I'd heard of the Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride but mostly in regards to children with autism, so I never gave it a second thought when it came to helping myself. Little did I know.
About one year ago I remember getting up in the middle of the night and became aware of the sounds I was making. I was in obvious discomfort and I heard myself groaning and moaning as I hobbled to the bathroom, walking just like my old Grandpa used to do. I thought to myself I sound like an eighty year old woman, and I'm only 46. I figured this was part of aging. I'd heard that getting old wasn't for sissies, after all. I had a lot of aches and pains and general discomfort. I was tired most of the time and I had lost my joy for life. I was just going through the motions. I didn't think too much about it, as I tend to be a glass half full kind of person. Life was difficult, that's just life.
About a month later my husband confided to me that he was still having "problems". He'd been diagnosed a year earlier with ulcerative colitis, and even though his doctor had told him following the colonoscopy that there was nothing to be done diet-wise, he wanted to try something. He was losing a lot of blood every morning, and it was finally beginning to worry him.
I remembered I'd heard folks talking about the Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet (GAPS) on a forum I frequented, saying it had been instrumental in healing all types of digestive disorders. In fact, the main focus of the diet is to heal the gut and digestive system. When your gut is not functioning properly, all kinds of ailments follow. I wanted to help my husband, so I ordered the books and started reading. I was half way through the GAPS Guide book when I started realizing maybe, just maybe I could help my own body to heal. I was mainly concerned with, and wanted help with two areas: I wanted to stop being so tired all the time, and I wanted to feel like I had some joy in life. I didn't want to actually put labels on the problems back then, but now that I'm feeling so much better I can admit it. I was suffering from fatigue and depression.
A couple of weeks later I joined a group specifically set up on Yahoo Groups to help people who are on the GAPS diet. I read so many encouraging stories that I was anxious to get started.
I'd made a vow in 1995 that I would never, ever diet again. Just thinking about dieting would start me on a binge. I was really stepping outside my comfort zone to even think about doing GAPS. My husband and I started on GAPS in December. My husband was a good sport in following along for a while and learned that dairy products were causing the bulk of his problem so he eliminated them from his diet. However he has not stayed on the Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet with me, so I've continued on my own for the past ten months.
GAPS may seem intimidating at first glance, there are a lot of foods you must avoid, and most people I know cannot begin to imagine restricting so many foods, but the pay off in changes to your health are well worth it. There's also a learning curve if you don't know how to cook. It's best to start out with Baden's GAPS Guide book which will help you get started with simple steps.
I have had so many changes occur for me but the first two things that happened made a huge impact on my daily life. For the previous ten years I had been unable to be in bed for more than 7 hours or my back would stiffen up into knots so tightly that I could hardly move. I am one that needs more than 7 hours of sleep so I would have to take naps on the weekends to try and catch up on my sleep. Two years earlier my feet began hurting and I was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis. Within two weeks of starting GAPS my back stopped seizing up and I could sleep for nine hours without pain. And my feet stopped hurting! My feet used to hurt so bad that I dreaded standing on them barefoot in the shower, and had to put on supportive shoes just to get up in the middle of the night. It was like a miracle. I was encouraged to continue with GAPS on these two small miracles alone. No longer was I getting up in the middle of the night, moaning and groaning and hobbling around like an eighty year old grandpa. Not to mention that I've easily lost fifty pounds. By my six month anniversary I was a completely changed person. I'm so grateful that I decided to give GAPS a chance, and I hope you will, too!
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