gaps nutritional protocol

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An Update on GAPS

Following the GAPS Nutritional Protocol Is Not Easy, But for Many, It Is Easier to Follow It Than Not!

Many people in the WAPF community are familiar with my GAPS concept, and many have implemented the GAPS diet. If you are new to the concept or want to look into it again, my two GAPS books are a good starting place. My first book, Gut and Psychology Syndrome (first published in 2004, with a second edition in 2010), focuses on the brain; the second book, Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), focuses on the rest of the body as well as describing the full spectrum of the GAPS diet in detail.

GAPS has become a global phenomenon. Over the last twenty years, people all over the world have used the powerful GAPS Nutritional Protocol to heal from all sorts of chronic diseases—physical and mental—including some conditions labeled as “genetic” or “incurable.” With today’s huge and growing list of chronic maladies and diagnoses, no doctor in the world can be expected to have experi­ence working with all of them. Yet whatever the diagnosis, I suggest people try the GAPS Nutritional Protocol. They may be pleasantly surprised—the human body is immensely resilient and, given the right help, can perform miracles!

THE MICROBIAL COMMUNITY

The GAPS concept is based on the fact that the human body is a microbial community.¹ There are microbes in our blood, heart, lungs, joints, muscles, brain, mucous membranes and everywhere else. The biggest community of microbes lives in the digestive system.² Why? Because if you ask any microbiologist what is the most powerful influence on a microbial community in Nature, the answer will be food. Change a microbial community’s food supply and the whole community will change rapidly; some species of microbes will disappear and others will proliferate. Where do humans put our food? Into the digestive system, of course. That is why our gut flora (gut microbiome) is the cen­tral point, the big “ministry” and “government” of our body’s entire microbial community.

What happens in the gut determines what happens everywhere else in the body. Many people have heard the statement credited to Hippocrates: “All diseases begin in the gut.” Modern research into the human microbiome has provided the scientific proof that Hip­pocrates was right, and clinical experience using the GAPS Nutritional Protocol, accumulated by GAPS teams all over the world, shows us that indeed, all chronic diseases have their roots in the digestive system.

Let me repeat: The human body is a micro­bial community, and food is the most powerful influence on any microbial community in Na­ture. This means that food is the most powerful influence on human health—there is nothing more powerful! Thus, every healing protocol has to start with the person changing what is eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner and in between. The GAPS diet is designed to heal the digestive system and normalize its micro­bial community, which in turn will normalize the microbial community everywhere else in the body. As a result, everything in the body changes and moves toward balance, harmony and good health.

Nature functions in harmony. Nature is highly organized and finely tuned; every little thing is in its right place and balanced carefully with the rest. That is why Nature is so beautiful! It is like a professional orchestra where every instrument plays its part perfectly and at the right moment, creating magnificent music. The human body is part of Nature, and a healthy human—harmonious in body, mind, spirit and soul—is full of balance and beauty at any age. Human beauty is good health shining through a person’s eyes, skin, thoughts, words and actions.

Disease, on the other hand, is about chaos— the absence of balance, harmony or fine tuning. Using a musical metaphor, disease is cacophony. The technocratic world we live in is becoming increasingly chaotic, and we can feel it; it has a great ability to destroy harmony and replace it with chaos. This chaos is reflected in the state of human health today. Look around you. How many truly healthy people do you see? Even if some people appear to look okay, once you start talking to them you discover that they are suffer­ing from chronic diseases. Allergies, autoimmu­nity, mental problems, hormonal abnormalities, neurological illnesses, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, skin problems, cancer—the list is end­less. The statistics of chronic illnesses today are unprecedented and rapidly getting worse. Many diseases are also starting earlier; children get ill at younger and younger ages, and many are even born unhealthy.

A CASE STUDY: LEARNING TO LOVE

One example of a disease that is gaining epidemic proportions among children in the Western world is anorexia nervosa.^3,4 I would like to share a clinical case study of a ten-year-old girl named Jane. Jane was a reasonably healthy child and was involved in sports. Jane’s parents encouraged her to take her training seri­ously. Despite her young age, Jane had begun competing with some success in sports on a semi-professional level.

