GAPS Diet For The Poor?

[Nadia2009]

Skylark beat me to it, and is right on. We introduced navy beans and lima beans (allowed on GAPS full diet - AFTER intro) first. The rest of the family was fine... I had trouble. You can ferment beans. Here is how from the Open Original Shared Link site:

On the blog linked from my profile I have a breakdown of how to do each GAPS stage that you might find interesting.

Domesticactivist,

I am starting to think GAPS...it is a start.

[Skylark]

Be aware that GAPS is a very high amine and salicylate diet. I'm having a lot of migraines now and I suddenly realized they got considerably worse on GAPS. If you're sure natural food chemicals are not an issue for you it may be worth giving GAPS a try. GAPS did sort my recurring yeast, but not much else.

This website is worth browsing. Open Original Shared Link

[Strawberry-Jam]

I fell off the GAPS bandwagon due to lack of willpower about a month ago.

HOWEVER, reflux, fatigue, and headaches are back, so I'm gonna go back to GAPS next week. At least somewhat. I figure that if I can't manage NO sugars and starches, a reduction is better than no change, and adding GAPS foods like meat stock, eggs, avocados, and non-starchy veg can't hurt, can it?

plus cod liver oil and probiotics.

I HOPE that a half-assed GAPS is still better than nothing, unlike how a half-assed gluten-free actually can make your reactions more severe...

[IrishHeart]

I fell off the GAPS bandwagon due to lack of willpower about a month ago.

HOWEVER, reflux, fatigue, and headaches are back, so I'm gonna go back to GAPS next week. At least somewhat. I figure that if I can't manage NO sugars and starches, a reduction is better than no change, and adding GAPS foods like meat stock, eggs, avocados, and non-starchy veg can't hurt, can it?

plus cod liver oil and probiotics.

I HOPE that a half-assed GAPS is still better than nothing, unlike how a half-assed gluten-free actually can make your reactions more severe...

"GAPS foods like meat stock, eggs, avocados, and non-starchy veg can't hurt, can it?"--Maybe they are included on a GAPS diet, but these sound like "regular foods" to me.

I think the people who are Gaps advocates do not think Half-assed works. I think they say "all or nuthin'". Not sure; maybe someone will chime in here with tips for you.

but back to your situation now...

Uh-oh!

I thought those symptoms returned last month because you were glutened and sick with fever?

I recall you telling us there was nothing good and gluten-free to eat in Ireland.

How does this GAPS diet fit in with the wonderful goodies box Gemini sent to you? We all made suggestions for her and she very kindly purchased all those gluten-free, SF, DF goodies and shipped them to you in Ireland. She was so excited to do that!!

I am thinking..... you must have received it by now?

so...tell us--what did ya get!!?? It must have been a bit like Christmas

[Strawberry-Jam]

actually, it's due next week, if I recall correctly. Haven't gotten it yet. I will totally post about it when I do!!

I think it was the antibiotics that I had to take for the sickness that hurt my gut flora and started my problems back up again. not sure. I am taking high-strength probiotics now, and like I said incorporating more GAPS foods but keeping rice and stuff. idk.

[Skylark]

"GAPS foods like meat stock, eggs, avocados, and non-starchy veg can't hurt, can it?"--Maybe they are included on a GAPS diet, but these sound like "regular foods" to me.

I think the people who are Gaps advocates do not think Half-assed works. I think they say "all or nuthin'". Not sure; maybe someone will chime in here with tips for you.

I have noticed that with all the diets. Gaps, Failsafe, SCD, paleo to some people. If you eat even a crumb of "illegal" food you're off the diet and you will magically lose all the benefits. You'll also lose your job, your house, your spouse will leave you, and your children will run off to leave the circus and never speak to you again. :lol: Seriously, we're not talking about an anaphylactic allergy or a celiac diet here.

I felt better on GAPS eating a little rice a couple times a week. You get energy from carbs and if you feed a few of the wrong bacteria for an evening, it ain't gonna kill ya'. You have to listen to your body. How do you feel after rice, potatoes, buckwheat, porridge? Are you tired or energized? Is there reflux? How is your blood sugar holding? The answer may be different for different foods.

Are GAPS foods good? I dunno. It totally depends on your body.

[Strawberry-Jam]

I did feel better for the week I was doing GAPS except that I don't tolerate fats well so the excess fats caused problems. should be solved by taking ox bile and enzymes, however.

reading teh gaps book, I am totally the typical GAPS patient. I really should do the diet because I know it should help me. I am, however, incorrigible.

