GAPS Diet & Nutrition,  GAPS Stage 1,  Recipes,  The GAPS Diet

Eat What You Need on the GAPS Intro

Excuse the blurry picture, I took it on my iphone! This is Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride at the 2011 Weston A Price Foundation Conference in Dallas, TX. I got to sit in the very front row for an entire day, listening to this brilliant doctor. She is my favorite doctor, EVER. ๐Ÿ™‚

I took 40 pages of notes, front and back, at this conference!!! AND I bought the set of mp3’s so that I can hear it all again and also listen to the sessions I did not attend. I’ve got several post ideas in mind, to share what I learned. For now, I want to give you a nugget of wisdom that I learned from Dr. Natasha.

Eat what you’re craving, no matter what stage you are on.

If you are on Stage 1 and you’re craving a tomato, listen to your body.

This was good for me to hear, because when we were doing the Intro, my body craved CHEESE. My body thrives on raw dairy, and I feel like I need it. Have a mentioned that I have a small mouth & it takes me forever to chew meat? I just can’t get everything I need from meats & veggies because I can’t chew quickly enough (I guess, unless, I want to stop everything and eat all day!). Dairy is a great way for me to get what I need–I can chew it easily (or plop some sour cream in my soup!) and I feel good. I feel nourished, and satisfied when I have dairy.

So, eat what your body needs. Your body is SMART (after all, it was created in the image of an Intelligent Designer!). ๐Ÿ™‚ You don’t have to say that you were “cheating” on the diet and feel guilty because you skipped ahead a bit. If your body needs it, eat it!

There are exceptions to this, however! The exceptions would be:

  • grains
  • refined sugars
  • starchy vegetables like potatoes and corn

Because frankly, you don’t need them!

Dr. Natasha said: “I haven’t seen a patient who needs grains. We can get carbohydrates from vegetables.”

So, if you’re on the Intro, you don’t have to be religious about the introduction schedule. Eat the foods your body needs–if you’re avoiding sugar and foods that turn into sugar in the body, your body will know exactly what you need. Listen, and eat!

Does this help you? Are you excited to learn this? What do you think about this idea?

 

This post was shared at Fat Tuesday.

22 Comments

    • brenda

      Mira, me too! I asked if I could take the training and they said no. ๐Ÿ™ You have to be a nutritionist, dr., nurse, or have some kind of title behind your name to take the training. I guess “mom” and “blogger” didn’t cut it! ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Emily

    Thanks for sharing this, Brenda! Sounds like such an amazing experience you had! Dr. Natasha is, in my opinion, one of the top MDs in the world. I love that she emphasizes to honor body wisdom. I took extensive notes at the GAPS training too, including gems of quotes from her, like this one. Body wisdom combined with GAPS wisdom is such a winning combination!

  • Brenda

    This is onderful to know. Thank you so much for all your work educating yourself on this diet. You have been a greqt encouragment and insperation to our family!
    We can not wait to hear what else you learned. What a blessing that you got to go! I am excited for you!

  • guest

    This is interesting. I’m wondering though if all Gaps foods are allowed to eat if a craving comes. eg During intro, I craved and still do, nuts, honey and dried fruit. I’m not sure if these are ok to eat too much of though. What do you think?

  • Kristina

    I have been doing that ever since I started GAPS on Labor Day. I attended a “champagne and sweets” party last night and was a bit tempted to try some things – it was grain city at their house! – but I just headed for the one plate of cheese on a nearby counter and nibbled on that. The hostess told me that I “looked great – different – healthy” and a couple of others said something similar later on in the evening. I told them about GAPS and shared your website. I have never felt better – truly better! I feel younger (I’m 53), have more energy, my skin is no longer dry, my hair and nails look wonderful, I feel calmer, no more gas or bloat, and I’m sleeping very soundly. I am so excited about this program! Thank you for sharing all that you do. My family is also eating GAPS and they love it. Keep it all coming, especially over the holidays when lots of junk abounds!

    • brenda

      Kristina, good for you, nibbling on cheese with so much temptation in the room! I am glad you are feeling so much better on GAPS! Don’t you just want to tell the world??? ๐Ÿ™‚ That is why I blog! ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Utopiachick2004

    This doesn’t actually make sense to me for SOME people. Like often kids with autism will crave the food they are sensitive to eating, such as diary or eggs or even certain foods or vegetables.

    • Amcken3

      I crave the foods that are killing me…but it makes TOTAL sense because grains have a candida effect on the body and when the candida yeast starts dying off it SCREAMS for more so it can keep the population of bad yeast up…so in my case I have to discern which craving are healthy and which are unhealthy…the obsessive SCREAMING cravings are typically the unhealthy ones (the cravings that cause my mood to swing) the cravings that feel gentle and consistent but don’t cause me distress are the healthy ones…just one person’s perspective here.

  • Utopiachick2004

    I’d like to know the definition of craving something vs not having had certain items in months (GAPS legal ones) and just wanting really badly to eat them.

    • brenda

      HI Utopiachick, thanks for the question! I know, that’s a tough call. I’d say, if you keep desiring a (GAPS legal) food over and over, you should probably just eat it. ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Savandra

    Wow, this is amazing to read tonight, after I did just this!! I have been on intro only six days, but had no digestive problems and was prepared to move through it fairly quickly. I’ve been very disciplined for these six days, however, which is a big deal as this is a radically new diet for me and the first time I’ve tried it. It’s important to me to heal any possible leaky gut I I may have. I’m on stage 2-3 of the Intro Diet, and tonight I just craved chocolate. So I made Chocolate Avocado Banana Pudding, and it was such a relief! Then I read this post, another relief ๐Ÿ™‚ Because I really don’t want to blow this.

  • Nyema

    My little one is having a hard time. Well he appears to be having a hard time without the carbs. He’s really lethargic and will lay on the floor from being so weak. He’s also under weight. We are on day 3 of the GAPS Intro. Will a little fruit hurt? Maybe oranges or apples?

  • Lu Al

    I need clarification on eating bone broth versus meat broth in GAPS intro diet. When can I eat bone broth? Its made with bones that are soaked in water with apple cider vinegar for 30 minutes before boiling then simmer for 6-24 hours. Dr Natasha does not specify in her book. She has no means to ask her this question. Hilary Boynton + Mary Brackett specify eating it ONLY in Full GAPS (pg12). I am on GAPS diet since 14 Jan 2017 entering phase 2. Problem to heal is leaky gut, severe constipation and bloating. Thank you.

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