In the competitive atmosphere of Jane’s sports club, which encouraged girls to be slim and light, Jane developed anxiety around food and began refusing to eat any “fattening” animal foods. Believing mainstream dogma about the “benefits of vegetarianism,” her fam­ily cooperated with her requests. Jane limited her diet to breakfast cereals with orange juice, pasta, porridge, bread, sugar “for energy” and some fruit and vegetables. Fairly soon, she started losing weight to the point of emaciation and was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. Her growth stopped, and Jane became quite small for her age.

After watching two other girls at the same sports club be hospitalized with anorexia and seeing Jane’s school friend put on psychotropic medication after a diagnosis of an eating disor­der, Jane’s parents refused medication for Jane and accepted only psychotherapy and some supplements. They then spoke with me and implemented the full GAPS diet, working hard to get Jane to eat full-fat animal foods. They terminated her athletic training, and Jane left the club. It was six months before Jane started to eat properly; initially, she tried to hide her food and only pretended to eat, and she would exercise when her parents were not watching. It took about a year for her to reach her normal weight and start growing again.

Jane was lucky that her parents found the right information at the right time and were pre­pared to follow it. Unfortunately, many children are not so lucky; they fall into the mainstream anorexia paradigm with psychotropic drugs, an inappropriate diet and high rates of suicide. More importantly, this was and still is a deeply transformational experience for Jane’s parents, changing their perspective on family and life as a whole. The experience pulled them out of the mainstream and made them look at the world differently.

Previously, Jane’s parents had been very conventional people. They believed mainstream advice about the merits of a high-carbohydrate diet and lots of exercise; they also believed in the mainstream idea of vegetari­anism, and it took them a while to understand all the common mistakes of this belief. They were proud of their daughter’s athletic achievements and had ambitions for her to become a professional athlete. Both parents had tried unsuccessfully to become professional athletes themselves when they were young, and they hoped to live their dream through their child. It was a discovery for them to learn that anorexia is a physical disease and not “all in the mind” as the mainstream professionals were telling them. It was also quite a transformation for them to cook meals from scratch for their child every day. Nobody in the family had really cooked before or paid much attention to what the family was eating. In other words, this was a typical modern Western family.

Before Jane got ill, her parents believed that they loved their daugh­ter, and would have been offended if anybody had suggested otherwise. Looking back now, though, they realize that their child’s anorexia nervosa taught them how to love their child truly. Her illness was a gift that taught them profound lessons and changed them forever.

Ultimately, we come into this world to learn how to love! Love is a universal energy that creates perfection and harmony. Nature can be seen as the energy of love in solidified or materialized form; that is why it is so beautiful, complex, harmonious and infinitely functional. When humans use this energy, they create beautiful and fully functional things, too.

Unfortunately, many people use other energies on a daily basis instead of the energy of love. Did Jane’s parents use the energy of love when they ate and gave their child processed convenience “foods”? Did they use the energy of love when they allowed Jane to follow mainstream pro-vegan dogma, without putting any effort into finding out whether this dogma was true or false or what effect it would have on their child’s health? Did they use the energy of love by driving their small child to become a professional athlete because that was their own failed dream from their youth? Am­bition, pride, laziness and a wish for things to be convenient and easy are more likely to have been their motivations at that time.

HEALING BRINGS SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION

My own professional experience and the experience of many Certified GAPS Practitio­ners and Certified GAPS Coaches show that people who achieve healing through the GAPS Nutritional Protocol also go through a spiritual transformation. They become different human beings—more loving, more evolved, more en­lightened and more caring. When you develop a serious illness, the last thing you may be think­ing is that this illness may have some benevolent purpose. How can pain, discomfort, inflamma­tion and limitation of function be benevolent, when the illness has stopped you in your tracks and forced you to change your life completely? However, when the initial dismay is over, and you start making efforts to heal, other thoughts and realizations come to you.

