From Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride's site:
• If all the previous foods are well tolerated try to add cooked apple as an apple pure: peel and core ripe cooking apples and stew them with a bit of water until soft. When cooked add some ghee to it and mash with a potato masher. If ghee has not been introduced yet add duck or goose fat. Start from a few spoonfuls a day. Watch for any reaction. If there is none gradually increase the amount.
• Add raw vegetables starting from softer parts of lettuce and peeled cucumber. Watch your patient’s stool. Again start from a small amount and gradually increase if well tolerated. After those two vegetables are well tolerated gradually add other raw vegetables: carrot, tomato, onion, cabbage, etc.
• If the juice made from carrot, celery, lettuce and mint is well tolerated, start adding fruit to it: apple, pineapple and mango. Avoid citrus fruit at this stage.
I haven't had a chance to update lately. I went through a bad patch last week. Experiencing depression, which I believe was related to die off.
I really don't have time to make a good update tonight. The depression peaked on Saturday and I wrote a plea to the list for help with what was wrong with me.
I got back several supportive and helpful replies. I hadn't had a detox bath in days, so I determined that was one thing to do to help myself. Of course our water heater timer is off its schedule, so there was no hot water. I had to turn it to the on position (bless my dear husband for putting the switch right next to the electrical panel instead of by the water heater which is where I thought it would have to go originally) and wait about twenty minutes. I used epsom salts.
I also remembered to take Kava Kava. Before starting on GAPS, I was taking Kava Kava frequently, sometimes every day for several days in a row, and sometimes twice daily. I had to order three bottles from Amazon (best price but at the rate I was going through it I figured may as well stock up)!
However, like I said, once I began doing GAPS, I have only had to take 5 or 6 capsules. This is a great testament to the fact that I am feeling much less stressed and depressed. I'd totally forgotten how much Kava Kava I'd been taking prior to GAPS.
I also realized I had been forgetting to take my Flovent (asthma inhaler, corticosteroid). I have not had the chance to see if coming off this medication can cause depression. I know the corticosteroid stimulates/aids my adrenals, and I know the longer I am without it the worse my breathing will get so I started up on it again.
My hubby had a bad week, and I thought he was upset at me, and he thought I was upset at him. After we determined we aren't upset at each other, but I've been depressed and he had been in pain all week, he invited me out on a movie date for Sunday afternoon. Well, I'm always disappointed when I go to movies. I rarely like what I see, and it costs so much money and duh, the smells of popcorn are nearly too much to bear. I mean, why put myself into the situation when I can't have any? Plus, my husband hates just about any movie and he will go with me, but I know he'd just as soon not.
So… I decided to ask him if he wouldn't rather help me work on weeding my garden, which is one of the reasons I was feeling overwhelmed.
On Sunday morning, we spent two hours and we got a LOT accomplished. Of course, my husband works twice as fast as me, so what we accomplished together would have taken me three weeks by myself. See, I went out and bought plants, which I haven't done hardly ever. I usually grow anything from seed, and I have plenty of seeds to plant! But it just got too late so I decided to just go the buy the plants route, spending $24 on plants, and nowhere to put them in the garden due to the weeds! We have had a lot of rain this year and they were just out of control.
Let me see if I can put in just one set of before and after pics:
I didn't do the best job at getting exactly the same photo before and after, but close enough. Almost hard to imagine it is the same area, isn't it?
Here is the best part of this… two years ago, when I began gardening again after a three year hiatus, I was in such horrible shape physically that my back hurt just walking OUT to my garden. My feet also were aching horribly, so I could not stand and bend and squat like I needed to be able to do, for more than fifteen minutes at a time without having to take a rest.
Now last year I was decidedly better, but I do recall needing to take breaks.
This year, having been on GAPS nearly three months, I stood, bent over, squatted for two hours straight without sitting down once, and furthermore, I didn't sit down after finishing and take a break before going into the house like I would normally need to do.
My poor husband, on the other hand, had to sit down and rest his feet.
It was then he agreed to really make an effort to go to full GAPS for two weeks, to see if he can get his feet to stop hurting, like mine did.
I have had raw cucumber on Stage 5. The days have just zoomed by, so I am not even sure what I need to do or eat next.
Well, I had better get off this computer. I want to take a detox bath tonight.
How are you doing on GAPS? Where are you at in your journey?
Hi Starlene!
I have spent the last two days reading through your blog. I was actually going to email you tonight to see what you were up to since you had not updated in a while.
I can not believe those garden pics are of the same place. I spent Sunday working my garden space too.
I want to thank you for your honesty in sharing your GAPS experience on this blog. It is really helpful to me. I have been easing my self into the full GAPS experience for the last week, but would probably be better to do the introduction diet. You say that you have had depression as a result of the intro diet. Have you had any other side effects? How do you know you are ready to move on to the next stage? When nothing new gives you gas?
I have a question for you: how do you make your broth? I bought a chicken, boiled it for 13 hours, and spent the last hour picking the bones/skin out. Also, it was REALLY fatty. I would almost say it was liquid fat, not “brothy” like I am used to from a can. I drank a little less then a cup of it, it was just so rich!
