I’ve been receiving numerous emails and queries within my community recently about the GAPS Diet versus Autoimmune Paleo (AIP) for reversing autoimmune disease.
It is exciting that more and more people are choosing to take responsibility for their health by seeking a dietary approach to heal and seal the gut in order to put autoimmune issues of all kinds into remission!
It is also very encouraging to have multiple healing diets like GAPS and AIP available for people to choose from in order to architect an approach to wellness that best suits each person’s budget and lifestyle.
In order to clear up some of the confusion between these two healing diets for reversing autoimmune disease, GAPS and Autoimmune Paleo, I’ve asked Melanie Christner, NTP of Honest Body to outline the two diets at their most basic level and discuss the primary differences between the two.
It is important to remember that GAPS and AIP are both healing diets, meaning they are *temporary* and not designed as a lifelong endeavor. In other words, the ultimate goal of GAPS and AIP is to heal, put autoimmune disease in remission, and resume normal eating within the context of the Traditional Diet that makes the most sense for each individual.
With that, let’s launch into a more detailed discussion of the GAPS Protocol and Autoimmune Paleo. Take it away, Melanie!
What is the GAPS Diet?
GAPS stands for Gut And Psychology Syndrome. It makes a connection between the health of the digestive tract (permeability, balance of microbes, inflammation, etc.) and the health of the nervous system and the rest of the body. GAPS was developed by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, a medical doctor and neurologist, with a master’s in nutrition. She outlines the diet in detail in her book Gut and Psychology Syndrome.
GAPS is a three-part protocol which includes:
- Therapeutic diet (see GAPS protocol recipes at the provided link).
- Supplementation
- Detoxification therapies
The dietary component of GAPS is based on the 100-year-old Specific Carbohydrate Diet diet (SCD), a proven diet that was developed to help autistic children. The GAPS diet focuses on healing and sealing the gut lining by removing all food stressors for an extended time, and treating with foods like therapeutic bone broth, as well as helping the gut flora rebalance with fermented foods and probiotics.
Supplementation is not heavy, but important. Detoxification therapies include juicing, and detox baths. Practices like saunas and enemas are encouraged.
Typically one who is serious about the GAPS Protocol goes through the 6 stage Introduction Diet first (usually 3 – 4 weeks) and then moves on to the Full GAPS Diet for 18 months to 2 years. This allows the body to gradually and safely rebalance and replenish nutrient stores while at the same time detoxifying and repairing the damage.
Foods Excluded on GAPS
Processed Food (canned & packaged foods)
Emulsifiers and Thickeners (guar gum, carrageenan, etc.)
Refined Oils
Refined Sugars
Grains (soaked & fermented grains are allowed when transitioning OFF GAPS)
Some legumes (lentils & great northern beans are allowed after Intro)
What is the Autoimmune Paleo Diet (AIP)?
AIP stands for the Autoimmune Paleo Diet. In its basic form, it is an elimination diet that has a permanent component based on Paleo or Primal eating. The goal of the AIP is to eliminate foods that cause inflammation and dampen the autoimmune response of the body attacking its own tissues.
AIP was originally developed by Loren Cordain PhD. Sarah Ballantyne PhD was attracted to AIP through her research and has now become a leading expert in Paleo Autoimmune issues. The diet is discussed in her book, The Paleo Approach: Reverse Autoimmune Disease and Heal Your Body.
Foods that are out permanently during and after Autoimmune Paleo include:
- Processed Food
- Emulsifiers and Thickeners (guar gum, carrageenan, etc.)
- Refined Oils
- Refined Sugars
- Grains (including corn)
- Dried Legumes (including soy and peanuts)
- Stevia (and other non-nutritive sweeteners)
There is a strict 30 Day elimination period on Autoimmune Paleo that eliminates and then reintroduces (as the body allows without symptoms returning) the following:
- Eggs
- Dairy
- Nuts (including nut-based fats like peanut oil)
- Seeds (including coffee and cocoa and seed-based fats like hemp seed oil)
- Nightshades (both vegetables and spices)
- Fresh Legumes (green beans and green peas)
- Alcohol
- Fruit-based and Seed-based Spices
How are GAPS and Autoimmune Paleo Similar?
