GAPS and why...

Well tomorrow the girls and I are embarking on a new adventure. We are all going on the GAPS diet. What is GAPS? you may ask...GAPS stands for Gut & Psychology Syndrome. I have prayerfully decided to move forward with this diet after a year of research. The program focuses on diet, supplementation and detoxification. We will be doing all these things in an effort to heal our gut in order to heal the rest of our body.

Why start now? I believe (and it has been confirmed my our pediatrician) that A may have some food sensitivities. I started feeding her grains when she turn one and since that time she has not had a solid BM and there is often evidence of undigested food in her stool. I suspect that she may be sensitive to grains, dairy and some fruits. Seeing these things in A encouraged me to look at the other girls to see if they may be suffering from food sensitivities as well.
Concerns are as follows...H: inconsistent BM, teeth grinding, night waking, dark circles under her eyes, little bumps on her skin. K: lack of concentration, stomach aches, leg cramps, night waking, little bumps on her skin. Momma: digestion issues, a general fogginess, a constant sense of disorganization, lack of energy,over weight, constantly feeling run down, little bumps on my skin. Disorders like these often can be linked to food sensitivities and digestive disorders.

We will begin with the Intro diet which includes 8 stages. This is basically an elimination diet that is based on the Spacific Carbohydrate Diet. We will cut out foods, especially those foods that are known allergens (grains, dairy, soy, sugars, etc), in order to add foods back slowly, one at a time to find out what we are sensitive to. On the beginning stage we will eat; homemade meat/bone broth, boiled meats and boiled vegetables, fermented veggies and enjoy ginger tea. If after a few days everyone is feeling good and no one is struggling with diarrhea or constipation we will move into stage two. Because our symptoms are not incredibly severe I hope to move swiftly through the intro and start on the full GAPS diet.

The intro diet as well as the full diet is incredibly nourishing and healing as it allows the digestive system to rest and heal. I am SO exited to see what strides we will make by implimenting these changes. Here's to a healthy life~

I am hoping to update a few times a week to let you know what we are eating and how everyone is responding. So stay tuned...

Some resources if your are interested in researching GAPS

Dr. Natash Campbell-Mcbride on Gut health~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLRqxGGq9IY&feature=autoplay&list=UL3CsPBIlm45A&index=21&playnext=24

A list of symptoms that GAPS addresses and more~
http://www.doctor-natasha.com/index.php

The author of the GAPS guide rights a blog~
http://gapsguide.com/

There is also a GAPS yahoo group which is very helpful and informative.