Page 65 - Spring2013

All Thumbs Book Reviews

GAPS Stories that he was full when he had in fact eaten very
Compiled by Medinform Publishing little. When his favorite foods were removed,
he first became angry, then listless, refusing his
Most expectant parents look forward to rais- nourishing soup. . . this went on for ten days. “I
ing a healthy child, never imagining any serious just wanted so badly to feed him waffles, and
problems; they picture a happy family life and pancakes and fruit, and everything his body was
a child who eats well, grows normally, meets craving, the way heroin addicts long for their fix,”
his milestones, and brings surprise and delight said his mother. On the tenth night of the ordeal,
to his parents. Sadly, more and more frequently Alex came round. When offered the bowl of soup
these days this happy dream is blighted by the he said, “I’ll try it.” “My husband and I sat there,
kinds of problems our children suffer coming spoon-feeding him, and crying. He ate two full
from several generations of poor diets, sterile bowls before falling asleep.”
food and a vaccination policy gone mad. Severe Getting a child to eat fermented foods is of-
pickiness, crying from colic (sometimes eighteen ten a turning point. Matthew’s behavior followed
hours per day), vomiting on eating, cessation of a pattern, degenerating every six weeks. “His
growth, severe constipation, lack of verbal de- aggressive tactics destroyed plates and bowls of
velopment, hyperactivity, obsessive-compulsive food, which he swept to the floor. Worse, he was
behavior, tics, severe anxiety, anger, screaming, skilled in using projectile vomiting against fam-
seizures, self-destructive behaviors, difficulty ily members and their dinners. . . One evening. .
sleeping and night terrors—all these and more . he suddenly leaped up, stood on his chair, and
wreak havoc on family life, creating a living delivered a full-scale scream into my left ear.
hell for parents and siblings, one that cannot be Matthew inhaled readying himself to deliver
imagined unless you have lived it yourself. another sonic blast. Instinctively, I grabbed a
These are the kinds of stories told in GAPS large pickled cucumber from a serving plate, and
Stories, and all of these stories have a happy inserted it into his cavernous mouth. Silence!. . .
ending, thanks to the GAPS diet developed Through tears, I watched as Matthew’s contorted,
by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. The diet rage-bloated face relaxed. He grabbed the pickle,
eliminates hard-to-digest disaccharide sugars inspected it, and took a huge bite. His face soft-
found in grains, potatoes and unfermented dairy ened, his smile angelic—this was the face of a
products, and helps restore health to the gut with stranger, a sweet child previously unknown to us.
bone broths, meat and organ meats, cod liver I sat down at the table with my exhausted family,
oil, probiotic supplements and lacto-fermented our dinners forgotten, as we watched Matthew
foods. cherishing each and every bite of the traditional All of these
The hardest part of the transition to a new half-sour cucumber. He turned to me, and asked stories have a
diet comes in the beginning phase, as parents for more, even using the word, ‘Please!’”
withhold the high-carbohydrate foods their child The switch to the GAPS diet often turns happy ending,
is addicted to, and try to introduce nourishing out to be a blessing for the whole family. One thanks to the
soups, meats and fats, foods to which their picky mother surmises that she might have ended up GAPS diet
eaters have an aversion. Consider, for example, in jail, given her tendency to “snap and lose it.”
the story of the incredibly picky Alex, addicted She foresaw a future in which her children were developed by

to only a few high-carb foods. Getting food into institutionalized, and her husband debilitated by Dr. Natasha
Alex was a daily nightmare. He would insist on surgery for his diseased bowel. All resolved by Campbell-
cutting an avocado into seventy-two bites, for ex- replacing high-carb junk food with homemade
ample, gagging frequently and often complaining soups, fresh meats, good fats and other nourish- McBride.

Wise Traditions SPRING 2013 SPRING 2013 Wise Traditions 65