GAPS is Working!

Well, hello!

We've had a busy summer with a cross-country move, visiting with family, getting ready for our homeschool year and celebrating the girls birthdays. I hope your summer was full, fun and your moments were well spent. I am so welcoming this shift into the Autumn mood though, with the mental refocusing and the cooling of the weather!

We celebrated our one year anniversary on GAPS in June with a stool analysis to see how things are going. I really felt that if we didn't see some significant changes in inflammation levels, especially for  L that our family was going to transition off GAPS. Let me just preface this update on our resuls by saying, we are still on GAPS!

Inflammation Results
Both girls showed great decreases in inflammation levels, L's most significant. In her two previous tests we always got an interpretation paper discussing IBD. And this one, nothing, her levels are normal! I still feel they are too high so we are staying on GAPS and we are going to keep working on it. N's inflammation levels also came down and we are just going to keep going to give her body continued time to repair. My inflammation levels were the lowest - I told the girls this is because I eat more soup, including the soup juices! And I also got the name of one of my parasites. He is pretty benign and about one billion other people have him, so I am not concerned. He does like to eat starch, as the kind of stuff we are NOT eating, so I'm guessing he might be getting hungry and leaving soon for better pickings. Probably a good incentive not to go getting all starchy for me.

Flora
Interestingly enough, neither N or I have a lactobacillus colony. In our last test, we had a great measurement of them. From this I have learned that inflammation is easier to address, and changing
your inner flora is much more complicated. This is likely why, Natasha Campbell-McBride, author of the GAPS book, says GAPS people can come off the diet, but should always maintain a probiotic
regimine, either through foods or supplements.

None of us showed an over growth of any bad bacteria or yeast. N's yeast was high on the last test and I didn't do anything special for it, except limit fruit and honey (though we didstill use them) which makes me feel as though given time and the right process we will bring balance to the flora in our systems.

So, I am happy with the measurable results we have had with GAPS, but I know that we still have more balance to bring. So we will stick with it!

I have been suggesting to the girls that we should go through "deep healing" again, also called GAPS Intro. They are not so keen on the idea, nor am I, but I think it will be good for us and hopefully get us to a deeper level of healing. I am thinking October, after my birthday and with nicely cooler days, which will be perfect for soup three times a day.

A Very Simple Soup - Cauliflower Soup

Cauliflower soup sounds pretty mundane...and maybe even a little odd, but I promise you, if done correctly, it is a smooth, creamy, and delicious soup that you can dress up or dress down.

The recipe is really simple obviously...
because I made it up:

- 2 heads of cauliflower, chopped
- 2 large white onions, sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2-3 cups of chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
- salt, to taste

Heat the coconut oil in a large soup pot and saute the onions for 10-12 minutes on medium low heat until they start to turn translucent (I don't like to let them brown otherwise your soup will be brown!). Add the chopped cauliflower and stock and steam/simmer until the cauliflower is tender, about 15-20 minutes.  Turn off the heat and add the 2 cloves of garlic and salt. Using an immersion blender/blender/food processor, process until smooth. Adjust salt to taste.

Enjoy plain as it is or add your favorite toppings (very helpful when trying to create a new meal out of the same soup).

I like:

- sliced avocado and sauerkraut
- pesto and cherry tomatoes
- Parmesan cheese (made from raw milk) and red pepper flakes drizzled with toasted walnut oil
- olive tapanade and pine nuts
- thinly sliced beets and a swirl of kefir
- sun dried tomatoes, parsley and Parmasan

We Interrupt this GAPS blog, to bring you...

A juice feast? Yes, I am treating myself to a juice feast this week. Meaning, I am consuming vegetable and fruit juices (blended with pastured egg yolk), coconut water and water instead of food. I thought I would post about it just to share my experience.

So it all started when.....
A friend told me about her plans to do a 15 day juice fast as she wanted to allow her body to do some deep cleaning. She is vegan, so I would say already pretty deeply cleansed, but nonetheless this was her plan. She ended up stopping the fast after three days because she lost four pounds and felt awful. However she did share the program she was following: Reboot With Joe.

I checked it out and filed it away.

