GAPS Diet Support Thread

[IndigoBell]

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

...and i've now got two huge jugs of chicken stock in the fridge.

dh says our house smells like christmas...

I have done about 80% GAPS and still found pretty amazing results healthwise (my ds ds had neuro problems associated with gluten, tho not asd as such).

Have ditched breakfast cereals completely and have had cooked breakfasts ever since (6+ years now), omelettes with various fillings, scrambled eggs etc. Fave lunch turned out to be home made veg salad what you would call russian salad but no potatoes, just cooked veg + mayo (not home made), this with either some cold meat or (goats) cheese, olives, herbs etc. Also carrot sticks/chunky spring onions with dips sometimes.

Soups/caseroles - forget bouquet garni faff, just add some celeriac, celery or lovage (herb, it's perennial so will grow each year in the garden), which smells EXACTLY as comercial oxo cubes . Lots of parsley or chives to finish off.

You can get cucumbers in brine as well as sauerkraut for salad ingredients and they have no other additives (tesco ethnic sections). Chopped sauerkraut can be added as a side dish or just added to a salad like you would make coleslaw but W/O mayo, it's got quite a fresh taste then, if you include sauerkraut liquid then the whole salad can marinate for a day or two.

Indigo et al, be prepared for a detox effect, in a way there is a plus on going slowly as my ds was crawling with fungal fallout within a few weeks of going gf - rashes and all for at least a couple of years (was still veggie then). This was b/c he was Zn deficient, got better on Zn supplement and we started eating meat again as Zn and aminoacids are far better absorbed from meat then veg. Took me ages to realise what was going on, but very glad I did.

Good luck all.

NightCat - so pleased to hear you've had good results without having done the whole diet. That's very encouraging.

my 3 yr old has a neuro diagnosis - long story, won't go into it, but we saw amazing results from Omega 3 and am now interested in what else can be achieved through diet. I'm sure there is something dietary going on as DS has dark circles under eyes which come and go a bit and also some mild allegies.

I like the idea of stocks (so satisfiying to make) and slow food generally, but don't want to do full GAPs just yet. I'm working on the principle that it is easier to add things rather than take stuff away so my plan is to cook a lot with stocks, soups etc.

would like to add a probiotic. What about the commercial ones available in yoghurt drinks etc? I know not technically allowed by Gaps so is it a waste of time?

pp, improvement on omegas was also the first positive step that I took many years ago (before GAPS was published) and was encouraged by that as well :)
You don't really need to think about taking stuff away much as you could use some substitutes - unless you live on processed food a lot - it's just normal food really and becomes a way of life. After a few weeks of gf bread we stopped as it wasn't worth it.
Now I know that positive omega reaction was b/c we were addressing the deficiency and helping to build better brain - and we went from there. Did hair tests and discovered more deficiencies, also have a really amazing neuro who was on the ball with gluten, I mean how cool is that, it wasn't GP or paediatrician or gastro who was gluten-switched on!! ANd of course when I was reading GAPS book, it so much more fell into place as there were lots of answers there too.
I found it quite amazing that once my ds realised that he felt better, it was very easy and he didn't stray off much himself.

My view on probiotics is that some are better than others, yoghourt prob at the less active end of the scale as it's not strong and few strains but prob still better than nothing. Have used biokult and some others in the past, now only use them from time to time, but I use sauerkraut a fair bit too.

Add the soups and stocks - can't hurt, can it.

Also they recommend cooking with lots of garlic.

If you can cut out dairy, then don't get your probiotic through a yoghurt drink, but if you can't cut out dairy right now then you can get your probiotic that way.

It won't be the super strength one the GAPS diet recommends. But it'll be better than nothing.

this is the recommended probiotic, if you're feeling braver.

We happened to find it easy to cut out dairy, and DS noticed a big improvement with that, so I'd recommend it if you think you can do it......

mm, well. had new paed appt with ds1. she recognises some inattention (which she is calling adhd for ease), generalised anxiety (but potentially specific phobias) and continence issues, which she is calling encopresis, but may or may not be.

she wants to concentrate on continence issues for a month (3 days of 3 enemas, lansoyl for a month, and specific timed toileting 6 x day) and see what happens, but then look at the adhd/ anxiety side. she does see link between psychology and digestion but wants to try and clear the bowel out completely before making big changes to the diet, so we can be sure which symptoms are diet related. it sorts of makes sense, i think. she sounded very persuasive. (she'd have to be as i'm giving him the enemas...) so we're going back in a month (except her waiting list means it's closer to 3 months).

so i'm going to keep on adding stocks and stews etc, but not cutting stuff out completely. and i've got to keep a calendar of what we do, when. and his toileting timetable inc accidents etc.

hmmm. so just looked up lansoyl and it says it's a mineral oil, so that should be fine, but it says prolonged use can reduce absorption of vits. guess i need to add a multivit too, just in case. do you think?

so GAPS is sort of on hold again, but i'm still going to keep adding in good stuff and reducing the amount of bad... just not cutting anything out completely. that should be ok, shouldn't it?

i really like her though. she was very straightforward with him and wouldn't let him just ignore her, which the last gp did. (he did refer him to paed with query asd, but she wouldn't let him zone out. he drifted a few times but she was right on top of him )

Sounds like a really good place to start.

