Full GAPS

See all the stages of the diet here.

Here is a summary of the full GAPS diet. When starting with GAPS, one option is to:

  • Ease onto the Full GAPS diet, starting with adding in the GAPS Healing Foods
  • Gradually replace all GAPS Unfriendly Foods with GAPS Friendly Foods, taking a couple of months to change over, if you need to
  • Leave dairy till last to take out
  • Then decide if you want to stay with Full GAPS for a while, or move onto the Intro “elimination and reset” phase, where you would identify your own specific triggers

GAPS healing foods 

  • To repair the gut lining, and aid digestion:
    homemade bone broths, ideally ½ cup with every meal; can be made into soups or sauces
  • To a) help rebalance the gut flora and b) promote digestive acids in the stomach:
    sauerkraut or fermented cabbage juice at the start of each meal (other fermented foods will also help “a”, and raw cabbage salad will help with “b”)
  • For essential fatty acids and fat soluble vitamins, esp for brain problems:
    cod liver oil

GAPS friendly foods

Protein:

  • Meat, poultry, pork (fresh or frozen)
  • Organ meat (eg. liver or kidneys) once a week
  • Fish (fresh, frozen, canned in water)
  • Eggs

Fats:

  • Fresh coconut, coconut oil or cream
  • Extra Virgin Olive oil (for salad dressings)
  • Tallow, lard, chicken or duck fat (for cooking)
  • Avocado
  • Nuts, seeds, nut or coconut flour for baking.
    If digestion sensitive, only nut butter initially.

Low starch veges:

  • Asparagus, Beetroot, Beans (fresh), Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Capsicum, Carrot, Cauli, Celeraic, Celery, Chokos, Cucumber, Eggplant, Garlic, Kale, Leek, Lettuce, Mesclun greens, Mushrooms, Onions, Parsley & other herbs, Peas, Pumpkin, Radish, Spinach, Swede, Tomato, Turnip, Watercress, Zucchini
  • Navy/haricot beans and lentils may be OK

Fruits:

  • Must be picked ripe, so fresh and local is best
  • Small amounts of dried fruit

Flavourings/condiments:

  • Unprocessed (grey) sea salt, herbs and spices
  • Honey (small amounts), stevia not “legal” but may be OK for some

Drinks:

  • Water – untreated water from an aquifer, filtered water (pref remineralised), unsweetened mineral waters
  • Juice of GAPS friendly veges (& a little fruit)
  • Fermented drinks such as coconut water kefir
  • Herb teas
  • Weak tea or coffee (freshly made, not instant)
  • (occasionally) Preservative free, traditionally made wine, cider, scotch, gin, vodka

May need to take out for a while

but re-introduce after symptoms have settled for a month

  • Dairy, introduce slowly in this order:
    Ghee, Butter, Yoghurt, Kefir, Cheese, Cream, Full fat milk (not homogenised or pasteurised)

GAPS unfriendly foods

Starchy Carbs & Sugars:

  • All grains, incl whole grains
  • All legumes/soy, except navy/haricot beans
  • Starchy veges: Corn on the cob, Kumara, Parsnip, Potato, Yams
  • Fruit that is unripe or ripened in cold storage
  • Natural sweeteners incl rapadura, maple syrup
  • Beer, brandy, liquers

This means:

  • NO bread, pancakes, muffins, cakes, biscuits, snack bars, ice cream or desserts (unless you have made them yourself from GAPS foods)
  • NO rice, pasta, breakfast cereals, chippies, corn chips, soft drinks, chocolate or lollies

Avoid even after GAPS:

These foods are bad for most people

  • Refined sugars
  • Refined carbs (though white flours and white rice may be tolerated in small amounts)
  • Pasteurised milk
  • Processed foods of any kind, incl processed meats like most salami and sausage
  • Unfermented soy products
  • “Bad” fats – most vegetable oils, especially those that haven’t been cold pressed, hydrogenated oils, margarines, anything commercially deep fried
  • Additives – artificial colours, flavours, sweeteners, and preservatives
  • Toxins – aspartame, MSG, tobacco, recreational and over the counter drugs