The GAPS diet is a healing protocol developed by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, a neurologist and nutritionist who specializes in healing and rebuilding the digestive tract, which oftentimes presents in behavior problems such as autism spectrum disorders, ADD/ADHD, dyspraxia, dyslexia and schizophrenia 

1.  Start the day with a cup of room temperature filtered water and a probiotic.

2.  Eat warm meat stock as a drink all day with meals and between meals.  Homemade meat, bone and fish stocks are the foundation of the GAPS diet.  

3.  Add some probiotic food into every cup of stock.


Tip:  If you have a hard time drinking straight broth, try adding a little pureed cauliflower or pureed butternut squash into it.  

What you can eat: 

• Meat or fish stock
• Well boiled onions, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onions, leeks, squash, pumpkin, zucchini 
• Sea salt
• 1-2 tsp/day sauerkraut juice 

Chicken stock

• Whole chicken 
• Optional:  6 cloves garlic, 1 onion, 1 inch of ginger root, vegetable scraps such as the ends of onions and carrots, core of the cabbage, leaves from celery, etc

Process
1. Rise chicken. 
2. Reach inside cavity and remove giblet package. 
3. Remove giblets from package and add to the stock pot. 
4. Place chicken in the stockpot.

5. Fill pot 3⁄4 full with filtered water and any optional herbs and vegetables. 
6. Cook on medium-high until bubbling, then reduce heat to low and allow to simmer, covered, at least 8 hours, preferably 48 hrs.
7. When done, allow to cool then pour stock through a strainer and transfer to mason jars to store in the fridge.

Tip: Do not discard the soft gelatinous parts around the bones or the skin; reserve that and use an immersion or regular blender to blend it into your stock and soups.  The fat will rise to the top of the jars in the fridge, which can be included in soups or used as a fat for cooking.  Pick any meat off the bones that you can after the chicken stock has been removed, reserve meat to add to soups or serve alongside. Discard the remaining bones.

Fish Stock

• 2 pounds fish with bones and scales 
• Filtered water

Process
1. Simmer whole fish in water for 8 hours. 
2. Strain meat and bones. 
3. Set meat aside to add to soup
4. Store broth as needed in mason jars.

Beef Stock

• 1-2 lbs beef marrow bones 
• Filtered water 

Process
1. In a crockpot or stock pot, place beef marrow bones and fill to 1 inch from the top with filtered water. 
2. Cook on medium-high until bubbling, then reduce heat to low and allow to simmer, covered, at least 8 hours, preferably 48 hrs.
3. When done, allow to cool then pour stock through a strainer. 
4. If there is meat on your stock bones, pull off and save for later use.
5. Bang out any marrow and add to the stock.
6. Pick out any fat and blend it into your stock. 
7. Transfer to mason jars to store in the fridge.

Egg yolks are stage 2

Soup with Stock

• Beef stock or Chicken stock
• Chopped vegetables

Process:

1. Bring some of the meat stock to boil. 

2. Add chopped or sliced vegetables and simmer for 25-35 minutes. 

3. When vegetables are well cooked, add 1-2 tablespoons of chopped garlic. 

4. Bring to boil and turn the heat off. 

5. Add the juice of some probiotic food into bowl of soup.

Avoid very fibrous vegetables, such as all varieties of cabbage and celery.  All particularly fibrous parts of vegetables need to be removed, such as skin and seeds on pumpkins, marrows and squashes, stalk of broccoli and cauliflower and any other parts that look too fibrous.  Cook the vegetables well, so they are really soft.  Add meats and other soft tissues, which you cut off the bones.  You can blend the soup using a soup blender or serve it as it is.  Add some probiotic food into every bowl of soup.  Start with 1 teaspoon per day for 3 days and then 2 teaspoons a day for 3 days, then move to 3 teaspoons a day, one with each meal.  

Tip:  Make sure the food is not too hot when adding the probiotic foods as this will destroy the beneficial probiotic bacteria.

Tip:  Everything has to be cooked in broth, but you can pull out hamburger patties, steaks, and other cuts of meat from the broth and eat it with a fork while sipping a cup of broth on the side.

