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.

Other Healing Diets

At our house we call the GAPS diet, the Healing Diet for several reasons, mainly based on optimism and law of attraction. But there are other diets out there and over the past few months I have been reading about some of them. Why? They all offer pieces of the puzzle and perspectives on health. We are going to be doing some testing/retesting to see how we are doing on GAPS after almost a year. We are feeling good as far as energy and digestion, but the girls have been having monthly illnesses (mainly respiratory) since January. Might be that we are gong to need to add in some extras, make some changes to how we do GAPS, or leave some ideas behind. 

Here's a run down:

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet

I read the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle to learn more about the SCD, which is what a lot of the GAPS is based on. The author kept her daughter on the SCD for seven years (she wasn't sure how to transition her off the diet after the death of the doctor who developed SCD) and cured her of ulcerative colitis. She then spent the rest of her life promoting the SCD and helped thousands of people around the world. This was a great read and fascinating history on how celiacs disease used to be treated. The SCD doesn't rely on broth, fat and ferments, like GAPS does, which gives me relief on those days when my children don't eat the soup!

The Body Ecology Diet

Book by the same name. Very interesting read and focused on gaining control and healing from yeast overgrowth. Very supportive of certain ferments, much less focus on fats and animal foods then GAPS. Does allow certain seed-like grains, like quinoa. She uses lots of influence from other diets, which she has studied over the years.  I heard Donna Gates speak on the recent web conference and learned that she has a program called BEDROC, the ROC stands for recovering our kids and focusses on children with autism spectrum, allergies, asthma, etc, so I am going to check that out for 

comparison. I will say that some of the book really felt like an ad for the products the Body Ecology 

company offers, from culture starters to stevia.

Nutritional Balancing

I heard about this via the GAPS yahoo group and it sounds fascinating. In short you do an hair analysis, which shows you where your nutritional imbalances are, as well as how aspects of your body are functioning, such as how you handle glucose, and what heavy metals or other toxins you are excreting. You then follow a protocol to balance and detox the body, which includes a specific diet, most notably no sweeteners, no fruit, no raw vegetables, certain grains are avoided, but some are 

allowed, and do other things such as major supplementation, coffee enemas and a type of sauna. 

You retest the hair every 4-6 months to see how you are balancing and detoxing. The theory as I understand it so far, is that once all your nutritional needs are balanced and you have cleaned up your system from toxins and heavy metals things then your health will also be balanced. This is not a do it yourself program.

The Anti-Diet or RRARF

Rehabilative rest and aggressive re-feeding is what RRARF stands for and the program is a work in progress that advises lots of rest and eating to increase cell metabolic function. This means no exercise, naps, early bedtimes, and eating a lot to replace nutrients lost while on a restricted diet (anything from GAPS to vegan). It seems to be focused on doing so for about one month. The idea is that if you increase cell metabolic rate you will recover your health or perhaps at least improve it. Taking your basal body temperature regularly is how you measure your success at increase cell metabolic rate. I came across this program from some posts of people who transitined off GAPS and onto RRARF. Matt Stone is the creator of this program and I will warn you that you may find some of the writing and humor offensive.

I have not given you all the information on these programs and if any sound interesting I encourage you to read and learn more by getting the books and visiting the websites which google will help you find. 

New Favorite Green Juice

When I first started using the Vitamix to blend vegetables I  only made smoothies rather than juice.  The difference being that to juice with the Vitamix requires that you dump the whole thing through a nut milk bag and strain out the pulp from the liquid.  I preferred the smoothies mostly because I am lazy, I didn't like to throw out the pulp (throwing $ in the compost - no thanks) and because I liked to add banana and, well, you can't really juice bananas.  My typical smoothie was really good though... a combination of cucumber, kale, dandelion greens, parsley, lemon, ginger and banana. Sometimes I'd mix it up and use frozen mango or frozen pineapple instead of the banana and that was good too.

Then during one of my acupuncturist sessions my acupuncturist suggested that I cut out bananas. The horror. My beloved bananas, my favorite and most versatile source of sugar that caused NO digestive distress.  If I wanted to sweeten pancakes, I'd use a banana. If I wanted ice cream, I'd freeze bananas and blend them. If I wanted to make a pumpkin pie smoothie, chocolate avocado pudding, zucchini bread, chocolate cake.... you get the point...I'd use a banana.  I believe her suggestion was made after I went on a crazy rant (the poor woman is also a shrink... well, my shrink anyways. Maybe $98 a session is really a bargain?) about how frustrated I was that I wasn't feeling well/having crazy sugar/food cravings, skin problems, etc. and how I probably had some kind of yeast overgrowth issue, because, well, all the signs pointed to that and if not than I was undoubtedly feeding something with all those bananas I was eating even if I was having no response. Do you sense the crazy?

Well, she said, why don't you stop eating bananas for two weeks and see how you feel. Hmmm. Genius. So that's what I did. I stopped eating bananas and it was hard.

But, hell, certainly if I could do the GAPS diet, I could cut out bananas. And I did feel better.

