Nourishing Traditions Without The Grains

I'm going to be interviewing a nutritional health coach named Beth Wiles to dig deeper into the GAPS diet and what it can mean for total health.

I first learned of the GAPS Diet in late July, 2011, and it has significantly impacted my life in many ways. First, I’ll give a short summary of the GAPS Diet, an overview of our GAPS Diet journey, and then I’ll share how it has impacted me and why.

WHAT IS THE GAPS DIET?

GAPS stands for Gut And Psychology Syndrome, and is based on the principles of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) with some slight changes made along the way while using in clinical practice by the creator, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride from the United Kingdom. Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride first started with the SCD to recover her son from autism, and she added other principles to the diet along the way. She has been using these principles in her clinic, and her patients applied the name GAPS.

The GAPS Diet is a temporary gut-healing dietary program that is adhered to for approximately 2-3 years for complete healing of the gut wall and rebalancing of the gut flora. If you wonder how it is possible that healing the gut can have such varied positive results in health conditions, consider what the Father of Medicine, Hippocrates (who died in 377 B.C.) stated: All disease begins in the gut. Well, when you take into account that approximately 80% of our immune system is in the gut, this does make sense! Therefore, it all must start with taking a look at the conditions of the body and any indications that the gut flora is imbalanced. It is imperative to support a healthy gut flora regardless of our age and diet.

The GAPS Diet is significantly improving the lives of hundreds of people whom I see discussing their results on forums, websites, blogs, Facebook, etc. It is helping to heal and recover people from autoimmune disease such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s, and Celiac Disease; bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, autism, ADHD, IBS, asthma, eczema, allergies, and more. I have personally spoken to many who are on their own healing path with either the SCD, GAPS Diet, or Body Ecology Diet, and my radio show is the place these stories are being shared. One such story is one I am anxious to share from a remarkable woman who is recovering her daughter from autism on the SCD / GAPS Diet. She will be a guest on my radio show either in late February or in March.

MY GAPS DIET JOURNEY

The book is much like a text book and full of great nutritional information from Dr. Campbell-McBride. She earned her degrees in Neurology and in Nutrition – she really knows her stuff! (double check this). I have come full circle in my journey to discover the dietary plan that I believe is the best for my family and for my clients. It all points to going back to basics and eating only natural whole foods and to re-discover the traditions that our ancestors followed in food preparation. Somewhere along the way, we forgot the common practices of our ancestors. These are taught to us in the great cookbook Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon Morrell. I believe the real key to optimal health is in this cookbook! But, first and foremost, we need to address healing our gut if we have signs of a compromised immune system. This is where a dietary protocol may be contemplated, whether it be the SCD, GAPS Diet, or Body Ecology Diet. In fact, the GAPS Diet is sometimes referred to as “Nourishing Traditions without the grains”.

Key Common Principles between Nourishing Traditions and GAPS Diet:

My husband and I have been on the GAPS Diet now for 3-1/2 months, and we are seeing great results. First I’ll share about my observations and results, then will share about my husband’s.

MY OBSERVATIONS & RESULT

I wanted to work on rebalancing my gut flora to overcome an overgrowth of Candida, which I’ve dealt with for many years. Likely things started getting out of control with my gut flora balance when I was placed on a protocol of long-term treatment with Tetracycline for my acne when I was a young teenager, about 14. I now know that Tetracycline is highly damaging to the good bacteria (flora) in the gut. Repeat antibiotic therapy is, as well, and I routinely was on 1-2 doses per year for the usual as a child (and well into my adult years, even as late as my mid-40’s), such as throat infection, ear infection, bronchitis, or sinus infection. I was put on the birth control pill at the age of 15 for irregular periods. The birth control pill is also devastating to the gut flora. I know now that my gut was not healthy when I was having my babies back in the 1980’s, but I had no idea that was the case until the ‘AHA!’ moment came while reading the Gut and Psychology Syndrome. More on that here shortly!

One of the things great results for me since starting the diet is a weight loss of 18 lbs – I know that there can be significant weight loss during the Introduction part of the diet, but I did not count on losing weight as it is not a “weight loss diet” per se. I had actually been trying to lose this 18-20 lbs. of weight since I quit smoking cigarettes 4 years ago and entered into peri-menopause. The weight loss is definitely because of no grains allowed on the diet – another sign that I needed to go off grains for a while, anyhow. I have suspected for a few years that I am at least gluten sensitive, not sure if I have Celiac Disease as I’ve never been tested.

Another great result of the diet is that I’ve noticed I no longer have any bloating or trapped gas that I had accepted as normal over the years. I do not get that full and bloated feeling after even just a cup of coffee in the morning. We eat a very large breakfast every single day – 2 pastured eggs, pastured pork sausages or fresh side bacon, caramelized onions, homemade broth, and sauerkraut. I feel satisfied for at least 4 hours after a meal like this! My hope is to also rebalance my hormones, which are imbalanced because of adrenal dysfunction that was discovered with saliva testing done in 2009. I believe that healing my gut on the GAPS Diet will help my body to rebalance my hormones, and I know that consuming dietary cholesterol is doing the best I can do to support a healthy endocrine system (the endocrine system is behind the brain in it’s requirement of dietary cholesterol).

