If struggling with a specific symptom, consider environmental causes and relevant remedies. For example, even with an excellent diet, one might find dry skin to be an issue. Is your region going through a cold snap? What is the humidity level in your home? Traditional peoples, such as those inspiring the work of Dr Weston Price, did not shower daily in hot water, nor use chemical soaps in a workplace washroom. A move to cooler water, less frequent bathing, plus patting dry and a post-wash application of a simple moisturizer such as coconut oil may resolve your skin’s reaction to a change in external conditions.

Bedwetting can be a matter of sleep that is very deep, a bed too warm or cold, or an interference with physical signals -such as pajamas absorbing the pee, leaving it unnoticed by the child. While many families have seen bedwetting resolved through removal of specific foods or groups or a parasite cleanse, for some children a bedwetting alarm, elimination or addition of pajamas, or another remedy may be key.

Is an immense amount of stress triggering changes in your cortisol levels, thus triggering belly fat and a reactivity to basic stressors? The point of major stress needs to be resolved. For you, is this a change in workplace? The implementation of counselling? The ending of a relationship? Skipping the nightly newscast?

Is your child resisting toileting, or communicating with screams vs words? Non-dietary approaches can prove key -and often work especially beautifully in a child who has some nutritional healing under his belt.

Don’t get me wrong: What food we put into our systems is, yes, an excellent and deeply important starting point. (Like many GAPSters have found for themselves, vegan triathlete Brendan Brazier notes in his book The Thrive Diet that he was convinced he had a seasonal allergy to atmospheric pollen -until he removed corn, in the form of maltodextrin, from his diet and the symptoms disappeared.) Remember, though, that GAPS also encourages other aspects of self-care. Do not underestimate this basic fact: Nutrition is huge and key, but some answers will still lie in environmental, biomechanical, or relational changes.

• slowly weaning off supplements not required for life or limb before starting intro. (To protect the life or limb of oneself or another, one might continue such things as anti-psychotic medication, anti-depressants, etc. To determine whether a supplement or medication is necessary to protect yourself and others, please speak with your doctor.)
• beginning GAPS with just foods
• only after a happy range of foods have been reintroduced, begin adding GAPS-recommended bottled foods such as Cod Liver Oil, commercial probiotic, fish oil, nut and seed oil
• only after several months of healing or under the guidance of a GAPS-knowledgeable practitioner, include additional elements as your body indicates need (see pages 46-48 in your GAPS Guide book)

There are multiple reasons to take only what’s necessary during the early stages of healing. They include:

1. An opportunity to see what it is our body is actually experiencing.

2. An opportunity to witness the impact of and healing effects of food.

3. An opportunity to learn how to adjust diet to relieve symptoms and promote healing.

4. Avoidance of gut aggravation by extra ingredients commonly found in supplements.

5. Elimination of unnecessary expenses, money which can be put into food and other critical resources.

All of this said, the aspect of including elements as specifically indicated by your body several months into healing must be recognized. Supplements and medications can indeed be useful adjustments to a powerful healing protocol. Vitamin C can help relieve constipation; magnesium can do likewise while also eliminating leg cramping and promoting sleep. People with an illness as severe as Crohn’s or adrenal burnout may require medication or supplementation during the initial part of their journey. (As healing occurs, usually less and less “assistance” is needed and the supplement or medication can slowly be reduced then, often, eliminated.) As Gabi from Radically Natural Living said in a recent comment:

I can attest that GAPS is powerful and effective; it is by far the most complete systemic healing protocol I have tried in a decade. I do not desire anyone to pursue GAPS “incorrectly.” But some of us may have malfunctions beyond the “norm” that require allowances outside the box, if you will…   In my opinion, using a small amount of a mucilaginous herb to soothe and heal the intestinal tract would be something to consider in cases of severe inflammation and irritation, or during times of truly uncomfortable flareups.

