The GAPS diet is a digestive healing protocol intended to cure Gut and Psychology Syndrome, the suggested connection between poor gut health and compromised brain function. Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, a neurologist and nutritionist, developed the diet as a means of treating autism, ADD/ADHD, and other neurodevelopmental and psychological disorders. While GAPS itself is not medically recognized, anecdotal evidence suggests that the GAPS diet is effective in healing a range of gut-related health concerns including food allergies and intolerances, IBS, skin conditions, and autoimmune disorders.
The premise of GAPS is leaky gut syndrome, or intestinal permeability, in which damaged intestinal lining allows toxins to “leak” into the bloodstream, triggering an autoimmune reaction and symptoms such as abdominal bloating, fatigue, food sensitivities, joint pain, skin conditions, and autoimmunity. Leaky gut may also trigger or worsen Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and peripheral neuropathy.
Why might someone have damaged intestinal lining? Think: heavy antibiotic use, chronic inflammation from food sensitivity, infections such as candida overgrowth or intestinal parasites, or general compromised immunity.
Check out this list of 9 Signs You Have a Leaky Gut.
Note: The concept of “leaky gut” (intestinal permeability) is acknowledged by mainstream science, while the condition “leaky gut syndrome” is primarily supported by alternative medicine.
Reader reviews of the GAPS book and accounts of experiences with the diet are overwhelmingly positive (many personal testimonies worth reading here). However, critics point to the lack of scientific evidence that Gut and Psychology Syndrome exists or that the restrictive diet is effective in reversing the illnesses its proponents claim it does. While criticism should certainly be considered, it is always possible that a lack of published evidence is actually a lack of industry funding for study.
The Food
The GAPS diet is intended to be temporary, to heal the gut and create a healthy digestive system that can return to a normal healthful diet. In general, it seems that people following the diet notice relief of symptoms in just days or weeks, but stay on the diet for 6 months to 3 years for full healing, depending on the severity of their condition.
The diet eliminates grains, starches, and sugars, which are not easily digested with a damaged/leaky gut. There are several phases with different and complicated rules, and it sounds pretty bleak. At first you drink meat and bone broths, ginger tea, and the juice of fermented vegetables. Then you get to add a raw egg yolk to your soup! In later phases, you can add back vegetables, fruits, meats, nuts, and some beans, but remain grain-free for the length of the diet. There are certain ways you can tell that your body is ready to move on to the next phase, but you’ll probably have to read the book to learn what those are.
This highly restrictive diet requires substantial meal planning and preparation as well as avoidance of restaurants and basically anything you don’t cook yourself (gasp!). It’s possibly best to first work on building a lifestyle of planning and preparing home-cooked meals and limiting restaurants within a “normal” healthy diet, and then once skills are built and habit is formed, transition to GAPS.
Fortunately, the GAPS diet has gained enough popularity that recipe and meal plan ideas and bloggers’ encouraging and commiserating posts are readily available on the internet with a little strategic searching (see GAPS Resources for a starting place). Also, the GAPS diet is similar to the older SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet), a restrictive diet used to treat inflammatory bowel disease (since the 1920’s!), so GAPS-followers find that SCD cookbooks are helpful as well.
Not ready to try the GAPS diet all the way? Your best bet may be to practice following a pretty-much Paleo diet and add in bone broth and fermented products for general nutrition and gut health. Although people seem to find that the GAPS diet has the best results when followed 100% (of course, with exceptions), it may be easier to transition to it if you’re already part-way there.
**Note: The content in this post is compiled from various fairly reputable sources on the wonderful internet, but for more precise information on the premise and outline of the syndrome and diet, you should read the book; and for more medically sound and specific advice, talk to your doctor, holistic health coach, nutritionist, etc. The GAPS diet eliminates a wide range of foods and should be carefully considered by an expert of some sort.**
Learn more: Gut and Psychology Syndrome: Natural Treatment for Autism, Dyspraxia, A.D.D., Dyslexia, A.D.H.D., Depression, Schizophrenia (Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride) Review: Gut and Psychology Syndrome (Wellness Mama) GAPS Diet: Heal Your Autoimmune Disease Now (Healthy Home Economist) 9 Signs You Have a Leaky Gut (Mind Body Green) What Is Leaky Gut? (Dr. Weil) GAPS Diet: How Good is It? (Dr. Weil)
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