MY HUSBAND’S OBSERVATIONS & RESULTS

My husband has had some chronic digestive issues over the past couple of years, but particularly some persistent ones that were bothersome since the fall of 2010. My husband lost 11 lbs. without trying to between the fall of 2010 and August, 2011. He was dealing with frequent nausea, often in the mornings, and often at mealtimes, resulting in a decreased appetite. When he did eat, he would experience such excessive gas and bloating in the upper abdominal area, that he would have to belch for 1-2 hours to relieve the pressure. Often the pressure would move up into his chest cavity, making him fear he was having a heart attack. My husband also was experiencing pain right in the middle of the abdomen (at the navel level) that he knew was inflammation. That would come and go for a period of several months in the spring to summer of 2011.

You can imagine my relief when I discovered the GAPS Diet and the principles of the diet. I knew it would be quite a leap to convince my husband that we should give the diet a try – heck, it is a minimum 2 years commitment! But he had been dealing with his chronic issues long enough, and he was ready to try something. After seeing his Nurse Practitioner in early September and undergoing many tests and procedures to rule out possibilities, we shared with her that we wanted to start him on the GAPS Diet. She seemed interested, though she had never heard of the diet before. The tests revealed nothing out of the ordinary, so as planned, we started the diet on October 1, 2011.

Now after 3-1/2 months, my husband has seen many improvements! He no longer experiences any nausea or the stomach pain/inflammation, and his bouts of gas and bloating are reduced to only a very sporadic occurrence, and it is usually when he can trace it back to something he should not have eaten. We know that he is on a healing path, and we are very encouraged!

HOW KNOWLEDGE OF THE GAPS DIET HAS IMPACTED ME

This journey of discovery as I’ve immersed myself in research and hands-on experience of the GAPS Diet, speaking with others on the same healing journeys, etc. has revealed to me my mission. My mission is borne out of the realization that I wish had known what I know now back in the 1980’s when I was pregnant and having my three adult children. I see all the classic signs that they had unhealthy gut flora balance from the time they were born.

You see, the fact is that it all starts with the gut flora of the mother. Our babies pick it up from us during their path down the birth canal – this is their first exposure to bacteria, and it is necessary! The key is to start with a healthy gut flora balance before getting pregnant. This new knowledge (explained in Gut and Psychology Syndrome) has been quite an eye-opener for me!

Oh, how I wish I had known what I know now before my daughter became pregnant in late 2008 with my grandson, Bryce. He is what I recognize now as a classic example of a child at risk for progression of health issues associated with gut flora imbalance, even gut dysbiosis*, such as asthma, hay fever, IBS, Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, bipolar disorder, ADHD/ADD, or even autism. Why do I recognize this? Because since infancy, he has already had issues suggestive of an unhealthy gut: severe colic for many months, persistent eczema, intermittent constipation and diarrhea, visibly bloated belly after eating small amounts, dyspraxia (speech delay – he did not speak in words until the age of 2), and is now a very fussy/finicky eater, favoring grain and flour products such as crackers, cereal, bread and cookies, fruits, and sweet treats.

*DEFINITION: Gut Dysbiosis: “Dysbiosis” refers to a state of imbalance among the colonies of microorganisms

My Mission

Now it is my mission to do as Dentist Weston A. Price said: “You teach, you teach, you teach.” Just as our ancestors did from generation to generation to pass on the traditional ways of preparing foods for optimal nutrition, digestion, and absorption to their offspring, my mission is to teach and educate. I want to teach and educate in such a way that women are empowered with knowledge about the benefits of a nutrient-dense diet to support a healthy pregnancy, healthy baby and healthy child. It all starts with a healthy mother!

My mission is to help mothers avoid seeing their children suffer, to help grandmothers avoid seeing their grandchildren suffer.

My mission is to help mothers to avoid seeing their child suffer and live to experience what this statement so clearly illustrates:

“If I could only go back to my pregnancy and do it differently from conception forward, I would’ve spared myself a whole lot of heartache and hard work to heal my child.” ~ Katie Hornung, mother of ZiZi, diagnosed with autism at age of 3 years old.

Future Posts

Over the next several weeks, I will break this down into a series of topics of discussion:

#1: It’s a Toxic World Discussion of toxins that overload and weaken the immune system, which ones to look out for and eliminate, etc.

#2: Healthy Mother / Healthy Baby Discussion of the need for the mother to have a healthy immune system (healthy gut flora) FIRST, before conception! We’ll discuss steps to take now, including elimination of exposure to toxins, removal of toxins from the household, adding in nutrient dense real foods, adding in probiotic foods and probiotic supplements, etc.

#3: Healthy Child Discussion of the proper diet for a healthy child, particularly a diet that supports healthy brain development, healthy digestion, and what to look out for when planning for scheduled immunizations, including signs that your child may need to go on a delayed schedule, etc.

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SBI!