In the comment (which you can read in full here along with the posts from Gabi and others before and after it), Gabi has suggestions including using a decoction or a tea instead of a pill. A similar recommendation, which I learned from our community’s very sensitive Jodi a few years back, is to have your medications or supplements compounded at your local pharmacy. Compounding ensures the elements you need with none of the aggravating fillers. Also, liquid supplements often have fewer extra ingredients than tablet forms do.

GAPS and similar healing programs present a basic protocol, with most recommendations bringing excellent results to most people. There are strong advantages to following it ‘ as is‘. However, once you’ve got a few months of progress under your belt, or earlier if extreme need dictates, you should feel free to explore adjunct approaches that may encourage and assist your body’s healing. (Some do this on their own; some with the assistance of a health practitioner familiar with GAPS.) The key thing is to allow your body and mind to see the effects of a simple, food-based program rather than leaping from one symptom-specific remedy to another. In other words, a remedy should be a minor adjunct approach to a program that is well-thought out, longer term, deeply nourishing, otherwise free from gut aggravators, and actively healing.

What adjunct approach, whether GAPS-recommended or not, has brought the biggest additional gains to your SCD or GAPS-based journey? Let us know in the comments section below.

My son, who is required to set aside 1/3 of his very small allowance for giving to strangers, chose this option as his first-ever gift to folks abroad. It seems so fitting to post about this here: How many of us have been healed through fermented goat milk? How many of us have been able to return to work because of the health gained through that goat’s milk, along with good quality cheese, butter, meat, etc? I love the idea that we can give goats (and sheep and cows and chickens) to people who would, like we do, greatly benefit from the meat, milk, eggs and resulting health.

In my father’s childhood, after being displaced for three years as a refugee of war, he and his family were recipients of such a goat gift and were very grateful, benefiting very much. Does this factor into why, at my dad’s first dental appointment at eighteen years of age, his teeth stunned the dentist, who stated he’d never before that moment seen perfect teeth? (And my dad had never owned so much as a toothbrush!)

For this particular decision, my son and I worked through Heifer International, primarily so that my son could gain a relatively concrete understanding of the effect of his donation. Two more of my favourite organizations which work directly in providing real and self-sustaining food options include:

• KIVA – Loan and perpetually re-loan $25 or more to people who will build themselves a home or business; many options for supporting animal agriculture, which in light of my GAPS experience is much of what I like to focus my loans on. Withdraw the repaid loan for your own use when you are in need of it.

• Partners In Health – As described in the book Mountains Beyond Mountains, this organization not only raises and redistributes funds in regions across the world, it lobbies very effectively for its sums to change situations for all people. For example, instead of simply paying ‘market value’for tuberculosis medicine, it used its power of investment to first lobby for the cost to be drastically reduced. As a result, PIH was able to purchase far more medication for far more people, simultaneously making the same possible for all subsequent humanitarian organizations! PIH also spends a proportionately low amount on its administration, ensuring more from each donation goes to the actual projects and people it’s intended for.

I love seeing our gifts of time, love, money and energy go as far as possible. (Indeed, it’s for that reason I wrote and self-published the GAPS Guide book!) These three programs facilitate exactly that, essentially co-creating ‘a foundation for GAPS approaches’throughout the world.

Gut instincts are real: Stomach bacteria influence learning, memory and anxiety levels by altering the brain’s wiring, suggests a new study on mice from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. “We have 10 times more bacteria in our gut than cells in our body,” says Jane Foster, lead researcher and associate professor. Foster hopes the research will lead to potential treatments for psychiatric illnesses that target our gut bacteria instead of our brains.

The above snippet appeared in the June 2011 edition of Chatelaine magazine. When I first read it, I noticed a couple of internal reactions. On the one hand, I felt frustrated at the implication that the relationship between gut bacteria and our minds is new information, and that a treatment is yet to be developed! Agh! (Sometimes one can feel as though one writes books and posts in utter vain.) Once I recovered from my indignation, though, I became excited that it is finally being studied! We have begged for this! Once the “proof” (oh, a sad sad word) is out, folks currently reluctant to heal themselves for lack of “scientific, double-blind evidence” -as opposed to the very real transformation of thousands of children and adults- will feel able to take this step, as will more doctors feel able to support this particular path.

