GAPS Diet Support Thread

[IndigoBell]

Anybody doing, or trying to do, or thinking about doing the GAPS diet is welcome to post here.......

I want to do the GAPS diet for DS and DD, but it's too hard to start with. So this is my plan.

• Ignore DD for now and concentrate on DS :)

• DS has just cut out dairy, so try to keep him dairy free

• Try to cut down or reduce gluten

• Take Omega Fish Oils

• Take probiotics

• Eat as many meaty stews and soups as we can

Hoping that over the next few months we can reduce gluten a lot and increase stews a lot.

Does this sound like a good place to start? Have I understood the diet right?

Hi, Dont know much about this diet, but im gonna keep a close eye on this thread :) seen a big difference with DS in past 8 weeks without the dairy. (toilet training and energy levels) Its surprising what you will find dairy in. Even crisps! (most of tayto are fine)

GAPS diet

GAPS diet

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5 common GAPS diet mistakes

Autism Recovery

your way sounds a lot easier than full on GAPS!

ds1 is 9 and has no specific dx, but AS/ ASD/ ODD/ ADHD have all been pondered by various profs at various times. his main issue is continence (ignoring the sensory/ oppositional stuff for now) and i've been convinced for some time that somehow the digestive/ continence issue are linked with his less tangible quirks...

we have a paed appt next week (new paed. the last one told us it was perfectly normal for a 9yo to soil and wet himself. when i say told 'us', i mean told dh, because he took him to that particular appt. and then discharged him. it nearly caused a divorce.) that paed originally dx ds1 with encopresis and we started a six month routine designed to unblock him. it had no effect on his soiling. he's been on various meds for continence, none worked. currently he wets about 4 or 5 times a week and the soiling is variable - sometimes 6 times a week, sometimes only 2. we haven't been able to identify any particular triggers though. he sits on the toilet after breakfast and after dinner, and is productive both times - sometimes i wonder if it is more of an overactive bowel thing!!

historically, ds1 is a prime candidate for GAPS - he contracted double pneumonia courtesy of RSV at 11 weeks, and was whacked full of anti-biotics. then spent the next 3 years or so on various antibiotics for chest and ear infections. in terms of natural gut flora, i'd say it was probably toasted early on. then he lived on watermelon and cheese for Some Time.

these days his diet is more varied, but i've been reluctant to actually get on with the GAPS diet as he does have some self imposed food restrictions... and we've had a lot of changes - his dad moved out to start a new job, and eventually we all moved house/ school etc, so he is just getting settled.

it's getting to be a pretty good time to think about it more definitely though. i'm going to ask the new paed about sunderland testing on tues. in theory he was coeliac tested before, but we were never given any definitive result.

there ya go. i started talking about pooh. feel free to carry on the motion and i expect silverfrog (who is Very Lovely) to turn up imminently.

I have seen many posts with GAPS in them, but didn't know what the basics were until i followed your link Indigo.
3 DS here - 2 dx as lactose intolerant, 1 CMP, fructose and sucrose intolerant (complex sugars), all IBS. 2 chronic diarrhoea, 1 swallowing difficulties, 1 dyspraxia, hypermobile and SPD. All are atopic (eczema. asthma, hayfever and allergies), 1 had an autoimmune reaction after vaccination.
DS3 has been told to do a gluten challenge by dietician - as a reduction in gluten helped to improve DS2 problems. I've also been told that if it helps DS3, they will give a prescription for gluten free - which they normally only give to coeliacs.
So yes, i think that if diet isn't the cause, it most definitely is linked - although its a bit chicken and egg - as i suppose what we eat as we're pregnant is already in them as they are developing. So what comes first, their nutrition to develop, or their development?

Well right now DD is eating home made chicken soup! But DS won't even try it..... :(

(Although I did make the soup with chicken stock, which I know you're not meant to - but I'm hoping it doesn't make that much difference. It's also made with lots of chicken.)

What I'm going to start with is

1. learning how to cook meat soups and stews.
2. then getting the kids used to eating them.

I expect this to take a while..... Especially since I can only do this in weekends.

But I don't want to cut out pasta / bread / potatoes / rice until they're happily eating lots of stew and soup.

DS is currently on probiotic yoghurt drinks one in morning one at night. Omega fish oils which are benefiting greatly plus a multi vit. Until I have a diagnosis I am in limbo as to what other minerals might aid him at the moment.

The only dairy he eats are yoghurt and milk (only a small amount of milk in a cup with dry cereal). Was looking at soya milk but dont know if that would make a difference to him or not. Never tried it anyone know what it tastes like?

Indigo we live on stews down here and I have some lovely recipies (all passed down from family so in my head lol) I would gladly pm you a few if it would help. We use stove top method mainly but I have used a slow cooker prepared the night before. It freezes well in portion containers and defrosts really quickly so that would perhaps help you during the busy week times Butternut squash has a lovely taste with chicken in a soup as a change from turnip (swede) and goes nice in a homemade chicken pie with leeks (I cheat and use condensed cream of chicken soup for the sauce/gravy base but you could thicken a stock instead). I also use it with sweet potatoe as a mash and bake in the oven but i know sweet pot is one to be avoided.

