GAPS makes your taste buds grow up! :)
I ate cauliflower tonight–and broccoli last week! I know, that shouldn’t be a big deal, right? But it is for me–I have never liked cauliflower or broccoli.
Lots of people ask me how we get our kids to eat so many veggies on GAPS. Almost every morning, they will eat some sort of egg dish with veggies in it. Our dinners consist of meats and veggies, and maybe some beans. Every. Single. Day. And they eat it! How did we do it? And the even bigger question, how did we get me, their mom, to do it? 🙂
We took out the sugar.
Yup. That’s our secret.
If you’re finding that you (or your kids) are:
- disliking most vegetables
- craving sweets most of the time
- not enjoying water–you need something sweeter
- feeling like you "need" a lot of bread
- thinking that real food looks yucky
- eating mostly high-carb foods because that’s what you prefer
then, you’ve got a yeast problem. Yeast feeds on sugar. Yeast tells your body "feed me more!" Yeast doesn’t like vegetables. If you don’t like vegetables, it’s the yeast talking. If you’re craving sweets, it’s the yeast talking. I’m going to be impolite here (and my kids would say I’m swearing), but goodness, tell the yeast to shut up! 🙂
It took me 3 days on GAPS to stop craving sugar. 3 days. That’s all! And over time, as my body has been healing, I am craving vegetables and eating many that I never would have touched before.
As a kid, the only veggies I would eat were:
- canned green beans
- canned asparagus
- canned green peas
- carrots (fresh-not cooked)
- canned creamed corn (this was my favorite because it was sweet)
- potatoes, only if they were mashed
I think that’s pretty much it. And even with those, I remember many-a-nights sitting there, refusing to eat my vegetables (and they were even worse cold! Especially the canned kinds!). I had a yeast problem, obviously!
I added a few more veggies than that into our menus after The Farmer and I got married, only because I felt like I should. But I also thought I should add something carby/starchy, and I always preferred more of that than my meat or veggies. Since going on GAPS, though, I eat A LOT of veggies. My gut has been healing over the last year and a half, and now I choose to eat vegetables because I like to (and I know they’re good for me)! Here is a list of some of the veggies that we eat (and ENJOY!):
- zucchini (other than just in zucchini bread!)
- summer squash-all types
- winter squash (spaghetti squash, acorn, butternut, buttercup, delicata, patty pan, hubbard, etc., etc.!)
- spinach
- bell peppers (I couldn’t stand these before GAPS. Now I CRAVE them! Cooked, raw, whatever!)
- other peppers-sweet, spicy, whatever!
- mushrooms
- onions (mmmm…cooked onions)
- cabbage
- tomatoes
- tomatillos
- cucumbers
- broccoli
- cauliflower
- artichokes
- fresh or frozen green beans
- fresh or frozen peas (sugar snap, shelling peas, snow peas)
- all types of lettuce
- arugula
- kale
- swiss chard
- brussels sprouts
- carrots (not baby carrots–just the real deal)
- celery
and I’m sure there are more….If you saw what I would choose to eat before, you would know that this is a big improvement! See, my taste buds are growing up!
This post was shared at Real Food Wednesday.
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8 Comments
Debbie Johnson
Thanks for the insight here on yeast. That describes my husband spot on. It is frustrating because even my making small healthy changes to not be “nagging” are undermined by the subconscious choosing of the yelling yeast. He has good intentions, but no success losing excess weight and belly fat. We both turn 60 this year and I’m seriously concerned that the future does not look good healthwise at this rate. Just got Nourishing Traditions and hope some of the research on nutrition will make an impact. Things MUST change if he wants to see the grandkid’s weddings.
Jamie
Yeast is a terrible, tiny beast! When I was completely sugar free, I had zero yeast issues and I craved things like grapes and carrots instead of baked goods… Once I started eating a little sugar here and a little there, I started having yeast flares and craving sweets like crazy. Now, I’m back in the detox… bye-bye sugar. After a couple days, I am happy with strawberry slices and 1 tsp of raw honey in my gf oats (I know, I know…). DH has major yeast issues but refuses to change his 2-3 soda/day and candy snacking habits. 🙂
Carrie W.
I totally agree with this one! Case in point: Brussels sprouts. I used to think they tasted vile but after two months off sugar I tried them again and they are now one of my favorite foods (even above chocolate)! I also think that learning to be liberal with the fats and sea salt drastically improves the flavor of all veg.
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Magda
This describes my 7 year old to a T. I cannot get him to eat any veggies, no matter what I try… DH is going to be revamping his diet when he gets back from a trip next weekend so I’m hoping his example will rub off.. At least we’ll have no junk in the house!! Thanks for posting. I love GAPS!!
Leah
Hi i know this is an old post , but wonderful info. I am on Gaps intro , but the family will join me in november after a move and a wedding. I wanted to know if you had any die off signs for a while after starting intro ?? I am experiencing some . Is there anything else you know to do to kill yeast?
Tara
This is so true! I’ve always been adventurous with fruit and vegetables (thanks Mom!) but the one thing I could never tolerate was spicy food. Now I crave it!
Nicfish
I am glad to hear this since I have the taste buds of a 5 year old. I will be starting GAPS soon.