In the meantime, I had been noticing a soreness or irritation after eating these past couple of weeks. It didn't seem to matter what I was eating, there would be this feeling of inflammation on the right side of my abdomen. I spoke about this with our Osteopath last week and she said the location was that of my appendix and gave me a little education in the purpose of the appendix. Yes, it has a purpose! The functions are still being understood, but one of the functions of the appendix may be to serve as a reservoir for beneficial bacteria. Another function may be to secrete an oil to lubricate part of our intestines where food must travel uphill. It may also be involved in assisting with immune system responses. She suggested that perhaps my appendix might be clogged and I may want to consider stopping probiotics for a while. I researched and found recommendations for a three day water fast followed by a light diet of alkalizing broths to help "cleanse"the appendix. Water fast.....no, not for me!

Then I remembered the Reboot With Joe site and thought why not give my body a break from digesting, keep things pretty light and flood my body with nutrients and see if it makes any difference with the irritation I am feeling? So using the Reboot program as a starting point, I began on Tuesday. I did not do a lot of prep, just ate normally the day before, though I did have a salad for diner. I am also not keen on the quantities of sweet juices on the Reboot, so I am not making my juices as sweet (using less fruit), and I do whisk in 1-2 egg yolks to each juice. These fats aid in the assimilation of the nutrients, are easily digested and help balance the sugar content of the juice. I'm using Granny Smith apple, lemon, grapefruit, carrot, beet, cucumber, kale, romaine, dandelion, parsley, ginger, and daikon radish in my juices. I use the Vitamix and strain the juice with a nut milk bag. I am not taking any of our supplements, including probiotics. I should note, this is not my DOs advice, just my own.

So far, end of day two, I feel good. Normal even. I haven't been starving, find myself full on slowly drinking the juice, water or coconut water, and am enjoying the break from eating. I miss it slightly. I am not feeling any form of die off, tiredness or other issues. I think the GAPS diet is so nourishing that taking a break from solid food, won't cause issues like my friend experienced. One thing I have noticed is a lot more plaque on my teeth, but I suppose lack of chewing allows plaque to stay on your teeth better!

My plan is to continue the feast through the day tomorrow, then see if I want to continue. I will then transition to broth based soups with cooked vegetables and egg yolks and resume normal full GAPS eating over a couple of days. I will come back and let you know if it helps with the cranky appendix.

Goat Milk Intro

So we are stepping slowly along on our goat milk introduction. After we had a cow butter fail, we decided to try goat butter. I buy the Myenberg brand, which contains salt and natural flavor, but is the only goat butter I can find. L is to goat butter as N was to cow butter, meaning she quite likes it! She will ask for a chunk of it, cut to look like a cube of cheese.

Two weeks ago I bought a bottle of raw goat milk, which is legal in our state, and made it into 24 hour fermented yogurt. We tried the sensitivity test of putting some on the inside of our elbows before bed and watching for a rash and I gave it a full night and day. No rash, so then we tried a teaspoon of the whey with a little of the solids.

I don't always trust the sensitivity test, but I do think if I introduce the yogurt slowly and a little at a time, I will see a reaction if there is going to be one and it won't be extreme. The common reactions we see are rash/eczema, dark circles under the eyes, coughing/runny nose, either constipation or loose stools and behavior issues. Behavior issues usually involve intense screaming or crying. Oh, and let's not forget peeing on the floor.

So far, so good with our introduction. I increased our amount of yogurt every couple of days and we all seem to handle it just fine! My batch of yogurt was very runny, more like kefir or thick milk, so the next time I make it I will use gelatin to help it firm up in the fridge.

DIY Whipped Cocnut Oil Body Butter

I'm really thrilled because I saw this post on Radiant Life's blog with a recipe for a whipped body butter using simple ingredients and magnesium oil. I've been trying to find a satisfactory way to help my children use transdermal magnesium and this looked promising. After re-reading some of the information I researched for my post on magnesium, I was reminded how important magnesium is and determined to get some onto my kids. So tonight we made it!

I used coconut oil, Shea butter, magnesium oil and 10 drops of lavender essential oil. Magnesium is known to be calming and I figured lavender would be nice and relaxing too! We followed the directions and had lots of fun whipping up the body butter after the mix chilled in the fridge. It looked like creamy, white frosting, but let me assure you, it does not taste good. The girls eagerly applied it, then applied more after our detox bath. Sadly, L found it to be stingy when she was damp from the bath. There were tears and vigorous washing. However, she did allow me to give her a back massage with it after she was dry and she didn't have any complaints.