DD is my problem as she hates veg but will eat it liquidised or in a mash so I blend some of my soups for her and leave the rest chunky for DS who despises mashed anything.

The omission of pasta/potatoes/rice is a huge problem and that is what stops me from totally going gaps. Also the fact that DS school meals wont follow gaps, he loves his school dinners and will not change to a packed lunch.

So I am 50/50 doing it

I'd love some recipes. I don't really cook at all, and work 4 days a week, so don't normally bother with much.....

I've got a slow cooker, and just need to know what to put in it :)

The fattier the piece of meat the better, right?

DS and DD take packed lunches - but no idea what on earth I'd give them on GAPS. Today I've bought some GF bread, so will try switching to that.....

At least with winter coming it's a good time of year to learn to cook soups and stews :)

ok give me a chance to write it all down as I cook on auto and from memory Will send you a recipie as finish one. I have some old books somewhere so I will dig them out!

Yes the fattier the beef for example the better the goodness and flavour. I hate fat with a vengence ugh! but I do place it in the pot or slow cooker and extract it afterwards. You can buy "stewing beef" as we get it or braising beef already diced but tend to find the majority of fat has been cut off so I tend to buy it in slices. When we cook a roast on a sunday and have beef we strain the juice into a jug and place it in fridge. The fat floats to the top so you get a dripping? I then during the week just cut up butternut, carrots, courgette, broccoli (cauliflower to most ppl lol) florettes to about 2 inch in size and par boil then roast in the oven using the dripping from the meet and a sprinkling of fresh rosemary. It tastes nice and a bit different from the normal dish it out of the pan veg. That goes nice with chicken breast, cooked in foil in the oven. I would avoid sprinkling rosemary if your kids dont like "bits" though and just put a sprig in the pan to flavour the dripping when you baste the veg.

coff33, could you post them on here instead? (or in recipes maybe, with 'GAPS thread' bit in the title? - oh, actually, isn't there a whole new section - we could ask for a GAPS diet section in the recipes bit...) just thought that maybe a few of us might be interested in adding in a few more meatier stews/ soups? we do a lot, but the chicken/ butternut sounds yummy. should be easy enough to use a homemade stock in place of any processed if the ingredients don't fit...

we've moved away from sunday roast over the last 6 months as we've spent every weekend travelling (dh moved out to start a new job, so i weekly commuted with the dcs). now we've moved the family to join him (we were just waiting out the end of the school year) so it would be a really good time to get back into the sunday roast thing. keeping the drippings and using them during the weeks sounds really obvious now you mention it - we did it at christmas with the goose etc, and i remember my parents doing ti when i was little too. not sure why it hadn't occurred to me to look at it from a GAPS pov!

well, that's given me an idea of what to get in for tomorrow, anyway. thanks!

yy indigo, def time to dig out the slow cooker. i bought one last year and it hasn't been used yet... for exactly the same reason...

Interested as well as to what to put in a packed lunch - ours are not allowed flasks - so soup would be out. DS3 swallowing issues - so veg /fruit out - unless pureed, as is meat - again, unless pureed.
Where to begin on soya milk. It depends what its used in. Kara coconut milk is lovely as a drink, some sweetened with apple juice soya milk is OK. If it is just lactose, i would go with lactofree milk, which none of our visitors has ever realised that they have had! But it does depend on what they are used to. Mine went from full fat to dairy free, might be different if you go from semi skimmed to soya?

I thought you weren't allowed Soya milk on GAPS? (Could be wrong.... Still trying to get my head round it.)

For lunch (later, much later) I'm thinking maybe tomatoes and cucumbers and hard cheese and cooked meat?

But I know DS won't have that because he'll insist on having a sandwich like everyone else.

I've bought gluten free bread. Which I presume isn't allowed? But cutting out gluten feels like I'm doing something :)

Indigo you are right it says no milk,buttermilk,soy or rice milk so thats that one out hmmm was looking for a substitute. I got to say though I am confused as to the omitting the milk but being allowed yoghurts which I thought was made with milk

Making stock is really easy. Basically I got an old pressure cooker lost the lid a LONG time ago but its my stew pan, jam pan and stock pan so well used and I love it!

A veg stock you can put any veg at all into a pan so no limit on choice, dont even have to peel it so like with carrots most of their goodness is in the outer part. I always put a bit of garlic in mine and sometimes a few bay leaves (have a tree handy) or some rosemary or mixed herbs just to make a bit of a difference with a bit of pepper and salt but not a lot. Peppers flavour the stock nice too, or you can buy bouquet garni in muslin bags but that is an expensive way to season. I just fill my large pan with about a gallon of water (old fashioned dont know it in litres lol) boil it and then leave it simmer for an hour. If you are doing a roast, we sometimes save up the peelings and stalks and boil that up next day which is nice to add to a stew. Freezing it is easy, I use old marg tubs to portion it for a soup or ice cube trays, then tip out and put in a bag so you have a pile of squares to take out as you want. Think this way would be ideal seeing as Gaps suggests having a broth drink with each meal as a couple cubes would defrost pretty quick in a mug to reheat?

