An increasing number of folks that I know seem to be trying out the GAPS diet in order to solve autoimmune issues. Many are unwittingly making mistakes that are making success more difficult and time on the diet more lengthy.
GAPS, as it is commonly known, is a short term protocol to rebalance and heal/seal the gut wall. This halts the flood of toxins from pathogenic strains dominating the gut environment from pouring into the bloodstream 24/7. It is this unpredictable mix that triggers autoimmune symptoms.
The diet is described in detail in Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MDs book Gut and Psychology Syndrome. It is based on the century-old Specific Carbohydrate Diet.
The autoimmune disorders significantly alleviated or healed by the GAPS Diet include the simply annoying, like seasonal allergies, to the more life-altering such as autism, fibromyalgia, MS, lupus, and the list goes on and on…
Ok, let’s get real for a minute. Does the GAPS diet as outlined in the bestselling book by Dr. Campbell-McBride MD really work for alleviating allergies and other autoimmune disorders?
Absolutely it does.
My husband used to be the poster boy for allergies. He was allergic to every single prick the allergist tried on him some years ago. Today, he is allergic to nothing. Absolutely nothing. His asthma (during respiratory illness) and eczema resolved permanently as well.
Another person I recently talked to has arrested the progression of her IBS symptoms and gotten herself off the medication using the GAPS Diet. In fact, I know many folks who have received significant relief from their autoimmune disorders from the GAPS Diet.
How empowering to know that there is an answer for autoimmune illness and that something as simple as the GAPS diet can make it happen!
The trouble is, GAPS is simple but not necessarily easy. When folks go on GAPS, a number of common mistakes seem to be made. Here is a rundown of the five most frequent mistakes I’ve encountered coaching folks at various stages in the process:
Mistake #1: Going off Grains but Not Starches
The most important premise of GAPS is to eliminate all sources of disaccharide containing foods from the diet until the gut wall can heal and reseal. Most sugars and all grains, even those not containing gluten, are disaccharides and hence must not be consumed while on GAPS as a compromised gut wall is unable to digest them. Undigested food in any form provides the perfect environment for pathogenic viruses, bacteria, and fungi to thrive.
Talking to people on GAPS, I have frequently encountered those who have eliminated all disaccharides from the diet but not all the starches in the form of potatoes, sweet potatoes, arrowroot flour, potato flour/starch, carob powder, cocoa powder, chickpea flour, all other gluten-free flours and almost all beans and legumes (navy beans and lentils are ok).
This can be confusing, as resistant starch is food for friendly gut flora and overall, good for the gut! Thus, don’t take this to mean starch is “bad”. It definitely isn’t! It just isn’t something to eat while on the GAPS Diet.
Why is this?
Starch is a very complex food molecule comprised of very long strands of hundreds of mono sugars that are very difficult for an imbalanced gut to break down. Undigested starch feeds gut pathogens. Even worse, the starch that does manage to get digested results in molecules of maltose, which is a disaccharide!
As a result, for success on GAPS to be achieved and long term results attained, grains and starches must be eliminated on a short term basis.
Mistake #2: Taking a Cheaper Probiotic or No Probiotic at All
GAPS success requires an infusion of strong, therapeutic strength probiotics to reseed the gut with dominant, beneficial flora at the same time the GAPS Diet is starving out the pathogens. Unfortunately, a number of folks I’ve talked to who claim to be on GAPS are not taking a probiotic at all.
This is a mistake. Taking a probiotic on GAPS is not an option, it is a must!
Unfortunately, a decent quality probiotic is expensive, as you may have noticed! Resist the temptation to settle for cheaper brands.
Dr. Campbell-McBride MD warns about this in her book. She writes that most brands on the market are not strong enough nor do they have the correct aggressive probiotic strains necessary to recolonize the gut. Moreover, many brands of probiotics do not contain the strains listed on the label or have the claimed bacterial strength.
In other words, you get what you pay for.
To avoid the problem of probiotic label fudging, make sure the brand selected is reputable and can deliver the results you need.