Both diets start with an elimination component and require that you listen to your body for cues as you slowly reintroduce foods that are allowed on the “full” list.
Both can be mishandled, meaning it is possible to not eat enough of the healing foods (fermented foods, bone broth, organ meats, seafood and lots of vegetables) and focus too much on “approved” baked goods, fruit, etc.
Both eliminate processed foods permanently – processed foods have contributed to our current health crisis in the first place. They also both eliminate grains, most legumes, refined oils, & refined sweeteners.
Both place an emphasis on working with diet first, before looking deeper into issues that may need targeted supplementation.
Both eliminate nuts and seeds in the introductory stages, but GAPS introduces egg yolks early on (if tolerated) and nut/seed butter in later Intro stages
Both have practitioners who have trained to be specialized in their respective implementation. (And both have related blogs with great recipes & information!)
How are GAPS and Autoimmune Paleo Different?
GAPS has six stages to its Introductory diet. Stage 1 starts with a diet that is suitable for the most compromised digestive systems and those suffering from diarrhea.
AIP elimination portion of the diet is a group of the same foods that are eaten for 30 days.
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GAPS was developed by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, a medical doctor and neurologist, with a master’s in nutrition.
AIP was originally developed by scientist, Loren Cordain PhD. Sarah Ballantyne PhD was attracted to AIP through her research and has now become a leading advocate of Autoimmune Paleo.
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GAPS eliminates certain methods of food preparation on the Intro diet. In order for gut healing to take place, raw fibrous foods (which can exacerbate a compromised digestive tract) are out, but raw fermented vegetable juice is introduced in tiny amounts from the beginning.
AIP doesn’t make a distinction for cooking methods such as the GAPS recommendation to eliminate the use of a microwave oven.
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GAPS allows ghee and then 24-hour fermented dairy fairly early in the Introduction diet (as long as it is tolerated).
AIP eliminates all dairy for 30 full days.
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GAPS allows for nightshades in the later Introduction stages, as well as nut and seed butter.
AIP eliminates all nuts, seeds & nightshades for the duration of 30 Days.
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GAPS is meant to be a protocol followed for 18 – 24 months, followed by a careful reintroduction of new potatoes, and then soaked rice and fermented grains (like sourdough) are slowly incorporated. This is of course bio-individual and best attempted under the care of a GAPS Certified Practitioner who can ensure steady progress with no backsliding into autoimmune symptoms.
AIP is a protocol meant for 1 – 12 (+/-) months, depending on how slowly reintroductions of regular Paleo foods are made. Grains are never reintroduced, which can prove both a budgetary and psychological hardship for many people. Reintroduction of eliminated foods is also very bio-individual.
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Top 5 Distinctions of GAPS
- Emphasis on healing foods like bone broth & ferments
- Key supplements introduced after first 3 stages
- Introduction diet begins with foods suitable for chronic diarrhea
- Nutrient stores are allowed time to replenish over 18 – 24 months
- Emphasis on natural forms of detoxification, such as juicing, enemas (including coffee enema), infrared sauna, sweating, cleansing baths like epsom salt soaks
Top 5 Distinctions of Autoimmune Paleo (AIP)
- Eliminates problem foods, like nightshades & nuts, for 30 Days
- Emphasis on autoimmune remission
- Nightshade, seed-based & fruit-based spices are eliminated
- Eggs are eliminated for a full 30 Days…no baked goods
- All dried legumes are eliminated
So, Which is Better? GAPS or AIP?
The good news: Both AIP & GAPS are full of nourishing, real foods. This fact alone means that much improvement can be gained from either approach.
