and sustainable practices.

I’m the author of Natural Remedies for Kids and the owner and lead herbalist at EarthleyI hope you’ll join me on the journey to a free and healthy life!

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