This book, reviewed and approved by Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride, offers a step-by-step approach to approaching, starting and progressing through SCD/GAPS, answers Frequently Asked Questions, directs you to amazing resources and shares several stories of successful recovery. For more information about the book, please click here.
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Step-by-step guide to GAPS!
161 pages. For details, click here.
Let me be the first to congratulate you! Thank you so much for simplifying and explaining this diet for us all. I refer people to the group and your blog all the time, and now I can recommend your book (of course I have ordered it so I can recommend it with personal knowledge, but I already know if you wrote it, it will be a marvelous addition to the resources I can use with clients and others in need)
I hope I can meet you sooner than later in person . . .
Justine
Nice 1 Baden, this is exactly what is needed, it will clear up a lot of confusions for those new to the GAPS diet.
I am not sure if this is the place to post this question but I have wondered why dandelion root and burdock root it not allowed on the GAps diet. Is it the inulin? Inulin is considered by many researchers to be a pre-biotic – feeding the healthy bacteria in the gut and helping to provide a healthy gut environment. What is more BUrdock and dandelion are traditional tonic herbs that gently heal the liver. I am treating a person for rosacea and recommended the GAPS diet to help heal the gut but also wan to put that person on burdock a traditional remedy to help heal the skin among other things.
IN your book do you go into the reasoning behind allowing and not allowing certain foods?
ALso I was wondering about the allowing nuts – and no recommendations to to presoak. This same person trying to find recipes that he liked made the cashew banana recipe and had an allergic reaction ( shin rash on his body) to all the raw cashews he was having. This reaction was very different from any other skin response and went away as soon as he discontinued the cashews ( previous to this time he could have cashews with no reaction but perhaps he had too much for his system)
Hi Claudia,
Yes, this is a great place to post a question – Thank you.
Certain foods are not permitted because they have (a) been determined to involve a too-complex process for breakdown (digestion), (b) been observed to cause issues in people with gut issues, or (c) been determined to hold other properties of concern to the diet’s developers. (Stevia and cocoa fall under ‘c’.)
Many foods which are very beneficial for people with healthy guts are excluded on SCD for the abovementioned reasons. Once healing is achieved, these kinds of foods may be added in, one at a time. If the person proves fine with them then, they could be kept in.
That’s correct. GAPS Guide presents the implementation of the program, not the science. The science has been covered in copious papers, as well as three books: Management of Celiac Disease by Drs Haas, Breaking the Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall, and Gut and Pyschology Syndrome by Dr Campbell Mc-Bride. For those interested in the science, I would suggest reading BTVC then sourcing each of papers referenced in its bibliography. In the meantime, suggested resources for ‘finding out more’ are presented as the last two items on page 76 of GAPS Guide. The online SCD Legal/Illegal list, for example, states what properties of burdock make it ‘illegal’ while the gut is compromised. (Dandelion does not seem to be covered anywhere.)
The recommendation to soak nuts is presented on the ‘food notes’ section of GAPS Guide, following the list of recommended foods. (GAPS Guide p. 152.)
Thank you, Claudia, for your questions and comments. Please let me know if I have answered them for you.
Best,
Baden
Thank you very much Baden for your reply, but as a practicing herbalist, I do not know of studies, information or clinical experience related to burdock (and dandelion I thought was in the GAPS book I have but not handy now) being too complex for digestion, rather the traditions and studies indicate the opposite – that is why I am so confused about her list of foods to avoid.
Is there anything specifically you can recommend me reading that would address this particular food / herb?
Burdock is often indicated for digestion problems as it helps the “lubricate” digestive capacities ( a metaphor but a helpful way of decribeing its action) both Burdock and Dandelion as bitters help stimulate the release of digestive juices and bile. They are most excellent digestives!
I am at a loss to understand why these helpful gentle and tonic herbs are problematic. I wonder if in this case Dr. McBride doesn’t understand the actions and traditions behind these herbs. Also is she refering to the consumed as a food – ie eating the roots- or as a tea?
AS I mentioned the only thing that I could imagine is that she has some concern about the inulin content, as for some when eating a lot of a inulin- rich food such as jeruselum artichoke – the larger inulin intake can cause gas for some people, as the inulin is a complex poly saccharide. But I am not aware that this applies to burdock and dandelion as the other constituents and bitters off set set this. Plus people do not take these herbs in large amounts – usually as a tea. Also the inulin is also considered a pre-biotic as mentioned in my post above.
comparatively it seems that nuts are much harder on the gut and more likely to cause sensitivities ( as exemplified by my client). So I am still confused about the rational behind the recommendations
Thank you again for your attention to my query. I haven’t know where else to post this
Dear Claudia,
The diet part of GAPS is the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, which was developed in the 1950s. So, the recommendation against burdock during the active gut healing phase did not originate with Dr Campbell-McBride, but with two doctors by the last name Haas. Elaine Gottschall, then Dr Campbell-McBride, each made small tweaks to the protocol where their own research indicated a tweak would be positive. To find the original theories regarding burdock and its effects, etc, one would need to look to the books and research papers I referred to in my earlier reply. (I have not done this myself, so cannot shed detailed light on these specific foods for you.)
While inulin and mucilage are viewed by many healers as being positive, the developers of the SCD view them differently and, although it seems logical that it would, a food having prebiotic qualities will not in itself make it a recommended food on SCD/GAPS.
I do know that some people using SCD for IBS and colitis have had recommended to them, for example, slippery elm which is commonly presented as a lubricating and gut healing substance. Those trying it, then sharing results with their SCD support lists, have reported significant problems with it.