On the other hand, GAPS was developed by a medical doctor with a Master’s in Nutrition who has years of hands-on clinical experience dealing with autoimmune compromised patients which adds much credibility to this approach. I will admit to a personal and professional preference for the GAPS Diet as this is the protocol that brought a lot of healing to my own family.
Moreover, the GAPS Protocol offers additional aspects that I believe to be vitally important to recovery from autoimmune disease. GAPS also offers an effective process for reintroducing grains into the diet once the gut is healed, something many people feel is important not only to overall food enjoyment and satisfaction but also to the maintenance of a realistic and affordable food budget over the long term.
I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences with either the AIP or the GAPS Protocol. Real, nourishing food, made with love, is always a good thing!
Have you ever undertaken either GAPS or Autoimmune Paleo? If so, what were your experiences and observations?
More Information
Overwhelmed by the GAPS Diet? Help Has Arrived
How to Speed Healing and Shorten Time on the GAPS Diet
Using Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) for Autoimmune Disease
The Five Most Common GAPS Diet Mistakes
GAPS Diet Heals Ulcerative Colitis
Hannah’s Story: 2 Years on GAPS Diet Heals Autism
Chronic Stomach Pain and Bloating Gone!
For me GAPs sensitized me to the foods they have you eating a lot of in the beginning – eggs, olive oil, avocado etc. It also was a little too drawn out in introducing high enough carb foods for me and ended up causing me some adrenal issues.
I have started the GAPS diet this year but had to start with the FULL diet due to me nursing. After about 3 months on GAPS, I got frustrated with the lack of results (no difference in feeling, energy, and the rashes on both my hands and my 9 months old daughter’s legs gotten worse, and my bowel movements were difficult to pass, which was a new problem for me). Just got the AIP book by Sarah 2 days ago and looking at implementing this once I have eaten all my nightshades and nuts I got in the house. AIP seems much more restrictive but read the part on FODMAPs intolerance so I’m thinking I might fit in that category. AIP book also mentioned the importance of sleep and stress management, which is certainly my weakness. AIP discussed how meal frequency can increase the dysregulation of the cortisol if one’s cortisol is already dysregulated. One thing that was written in the AIP book that caught my attention and that is: One you have autoimmune (body attacks itself), you will always have it as the body cannot unlearn to attack itself. But it can stay in remission by eating and lifestyle choices. In article above stated that AIP is a temporary diet and in the AIP book, it sounds like she’s saying to continue to eat like this to stay in remission. So not sure about that. However, I like what Chris Kresser said that sometimes we focus on our strengths so much that we don’t work on our weaknesses. Our strengths can only take us so far (produces our max), its our weakness that can produce hundredfolds (so far me it’s my sleep and stress mgmt). Nutrition and Physical Activity has always been a strengths. I feel like we must be a student of ourselves and believe there isn’t a one diet fits all for everyone. Thank you for this article and for giving your time to help others. BTW I hope all this make sense, I didn’t proofread as my hubby is trying to tell me something while my 3 year old is asking me “Why” for the 20th times and my 9 months is grabbing my leg. 🙂
I’ve tried scd, aip and now gaps. I felt too restricted on scd. Felt like I couldn’t live with the diet. Then aip left me insane with histamine issues. I’m now doing a version of gaps. Basically through all my trials of diets especially the elimination part I’ve found my trigger foods. My starting point was a vegan diet when I was diagnosed with yet another ai disease. Initially I felt better but then started new food intolerances. Then I added fermented foods and soaking. The f foods helped but I wasn’t ready for any grains. I decided to try scd and then aip so I stopped the f foods. Issues that had been healing came back. So I added the f foods and just started eating what I knew I could. Slowly I’m progressing. I’ve lost 20 lbs. Since Aug. Before that it just kept going up. I think I’m turning a healing corner.
GAPS is a favorite healing protocol in the alternative world, but it can wreck havoc in the wrong situation. My youngest has celiac, and had resultant severe eczema. Even after going on the strictest zero-gluten diet, and months of elimination diets, he still wasn’t healing. Though I was loathe to put him on such a limiting diet, naturopath after naturopath insisted he would heal with a GAPS/SCD type diet.