After all, you’re going to all this trouble and inconvenience to eat GAPS. Why cut corners with the probiotic and threaten the success of the process? This article explains in detail why a soil-based probiotic on GAPS is critical to the success of the protocol.
Mistake #3: Going Wild with the No Grain Flours
Our culture’s food supply is so overly dominated by grain-based foods that when a person initially decides to go on GAPS, the thought “what in the world will I eat” can be rather overwhelming.
As a result, a common mistake for people on GAPS is to make a wholesale switch from grain-based foods to those exact same foods made with no grain flour such as coconut or almond.
Eating bread, muffins, pancakes, waffles, pizza, and cookies made with coconut or almond flour at the same rate one used to eat these same foods made with wheat can cause unintended consequences.
Coconut flour is extremely high in fiber and eating too much of it can cause gastric distress. Almond flour contains a lot of omega-6 fatty acids. While essential to health, too many omega-6 fats in the diet contribute to inflammation.
As a result, eating a moderate amount of baked goods made with alternative flours such as coconut and almond is the best way to go to ensure GAPS success.
Mistake #4: Not Eating Enough Homemade Broth
A very important part of the GAPS diet is the consumption of copious amounts of homemade bone broth. A small cup (about 4 ounces) with every single meal is recommended. The reason is that broth contains so many easy to assimilate minerals, vitamins, and amino acids. It is a very soothing food to the intestinal mucosa. Physicians have known for centuries that it aids digestion due to the natural gelatin which attracts digestive juices.
Many folks I know on GAPS are not consuming nearly enough broth. Or, they are using commercial bone broth which is almost always watered down (no gelling in the fridge) and/or packaged in toxic containers like aseptic, shelf-stable cartons.
A good idea before going on GAPS is to make sure your freezer is completely loaded up with any and all forms of homemade broth that you can find quality bones for including chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, fish, etc. Note that the best and most nutritious bone broth is made from fish heads, so be sure to include that in the rotation.
Broth is inexpensive to make and is so very important to GAPS success. Be sure to include it with every meal if at all possible! Once or twice a week in soups is not often enough.
Mistake #5: Giving Up Too Soon
Success with the GAPS Diet takes time. In most cases, it took years for the gut to get in bad shape. Thus, it’s going to take months or even a year or two to get it back to normal. For a child, the average amount of time on GAPS to achieve a significant level of autoimmune remission is 18 months. For an adult, it can take longer.
I have known adults who have achieved success in only 6 months. However, these were typically people who had been eating traditionally for many years already. They simply needed to go on full GAPS for a few months to complete the healing process.
If you are coming to GAPS from the Standard American Diet, then plan on 2-3 years to success. While this may seem like a long time, it is really short considering living the rest of your life with an ever-worsening auto-immune situation.
Don’t give up too soon! Initial subsiding of symptoms within a few weeks or months on GAPS does not mean healing. Stick with it to heal and seal the gut wall for good so you can reclaim full vitality of life!
If the GAPS diet is of interest to you and you would like a complete overview of the program, please check out this article on how to heal autoimmune disease.
There are also many GAPS diet recipes on this site to help your journey.
More Information
Heal Autoimmune Disease with GAPS Diet
How to Speed Healing and Shorten Time on GAPS
GAPS and Ulcerative Colitis
GAPS vs Autism
Chronic Stomach Pain and Bloating Gone!
I’ve been transitioning to GAPS for about a month now. I’m still BF my 13.5 month old so I’m doing full GAPS. I actually had to back off a bit – I started with BioKult (was up to 6 caps a day), broth, no grains or starches, limited fruit – and had dieoff almost immediately. This would have been fine if I had not been BF. I’m still doing BioKult (2 caps), broth (1 to 1.5 cups daily), no grains or starches and 1 serving of fruit a day. I had to up my starchy veggies as well. If you are on GAPS you should definitely use the GAPShelp group on Yahoo – it’s been a lifesaver for me. I agree that for full healing (especially for major issues) you should do intro, but you shouldn’t avoid GAPS altogether if you can only do full GAPS. It’s already done wonders for me and I’m not even 100%!!