After watching thousands of people heal, I have no doubt that chronic disease comes to us when we need to learn something important on a spiritual level—when we need to evolve spiritually. Disease is a spiritual lesson; deny­ing and avoiding this lesson not only prevents full healing of the body but also holds back the spiritual growth that this lesson brings. Al­though your spirit wants to grow, your ego and mind may have another agenda. Because the lesson offered by disease is painful and going through it fully is hard work, the ego and mind may offer an easier path: to go the mainstream route and take medications to suppress the symptoms. Although this may make you feel more comfortable physically, your body will continue to deteriorate.

Changing one’s diet is not easy: you have to face your food addictions and go through die-off and detox reactions, not to mention all the shopping, cooking and cleaning involved. Going through this process requires the support and help of your family and friends, which may not be forthcoming. Recovery from a chronic disease may deprive you of extra attention and compassion that you receive from these people, which may be very important for the ego.

Life often presents us with hard choices. If you have a chronic disease, it is important for you to think carefully about what you want to do. Do you want to recover fully from your disease (with all the hard work involved), or do you want to live with the disease for the rest of your life? Do you want to take the spiritual lesson this disease brings, or are you not interested in that opportunity? Nobody can make such a decision for you; this is your life and your choice.

If you choose full recovery from your dis­ease, then you are taking the first step on an ex­citing journey and the adventure of a lifetime—a journey of spiritual growth through healing your body. It is a quest for something every human being craves: universal, unconditional love. Without love, there is no healing. Every person with a chronic disease has to do some soul-searching in order to understand what is preventing them from reaching the energy of love—love for self and love for every living thing. Listening to your body and giving it what it needs is love. Changing your diet to foods that are home-cooked and of the best quality is showing yourself love. Protecting yourself and others from man-made toxins is love. Being open and honest with yourself and others is love. Treating other people and our wonderful planet with love is also essential for healing.

PRODUCE YOUR OWN FOOD

Our planet Earth is alive, and humans have a deep connection to it. The Earth is our home and the source of everything we need to thrive; it is like a loving parent who gives and gives without asking for anything in return!

To recover from a chronic illness, it is es­sential to get back in touch with this source of life, beauty and divinity. Gardening, planting, growing and looking after animals are wonder­ful, joyful activities because they get us back in touch with our planet’s prevailing energy—the energy of love. They get us into the fresh air and sunshine, raise our spirit and heal us on every level: physical, mental and spiritual. Many of my former patients, after going through the GAPS Nutritional Protocol, have bought some land and created small holdings. City dwellers have become farmers, and they could not be happier! Some people keep chickens, some have milking goats, some even have a cow and many have created gardens and orchards.

Producing your own natural, chemical-free food is a joy and very satisfying. This is food that you can trust completely, because you grew it yourself. I am one of those farmers and practice regenerative agriculture. The aim of this kind of agriculture is not only to produce best-quality food but to regenerate our planet. For the last eight years, my family and I have been self-sufficient in food and have taught hun­dreds of volunteers how to do it for themselves. When we started, we had no knowledge of how to farm! The land, animals and birds have taught us so much and continue teaching us every day. I am now writing a book on how a complete novice from the city can become self-sufficient in food. It really is not “rocket science”; all of us can learn how to produce high-quality food!

ABANDON SUPERMARKETS

Who fills the shelves in supermarkets? In­dustrial agriculture. When we follow the GAPS Nutritional Protocol and WAPF principles, we stop supporting industrial agriculture and we stop buying food in supermarkets.

On a basic biophysical level, food is infor­mation; it carries the energy of how it has been produced. Industrial agriculture carries the energy of greed, suffering and abuse. By eating industrially produced foods, you are consuming that energy and that information. Is that energy going to give you good health?

To feed our families health-giving food, we must abandon supermarkets. When we fol­low the GAPS diet, we do our best to buy food directly from natural organic farmers, who treat their land, soil and animals with love and care. We support proper animal husbandry, where animals live on natural pasture and have a healthy, happy life. We do our best to grow our own vegetables, fruits and herbs. And we do not waste food because we connect to it on every level—from the soil to the table. By eating this way, we help to regenerate our planet, one meal at a time, while providing ourselves with the best food possible.