Two months later – his eczema was significantly worse. So much worse, he would cry for hours a day, and was regularly talking about killing himself. As you can imagine, I stopped listening to the naturopaths. I know healing crises. This was not a healing crisis. We switched to juicing, with a single brothy meal per day, and in a week he showed improvement. We went to a different naturopath, and her suggestion was a low-histamine diet. GAPS/SCD are very high in histamine-containing and histamine-triggering foods (I presume AIP is too). The entire protocol of broth and fermented foods is one big histamine-fest.
Six months later – he still can’t tolerate any non-low-histamine foods, but his skin is whole, he rarely itches, and he is healing. We still eat only whole foods, prepared fresh daily. He has a very narrow range of food he can eat – we also still partially follow the GAPS no-no list, as well as the no-histamine list.
Anyhow, my point is – if a healing protocol isn’t working for you, listen to your body and not ‘the experts’. You aren’t necessarily doing it wrong. GAPS, broth, and fermented foods can be just as inflammatory for some as they are healing for others.
What a sensible approach. Your son is so lucky to have you taking such an intelligent approach towards healing him. Wishing you even more successes
Hi Lorelei,
Thanks for your comments and you are so right about listening to your body. A good number of GAPS Practitioners are aware of the histamine issue and the standard is currently to only do meat stocks for Intro, to not eat meat as leftovers if there is a histamine issue, and many do 12 week ferments of sauerkraut (which basically eliminates the histamine).
So there is adaptation and working around most issues. The key is to listen to YOUR individual body. It’s honest.
Melanie
Amen.
Thank you. I had been doing paleo minus nightshades and dairy to help with a skin issue (lichen sclerosis). I was doing well but decided to try AIP because of all I had read about how it helps with AI diseases and there is a well known AI blogger with LS who used AIP to manage her illness.
9 days into AIP and my skin, which had been in remission, was itching & raw feeling, with new white area of disease, my scalp dermatitis was flaring, and my nasal allergies were going crazy. There was nothing different in my life aside from this diet and pollen counts were low. I was also experiencing heartburn, constant diarrhea, and low mood.
A little google revealed that I was eating almost all high histamine foods because of AIP. I had never had issues with histamine containing foods before, but perhaps this diet was enough to put me over the edge. This little experience has been enough to convince me that I need to listen to my own body when it comes to what is good for me. Perhaps adding loads of anti-inflammatory and anti-histamine foods into my diet (ie lots of vegetables) along with avoiding all processed foods and the foods I’m allergic to (wheat, shellfish, peanuts), is going to be the best course of action for me.
Informative and timely post since I’ve just restarted GAPS intro. I tried it a few years ago and didn’t stick to it long enough, but was impressed with the results. I’ve talked incessantly about starting again, but didn’t do it until yesterday. After years of improvement, I’ve had a bad few months with Hashi’s, Graves, Fibromyalgia, CFS and a few others so I’d looked into the AIP diet, too. I’d decided to do GAPS without nightshades. My health is much, much better when I include eggs so I will add those starting stage 2. I’ve never done well with any types of nuts and I don’t like them, so I’ll probably hold off a while on introducing them. I have severe constipation and GAPS says to wait on fermented dairy in that case.
I guess I’m doing mostly GAPS with a nod to AIP. That’s the wonderful thing about having access to so much information…we can choose what works to heal our individual bodies. Dr. C-McB has an article about that called something like, “One Man’s Meat is Another Man’s Poison.” You have to listen to your body and adapt your healing diet to what your body is telling you.
Thanks for your very positive post, JMR. It is so important to listen to your Honest Body. GAPS is a template…a template to adapt to your own needs, which change metabolically all the time.