It should also be mentioned that (raw) fats are VERY important on GAPS. I think they’re just as important as broth, probiotics and fermented foods. Raw beef suet, raw lamb suet and most definitely raw grass-fed butter (when one can do dairy) are incredibly healing – w/o these fats, you won’t heal.
Can you give me some ideas on how to incorporate them? Obviously if I render them- they are no longer raw……but biting into a BIG OLE piece of beef suet or lamb suet- doesn’t sound very good.
I’ve read the book, and nowhere do I remember the author specifying that the fats had to be raw, unless they were fats (like olive oil) that are damaged by cooking. Animal fats are generally stable and are still good for you even if they have been heated; in fact, the author specifically recommends cooking with them. So yes, fats are important. The raw thing is more a question of which fats you’re talking about.
The drug industry has conditioned us to expect instant results. People want to take a pill and be instantly well. The instant results provided by drugs only relieve the symptoms, and become less effective over time. They never fix the underlying problem, which continues to get worse while the drugs mask the symptoms.
Everybody should understand that true healing takes time and commitment. It is not easy, but it is worth it.
In the last few weeks I’ve been trying to cut down my grain intake. I’m a life-long grain junky and I’ll even choose it over most other sugary foods. Its so hard trying to find foods or make food that doesn’t contain grains. And coconut and almond flour is too expensive for me. All this salad gets boring after awhile. Thankfully, I do not suffer from an autoimmune disease or any severe digestive disorder, but I’ve always had problems with flatulence and sometimes bloating. You’d think after so many years of eating grains that I would have problems, but no.
Sarah, do you think it would be worth me going on a full GAPS diet? What can it do for someone that doesn’t really have any autoimmune disorders?
Thanks for the great post, Sarah! I would add just one more common mistake to your list: skipping the intro. While I think it’s ok to start with the full GAPS and to approach the diet gradually (especially if you are pregnant or breastfeeding), it does seem that at some point the intro has to be done for full healing to occur.
Just curious, I am planning on starting the GAPS diet soon and I am breastfeeding. Should I NOT do the Intro diet because of breastfeeding?
Hi Christine!
I would start with Full GAPS and then when you are no longer breastfeeding, go through Intro for a time before returning to full GAPS. Many people find it easier, regardless of pregnancy or BFing, to do it in this order. Either way is fine- and in my opinion, equally healing!
Thanks for this post. We’ve been doing GAPS for about 7 months. We were very strict for 6 months, but since none of us had any “severe” issues, we’ve been trying to see if we can re-introduce a few foods like raw milk and occasional potatoes in the last month or so. We all seem to fair fine with the raw milk (presumably because of the lactase enzymes), but potatoes definitely can cause a recurrence of some very minor joint pain for me.
It is hard to keep staying 100% GAPS when there are so many pressures from outside influences (like my mom, who loves to cook a family dinner every Sunday that has always included potatoes or grains). It’s hard on my daughter going to the park and seeing all of the other kids eat lots of food she can’t have (which we never fed her at home anyway, but would let her indulge a little bit if people offered her some snacks when we were away from home).
With the exception of raw milk, all of the foods I make at home are still 100% GAPS; however over the last month it has been easy to let some other foods slip in once a week (like potatoes or rice, although we’ve managed to avoid all other grains and starches). Your post reminds me that we really need to try to stick with it for longer, otherwise what if we waste the effort we’ve made so far? I’m sure we still will not be perfect, but it’s worth trying. We’ve slowly gotten accustomed to eating less and less non-grain baked goods, and our reliance on nuts has been diminishing as well.
I definitely need to start pushing the broth back into our diets more, though. And thanks for the reminder about probiotics. We’ve tried reducing the amount of Bio-Kult we’re taking since it is so expensive. I’m thankful you have provided so many good videos that help cut our budget other places, like making homemade kombucha, water kefir, and milk kefir.
