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GAPS

August59

Daughters High School Graduation
Messages
1,617
Location
Upstate SC, USA
This looks interesting and I know my gut is not functioning properly and although my blood work has been pretty good I found out that I have a severe fatty liver and I have not gained any weight in 5 years. I know at times that I have more than my fair share of supplements and medicine and liver takes a beating processing some supplements just as much as it would with medicine.

Getting the gut in order is by far one of my priorities, but I'm going to be very careful as in the way I do it. This may be a very good thing, but I would check the sources good. Some of the comments were very interesting as well.

Appreciate the information!
 
Messages
28
If you scroll down to heading [4] on this link, there are some interesting comments: http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2011/12/around-the-web-revisiting-green-meadows-farm/

I would suggest trying less strict diets first, like the one above, adapted with dextrose and rice syrup if necessary.

The trick with health diets is knowing when to call it quits; often the communities encourage pushing through the "detox" for months on end. Deficiencies (Glucose, calorie) can creep in over the long term even after initial success. It is worth occasionally running meals through a nutrition and calorie counter, just to keep an eye on things.
 

Thinktank

Senior Member
Messages
1,640
Location
Europe
I tried GAPS and had minor succes with it. The SCD diet helped me much better.
The second time i tried GAPS to manage my IBD i had very adverse reactions because it's very high in histamine. I believe i have developed some kind of mast cell disorder + histamine intolerance or carcinoid syndrome so GAPS is off the table for me.
All that fermented stuff, broth and probiotics make my situation worse.
 

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Messages
263
I tried GAPS and had minor succes with it. The SCD diet helped me much better.
The second time i tried GAPS to manage my IBD i had very adverse reactions because it's very high in histamine. I believe i have developed some kind of mast cell disorder + histamine intolerance or carcinoid syndrome so GAPS is off the table for me.
All that fermented stuff, broth and probiotics make my situation worse.

Did you commence with the 'intro phase'? If so, how did you stay at that phase? McBride does mention some people that skip the 'intro phase' often run into issues.

Did you eliminate 'all night shade' veg's?

Anything RED in colour eg Tomatoes(part of the night shade group)will increase histamine production. It MAY be worth researching a product called 'Histame'

Take care
 

Thinktank

Senior Member
Messages
1,640
Location
Europe
Yes i did the intro-phase for 3 weeks. Very strict on the whole protocol including elimination of all night shade vegetables and complex carbs. I believe it's the probiotics and high histamine stuff that got me into problems.
I've already ordered some histame last week but since i live in Thailand it might take a while before it arrives.
I'm sure i don't produce enough of the DAO enzyme now with so much inflammation in my gut. Either because of the inflammation or a lack of DAO precursors and cofactors due to malabsorption.
I'm going to test for DAO deficiency next month among other things histamine and mast-cell related.
 

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Messages
263
Yes i did the intro-phase for 3 weeks. Very strict on the whole protocol including elimination of all night shade vegetables and complex carbs. I believe it's the probiotics and high histamine stuff that got me into problems.
I've already ordered some histame last week but since i live in Thailand it might take a while before it arrives.
I'm sure i don't produce enough of the DAO enzyme now with so much inflammation in my gut. Either because of the inflammation or a lack of DAO precursors and cofactors due to malabsorption.
I'm going to test for DAO deficiency next month among other things histamine and mast-cell related.

In the link Sregen posted you will note she outlines chronic fatigue syndrome patients do the Intro Phase for up to 18months. Her book, podcast's etc - she gives the same 18month time frame.

How ever of course, that is her opinion.
 

Thinktank

Senior Member
Messages
1,640
Location
Europe
18 months, and what if there's an underlying problem like MCAS, systemic virus, enterovirus etc causing the inflammation? Then you've wasted 18 months. GAPS can help but is not the answer to everything. I believe Inflammatory Bowel Disease has many etiologies.
 

acer2000

Senior Member
Messages
818
I tried GAPS. I found the plain chicken broth (and later bone broth) helpful to my GI issues. I found, however, than many of the GAPS legal vegetables actually exacerbated my GI issues. I later discovered that I was mainly sensitive to FODMAP carbohydrates. I switched to the FODMAP diet and so long as I adhere to it, my GI symptoms are pretty minimal. Some say that sensitivity to FODMAPs is indicative of SIBO, but I have been treated with Rifaximin and it didn't seem to make me much better (it actually made me worse). I also wasn't aware of the FODMAP diet at that time, so perhaps if I had been on it then, the antibiotics would have been more effective. Its on my list of topics to revisit.
 

