We have been easing our way onto the GAPS diet for the past three weeks. By Monday we'll be 100% GAPS. All that remains is our raw milk – the only difficult piece for me to give up. Once I do it I know how easy it will be, so Monday is the day. I need a deadline or I'll drag it out forever.
What has changed in the past three weeks since we cut grains, complex carbohydrates, and sugar? Tons.
Lupine's face rash that she has had on and off since she was 1 1/2 is gone. (She has never been without it for more than a few days.) Sage's daily belly aches are gone. No more ending meals curled up on the couch or getting out of bed at night for a remedy. My eczema is nearly gone, and Pete's sugar cravings are disappearing.
Oh, and we like the food better. Really. Even Pete. Even the kids. They are raving at every meal about how much better the mountains of vegetables taste than the grains ever did. It has a certain twilight zone factor when you've been cajoling them into eating vegetables for years and now they're begging for thirds.
What does GAPS food look like? This morning it looked like this:
Pancakes made with pureed winter squash, almond butter, eggs, and a pinch of salt. These may be the best pancakes I've eaten in my entire life. (The recipe is from Internal Bliss.) Yes, with food this nourishing you forget that you ever ate wheat to begin with.
Remind me again – I'm suppose to miss grains why exactly? Actually, never mind. Grains are feeling pretty irrelevant right now.
It truly is amazing to see what happens when you get outside of the heavy-on-the-grains diet that most of us eat. I eat less. I have more energy. No yeast breakouts for my boys. Less grumpiness all around. So glad your family found GAPS.
Wow!!! My daughter has gluten issues, so we’re (pretty much) a wheat-free family, but I don’t know if I could go completely grain free! At least not right now (with a 1 year old).
how interesting! do you have any links to GAP information that you would be willing to share? i’m beginning to question the impact of grains in my life, and i would love to learn more!
cheers,
stephanie
Ooh, any chance you could share that recipe? Those pancakes look delicious. After the sugar-laden holidays, I went on a mini-cleanse that is essentially the GAPS diet and I’ve felt SO much better. Thanks for sharing your experience with it so far!
Thanks 🙂
Me, too, Shannon. When I did Specific Cabs a few years ago (which is essentially the same food as GAPS) I was amazed at the fast, dramatic changes in my health.
Best,
Rachel
Kim,
It is easier than when we ate grains, since we used a traditional foods approach to grains and soaked for 24 hours before eating. And we truly dont miss them!
~ Rachel
Stephanie,
I recommend the book GAPS guide, or look around this website: http://www.gapsdiet.com/
Look through the links on the left. Good luck!
~ Rachel
Em,
1 C pureed cooked squash
1 C nut butter (these were almond)
5 eggs separated, whites whipped to soft peaks
Pinch of salt
Combine all but whites. Fold in whites and cook on med-low heat.
🙂
Rachel
Rachel,
I’m totally inspired, and amazed at how all us skinny thirty somethings are all tummy-aching from our beans and rice diets. You nailed it in your previous post. I have this conversation all the time, and I appreciate your honest relating of your expereince.
I raise a lacto-fermented soda to toast you! (Is that allowed in GAPS?) 🙂
Alyssa,
Ha! If all of the sugars are consumed by the lacto-fermenting bacteria then I think yes. 🙂 Cheers!
~ Rachel
Thank you so much for your posts on the GAPS diet. My family is just getting ready to start and your posts are so helpful!
Im so glad, Alexandria. Ill keep sharing our journey as we go.
Blessings on your new food adventure!
~ Rachel
Hi, cooking these this morning. They seem a bit more temperamental than the banana/nut butter ones. I’m curious as to what you cooked them on/in? Yours look perfect! Mine are blotchy. Mind you I didn’t follow the recipe exactly (ingredients yes but proportions no) so maybe that’s why. I cooked mine in a cast iron fry pan. Temp is difficult to regulat. We’re 3 weeks into the main GAPS diet (getting used to it before doing the Intro) and feeling fantastic. – Filippa (HomeLifeGreenLife.com)
Hi Flippa,
Yes, they are a bit fussier than the PB/Banannas but I much prefer the texture (more fluffy/less rubbery). When I stray from the proportions in the recipe mine turn into a mess and they are a nightmare to flip. When I follow the recipe they are brilliant! I too cook in cast iron, a skillet with no sides so that might make flipping easier. Cook on a lower heat and give them more time to cook before you flip than you would have with grains. That should help.