I just made a huge mistake and ate something that I shouldn't and I'm already starting to feel bad. (a whole tin of betty crocker icing. "may contain milk ingredients." taking a chance... chance taken... bad things already starting to sink in. ugggggggggh)

I'm going to do introduction GAPS next week by making a huge pot of beef stock and veg soup on monday and eating avocados and bananas for lunch at work. hopefully that will help me start to recover . . .

[Skylark]

I don't think ANYONE feels good after a whole tin of icing, luv. The very thought makes me queasy.

[Strawberry-Jam]

I have a problem with an addiction to sugar.

trying to work on that.

[Gemini]

I did feel better for the week I was doing GAPS except that I don't tolerate fats well so the excess fats caused problems. should be solved by taking ox bile and enzymes, however.

reading teh gaps book, I am totally the typical GAPS patient. I really should do the diet because I know it should help me. I am, however, incorrigible.

I just made a huge mistake and ate something that I shouldn't and I'm already starting to feel bad. (a whole tin of betty crocker icing. "may contain milk ingredients." taking a chance... chance taken... bad things already starting to sink in. ugggggggggh)

I'm going to do introduction GAPS next week by making a huge pot of beef stock and veg soup on monday and eating avocados and bananas for lunch at work. hopefully that will help me start to recover . . .

If you have trouble tolerating fats, which is a huge problem for me also, then the GAPS diet will not be good for you. Many Celiacs have pancreatic insufficiency, as do I, and you will need to take a digestive enzyme to digest any fats you eat. I cannot tolerate avocados at all and hate them because they make me sick. Ditto for meat broth soups, unless they are totally de-fatted. I am not sure this will work for you.

You seem to have an issue with will power, which is understandable when you are away from home. Being in a foreign land, sometimes this will make you eat things you shouldn't for comfort reasons. But for cryin' out loud girl, a whole tin of frosting? I hope what you were sent will be OK to consume as they are all gluten-free,

DF and SF so I am hoping they will agree with you. Just go easy on amounts eaten. Just eat well and be patient because recovery takes awhile.

The post office told me 5-7 business days or it could be 6-10 days....the post office isn't as good as it used to be. No one seemed to know exactly how long but it should arrive early next week.

[Gemini]

I have a problem with an addiction to sugar.

trying to work on that.

Sugar is far worse to quit than gluten...been there, done that. Too much sugar will feed all that bad bacteria in your gut and make things far worse. You most likely have leaky gut too. You can have a little but too much and you'll feel like crap. Which makes me feel great because there is some sugar in the box, Strawberry. Maybe your boyfriend can keep them at his place and ration them out to you!

[IrishHeart]

I don't think ANYONE feels good after a whole tin of icing, luv. The very thought makes me queasy.

blech...I think I would be jazzed for a month from the sugar buzz and nauseous to boot!

[Skylark]

I have a problem with an addiction to sugar.

trying to work on that.

Been there, done that too. I draw the line at frosting though. I have eaten myself sick on cookies. I'll be like "oh, just two more they're small." "Well those went fast I'll just have another." ... "It's been a half hour one more won't hurt." "I'll just get two while I'm in the kitchen, one for now, one for later." ... "Gee, where did the bag go?"

I find it's easiest to get things that are only slightly sweet. I won't binge on 85% dark chocolate, or muffins with only a hint of sugar. There are times of the day too. Evening is really bad. If I carefully and consciously get something else like a handful of nuts, I can head off the cravings.

[Strawberry-Jam]

If you have trouble tolerating fats, which is a huge problem for me also, then the GAPS diet will not be good for you. Many Celiacs have pancreatic insufficiency, as do I, and you will need to take a digestive enzyme to digest any fats you eat. I cannot tolerate avocados at all and hate them because they make me sick. Ditto for meat broth soups, unless they are totally de-fatted. I am not sure this will work for you.

It's not that bad. I can tolerate avocados just fine, and meat broth if the fat that floats to the top is strained off. I can also handle a certain amount of fatty nuts before I start to get D from it.

If I take the digestive enzymes and ox bile, my tolerance of fat increases.

As for willpower, I have plenty before the package is opened--I can save a box of cookies or something for weeks without a problem. once it's open, I inevitably eat the whole thing. eating whole tins of icing is a bad habit I formed when I wasn't able to really eat solid food due to reflux and was having trouble getting enough calories in my diet. I haven't had icing months until yesterday when I randomly got some. trust me: never again. altho I know I will still eat whole bags of skittles and whole packets of gluten-free cookies in future...

