I’m scared of lentils. During the worst of my illness, lentils and chocolate were my two strongest triggers for severe debilitation. When I would eat lentils, my body would shut down: I could only lie on the floor, unable to so much as raise an arm. And so for two years I have steered clear of them. I eat almost every other GAPS-permitted food, but not the lentils! Recently I fermented them per Dr Natasha’s recommendation. I soaked them in salt water for 24 hours, rinsed thoroughly, then put them back into water with a few tablespoons of kefir. I left them out for about three days (my house is often on the cooler side). Too nervous to try them, and to support a “low and slow” approach to introducing them, I then froze them into various sized portions: one portion was a tablespoon (so that my son and I could each try 7.5ml), another two tablespoons, and so on.
One of my favourite pre-GAPS meals was Mujadara: lentils, rice, carmelized onions, salt, pepper and butter. When I’d defrosted my first tiny portion of lentils, it happened that I had in my fridge leftovers of a “rice” (grated cauliflower, steamed), mushroom, onion, garlic mixture, so heated this mixture and lentils together in butter. YUM!
We’ll see what my body thinks of the fermented lentils, two years into healing.
One thing I will be aware of is the effect of anxiety: The first time I tried raw eggs on GAPS, I experienced tingling throughout my hands and arms, felt weak, and developed light nausea and a headache. For a few hours, I felt yucky. To this day I don’t believe that was a physical reaction to raw egg, but rather anxiety about eating a raw egg! I’ve since eaten 4-6 raw eggs every week for over a year, with no problems.
When food has affected us in the past, or when we spend thirty years being told that fats and raw eggs, etc, are bad for us, we can develop an intense fear of food. Where food has given us severe physical symptoms in the past, the fear is justified and reasonable. At some point, though, we need to trust that the healing process is valid, that it works, and start re-introducing healing, nutritious foods.
I’ll let you know how it goes 
hear hear! What a great post and a great reminder that it’s not just about what we put in our mouths, but the amounts, the way we eat and our feelings about the food itself. Bravo!
x x x
Hi Baden,
I’m new to the whole GAPS thing. Still reading up before i delve in!
I too feel anxiety around..most foods!
Looking forward to following you
Baden,
Just curious whether lentils were “calling” to you. In your description you jump from fear to ferment and I’m wondering what was in between.
I ask because DS eats lots of lentils and in fact did much better when we introduced them. I sniff and taste but my body says “NO” to legumes. There are things that call to me though that I had had a bad reaction to, like nuts. And yes, the anxiety factor can be distracting.
Hi Maria,
Lentils weren’t particularly calling to me: I have no cravings on our current GAPS diet. However, my daycare provider, who will not prepare meat, had requested I get on with incorporating the permitted legumes so that she could provide my son with more variety while he’s with her. I was indeed looking forward to having the delicious Mujadara again one day, but no calling. Between the fear and the ferment there was time: I bought, prepared and threw out lentils twice!
Another thing that was going on was that, as we’ve been on SCD for two years now, and GAPS for 1.5, we are nearing the time to start transitioning to non-GAPS foods, like fermented buckwheat. I felt it would make sense to finish adding in all the GAPS basics first. The lentil ferment is also great practice for the buckwheat ferment (similar process).
Best,
Baden
Hi Baden
I am new to GAPS and I’m not sure if it’s right for me.. I have some q’s I hope you don’t mind answering! I have big issues with fructose malabsorption, malabsorption in general, not enough good gut bugs, amine sensitivity.
I’ve tried intro but the bloating and distention was still there. Could this be a detox reaction?
I feel I need to take HCl and enzymes. Do these make a HUGE difference?
I don’t really bloat after eating rice. Infact I don’t even know if I’m reacting to it.. Stools are always v. light in colour though & sometimes w/ mucous . -does this indicate inability to digest it?
Would you consider GAPS to be a diet to recover all gut conditions that are unexplained?
Any feedback would be wonderful. Thanks!
Hi Natalia,
Yes, I consider GAPS to be a diet to recover all gut conditions, and certainly those you’ve listed here. For some people, the healing path is fast and/or obvious; others need to hang in there for awhile and simply trust the program is working until ::bing:: one day the effects are clear.
While a few do find them very helpful, the vast majority of people do *not* need to take pancreatic (digestive) enzymes. The Betaine, too, is incorporated only if, after a few months in to the program, the need is indicated, in which case it does make a difference, yes.
Bloating can indeed be a sign of detox.
Natalia, what I recommend is that you start intro with no fibrous veggies (possibly no veggies at all), no supplements (including enzymes), and no probiotics, so meat and meat broth plus detox baths, and work slowly up from there.
The GAPS Guide book and/or Yahoo support list will help you from there forward
All my best,
Baden
Am I correct in thinking I can ferment with yogurt or whey instead of kefir? We’re hitting a growth spurt and my boys are constantly starving so I am hopeful we can handle lentils – prices being what they are.
Hi Sandy,
Definitely you can ferment the lentils with whey – not sure about yogurt, but probably. I encourage you to post your question to the support group.
All my best,
Baden