Also around this time I started reading about the "PH Miracle" Diet - basically the idea that keeping your body alkaline by eating lots of raw green vegetables/juices, taking supplements will prevent disease, boost health, and help you heal (a panacea, perhaps?) So I was inspired to try an all green juice from the organic juice bar at the health food store. I tried it and it was actually delicious!  Oddly enough it gives you a jolt similar to caffeine. So that has become my new green juice of choice.  The Vitamix version is a bit more watered down than the juice I buy at the store, but its still tasty and occasionally I splurge and pick up a green juice on my way to work.

The recipe is simple - 1/3 of the juice is cucumber, 1/3 is celery, and 1/3 is leafy greens.

And you can serve it in a big beer stein.

Natural Products

Although I have been doing the GAPS diet for almost a year it has taken me much longer to transition my makeup to more natural versions.  I guess one of my frustrations is 1. finding products that are actually chemical free (this is very tough with makeup) and 2. finding products that actually work (i.e. deodorant.)

I figured this post would be a good start to reviewing some of the products I have been using as well as mentioning why it is so important to be aware of what you put on your skin. As I experiment with more products I will provide updates.

Why is it really important to care about what goes on your skin in the same way you care about what goes in your body? Well, even though its strange to think about, your skin is your largest organ and it absorbs whatever you put on it right into your blood stream. So it is really important to be just as careful about what you put on your body as what you put in it. Read this article for more information about your personal care products and sodium lauryl sulfate. Interesting stuff.

Personal Care Products I am currently using:

Deodorant: 
I mentioned above that deodorant is a tough one. I have found that natural brands will work for a few weeks and then all of a sudden not work so well - not exactly an experience you want to have very often!  Putting aluminium on my freshly shaved armpits though is really not an option so natural is the way to go. 

Brands I have tried:
- Tom's Natural Deodorant (Lavender)
- Vichy Unscented Deodorant
- Soapwalla Natural Deodorant
- Burt's Bees Herbal Deodorant

With both Tom's and Vichy - sometimes they work and sometimes they don't.  I keep Tom's in my gym bag, but don't rely on it daily. Soapwalla works pretty well, but the problem is for me that it tends to chafe my underarm even though I shave at night and apply in the morning.  It does work pretty well though.  Burt's Bees is the newest addition to the deodorant arsenal and I like it a lot. It has a herbal scent that is not feminine, but not unpleasant and it seems to work pretty well so far. The product does have alcohol so it can burn freshly shaven skin. 

Toothpaste:
Fluoride, artificial colors, ick.

Brands I have tried:
Tom's Natural toothpaste is what I use.  They have recently come out with a version that is also sodium lauryl sulfate free which is what I am using now.

Here are some all-natural recipes that I'd like to try - much cheaper than the $5 a tube I pay for Tom's.

Shampoo and Conditioner:
Again, the concern here is phalates and sulfates (among other things) - aka endocrine disruptors - not nice.

Brands I have tried:
- Yes To Carrots
- Burt's Bees

Both are good and work well - I prefer the smell of the Burt's Bees, but the Yes to Carrots seems to work better and I can go longer between washes.

Face Wash
Brands I have tried:
- Burt's Bees Radiance Facial Cleanser with Royal Jelly
- Burt's Bees Sensitive Skin Facial Cleanser with Cotton Extract
- Burt's Bees Acne Pore Refining Scrub

As you can see, I am a big fan of Burt's Bees products. I like all three of these for different reasons.  The royal jelly is great for deeper cleaning and removing makeup. The sensitive skin and acne I use like to switch off using in the morning depending on the state of my skin. Pleased with all three. I would also like to try washing my face with oil at some point.  Read about that here.

Nail polish
Nail polish is so smelly and full of chemicals, but I still like the look of painted nails, especially when going to client meetings or special occasions.

Brands I have tried:
OPI
Essie
Butter London
Suncoat

Nail polish formulated without the "toxic trio" of chemicals, formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and toluene, two reproductive toxins, are all things you want to avoid.  OPI, Essie, and Butter London claim to be 'three-free,' but they still smell horrible, so how good can that be?  With this in mind, I bought two bottles of Suncoat, a water based nail polish. And guess what, it doesn't smell.

Though it is not 100% natural, Suncoat is one of the most natural nail polishes available today - about 70% is water based. I will take that. It doesn't last too long on your nails, but I've had it on my toes for about 2 weeks and its still going strong.

Makeup and Skincare
Face lotion
Brands I have tried:
Argan Oil - Josie Maran
Argan Oil - Aura Cassia
Argan Oil - Mogador

Eye Liner:
Korres Natural Eye Pencils
Formulated without Parabens, Sulfates, Synthetic Fragrances, Petro-Chemicals and Phthalates, this eyeliner goes on smoothly and lasts all day - I recommend the black, grey, and the blue (though I am not a big blue eyeliner kind of girl).  The other colors don't seem to go on as smoothly.

Mascara:
Josie Maran GOGO Instant Natural Volume Argan Mascara Black
There are cheaper brands of 'natural' mascara out there, but I have been pleased with this brand so haven't experimented with others.

Blush:
Josie Maran Argan Mini Color Stick Rosey
This brand is more natural, but still contains some artificial colors. Not ideal.

Body Lotion:
I have recently made my own!  Here is the recipe I used. I added lavender essential oils so it smells really nice - and I know what is in it!