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Messages
263
18 months, and what if there's an underlying problem like MCAS, systemic virus, enterovirus etc causing the inflammation? Then you've wasted 18 months. GAPS can help but is not the answer to everything. I believe Inflammatory Bowel Disease has many etiologies.

With all due respect Thinktank

18 months waisted? and what if you recover? like she has outlined, wouldnt that be worth it?

You have to at least read the book.....better yet, TRY the GAPS nutritional protocol FIRST - THEN relay how ineffective it is?
 

Thinktank

Senior Member
Messages
1,640
Location
Europe
I did GAPS for quite some time including the intro diet.... I have the book and read it several times. I like the theory but like i said it will not work for everyone. One mans food can be other mans poison. Actually i'm eating kinda GAPS / SCD at the moment, modified to my own symptoms. I believe the GAPS diet can heal the intestinal lining in most but there are are many things that can make one worse with underlying problems. For example, someone with mastocytosis, MCAS, histamine or certain microbial / yeast sensitivities can do much worse on a GAPS diet.

This is just my 2 cents and not trying to attack you but try not to be blinded by the opinion of one author/doctor/protocol. There are many things that can lead to intestinal disease, not just the things outlined by Natasha Campbell Mcbride.
I'm the living proof of it.
 

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Messages
263
I did GAPS for quite some time including the intro diet.... I have the book and read it several times. I like the theory but like i said it will not work for everyone. One mans food can be other mans poison. Actually i'm eating kinda GAPS / SCD at the moment, modified to my own symptoms. I believe the GAPS diet can heal the intestinal lining in most but there are are many things that can make one worse with underlying problems. For example, someone with mastocytosis, MCAS, histamine or certain microbial / yeast sensitivities can do much worse on a GAPS diet.

This is just my 2 cents and not trying to attack you but try not to be blinded by the opinion of one author/doctor/protocol. There are many things that can lead to intestinal disease, not just the things outlined by Natasha Campbell Mcbride.
I'm the living proof of it.

I was referring specifically to her prescribed 18 month intro protocol. From what you describe as "i did gaps for quite some time including the intro" - simply does not qualify.

So once again, TRY the GAPS nutritional protocol FIRST, THEN relay how ineffective it is? - I hope you see the point being made.

And absolutely - like I mentioned in the above post; "how ever of course, that is her opinion" - McBrides. I don't believe she has all the answers........

How ever I have watched child after child here on the Goldcoast suffering from Autism ADHD adults with depression anxiety fatigue allergies etc etc being healed along with seemingly unrelated issues resolving just by following the GAPS nutritional protocol. Faith has been earned.



Oh and.......that's great to hear keep it up, the more "clean food" you eat the less junk you crave.
 

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Messages
263
I tried GAPS. I found the plain chicken broth (and later bone broth) helpful to my GI issues. I found, however, than many of the GAPS legal vegetables actually exacerbated my GI issues. I later discovered that I was mainly sensitive to FODMAP carbohydrates. I switched to the FODMAP diet and so long as I adhere to it, my GI symptoms are pretty minimal. Some say that sensitivity to FODMAPs is indicative of SIBO, but I have been treated with Rifaximin and it didn't seem to make me much better (it actually made me worse). I also wasn't aware of the FODMAP diet at that time, so perhaps if I had been on it then, the antibiotics would have been more effective. Its on my list of topics to revisit.

Intro phase may have needed to be longer. Jus because they were GAPS legal, doesn't mean you could have them from the beginning/intro phase. Also cooking times are important in relation to them being well tolerated or not.

Some times antibiotic use can cause yeast/candida can over grow which may be the reason Rifaximin made things worse??!!
 

Gestalt

Senior Member
Messages
251
Location
Canada
I am finding this discussion interesting. I haven't looked at the GAPS diet in detail, but it seems like a decent general approach, but from what I have seen so far it lacks specifics.