Hi Kiki!
Are you on the GAPShelp list?
Thank you for visiting and commenting! I am honored that you have
spent so much time reading about my GAPS journey.
LOL, I was looking at my garden before and after pics and the sun had
shifted, so almost anything that would have been identical (like the
boards at the back) look different.
Depending on where you were at before starting GAPS, you are probably
wise to start at full GAPS. I know for myself personally, I thought I
was eating pretty healthily, but I was getting a lot of junk. It was
hard enough to do full GAPS (without dairy, I was only having butter).
I did have experience some depression last week which the responses on
the GAPShelp list all said was die off for sure. I guess when the bad
bacteria in our gut is dying off, it is releasing toxins which affect
us. Everything seemed bleak and I was alarmed to actually have
thoughts of suicide, which I have not experienced since I was 16 years
old. Just thoughts of how much easier it would be if I weren’t alive.
Which is actually quite unusual for me. I’m now 46, so it has been a
very long time since I have felt that badly mentally.
I can’t think of any other side effects right off the top of my head.
As I mentioned earlier in my GAPS journey I have actually felt less
depressed and negative. Before starting GAPS, I used to mutter to
myself how much I hated my life. Everything just seemed to difficult.
But that has eased up significantly. Before GAPS, I was taking quite
a bit of Kava Kava to deal with stress and had had a few anxiety
attacks. I still have a lot of stress in my life (some days I think
my job will kill me, lol) but I am not so bothered by it.
Keeping myself fed regularly definitely has a lot to do with my mood.
In the GAPS Guide, Baden says to do each stage 1-7 days or until you
feel ready to move on. During the first four stages, I don’t recall
having gas at all. Although I did notice having some in the last week
on Stage 5. It doesn’t hurt so I don’t consider it to be a problem.
Maybe I should, lol.
I usually boil a chicken until the meat is done, remove the meat and
put the bones, etc., back into the pot to cook a while more. Some
people cannot tolerate broth cooked for long periods of time,
apparently glutamates are released. I don’t seem to be bothered so I
will sometimes cook my broth for 12 hours.
Now my husband swears the way to make broth is to roast the chicken
first, pull off the meat and put the bones, etc., into water with the
normal things we use (celery, carrots, onion, garlic) and cook for
several hours.
It is normal for there to be a lot of fat – I just swirl it into the
broth and drink it.
I was fat phobic for many years of my life, having dieted low fat from
29 to 33yo. I am no longer concerned about it, but I know it takes
some adjusting to get over the concerns. The fats are apparently very
important for healing the gut.
When I have my broth each morning, I drink two cups, and there is
often about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of fat at the top. I just swirl the cup
with a spoon to mix it into the lower part of the broth. To think I
used to skim that all off and throw it away!!
I hope I’ve helped to answer your questions this morning. Now I gotta run! 🙂
Thanks again for reading my blog and commenting!!
Best,
Starlene
Good morning Starlene,
I am not on the GAPS list. Do you mean the yahoo group? I will do that today.
Your die off sounds an awful lot like me on my “bad days”. I am generally cheerful but in the last few years I have had more and more episodes of “It would just be so much easier to die”. I would actually say that to my self and be very stressed strained in general. I am happy to know that those negative feelings may not be me talking, but the toxic residue in my body.
Yes I guess I am a little bit fat phobic! My eating plan prior to this is Dr. Fuhrman’s “Eat to Live”, which is vegan low starch, low fat! So GAPS is a very different animal then that way of thinking. The two plans have in common that grains should be limited ( Dr Fuhrman would have you limit potatoes of all kinds and even winter squash to a degree), but ETL really pushes the beans. I found that I did pretty well with most white beans, pintos and black beans. Had to pass on the Garbanzos though!
What are you planning for your garden? I have limited garden space living in the city (Redondo Beach, CA) Do you live on a farm? Are you planning to sell vegetables?
Just because I am curious, what kind of place to you work? I read about you doing admin, but then food gets donated to you for cooking….sounds very interesting!
Hi Kiki, sorry about the delay in responding. Yes, I was referring to the GAPShelp Yahoo Group. I know about the die off sounding like just another “bad” or “off” day. I thought it could be that, but the die off theory does make sense, too. It would be nice to just be able to blame it on toxins! 🙂 And if we can get rid of the toxins, then theoretically we shouldn’t have too many bad days! I totally understand the fat phobia, and coming from vegan, wow, you have really come a ways. In my garden right now I have the remaining winter vegetables that I am still gleaning: Swiss Chard, lettuce, carrots, cabbage and beets. My eggplant plants survived the winter chill and are growing again, and I have just planted tomatoes (although I SHOULD have gotten them into the ground three weeks ago! so I don’t know if they’ll produce anything before it gets too hot), squash (both winter and summer), and one lone pepper plant. I work for an agency that provides services to adults that are disabled and we serve a hot lunch to our clients three days a week. I work mostly in accounting but sometimes I’m asked to serve lunch! We all wear a lot of hats there, like most non-profits. 🙂 Thanks for visiting and commenting!