Chicken Soup with cauliflower puree, onions, leeks and celery root

Tip:  Adding Creamy Cauliflower into the soup makes the soup thicker and gives it a great taste!  For a sweeter taste, use Butternut Squash Soup, although this could make the soup too sweet for those suffering with candida overgrowth.

http://krautpounder.com

Sauerkraut

• 1 head cabbage, green or purple 
• 3 tablespoons sea salt 
• 4 cups filtered water

Process
1. Remove and discard outer leaves of the cabbage, until you get to the clean unblemished leaves underneath. 
2. Cut cabbage in half and core.  
3. Shred cabbage with a mandolin or with a knife, creating thin strips of cabbage. 
4. Smash to release juices.  

http://www.pickl-it.com

5. Pack into jars.  I use the Pickl-It jars 
6. Roll up a cabbage leaf and push it into the jar to hold the cabbage under the brine.  
7. Mix your salt and water together to make your brine and pour over the cabbage.  
8. Allow to ferment on counter for 7-21 days before transferring to the fridge. 

Tip:  If you need more sauerkraut juice, pour more brine into your jar and leave out to ferment for a couple of days.  

Creamed cauliflower meatball soup

• Cauliflower
• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 quarts stock
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon salt

Process:
1. Cut up cauliflower and place in pot with several peeled garlic cloves. 
2. Cover with broth. 
3. Cook until soft 
4. Blend with hand blender. 
5. Bring to a simmer and drop balls of uncooked, salted, ground beef into the soup to create meatballs. 
6. Simmer until cooked through. 

Butternut squash soup

• 3 quarts stock 
• 4 cups pre-cut butternut squash cubes 
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 peeled garlic cloves
• 1 onion
• 2 tablespoons of finely grated peeled ginger (optional)

Process:
1. Simmer all ingredients to make a soup. 
2. Puree in blender if desired for a smooth soup.

Note:  This soup may be too sweet for those suffering from candida!

Mashed carrots

• 8 carrots 
• Filtered water 
• 2 tablespoons tallow 
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 teaspoon sea salt 

Process:
1. Peel and simmer the carrots and garlic in water with salt. 
2. Once soft (1 hour or so) drain and mash.  
3. Add the tallow and salt to taste.

Carrot Soup

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 lbs carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 2 qts chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste

Process:
1. Simmer all ingredients to make a soup.  
2. Puree in a blender to make a smooth soup.

Note:  Do not put hot soup in a plastic blender.  Wait for the soup to cool first or use an immersion blender.  

Cauliflower mashed potatoes 

Cauliflower mashed potatoes
broiled steak (stage 4) and sauteed broccoli (stage 5)

• 2 pounds cauliflower
• 1 quart stock
• 4 Tbs lamb tallow
• Salt

Process:
1. Boil cauliflower until soft, 20 minutes. 
2. Drain, reserving stock for use in a soup. 
3. Put cauliflower, tallow and salt in a food processor and blend until creamy. 

Cream of broccoli & cauliflower soup

• 1 cup chopped broccoli florets
• 1 cup chopped cauliflower florets
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 qt chicken broth
• 1/4 cup fresh dill
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

Process:
1. Simmer all ingredients to make a soup.  
2. Puree in a blender for a smooth soup.

Beef soup

• 1 qt beef broth
• 1 onion 
• 2 tomatoes, chopped and deseeded (optional)
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 
• 2 red bell peppers, chopped
• 1 yellow summer squash, peeled and deseeded and chopped
• 1 medium zucchini, peeled and deseeded and chopped
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 cup chopped cilantro

Process:
1. Simmer all ingredients for 1 hour, except for the beef.  
2. Drop the meat mixture in desired size of meatballs into the simmering soup.  
3. Simmer for 20 minutes. 
4. You can add tallow, salt and pepper to taste.  
5. Don't forget to add sauerkraut juice!

Note:  Some people can have sensitivities to nightshades, such as tomatoes.  So listen to your body.


Summer squash soup

• 2 quarts stock
• 1 quart filtered water
• 8 small summer squash
• 1 Tbs salt

Process:
1. Remove stems and blossom ends from squash, remove the seeds and coarsely chop. 
2. Simmer all ingredients to make a soup. 
3. Puree in a blender for a smooth soup.