[Skylark]

As for willpower, I have plenty before the package is opened--I can save a box of cookies or something for weeks without a problem. once it's open, I inevitably eat the whole thing. eating whole tins of icing is a bad habit I formed when I wasn't able to really eat solid food due to reflux and was having trouble getting enough calories in my diet. I haven't had icing months until yesterday when I randomly got some. trust me: never again. altho I know I will still eat whole bags of skittles and whole packets of gluten-free cookies in future...

Maybe it's good that you did yourself in on icing. I buy small packages of sweet things to avoid the open box problem. I will buy a single Nana's gluten-free cookie, a chocolate bar small enough that it won't make me sick if I stupidly eat the whole thing, or the smallest package of candy I can find. As I mentioned, extra-dark chocolate is bitter enough that I won't tend to binge.

You will probably not get well very easily with huge sugar binges. You need to find a way to bolster your willpower to where you can eat only part of a pack of cookies since I betcha Gemini put some tasty cookies in your care package. I find it helpful to remember how downright awful I felt after a sugar binge. Also repackaging the cookies immediately helps. I split the box into plastic baggies and I am allowed ONE baggie and only ONE baggie.

If I bake, immediately freezing whatever I make helps. There is enough time and effort involved in defrosting that it helps head off a binge. That might help you with boxes of cookies too.

[IrishHeart]

If I bake, immediately freezing whatever I make helps. There is enough time and effort involved in defrosting that it helps head off a binge. That might help you with boxes of cookies too.

I confess to being the kind of girl who freezes the cookies I make

in an effort to control how many I eat at once.

However, I also confess to eating them barely defrosted--- because

I could not wait.

[IrishHeart]

I have noticed that with all the diets. Gaps, Failsafe, SCD, paleo to some people. If you eat even a crumb of "illegal" food you're off the diet and you will magically lose all the benefits. You'll also lose your job, your house, your spouse will leave you, and your children will run off to leave the circus and never speak to you again. :lol: S

That's too funny!! :lol:

and if you stray, you're voted out?

I tried them all.

Could not keep me interested.

People think Gluten free is burdensome and limited?

Not at all!!

GAPS-- Gee, Average Plain Stuff

PALEO--- Plain, Average Limited Eating OY!

Failsafe? too many words to be clever, so I'll just say:

Mamma Mia, I lasted 3 weeks. If I ate one more brussel sprout, I was going to scream.

Now please, no angry posts from Paleos and Gappers--I am just kidding and if you like this way of eating, I support you 100%.

Whatever blows your skirt up, I say.

[Skylark]

Absolutely. My big problem with all these alternative diets is that there is no CHOCOLATE! What is with these people??? Don't they understand that chocolate is an extremely important food group?

I'm doing OK sticking to Failsafe so far, except I have to slow taper off coffee. I can't do without my supplements though. Too much mental health risk.

Yeah, it is a lot of brussels sprouts. On the bright side, I haven't had another migraine. I'm gonna get voted off the island though. I had the wrong kind of rice for dinner tonight.

[IrishHeart]

Absolutely. My big problem with all these alternative diets is that there is no CHOCOLATE! What is with these people??? Don't they understand that chocolate is an extremely important food group?

I'm doing OK sticking to Failsafe so far, except I have to slow taper off coffee. I can't do without my supplements though. Too much mental health risk.

Yeah, it is a lot of brussels sprouts. On the bright side, I haven't had another migraine. I'm gonna get voted off the island though. I had the wrong kind of rice for dinner tonight.

The wrong kind of rice--(gasp!) off with yer head!

Decaf coffee is allowed on Failsafe, I think. But I know most people view decaf with the same thoughts as "low-fat" ice cream...i.e. why bother?

I went without various foods (elimination diets of all kinds)for a few years (before DX) trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I was so ill, my GI tract such a mess that I was unable to tolerate practically any food that I tried (so eating became almost nightmarish)...

and what I learned from all that experimenting was?......I hate elimination diets. If the GI tract is messed up, LOTS of foods are intolerable.

We all "gotta do what we gotta do" to feel well, though--and so we should find what works best. Something that makes one person feel well could just make another person feel so deprived that living loses color.

As for chocolate, well, I went without that luxury for a long time and if anyone told me now I cannot have it, I would say "just try and take out it of my hands, I dare you".