The texture is nice when you apply it, but, like using straight magnesium oil you do feel a certain stickiness on your skin after the oils absorb. Just like the feeling of coming out of the salty sea! I'm ok with that though and I think my children will be too!

I do have to say that the fun of whipping up a body product might lead to more projects in the future..... We do have a sunblock making party planned with some friends in a few weeks! Update to follow.

Do you need magnesium supplementation? (Hint: Yes!)

Have you heard about magnesium oil? Magnesium oil is a transdermal way to add magnesium to your body. Taking magnesium orally is certainly an option, but in general and especially for those with impaired gut function it can be hard to absorb. Oral magnesium can also cause your system to relax too much, resulting in a laxative effect.

Magnesium is needed for virtually all processes in the body. As our soils and water supplies have become depleted, our food supply has also dismissed in its supply of magnesium. Some of the foods highest in magnesium are hard to eat in quantity, such as kelp. Certain grains, nuts and seeds are also sources of magnesium, but need to be properly soaked and sprouted to reduce their anti-nutrient blocking properties.

Lack of magnesium, or magnesium defiecency, can (just for example) show up in your body as muscle cramps, migraine, constipation, fatigue, insomnia, PMS, and it is critical for aiding the body in sugar metabolism, detoxification, heart, liver, and lung health, as well as preventing bone loss. If you have blood sugar issues, are pregnant, have asthma, high cholesterol, heart disease, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, or suffer from PMS, migrains or insomnia, then magnesium oil should be your friend!

Taking Epsom Salt or magnesium flake baths and using magnesium oil are two main ways to increase magnesium in your body. In general we need 3-4 mg of magnesium per pound of body weight, but each person going to be different. I aim for about 800 mg per day of my transdermal spray. Two main changes that I noticed upon regular use of magnesium oil are that I don't suffer from daily headaches and I no longer need deodorant.    

You can purchase magnesium oil or you can quickly and inexpensively make your own. Ancient 
Minerals sells a 1.65 pound bag of magnesium flakes for $9.75. They also sell magnesium oils and lotions of you don't nt to make your own.

To make your own oil:
Take one cup good quality water and dissolve one cup magnesium flakes in it over low heat. Fill a glass atomizer with your magnesium oil (no, it is not an oil) and store extra in a glass jar. I read that eight sprays should give you 100mg of magnesium.

To use:
Using magnesium oil can cause stinging and a light rash, but over time this should diminish. You can use it anywhere, but spraying on your torso has better effect. Leave on for 30 minutes and then wipe off. Children and people with very sensitive skin may prefer to have it applied with olive or coconut
oil or on the bottom of clean feet. Generally it is recommended to use magnesium with a greater frequency during the first three to four months when you first start supplementing it to help correct a deficiency, then you can taper off and find the level your body needs.

I have not been successful in supplementing this for my children. They, quite rightly, do not like the stinging. In fact, they call it the stinging stuff. I just saw a post on Radiant Life's blog for DIY whipped coconut body butter, which offers 250 mg per teaspoon and looks delicious! I'm going to make it and let the girls use as much as they want!

Would you like more information on magnesium or magnesium oil? I recommend these sites:

Dr. Carolyn Dean, author of The Magnesium Miracle
Ancient Minerals
Radiant Life, this blog has a series of interesting articles on magnesium. They carry Ancient Minerals  products too.
Cheeseslave, her blog has a series on magnesium

One Year on the GAPS Diet

Wow. Exactly 1 year ago today I was starting the GAPS diet.  I was a little bit overwhelmed with all the equipment needed, the various stages, and what I could and could not eat.  Like all diets it got much, much easier with practice and today I hardly even think about what I am going to eat because it has become very second nature. I would say my diet is mostly vegetable focused followed by meat/eggs, fat, fruit, and dairy.  It will be really interesting to see my cholesterol numbers when I get my physical in June.  If you remember, last June my total cholesterol numbers were 270, and the doctors suggested that I might need to go on medication. Um… right, no thanks. 