I find the GAPS diet is very similar to the diet (SKD) I am on right now. It seems any diet devoid of carbs will generally help people if they have a gut fungal problems such as candida. However candida can still survive a no-carb diet even one that lasts 1.5 years. I see this as a serious flaw in the GAPS theory.

If a fungal problem is the root cause of leaky gut, then I think you could see much faster results by introducing anti-candida enzymes rather than going it alone with the GAPS diet & pro-biotics/fermented foods.

The gut biome is super complex with over 500+ possible species of microbes living in there. Using fermented foods is like crossing your fingers hoping the good guys will magically crowd out the bad guys. It seems like a very shotgun type approach that is probably effective for many but not necessarily everyone. I think bacteria species specific strategies may be necessary in addition to the shotgun approach for some people.

Looking through the Avoid list i noticed FOS (fructooligosaccharides) is on there, which is known to be a great pre-biotic for certain beneficial bacteria. This surprises & confuses me for a diet based around promoting good bacteria.

I am interested in the initial no-fiber approach the GAPS diet promotes. Are certain fibers worse than others, which specific bad bacteria/fungi do they feed, etc.? Also which bad bacteria do carbs feed, or is it just fungi?
 

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Messages
263
I am finding this discussion interesting. I haven't looked at the GAPS diet in detail, but it seems like a decent general approach, but from what I have seen so far it lacks specifics.

I find the GAPS diet is very similar to the diet (SKD) I am on right now. It seems any diet devoid of carbs will generally help people if they have a gut fungal problems such as candida. However candida can still survive a no-carb diet even one that lasts 1.5 years. I see this as a serious flaw in the GAPS theory.

If a fungal problem is the root cause of leaky gut, then I think you could see much faster results by introducing anti-candida enzymes rather than going it alone with the GAPS diet & pro-biotics/fermented foods.

The gut biome is super complex with over 500+ possible species of microbes living in there. Using fermented foods is like crossing your fingers hoping the good guys will magically crowd out the bad guys. It seems like a very shotgun type approach that is probably effective for many but not necessarily everyone. I think bacteria species specific strategies may be necessary in addition to the shotgun approach for some people.

Looking through the Avoid list i noticed FOS (fructooligosaccharides) is on there, which is known to be a great pre-biotic for certain beneficial bacteria. This surprises & confuses me for a diet based around promoting good bacteria.

I am interested in the initial no-fiber approach the GAPS diet promotes. Are certain fibers worse than others, which specific bad bacteria/fungi do they feed, etc.? Also which bad bacteria do carbs feed, or is it just fungi?

"I haven't looked at the GAPS diet in detail" - that is the main issue which leads to generalisations and misunderstandings.

McBrides Book + Podcast's + Support Forum's are some times needed with some to fully understand her concept.

Good luck
 

Thinktank

Senior Member
Messages
1,640
Location
Europe
I was referring specifically to her prescribed 18 month intro protocol. From what you describe as "i did gaps for quite some time including the intro" - simply does not qualify.

So once again, TRY the GAPS nutritional protocol FIRST, THEN relay how ineffective it is? - I hope you see the point being made.

And absolutely - like I mentioned in the above post; "how ever of course, that is her opinion" - McBrides. I don't believe she has all the answers........

How ever I have watched child after child here on the Goldcoast suffering from Autism ADHD adults with depression anxiety fatigue allergies etc etc being healed along with seemingly unrelated issues resolving just by following the GAPS nutritional protocol. Faith has been earned.



Oh and.......that's great to hear keep it up, the more "clean food" you eat the less junk you crave.

Read upon Histamine intolerance and other amine-sensitivities, MCAS / MCAD, mastocytosis, carcinoid syndrome and then tell me how GAPS will be helpful in each case :)
 

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Messages
263
Read upon Histamine intolerance and other amine-sensitivities, MCAS / MCAD, mastocytosis, carcinoid syndrome and then tell me how GAPS will be helpful in each case :)


Not before - YOU TRY SOME THING PROPERLY, before you rubbish bin the concept.




How does that sound? Deal? :)
 
Messages
85
End I wouldn't waste my time!!! It's obiouse Thinkwank wants a quick fix like a pill, not 18 months of hard dieting!!!