Beef and broccoli soup 

• 3 qts beef stock
• 1 tbs salt
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2 lbs broccoli
• 2 lbs beef roast, or meat from stock bones  

Process:
1. Combine stock, water, salt, garlic, and broccoli in crockpot or stockpot.  
2. Simmer 1 hr.  
3. Blend until smooth.  
4. Add back in bite sized pieces of beef and heat until cooked through.


Creamy cauliflower meatball soup 

• 2 heads of cauliflower, stalks removed
• 1 quart of broth (I used beef)
• 2 lbs ground beef
• 2 tsp salt and pepper to taste
• 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed 

Process:
1. Boil cauliflower in broth until soft.  
2. Mix ground beef with salt, a little pepper, and garlic.  
3. When cauliflower is done, puree it with the broth and return to pot.  
4. Bring to a simmer.  
5. Drop the meat mixture in desired size of meatballs into the simmering soup.   
6. Simmer for 20 minutes.  
7. You can add tallow, salt and pepper to taste.  
8. Don't forget to add sauerkraut juice!


Meat patties 

• 3 lbs hamburbuger
• 3 carrots peeled and chopped
• 1 cup cauliflower chopped 
• 2 cups stock
• 1/2 tsp salt

Process:
1. Form hamburger into patties and simmer in stock with the vegetables until cooked through.  
2. Blend veggies into the stock after removing the patties and serve as a sauce over the top.

Onion leek soup 

• 6 cups stock
• 2 cups water
• 2 big onions sliced
• 3 leeks sliced
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 1tbs salt

Process:
1. Simmer everything for one hour or overnight on low in the crockpot.

Tip:  I make a big pot of this at the beginning of the week and add it into my other soups, or boil my meats in it, like hamburgers.  


Ginger tea 

• 1 tsp of fresh ginger root
• 2 cups of water in your teapot
• Honey to taste (optional)

Process
1. Grate some fresh ginger root (about a teaspoonful) into your teapot. 
2. Pour 2 cups of water into it and boil.   
3. Pour through a small sieve. 

4. Add honey to taste (optional).

My typical day on intro:

My kids have a hard time eating soup for breakfast, so we usually eat boiled meats and veggies.  And to be honest, I really don't feel like soup for breakfast either!  Today I simmered the heads of cauliflower (stalks removed) in some beef stock.  After about 20 minutes, I pulled the cauliflower out of the stock.  I pureed it in my Vitamix blender with some tallow and salt.  I mixed 2lbs of grass feed beef with a package of frozen chopped spinach.  In the remaining stock that the cauliflower was cooked in, I  simmered hamburger patties for about 20 minutes.  I put about a 1/2 of a cup of cauliflower on a plate and topped it with a patty.  If you have introduced eggs, you could top the patty with an egg that was boiled in the stock (yolk still runny).  I then "cleaned" the cauliflower out of my Vitamix blender by pouring a little of the stock into it, and running it for a few seconds to get the remaining cauliflower off the sides of the Vitamix.  I then poured the cauliflower/stock mix into the remaining stock left over from making the patties.  I added more stock to the pot.  Some cut up veggies; carrots, celery root, and leeks.  I added 1lb of grass feed beef cubes and a big scoop of tallow.  I simmered this for another 1/2 hr and this was our lunch.  For dinner, we had the left over soup, but I changed the flavor of the stock by simmering some big chunks of butternut squash for about 30-40 min.  I pulled the butternut squash out of the soup and blended it up with a little stock in my Vitamix until creamy, and added this back into the soup.  For snacks in between meals my kids ate some boiled peas that I "buttered" with tallow and some salt.  Or they had some more soup.  

I do not recommend limiting your children's food.  I feed my kids when they are hungry.  When I went through intro myself for the first time, I can tell you that I was STARVING all the time!  I had to eat every 2 hours.  I was afraid to leave the house without some food on hand!  And this lasted for 8 months for me!  Now that I have been on GAPS for almost 2 years, when I go through intro, I don't feel that way anymore.  I can go 3-4 hours without eating.  And I do believe we get another layer of healing every time we go through intro again.

Are you sick of being sick?

I finally did GAPS myself when I was sick of being sick.  When I realized that the food that I was so addicted to wasn't worth the cost of my health any longer.  Try to be forgiving with yourself.  We did not come close to doing this diet perfect everyday.  Remember that tomorrow is a new day and try again.  All is not lost.  Don't let a mess up be an excuse to end the diet.