Just a comment in response to what you said about raw milk: based on the book Gut and Psychology by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, I was under the impression that raw milk was, in fact, allowed in the GAPS diet. She mentions specifically in her section on dairy that while all dairy for GAPS should be fermented, she makes an exception for what she calls “live” or raw milk (obviously, this would be after making sure that milk sensitivity has been eliminated by slowly introducing fermented dairy first). So, I think GAPS people should be able to enjoy raw milk guilt-free, knowing it is actually a part of the GAPS diet for those people who can a) get it in the first place, and b) tolerate it (which a surprising amount of “dairy-intolerant” people can, especially if they are slowly acclimated to dairy through the dairy system described in the GAPS book).
I think that hardest is thing about GAPS is realizing that you have to do GAPS intro and you have to eliminate honey, sweet vegetables, fruit and nuts to have GAPS really work for you. You have to do an anti-candida diet for a period of time while on GAPS because all GAPSTERS have pathogens in their gut (ie parasites, candida/yeast, bacterial overgrowth.)
When you look at Full GAPS it seems very doable but real healing doesn’t take place unless you do an anti-candida diet.
I wish I had known that an anti-candida diet was a must because I would have done that first then GAPS Intro and then Full GAPS.
I’m doing the intro. I’m in week two. The intro says you can have ginger tea with honey. I’ve been doing that plus yogurt with honey. Do I need to omit the honey?
The 2nd edition of the book includes using honey from a good source. (I have heard the first edition of the book did not include honey.) It must be raw and preference for cool process vs warm procss is said to be best.
Thanks for this post. I got the GAPS book (and have read most of it), have broth made in the freezer and just ordered the probiotics from GAPS store, lots of grass fed meat in freezer and veggies ready too. These tips were quite timely as I will embark on the GAPS intro diet very soon. I think and hope I am ready. Keep doing GAPS posts to encourage us. 🙂
Thanks so much for the post, Sarah! My daughters and I are on week 6 of GAPS. I must admit that I am a bit disheartened at this point. Growing up in a “quick fix drug remedy” society, it is very hard to be patient as more intestinal problems come to light in the initial stages of the diet. I’m definitely guilty of slacking off on the broths – and I believe many people also are less diligent on the fermented veggies and on fruit/honey intake. It is definitely not easy – especially with all the “social” repercussions. Our going out to eat at/with friends has really diminished. Most don’t understand. However, it is definitely worth it when I think of the long term effects on my children’s health. Thanks again, Sarah. This article was very encouraging for me!
I also had a problem following the GAPS diet for the same social reasons….however the premise of the diet is pretty spot on! The gut is very important for healing eczema completely! If you’re looking for an easier program, you could try The Flawless Program 30 day eczema plan. It also focuses on the gut, but in a much simpler way and quicker time frame! 🙂
Good luck to you and your children!
Hi Sarah,
As a clinical nutritionist/chiropractor I use GAPS in my practice all the time and it really can help with alot of problems from autism to psoriasis and all in between. I find the hardest thing is gettting people to really commit to it. They really have to do it 100% or it will not work well, if at all. Your “five common mistakes “are right on the money. As usual your posts are well thought out and relevant.
Thanks for commenting, Jill. Yes, folks have to commit to reclaiming their health. A half hearted attempt will not work and it is best to let folks know this upfront.
I’m wondering if I should go on GAPS and see if it’ll heal my skin. Since I was 12 years old, I’ve had cystic acne on my face and body. It’s been better as I’ve gone through pregnancies, but recently it is flaring up again. I am breast feeding my almost 9 month old, so can I go on GAPS while breast feeding? Could GAPS really help clear up my skin?
Absolutely! Acne is a sign of an imabalanced gut.
Thank you! Makes sense since my childhood diet consisted of cold kid cereals, grilled cheese sandwiches on the cheapest white bread on the market, boxed mac and cheese, french fries, fish sticks, hotdogs and canned vegetables.
i feel your pain..i too have had acne since 14 years old..really bad on cheeks and chin..and i’m 27 now still dealing with it…it is about 95% better now since changing diet but i still get flare-ups…i’m trying grain-free diet right now and in just a few days i think it’s been helping. it’s been quite the journey..hopefully this is the answer.
It’s coffee allow to this diet?
Yes.