So can I say that I have seen significant changes in my ability to eat ‘trouble foods’ (apples, peaches, pears, carrots, etc.)… No, not really.  Regardless of this, I don’t see the need to go off the diet at this point.  It is frustrating though because I want to see changes, but I also have to remind myself that it took my digestive system many, many years to start to have problems is so it will take a long time – probably years – to repair. So I just need to be patient.  Plus, if I were to go off the GAPS diet the only change would be that I would eat gluten free grains again, like rice, quinoa, millet, buckwheat, etc. Maybe I would occasionally have some sweet potatoes or some processed GF bread every once and a while.  Maybe I would eat peanut butter chocolate chip LaraBars again. Maybe not.  I’ve had some lucid dreams where I have gone into the corner store and bought a jar of nutella, wheat thins and blueberry scones. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to eat the blueberry scones (my favorite), but I did have some large spoonfuls of nutella and oddly enough, it wasn’t that good.  I’ve also enjoyed a large bowl of pasta in my lucid dream before forgetting it is a dream and freaking out that I’ve just eaten gluten! I’m not asking to eat the standard American diet again, but I am asking to be able to tolerate an apple and maybe some sprouted bread? Is that asking too much? Again, patience. 

Over the past few months I have been thinking about what else I can do to try and move forward with the healing. For example, I explored the idea of a coconut oil cleanse (basically a fast where you just eat coconut oil and drink water for a few days).  My attempt at this lasted 24 hours… yeah, I know, pretty pitiful, but surprisingly, it’s mentally hard not to eat – for me at least.  I also tried a parasite cleanse through Hulda Clark (herb based) at the end of March. On day 12,  about 15 minutes after taking my dose of green black walnut tincture, I developed pain/soreness just to the right of my belly button that lasted for 6 days and then moved into my right upper back, with pain fairly constant for 2-3 weeks.  Coincidental…I didn’t think so and that was the last of the herbs for me. I was so freaked out I even went to the doctor thinking I screwed up my organs! I had white blood cells in my pee, but no fever or other pain. I even got an ultrasound to look for kidney stones.  There were none (of course). So yes, another unresolved and bizarre issue that I am not really sure what to do about.  I've been eating lots of food that is suppose to be good for your kidneys (asparagus, cranberry juice, drinking detox tea, etc.)  I’ve also been reading a book called Energy Medicine by Donna Eden.  The idea is that you can help your body heal itself by working with its electromagnetic and energy fields.  I know....you are thinking I’ve lost it, but hey, I’m willing to try anything, especially if it doesn’t involve self medicating myself again….granted, if I am being honest, I’m sure I will do that again at some point too. I’ve also been doing a QiGong video, which is kind of a cross between really gentle yoga and meditation and since I started doing those two things, my pain has gotten a lot better. Coincidental? Maybe. Also, oddly enough, the two times I have gotten acupuncture since the mystery pain started, the acupuncture has made the pain return. Not sure what that means.

The other thing I’ve been debating is working with a Functional Diagnostic Nutritionist, which maybe since my other two ideas were bust this one would work - you know, third time is the charm type thing?  Essentially, this would require that I do some additional tests on the recommendation of the practitioner. For me this would be a test to look at my hormone levels (which I know are out of wack), as well as a food sensitivity test called a MRT Food Sensitivity test that would identify foods that cause inflammation in my body, even if they don’t cause a reaction I can feel.  The other test that was recommended was an intestinal barrier screening test that would show evidence of leaky gut among other things.  Once the testing is done, the practitioner would design a customized supplement/diet plan that would try to help fix the problems.  I had a preliminary phone call with a practitioner in Brooklyn, but haven’t agreed to move forward with it yet mainly because it’s expensive and with the $820 I spent looking into the petechiae earlier this year and the money for the ultrasound…I am just feeling broke.  This testing and the supplements is going to run roughly 2k so… yeah I am a little hesitant to move forward without thinking about it thoroughly. A quick Google of ‘supplements to help heal your gut” reveals this article. See, tempted to treat myself again…

So that is kind of where I’ve been lately.  It has been a good year though and I feel like I am on a good path diet-wise.  Here goes the start of Year 2.