Sea vegetables, on the other hand, contain polysaccharides but have recently been found to be a boon for many people who have already achieved some degree of gut healing through SCD. For this reason, sea vegetables, while not permitted under regular SCD, are encouraged at intermediate and later stages of GAPS.
It is true that many healing protocols conflict with each other. My own view is that each one is synergistic within itself, such that a given element may be positive within one approach, but contraindicated in another, depending on what processes are depended upon. In SCD, the goal is to put only easily digested foods (primarily monosaccharides) through the digestive system, so that little to nothing is left behind to feed pathogens.
For example, rice is generally a healthy, life-giving food. Its SCD-related variables are touched upon in this post, which gives an example of where and why SCD veers from some common health practices.
Where a person is not satisfied with the studies and/or observations leading to a food’s SCD status, she might choose to do GAPS for a few months, then introduce the desired food or substance and watch for a reaction. (Just as not all people can tolerate all SCD foods, such as nuts, some people seem to tolerate select ‘illegals’. No two paths within SCD will be identical.)
I realize this is not a clear cut answer to ‘why not burdock or dandelion’, but the studies are there for those who wish to delve that far into the science of SCD and I hope my reply gives you at least some peripheral information as to why some foods are not recommended, even where they are otherwise wonderful.
Sincerely,
Baden
thank you again Baden for your thoughtful replies, which are helpful. I will seek out those papers to understand more specifically about the recommendations.
Baden,
Just want you to know that I did receive the book. I didn’t realize it was coming from so far (Canada to Miami, FL!).
I look forward to reading it.
I do have a question, though. I’m on a full SCD diet. I seem to do great with the yogurt and chicken broth. I seemed to have overdone it when introducing coconut and sauerkraut. Do you think I should start from Stage 1 on GAPS even though I seem to tolerate some foods well? I want to do this right. Forgive me if this question is addressed in the book. It is very late and we just got home after being on the road for 9 hours.
Many Thanks,
Betty
Hi Betty,
Yes, I feel every person should start at GAPS Stage 1. You will likely be able to move through it quite quickly, but it will still be beneficial.
Best,
Baden
Hi Baden,
I have just received and quickly read your book (great work!!). I live in Vancouver, BC and have been doing GAPS with my 6 year old son for almost a year (we celebrate one year on November 24). I also spent the last year becoming qualified as an RHN (Registered Holistic Nutritionist) in a full time program, so have had my head a little buried. I am thrilled to know you are somewhere in BC, and am very curious if you are in Vancouver even?
Hi Kate,
Lovely to “meet” you!
Yes, I am in the Vancouver area. I hope you will join us on the support list, as we have just started talking about possibly creating a conference or meet up in BC. I assume we would organize it to happen in the lower mainland. Meeting people this past weekend was profound. I truly hope we will make this happen here.
Cheers,
Baden
Hello
I am too, just starting this with a family (3 under 6)
are there resources to talk to- to implementing GAPS with children?
Thank you
Hi Baden,
By support list, do you mean the yahoo group? If so, I have joined that today. I would love to meet you in person sometime soon if you have the time…
Kate Hutchinson
Hi Kate,
Yes, that’s the support list I meant. Great!
I loved meeting people at the conference, but in day to day life I’m not generally able to meet folks one-on-one. I’m hoping we’ll be able to schedule a group meet-up soon, ie. “eight visits for the price of one”
If you’re interested, please reply to that thread on the list.
Best,
Baden
Hi Baden,
Thanks so much for publishing your book! I’ve read it over and over as I prepare to start GAPS after Christmas. Hoping against hope it will help the behavior of my 6yo, non-verbal, ASD son. And then that we can get him off of the 3 meds he’s on. Which have helped, but are no cure, of course.
I’ve been mapping out the Intro and staged introductions. A couple of things you didn’t mention that I’m not sure about:
1) Is fish included as meat in OK for intro?
2) When nut butter pancakes are OK, does that mean nut butter is OK from then on, too?
3) When are nuts and dried fruit OK?
4) Finally, how about beans?
Thanks SO MUCH for your help.
Jenn
Hi Jenn,
1) Yes, fish counts as meat and is fine right from Stage 1.
2) Yes, I would say nut butters, once intro’d in pancakes, are fine in any form. I would, however, observe to see if you do as well with them raw as you did cooked in pancakes.
3 & 4) Anything not expressly listed in intro may be methodically incorporated after intro is completed. White beans and lentils may be fine as early as three months in, but should be fermented.
All my best,
Baden
I’ve been doing some research regarding Stevia, and it looks like its use as a sweetener was approved by the EU this year because the health questions were resolved. Does this change the GAPS diet stance on stevia? My little guy cannot eat any sugars including honey and fruit. Stevia has been critical for us.
Wait–two more things…
Thank you so much for the book!! It’s really helpful and inspiring.
Second, I have another question–about sprouting non-grains like buckwheat. Would that make them safe to include in the diet? One of my child’s favorite foods is blinis made from sprouted organic buckwheat, salt and olive oil. They make great bread for sandwiches and can be sweetened (with stevia) as a dessert.
Hi Sita,
You’re welcome! Thanks for the happy feedback
Fermented/soaked pseudo-grains and grains are tested after the initial healing, which takes about two years.
In terms of stevia, sprouted grains, and everything else not listed under ‘recommended foods’, my overall thoughts are shared here: http://gapsguide.com/2011/03/26/doing-gaps-just-so/
All my best,
Baden