Melanie
Yes, same here. I was feeling great, but went on GAPS for my husband’s allergies and my gluten intolerance, just hoping to get healthier. Now, here I am with severe adrenal problems and cannot tolerate any histamine foods. Even probiotics. And I have a baby and toddler – so it makes it hard for every meal to be prepared fresh!!!!!!!!!!
People seriously, think about whether you REALLY need this or not. Of course yeas for autoimmune probs!
I have great respect for Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, and am sure that GAPS is a great healing protocol for so many folks. However, it did not work to help me heal my very damaged gut. I have Celiac, and found out after trying GAPS, that I cross react to casein, and could not at all tolerate the whey. Or could I tolerate the sauerkraut juice or the bone broth.
I have been doing AIP for 2 years and my gut is functioning great now, but believe there is still healing to do as I’m still not able to tolerate sauerkraut or bone broth (the latter is likely due to glutamate).
AIP is a great protocol for those of us with autoimmune disease, especially for those that didn’t heal with GAPS. However, I did modify AIP and didn’t eat raw veges or much of any fruit for the first many months.
So glad you are doing better Devona!
Unfortunately, this article fails to mention that Sarah Ballantyne is also a scientist, holding a PhD in medical biophysics. “Her doctoral research spanned the gamut of inflammation, innate immunity, endogenous anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant enzymes, gene therapy techniques, microcirculation and vascular biology, liver health, and critical care medicine..” All of her articles are based on scientific research. She is as well-qualified, if not more so, than Loren Cordain in the areas of health that are of most interest to people who are looking into these diets. See her biography here: http://www.thepaleomom.com/about-sarah-2
Actually, the article clearly states that Ms. Ballantyne is also a PhD.
@Sarah The HealthyHome Economist
This is an argument of semantics. Yes, the article clearly states that Dr. Ballantyne holds a PhD.
However, the article has this to say about the creator of the GAPS diet: “Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, a medical doctor and neurologist, with a masters in nutrition”. And this to say about Dr. Ballantyne and her credentials as a recognized expert in the AIP diet: “Sarah Ballantyne PhD”.
Do you see the difference in the listing of the credentials? One, clarifies that Dr. Campbell-McBride is a medical doctor and neurologist. The other has no such clarification that Dr. Ballantyne is also a doctor, in medical biophysics, who has conducted extensive research in inflammation, immunity, etc.
It is an implication by omission that Dr. Ballantyne is not as qualified as the creator of the GAPS diet to speak on nutritional matters.This is Janice’s point.
I realize that the author of the article, Melanie Christner, as a Certified GAPS Practitioner, has a bias for the GAPS diet. Which is fine and which she also clearly stated. The article does an excellent job of laying out differences between the two diets. With a subtle but obvious slant (due to the wording of sentences and the omission of Dr. Ballantyne’s extended credentials) towards GAPS.
This article did not claim to be unbiased in any way shape or form so those expecting to find an article laying out the differences without a bias towards either diet will not be able to find it here. That’s fine. That was not the purpose of this article.
I thought the same thing.
Yes, that is exactly what I got from it. The author slighted Dr. Ballantyne, her credentials and research in autoimmunity, hence kind of discrediting AIP.
Thank you
I too was under the impression this would be an unbiased discussion, as suggested by the title. Sarah, I’d love to see you post an article that is truly unbiased. I am currently trying AIP after failing at GAPS, not because GAPS doesn’t heal, but because it is easier to incorporate into my lifestyle. I did like the breakdown of differences between the two diets.
We did GAPS and have had great success with it. I had never heard of AIP. It looks interesting to me because it addresses night shades which can be quite problematic for people with chronic illnesses such as fibromyalgia, arthritis, etc. Thank you for the info!
Are great northern beans just the same as “white beans” or who knows the german name for it? I already changed my lifestyle and diet alot to heal my lifelong atopic eczema but I´m not making the progress I wish and have many throwbacks. I also did alot of the detoxification measures.
Hi Dorothee,
Officially, the allowed beans are Navy beans. Some people refer to Great Northerns as Navy…it can be a little confusing 🙂
Melanie