The GAPS intro diet

What the GAPS Intro diet is

The Gut and Psychology Syndrome introduction diet is a diet focused on intensive rest and healing for the gut lining, as well as slow introduction of fermented foods to repopulate it with friendly microorganisms.

See: Recipes for the GAPS Intro Diet

Different ways to use the GAPS Intro

Some, as we did, start the ‘intro diet’ right as we are starting GAPS, others go on ‘full GAPS’ for a while and then  go down to the introduction diet. If you are overwhelmed, this may be the better choice as doing full GAPS will help you see improvements without being so restrictive.

Now, after my daughter has been on GAPS for a year, I wanted to put all three of us on the intro diet for a month before we went into warmer weather.  Re-going on the intro diet after being on GAPS for a while can give you increased healing and can help get rid of any health symptoms that you didn’t get rid of the first time around.

As a baby, my son had eczema, but when we went on GAPS intro when he was 11 months, it wasn’t seen again until this winter (over a year later) when it’s starting a tiny bit again.  So I’m curious to see if running through the intro diet can get rid of those symptoms.

It’s not that eczema is a serious condition, but I know that it’s a symptoms of some underlying imbalance in his little body, and I’d like to do what I can to correct it.

Most of you know that we primarily are doing the GAPS diet for my little girl with autism, and we have seen great results with her on it so far- but we’re always wanting more healing for her, so I hope she can make leaps of progress as well with this repeat intro portion of the diet.

To Heal Allergies

I also would like my children to be less sensitive to diary- my son sleeps better when he’s off dairy, and my daughtergets ‘allergic shiners’ (dark undereyes) which are a symptom of a dairy allergy (yes, even with raw, even with cultured, even with goat! Though we haven’t been able to find raw goat milk to try yet, but we did tryculturing goat milk from the store) The last time we went through the introduction portion of the diet I was able to heal my dairy allergy in just a few weeks- which has been great!

Meal Plans

I have a 30-day meal plan for the Intro Diet, and for that I summarized from the GAPS book  what is allowed on each stage, which I’ll share below.  I wouldGAPS Book not try to do the intro diet without first reading the GAPS book and understanding the philosophy of the diet, I know the book is expensive, but it costs less than even one doctor’s visit :)  You can purchase the GAPS book here.

Breastfeeding? Pregnant? Learn more about GAPS while pregnant or breastfeeding here

GAPS Diet Intro Stages

You can eat on stage 1:

• Meat or fish stock
• Well boiled broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onions, leeks
• Squash, winter and summer
• Boiled meat
• Sea salt,
• 1-2 teaspoons a day of sauerkraut juice

GAPS Intro Stage 1 Recipes

Stage 2

You can eat on Stage 2:

• Meat or fish stock
• Well boiled GAPS-legal vegetables (no starchy root vegetables)
• Squash, winter and summer
• Boiled meat
• Sea salt
• Fresh herbs
• Fermented vegetables; sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles
• Fermented fish
• Egg yolk, organic, carefully separated from the white
• Homemade ghee
• Stews and casseroles made with meat and vegetables

GAPS Intro Stage 2 Recipes

Stage 3

You can eat on Stage 3:

• Meat or fish stock
• Well boiled GAPS-legal vegetables (no starchy root vegetables)
• Squash, winter and summer
• Boiled meat
• Sea salt
• Fresh herbs
• Fermented vegetables; saurkraut, kimchi, pickles
• Fermented fish
• Egg yolk, organic, carefully separated from the white
• Homemade ghee
• Stews and casseroles made with meat and vegetables
• Ripe avocado mashed into soups, starting with 1-3 teaspoons a day
• Pancakes made with nutbutter, squash, and eggs- fried in fat or ghee, start with one a day
• Scrambled eggs made with ghee and served with avocado if tolerated and cooked vegetables.

GAPS Intro Stage 3 Recipes

Stage 4

You can eat on Stage 4:

• Meat or fish stock
• Well boiled GAPS-legal vegetables (no starchy root vegetables)
• Squash, winter and summer
• Boiled, roasted, or grilled meat (not burned)
• Sea salt
• Fresh herbs
• Cold pressed olive oil
• Fermented vegetables; saurkraut, kimchi, pickles
• Fermented fish
• Egg yolk, organic, carefully separated from the white
• Homemade ghee
• Stews and casseroles made with meat and vegetables
• Ripe avocado mashed into soups, starting with 1-3 teaspoons a day
• Pancakes made with nutbutter, squash, and eggs- fried in fat or ghee, start with one a day
• Scrambled eggs made with ghee and served with avocado if tolerated and cooked vegetables.
• Freshly pressed juices, start with a few tablespoons of carrot juice
• Bread made with nut flour, eggs, squash, tolerated fat, salt

GAPS Intro Stage 4 Recipes

You can eat on Stage 5:

• Meat or fish stock
• Raw legal vegetables, peeled
• Squash, winter and summer
• Peeled, cooked apple, pureed
• Honey, up to a couple tablespoons a day
• Boiled, roasted, or grilled meat (not burned)
• Sea salt
• Fresh herbs
• Cold pressed olive oil
• Fermented vegetables; saurkraut, kimchi, pickles
• Fermented fish
• Egg yolk, organic, carefully separated from the white
• Homemade ghee
• Stews and casseroles made with meat and vegetables
• Ripe avocado mashed into soups, starting with 1-3 teaspoons a day
• Pancakes made with nutbutter, squash, and eggs- fried in fat or ghee, start with one a day
• Scrambled eggs made with ghee and served with avocado if tolerated and cooked vegetables.
• Freshly pressed juices, carrot, mint, cabbage, lettuce, apple, pineapple, mango
• Bread made with nut flour, eggs, squash, tolerated fat, salt

GAPS Intro Stage 5 Recipes

Stage 6

You can eat on Stage 6:

• Meat or fish stock
• Raw legal vegetables, peeled
• Squash, winter and summer
• Peeled, raw apple
• Other fruits, raw, introduce slowly
• Honey, up to a couple tablespoons a day
• Boiled, roasted, or grilled meat (not burned)
• Sea salt
• Fresh herbs
• Cold pressed olive oil
• Fermented vegetables; saurkraut, kimchi, pickles
• Fermented fish
• Egg yolk, organic, carefully separated from the white
• Homemade ghee
• Stews and casseroles made with meat and vegetables
• Ripe avocado mashed into soups, starting with 1-3 teaspoons a day
• Pancakes made with nutbutter, squash, and eggs- fried in fat or ghee, start with one a day
• Scrambled eggs made with ghee and served with avocado if tolerated and cooked vegetables.
• Freshly pressed juices, carrot, mint, cabbage, lettuce, apple, pineapple, mango
• Bread made with nut flour, eggs, squash, tolerated fat, salt- use dates and dried fruit to sweeten.

GAPS Intro Stage 6 Recipes

GAPS intro stages

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