We are jumping in and getting use to the food too before doing the intro diet too. Once were rolling for a while well back up and start with the intro. I think that is important for the kids in particular so that GAPS doesnt feel like suffering. Which it isnt! I didnt mention that on the blog because most people dont know GAPS and I didnt want to get into the details of the intro diet. 🙂 We are week four. Intro diet soon I think.
Stay in touch on your journey!
Blessings,
Rachel
so cool, rachel. i am inspired! hope you all continue enjoying and feeling wonderfully. i would loooove to see your gaps meal schedule if you’re keeping one! or a post about gaps snacks would be awesome! best to you!
Hi Kendra,
I will share it soon. It is (for me anyway) much easier than what we were doing before, so I have created a weekly rhythm for meals that we follow loosely all month. I will share. As for snacks, I found Sage sitting down with left over beets this morning. Surreal. But we make flax seed crackers, we eat sliced Organic Valley smoked turkey (no sugar or other weirdness in that one), apple dip (nut butter, cinnamon, and grated apple) on carrots/celery, red peppers and tuna salad, nut/date balls (recipe on my blog), and veggies or fruit. Hope that helps!
~ Rachel
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so cool, rachel. i am inspired! hope you all continue enjoying and feeling wonderfully. i would loooove to see your gaps meal schedule if youre keeping one! or a post about gaps snacks would be awesome! best to you!
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Skeptical? Mildly. And if it weren’t for your pics, I would probably have dismissed this. But yours looked delicious!! So we just tried them. I mean JUST. I haven’t even done the dishes yet. I cannot tell you how impressed I am. These are sooo YUMMY!! Seriously! I can’t believe how good they are. And that texture! Very excited to be slipping a little vegetable into our morning meal. Is all GAPS food this good, or is this a coincidence? I have to ask. Will you share one more recipe?
Lynne,
So glad you made the leap. Doesnt seem possible, does it? To transform squash into pure pancake yumminess like that? Now that is kitchen alchemy. And, um, yes. To me all of the food is this good. Especially the key lime pie. As for sharing more recipes I will share my own as I develop them, I promise!
~ Rachel
just found a linky to a local trad. foods gone gaps blog i thought you all might enjoy – more gaps recipe blogs in her side bar: http://cookinggaps.wordpress.com
Sweet! Thanks, Kendra.
~Rachel
Hi Rachel,
I stumbled onto your website. I am preparing to put our family on the Gaps diet starting with the intro in a few months. We have been transitioning for awhile. I am trying to learn and get ready. These pancakes look really good. The holistic nutritionist I am working with who is recommending I go on the Gaps diet does not think I should try to add eggs back into my diet for quite awhile, as in months. Any ideas on what I could use in place of eggs in these pancakes? Also, any tips for starting the Gaps diet? I have 3 children 5,3,and 1. I am nervous about the amount of work it is going to be. Any thoughts or tips would be so appreciated! Egg free ideas for breakfast…snack ideas for the kids when they are at church etc. Thank you. Mary
hi,
Thanks for the recipe. I have just started GAPS. I also have a mold illness from living in moldy house so I am worried about the nut butters. I will react to them. Wondering about coconut butter (coconut creme concentrate) as a substitute for the pure nut butter.
Hoping i can get away with it, that it will taste good and be the right consistency , not melt on contact.
Any input or suggestions?
The egg question above is also a pod one for me as well
any nut butter “less” moldy than another?
thanks
denise
Coconut butter is more like a dairy butter than a nut butter. I would suggest just leaving out nuts and seeds until you feel you can handle them. You could also look into paleo recipes for pancakes. Sometimes you can find them calling for coconut flour and eggs rather than nuts or seeds.
Could you make these as waffles?
Hi Sara,
You could certainly try, but Im not sure they would work. There is a gaps-legal (or easily adaptable) recipe in Brittany Angells cookbook Every Last Crumb.