I don't know if any of you have heard of the GAPS diet before, but it's basically a gut-healing protocol that can actually reverse symptoms of autism, food and seasonal allergies, anxiety, depression, and all sorts of other mental and physical ailments, both chronic and occasional.
I have tried to do this diet a couple of times before, but it never seemed to be the right time to successfully make it through the Intro stage... Holidays seemed to loom big and full of delicious crap that I wasn't supposed to eat... and if you know me well, you know that I absolutely adore food and have a sweet tooth the size of one of the moon's biggest craters, and so.... well, my will-power was powerless. And I failed. More than once.
But I am not going to judge myself or say "Oh Lindsay, you're pitiful! How come you can't just stick to this diet and heal your body when you know you need to?!" Truth be told, the GAPS Intro diet is hard. There are 6 stages to the Intro portion of the diet, and you start with eating only bone broth and well-boiled vegetables and meats basically. At stage 2 you can add in raw egg yolks and soft-boiled eggs... And little by little you are able to add in more foods, watching closely to see if your body reacts negatively to any of them as you go.
I have a history of anxiety, very low energy, irritability, constipation, and chronic fatigue. It makes for kind of a miserable existence at some points.... but that's why I'm trying to heal myself! I want to have energy, and experience joy and bliss, and POOP! :D
So anyway, I'm on Stage 2 right now, and hoping to breeze through it quickly, because on Stage 3 I can start eating nut butters, and you have no idea how hard it's been for me NOT to grab a heaping spoonful of our homemade peanut butter!!!!!
I haven't experienced too many die-off symptoms yet, which are a result of the body killing of the bad bacteria. When bad bacteria die, they release toxins into the body which can actually make your symptoms worse before they start to get better. So far, I have experienced some mild nausea, headaches (which I never get), super-irritability (oh how I feel for my family right now, lol), mood swings, and some pretty intense cravings. This morning I was cutting a banana in half for Maya, and the very end broke off and I could literally feel myself pop it into my mouth and cut through the soft, sweet fruit with my teeth... and I got kind of emotional again because I knew I couldn't actually eat it without messing up my progress thus far.
Believe it or not, healing begins the day you start the diet! I experienced die-off symptoms on Day 1, and it's only Day 3, but I can tell my body is changing. It isn't exactly comfortable... and I didn't expect it to be... but it's proof that healing is taking place.
And I know many people will say "But aren't you hungry????" I'm actually not. The idea is to begin by consuming foods that are very easily digestible and healing, which is where the bone broths, well-boiled veggies and meats come in, along with probiotic foods with each meal and each cup of broth. Plenty of animal fats are a necessity, and I find that I feel satiated and nourished even when a big ol' sandwich is what I'm craving. Oh how I will miss bread..... at least for awhile... *sob*
Anyhow, I will post here and there about my progress just in case anyone is interested to know if it's working. And if anyone is interested in learning more about the diet, and possibly doing the GAPS protocol, I highly suggest getting a hold of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride's book "Gut And Psychology Syndrome." It explains the origins of many diseases and allergies affecting much of the world today, and how the brain and the gut are so closely related and affected by one another. It is an invaluable source of information for those struggling with these dis-eases, especially for those who want to HEAL them!
Right now, I feel a lot of brain-fog... lethargy... and an all around "Blah-ness." So I'm going to stop writing for now. But stay tuned, as I'll have more updates on the rabbitry, GAPS, family-life, and so on in the days to come!
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