LEAVE THE MAINSTREAM

Healing from a chronic disease involves being cautious with main­stream science. The GAPS concept is not mainstream. I strongly rec­ommend to my patients not to be too scientific. Clinical experience has taught me a hard lesson: if you want to lose your way, follow the science!

Let us not confuse technology with the natural sciences. Technol­ogy—which deals with non-living objects—has given us great tools. When it comes to living things, however, our science has no ability to perceive them or to interfere without doing damage. This is because sci­ence tries to treat life as non-living objects, employing the same methods used in the technology realm. Mainstream science is purely materialistic; it denies the spiritual aspect of life on Earth and has no ability to study it. As long as our science remains stubbornly materialistic, it will be unable to explain or understand the infinite complexity of life on Earth.

Thankfully, this materialist focus applies to mainstream science only. Outside mainstream science, research into the divine basis of life has been going on for decades and has produced interesting results.^5-11 Every truly great scientist in history, including Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, has accepted and emphasized the spiritual aspect of life on Earth. Perhaps one day mainstream science will have no choice but to do the same. In the meantime, we cannot take any mainstream scientific paper at face value, let alone try to use it in clinical practice, no matter how clever it appears.

There is a place for all forms of healing in this world. When something goes wrong with their health, the majority of people first go to a mainstream doctor. Mainstream medicine is very well equipped to deal with emergen­cies and life-and-death situations. However, when it comes to chronic diseases, mainstream medicine is unable to deal with the root of the problem. It may be able to make you a bit more comfortable by suppressing pain, inflammation and other symptoms, but it has no idea how to work with your body to help it heal. The symp­toms are the body’s way of communicating that something is wrong and that you need to change your lifestyle, because it is that very lifestyle that is damaging the body and causing disease. Symptoms are the body’s way of calling for help. Suppressing symptoms with mainstream medication, therefore, means telling the body to stop calling for help and suffer in silence, while you continue destroying it.

When someone develops a chronic disease, a mainstream doctor may be the last person to go to for help. The person needs a health practitioner who understands how to work with the body to assist it in healing itself. There are many alternative health professions that may be able to help.

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL WHEN YOU ARE IN CHARGE

In the GAPS world, Certified GAPS Practitioners and Certified GAPS Coaches help people use the GAPS Nutritional Protocol effectively to heal. Strictly speaking, though, professional help is not required to fol­low the GAPS Nutritional Protocol. Many people around the world read the GAPS books and follow the GAPS diet at home, holding their health and the health of their loved ones in their own hands. The power of heal­ing is programmed into you. Don’t give this power away to anyone! In emergencies, we may have to trust others to help us repair our bodies but, after the basic repairs are done, the healing of your whole being is your work and only yours.

The GAPS Nutritional Protocol will help you lay a solid foundation for healing from any chronic disease, because it allows you to rebuild your body with quality materials, making it strong, robust and able to resist most damage. All chronic diseases respond to this protocol. Hav­ing been through the healing, many people come to the same conclusion: following the GAPS Nutritional Protocol is not easy, but it is easier to follow it than not to. It is easier to cook fresh, nourishing meals every day and stick to the GAPS diet than to live with mental illness, chronic fatigue, pain, inflammation, autoimmunity, allergies, emotional instabil­ity, hormonal problems, neurological diseases and the general chaos that poor health brings into one’s life. It is much easier to keep your children on the GAPS diet and have harmony and joy in your family instead of chaos and suffering. GAPS was made out of the energy of love. It works! Life is much easier and happier when we use the energy of love on a daily basis instead of indulging in negative energies.

The GAPS Nutritional Protocol will take you on a journey of healing and learning, where you will meet many good people and make lifelong friends. It will transform you as a person and your life completely! Your priorities and choices will change. Some people around you may leave because their life path will become incompatible with yours, but other people will be drawn to you—people who are on a similar journey and who will bring you real companionship and joy. Before you know it, you will be helping others heal which will bring you joy. By helping others, you will make new discoveries, will help you on your own healing journey.