Sincere kudos to Jane Foster for pursing the research that will bring these gains!

While in various psychiatric care facilities, I was given the very firm message -over and over again- that regular exercise would lift depression. For me, it didn’t. For me, it exacerbated it. Running, weights…any movement would rapidly deplete me, leaving me more despondent and lethargic, struggling even harder to recover ‘emotionally’. It took me some time to accept that what my body was telling me was very different than what hospital staff were telling me. When I did, my journey eased. Interestingly, I did find that upon consuming a very minimal dose of mild tranquilizer (eg. 1/4 dose of Ativan or a small amount of alcohol), my capacity for exercise (as well as for hot environments) increased substantially. This is not a coincidence.

Brendan Brazier, a professional triathlete and health trainer really believes in exercise -with important exceptions. In his book The Thrive Diet, Brazier notes that folks with high cortisol* can actually be impaired by exercise (as well as by nutritional or emotional stress), such that they require a season of rest to heal. Overriding this need can cause these folks to gain weight in the form of fat, especially around the belly.

With information, experience and beliefs such as this, I allow myself a lot of rest. I output only when my body requests it. Recently, I found myself eager to help a friend shovel gravel. I had energy and endurance. People warned me I’d be sore the next day, but I wasn’t at all. As my energy increases, I find myself pursuing dance classes, jogging alongside my son’s cycling, opting to play fun games. My body seems suddenly keen on all of this. Unlike earlier in my life, this movement is now having the effect of grounding any anxious states, lifting transitional blue feelings, and begetting further energy.

I see exercise as potentially a great detoxifier, breathing support, and healer of mild anxiety or sadness. I still believe rest -even long periods of it- to be equally important. To me, an important piece is in the timing: At this particular phase in my healing journey, does my body need rest to reach its next level? Or does it need movement? The answer will vary from day to day, season to season, year to year. At any given time, it will be different for each person.

Right now, I’m surprised to find my body loving increased movement again. I’m hearing my body and giving it what it requests. Should things shift again, and my body again request rest, I will again support it by giving it that.

What is your body asking of you? Are you able to set aside society’s declarations and generalizations to give it that?

* For more information on the relationship between cortisol, stress, sleep, exercise, nutrition and belly fat, please begin with a Google search then, if you feel cortisol (either too high or too low) might be an issue in your body, see a health practitioner for additional support. GAPS’sweets-free, nutrient-dense early intro tends to be very supportive of moderating cortisol levels, leading in many people to improved sleep, increased peacefulness, more energy, and/or reduction of excess fat.

I hereby present a challenge to those who choose to accept it! Every single day for the next thirty days, laugh -in at least one of the following prescriptions, and preferably more than one:

1. Watch outright comedy. As a person without a tv, I’m really appreciating Netflix. For $8/month, I can access an unlimited number of movies and tv shows. A couple of tv shows that make me laugh aloud every single time are Community and Better Off Ted. Those reflect my personal sense of humour, yours may of course differ. Find the shows that make you laugh and watch at least one episode per day. If you have time, watch more, or a whole movie!

2. Attend live comedy. In my city, I can find live comics for $5/night!

3. Read what doubles you over. Maybe movies aren’t your thing and the written word is more up your alley. Give at least half an hour to this.

4. Call the friend that has always made you laugh. Make thirty minutes available for the call.

5. Use meetup.com and other sources to find a Laughter Yoga session or comedy opportunity in your area, then attend it. (Note: Laughter Yoga isn’t actually yoga, it’s just laughing!)

If you’re not quite ready for comedy and laughter at this point, start with merely inspirational stuff. Anything that lifts your heart and leaves you feeling even a tiny bit more optimistic will do.