I'm sure it will be better to go into the GAPS diet after doing all of that stuff. Anything you can clear out's got to be a good thing.

Adding a multivit won't hurt. I really like this one as it has things in it like Selenium that none of the others have.

In fact a hair sample test we did of DS said he was deficient in most of the stuff listed in this multivitamin.

mad, another gentle and healthful way to ease constipation is flaxseeds, they are nutritious too as they have soluble and insoluble fibre plus omega3 that helps to build the brain. And they come from plants, so are foods, not sure how a mineral oil would compare and where does it come from, could it be rocks? Could it be a by-product of oil extraction like petroleum jelly? Would we normally eat it as a part of the diet? The beauty of GAPS is that you use natural foods processed/prepared in a natural way. Anything that speeds up passage of poorly digested food would decrease absorption.

I like your vit, Indigo :)

did you get your hair sample done privately, indigo? will keep an eye out for those kangavites, have got to go to the health food shop anyway today as dd2 definitely needs liquid omega 3 - she's been totally game to give the capsules a try but just can't do it. i didn't think she'd be able to, but bless her, she's been giving it a really good try.

nightcat, hadn't pondered that ... will check out the labels and see if i can work it out as i'm off to buy the supplies today. coincidentally, i added flaxseeds to his breakfast this morning! it sort of struck me out of the blue.

I wouldn't bother with liquid omega 3 (unless fish oil based), pretty much same thing is in flaxseeds AND they don't go off quite quickly

I got the hair sample done privately. Think it cost about £30. Put my mind at rest, but wasn't as helpful as I'd hoped. Just reminded me to give DS the multivits I'd bought for him ages ago

The interesting thing was that he was deficient in calcium. Despite drinking at least a pint of milk a day forever. This hair sample was done a few days before we cut out milk. So adds more weight to the GAPS argument that milk just isn't being processed properly.

Since we've cut out milk he says he feels a lot better. And at least I don't need to worry about him being deficient in Calcium :) (Because he'd be equally deficient even if he did drink milk.)

Also said he wasn't high in Mercury. Which put my mind at rest. Because DSs problems started straight after his jabs which contained mercury I was worried that might have been a factor.

Indigo, just curious, what was your ds Zinc/Copper? My ds copper was too high, which I think was a toxic metal in his case, coz when we added zinc his thinking has improved :)
Need to get the tests up again to have a look as he is being retested soon, it will be interesting to see if anything changed.

i can't find my blooming copy of GAPS. blardy house moving. no idea what i've done with it scoured all the bookshelves at the weekend. it's here somewhere. somewhere safe no doubt. need to find it today, am trying to go from (poor) memory.

any ideas for GAPS friendly stuff i can add flax seeds to then?

Just add them to whatever you're having for dinner?

NightCat - I'll have to check later. How did you get rid of his copper?

Indigo, my ds was Cu high and Zn deficient, the two work together in opposite direction, so by supplementing Zn you push out Cu. Zn helps the neurons to communicate better as it catalyses lots of enzymes/neurotransmitters plus helps with immunity etc etc.

I am also wondering where is all this copper coming from and I suspect that it could possibly be the pesticides (?)

Yes, he was high in copper and low in Zinc!

Off to buy some zinc sulphate for his bath.

His magnesium levels were fine - so presumably the Epsom salts have been working.

We're fairly sure that DS has been improving since we've cut out milk and started playing with this diet.

School started back on Tues. Very good handover from last year's teacher to this year's teacher - so she knew what to expect.

Today his new teacher came out at home time to show DH what good work DS has done! And called him 'the class braniac'

And she gave us a photocopy of his work. Can't wait to get home and see it :) First time ever (and he's now in Y6) that this has happened.....

yay! good to hear of the diet/gut progress, and fantastic re: schoolwork/teacher's comments - you must be really proud

next week is the week for me to embark on tightening up some of dd1's dietary stuff; need to get this week out of the way - school start, nanny leaving, essays due in - it's all piling up a bit already!

I am very interested in the epsom salts stuff. I might try that as a first off, while bunging some stuff in to slow cook etc.

onwards and upwards Indigo DS, happy for you :)

Well done young Indigo! what a great start to a new year!

Well done little indigo! Veryproudofyou x

Thats great news Indigo! Well done. Keep at it :)

urgh. i am in the middle of a ds total meltdown... yesterday we started the lansoyl and enema routine. he has been horrific. angry, crazy, bursting into tears - a complete emotional train wreck. today he's been refusing to toilet as well. if this happens the doc wants us to up the lansoyl though so he can't withold any more. poor little sod. tomorrow we're supposed to be going to cirque du soleil for dd2's birthday threat as well - if he wakes up in a compliant mood tomorrow it'll be fine, but given yesterday and today it's not looking hopeful. gah.