I got to admit I dont measure much I cook as I go and taste as I go so if I think I need an extra carrot in a soup or something different I chuck it in

Lentil & Bacon Soup

4 carrots
1 large onion (however sometimes I like half white half red onion)
2 cloves garlic (or one teaspoon Lazy Garlic bought in Tesco already chopped in jar)
1 can chopped plum tomatoes (but you can steam fresh toms over a bowl of hot water and peel and chop and you would probably need 6 toms)
roughly about half a mug of lentils
pint and a half of veg or chicken stock
6 slices bacon chopped (smoked has nice flavour)
Bit of pepper....I dont use salt as it is already in the stock.

I chop up all the veg small, and chop up the bacon into pieces

gently fry (I do this all in the big pan) the bacon for a while in just a little oil (I use olive or grapeseed but grapeseed has a nutty flavour) Then add all the chopped veg APART from the lentils and tomatoes and saute till all tender.

I then add the lentils and tomatoes and poor in about a pint of stock, bring to boil and then simmer for about 45 mins. Basically I just try the odd lentil from time to time as we like ours soft but some like a more crunchier texture.

The lentils absorb the stock a LOT so I add the extra as I go. DS likes his looking more like a chunky soup so he likes more liquid where as DD and I like ours blended in a liquidiser for a nice thick soup so you can vary to your own taste.

Now looks like bacon maybe out of the question with gaps and if so I am gutted but I have used leftoever chicken from the day before roast but I add this last as the chicken will break up.

Basically with this recipie ANY soup for me starts off with a base on chopped onion, carrot and garlic and fried/sauted first then I play around from there

I did try left over beef from a sunday once and used the beef juice (liquid not the dripping on top) sauted my base first but added a tiny bit of curry powder and a splash of worcester sauce. Then topped up with a few potatoes, (got to find a substitute!!) chopped tomatoes and a handfull of saltanas and added shredded up beef leftovers and simmered it. Turned out a bit like a muligatawny soup and wasnt half bad

I thought it's not milk you can't have - it's lactose. So you can't have store bought yoghurt's but you can have ones that you make yourself and are well fermented which kills off the lactose.

And you can also have quite a lot of regular cheese's.

And other fermented milk products

well, i bought omega 3 today anyway. it's got to be a start. going to find my GAPS book and have a re-read over the weekend (it's a bank holiday here) but try and do a good roast tomorrow and make some stock as a start.

we have a really good branch of 'nutters' here, so am hoping to be able to get hold of essentials quite easily.

does anyone have any probiotics they recommend as a gentle start?

We're using this probiotic because it's chewable (tastes like a sweetie)

I don't think it's a good one or the right one - but it's a start.

If your kids can swallow tablets then I'd get something else. H & B sell lots....

Kind of off topic slightly, but i read an interesting article about potatoes. Apparently part of the nightshade family and consequently can have neurological implications. i will try to link it - first time i've tried, so bear with
"http://www.foodsmatter.com/allergy_intolerance/nightshade/articles/potatoes_morrow_b_08_11.html"
Even if you don't read that article, the foodsmatter site has a lot of interesting articles about the different supplements - omega, probiotics and the queries about lactose etc
"http://www.foodsmatter.com/"

"http://www.foodsmatter.com/allergy_intolerance/nightshade/articles/potatoes_morrow_b_08_11.html"
"http://www.foodsmatter.com/"
I told you i hadn't done any links!

Still didn't do it - and i ticked the box - apologies!

probiotics-wise, we used Biotics Research (something like bio-bifido BacT or similar) - it's a powder, and we used to mix it in with dd1's liquid multivit (possibly also Biotics research - Aqueous multi plus)

we couldn't use the commercial ones because they had: colourings, flavourings, gelatine or any one of a range of other stuff (inc sweetners often) that dd1 could not have (and GAPS diet woudl not allow, either). we had a whole range of tablets, capsules and liquids we used to crush, open and empty and mix together, and administer via syringe - dd1 was very good at taking them, actually.

be aware also that probiotics could be dairy-based. a lot are (think the "good gut" yoghurt drinks - a lot of the tablet ones are these dired, or bulked out with lactose as a filler etc)

I used to subscribe to the Foodsmatter magazine - I on;y stopped because I found I never had the time to read it, but it was very informative.

thanks both... mm, lots to think about. ds1 and dd1 are ok with tablets - not dd2. might take a trip to nutters this week and ask lots of questions.

my roast is on, anyway.