The GAPS Nutritional Protocol is trans­formative. It is a learning curve that will take you on a journey of discovering who you are and how the world works. For many people, it is the first step away from mainstream dogma and consumerism and onto a road of universal truth and the beautiful life of a real human be­ing. Yes, there will be ups and downs; there will be tears, laughter, personal growth and growth of your spiritual essence. And of course, there will also be lots of delicious cooking, eating, sunbathing, gardening, swimming in lakes, rivers and the sea, walking barefoot and com­muning with Nature!

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SIDEBARS

GAPS BOOKS

The GAPS Nutritional Protocol, a global phenomenon, is designed to heal the digestive system and restore the healthy microbiome to the human body. The most important part is the GAPS diet, which is based on traditional diets from all over the world and includes nourishing and healing foods cooked at home from fresh ingredients. Meat stock, soups, meats and organ meats, eggs, animal fats, seafood and fermented foods are the staples in this diet. The GAPS diet is suitable for all ages and has twenty years of success helping people to heal from all kinds of chronic diseases all over the world.

I described the GAPS diet in two books: Gut and Psychology Syndrome, which focuses on the brain (autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, dyslexia, depression and other neuropsychological or psychiatric problems) and Gut and Physiology Syndrome, which covers all autoimmune conditions, arthritis, allergies, asthma, eczema, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, chronic infections and digestive, hormonal, neurological and other chronic diseases.¹² To support the GAPS concept, I have written three other books:

• Put Your Heart in Your Mouth. What Really Causes Heart Disease and What We Can Do to Prevent and Even Reverse It: This book explains that animal fats and cholesterol do not cause heart disease or any other illness. I describe the real causes of heart disease in detail and give an appropriate diet for preventing heart disease.
• Vegetarianism Explained: Reading this book is a must for those considering a plant-based diet. I explain all the dangers of this choice and how animal and plant foods really work in the human body. Misguided vegetarianism has become a major cause of physical and mental illness, particularly among young people. Getting full informa­tion about all the consequences of vegetarianism is essential before making such a life-changing decision.
• GAPS Stories: This book compiles testimonies of recovery from a long list of physical and mental illnesses in people who followed the GAPS Nutritional Protocol. This book gives hope to people with chronic illnesses, many of which may have been pronounced “incurable.”

The books have been translated into many languages.¹³

GAPS TRAINING COURSES

GAPS Training provides a number of training courses for people who are interested in GAPS.¹⁴ These high-quality courses run online, and thousands of people from all over the world have enjoyed them over the years.

CERTIFIED GAPS PRACTITIONER (CGP) COURSE: This course is for established health practitioners who would like to get trained in how to implement the GAPS Nutritional Protocol with great effect. At present, the course is available in English and Turkish; the GAPS team is working on translating it into French, Italian, German and Spanish. Visit the list of qualified CGPs all over the world.¹⁵

CERTIFIED GAPS COACHES (CGC) COURSE: This course is for those who have personal experience with the GAPS diet. You do not otherwise need any prior training to join this course. CGCs are trained to provide hands-on help in implementing the GAPS diet correctly. Visit the list of qualified CGCs.¹⁶

GETTING STARTED ON GAPS: This course is for those who need help starting the protocol at home. This course is run by highly experienced GAPS practitioners who will take you through the whole GAPS Nutritional Protocol at your own pace, answering all your questions and giving help as needed.

BABY GAPS COURSE: This course is for those who are planning to have a baby or already have a child. It will allow you to avoid common mistakes and make sure that your baby grows healthy and robust.

GAPS FUSSY EATERS AND MEAL-TIME MANAGEMENT COURSE: Many children and adults are fussy with food, which is one of the symptoms of GAPS. This course is run by very experienced GAPS practitioners to help you to over­come this problem.