I’m suggesting thirty minutes as a base. If there are days in which you can double, triple, quadruple or quintuple this time, go for it! The more minutes on any given day the better!

Now, I challenge you to not only add laughter (or inspiration, if that’s all you’re up for right now), but to enhance this experience by eliminating all sources of news from your life: tv, newspapers, magazines, webpages, radio. It’s amazing the impact these have on one’s psyche (and, consequently, digestion and physical health), and very little of it is anything we can do anything about.

So, cut off the weighing stuff and insert the laughter. Who’s with me? Please submit your show or book recommendations below.

A big thanks to Jodi for sharing with us the most critical info she finds!

[ETA:] Eva sent this link, which is also helpful, fully readable without subscription, and discusses options like our GAPS detox (baking soda and salt) baths. Thanks, Eva!

When I mentioned my nail-biting and theories to my naturopath, she thought about it between visits then suggested that, “Some things are habit.” Though still enamoured of my parasite/yeast theory, I made the decision to implement an old habit-stopping trick that had been successful for me in the past. I put an elastic band around my wrist and decided that every time I bit a nail or cuticle, I would pull the elastic outward and snap it against the inside of my wrist. From past experience, I knew that the first and second time would not hurt a lot, but that each subsequent time -as the skin becomes increasingly raw- would more and more. After just two snaps two weeks ago, my nails are now fully grown in!

Sometimes it’s not necessarily about yeast, parasites, nutritional imbalances, etc. Sometimes it’s simpler than that. Sometimes, a habit is just a habit. For folks with ASD, etc, this can be a critical piece of the puzzle in achieving overall well-being. For more thoughts on habit, see:

http://gapsguide.com/2010/02/03/its-not-always-diet/
http://gapsguide.com/2008/12/06/a-gaps-challenge-moving/

Thanks, Jodi, for the info!

Two weeks ago, I found myself suddenly struggling. I was eating well, so what was up? Yesterday I met with a holistic doctor, who asked about any stress in my life. As we talked, I eventually revealed a very deep stress -in fact a trauma for my soul- that I experienced at its most profound just over three months ago and less acutely but very definitely continuously since then. I was able to somewhat “ignore” the stress until my son’s birthday made this impossible to do. And that’s when I broke.

The doctor noted that while diet can fortify us through short term stresses, it cannot compensate for ones we are immersed in day in, day out for many months.

My questions to myself are: What will it take for me to take care of myself? Will I force myself to remain in a toxic circumstance until a doctor gives me the life-threatening diagnosis of cancer or heart disease? Will I only then permit myself to exit toxicity and enter a kinder environment? I have every reason in the world to stay in toxicity, to not budge: My son loves his environments. I dream of consistency for him and don’t wish to uproot him unnecessarily. I should work on my responses to stress. This is a learning experience. Etc.

And I think of all the men and women I know who work like mad to implement dietary changes for themselves and/or their children, but who do so while staying in circumstances that are hurting them every moment of every day. I know for certain that diet will take them a good ways, but also only so far. The liver, the gut, our bacterial levels, our hormone regulation and more are all impacted at least as much by stress as by diet.

And I think of my neighbour, Kevin*, dying of colon cancer after a long battle with Crohns, who learned about the SCD many years ago but who committed to any version of it only many years later, just months before his expected death, and who wants to shout from the rooftops for people to invest now in their health, not only after they’ve received a diagnosis of “terminal”.

If I or my child were diagnosed with a life-threatening illness today, what would I do differently? Would I suddenly be willing to cut all unncecessary expenses in order to fund full nutrition? Would I suddenly be willing to transfer my son out of his wonderful school in order to support my wellness with a move? At what point in the journey will I deem health to be true priority?

What holds you back? Do you make any excuses, hoping a given situation will simply resolve itself in time? What moves have you made to facilitate full healing in yourself and in loved ones? What change have you not made that you would regret, were you to receive a frightening diagnosis today?

*Name has been changed