GAPS Diet

The stages of the diet:

~soup1. Pre Intro (ease onto Full GAPS)

Dr Campbell-McBride often recommends starting with the Intro diet, but for most people this may be too difficult to go straight into. So we recommend a Pre-Intro stage where you:

  • Gradually introduce the healing foods – bone broths/stocks and fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut or fermented cabbage juice
  • Gradually wean off the GAPS-unfriendly foods – all starches and sugars (grains, refined flour, beans & legumes, potatoes and other starchy vegetables), all dairy (for the Intro stage), all processed foods, anything artificial
  • Increase the GAPS friendly foods – fresh proteins, good fats, low starch vegetables, nuts & seeds, a little fruit and unheated honey

Aim to be fully compliant with the Full GAPS diet within 2-3 months.

If you have diarrhoea, move on to the Intro now.

But otherwise, you may wish to stay at this stage for a while. If your symptoms fully resolve, you may decide to just do Full GAPS. But if you have lingering symptoms, move on to the Intro.

2. The Intro diet:

An elimination diet consisting mainly of broths, vegetables soups, boiled meat and good fats. This gives the digestive system a chance to rest and for most people, this stage takes a few days. This is also good to go back to during illness or a healing crisis.

3. The Full GAPS diet:

Work through Stages 2-6 of the Intro, gradually introducing the other GAPS foods till you are back to the Full GAPS diet. You will need to stay at this stage for some time, on average two years

4. Reintroducing other foods.

Most GAPS unfriendly foods are not that good for general health anyway, so even when you can tolerate them, it is recommended that they are eaten infrequently.

See the book or the GAPS website for more information on the foods that are suitable for each stage, and how to implement each