ENEMA MASTERCLASS COURSE: Cleansing enemas are used in the GAPS Nutritional Protocol and can be very helpful. This course will teach you everything you need to know about this ancient healing method, so you can use it with confidence and great effect.

ELECTRO-POLLUTION FIX COURSE: EMFs from modern electronic devices can have a profound effect on human health, particularly in sensitive people. This course will teach you how to protect yourself and your loved ones from this damage.

GAPS CERTIFIED COOKING EDUCATOR TRAINING and MEAT STOCK MASTERCLASS COURSE: These new train­ing courses are under development. They will be available soon, and people are already signing up for them.

ADDITIONAL GAPS RESOURCES

GAPS SCIENCE FOUNDATION: To establish the GAPS Nutritional Protocol in the professional community, we started publishing scientific studies in peer-reviewed journals showing the effectiveness of this protocol. Three papers have been published so far, and our team of researchers is working hard on our next publication. The GAPS Science Foundation is a charity, and we invite you to support us (you will find a link for donations on the GAPS Science Foundation website).¹⁷

GAPS ONLINE CONFERENCES: Online conferences have proven to be very successful and easy for people to attend. We run them every year, providing new information and tools to assist people in using the GAPS Nutritional Protocol effectively. We had our third annual GAPS Online Conference, “GAPS in the Real World: Tips for a Transformational Life Experience,” in February 2023. The recordings are still available. If you are interested in purchasing a GAPS Online Conference 2023 REPLAY ticket, e-mail the GAPS Team (info@gapsoncon.com). The 2024 online conference will focus on children—their health and physical, mental and spiritual development, and their place in our modern world.¹⁸

GAPS YOUTH MOVEMENT: The GAPS Youth Movement (GYM) is a new project. The goal of this movement is to create a worldwide network of young people (ages ten to twenty-eight) who want to implement the GAPS lifestyle. Many young people today are struggling with health challenges, and this platform will help them make better food and lifestyle choices. To join, go to www.GAPS.me and scroll to the bottom of the page, where you will find a form to subscribe to the mailing list. You will receive updates about the GAPS Youth Movement as we develop and build this community.

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REFERENCES

1. Faintuch J, Faintuch S. Microbiome and Metabolome in Diagnosis, Therapy, and Other Strategic Applications. Elsevier Inc., 2019.
2. Sender R, Fuchs S, Milo R. Revised estimates for the number of human and bacteria cells in the body. PLoS Biol. 2016;14(8):e1002533.
3. NHS treating record number of young people for eating disorders. NHS England, Mar. 7, 2022. https://www.england.nhs.uk/2022/03/nhs-treating-record-number-of-young-people-for-eating-disorders/
4. Petkova H, Simic M, Nicholls D, et al. Incidence of anorexia nervosa in young people in the UK and Ireland: a national surveillance study. BMJ Open. 2019;9(10):e027339.
5. Gerber R. Vibrational Medicine: The #1 Handbook of Subtle-Energy Therapies. Bear & Company, 2001.
6. Sheldrake R. The Science Delusion: Freeing the Spirit of Enquiry. Coronet, 2012.
7. Beri K. A future perspective for regenerative medicine: understanding the concept of vibrational medicine. Future Sci OA. 2018;4(3):FSO274.
8. Rubik B, Muehsam D, Hammerschlag R, et al. Biofield science and healing: history, terminology, and concepts. Glob Adv Health Med. 2015;4(Suppl):8-14.
9. Seth AK. The grand challenge of consciousness. Front Psychol. 2010;1:5.
10. Lipton BH. The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles. Hay House Inc., 2008.
11. McTaggart L. The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe. Harper­Collins Publishing, 2003.
12. www.gaps.me and www.Doctor-Natasha.com
13. www.gaps.me/where-to-buy-the-book
14. www.GAPStraining.com
15. https://www.gaps.me/find-a-gaps-practitioner.php
16. https://www.gaps.me/find-a-gaps-coach.php
17. www.gapssciencefoundation.org
18. www.GAPSOnCon.com

This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Winter 2023

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