Have you heard of the GAPS diet? Are you considering trying it, or maybe deciding which of the GAPS books to read? This article is a review of Gut and Physiology Syndrome, by Natasha Campbell-McBride. The “blue book” follows the earlier “yellow book”. Find out what all the talk is about!
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If you have heard much about the GAPS diet, you have probably heard of “the blue book” and “the yellow book.” The yellow book is the earlier GAPS book, Gut and Psychology Syndrome. While the protocol is the same in both, the yellow book focuses on brain-related disorders. If you aren’t familiar with it, check out my earlier article reviewing the yellow book.
The “blue book” conveys similar information and the same basic diet, but the focus is on physiological disorders more than psychological ones. For example, autoimmune disease, allergy and asthma, hormone problems, fatigue, and many more chronic illnesses are addressed in Gut and Physiology Syndrome, in addition to neurological and brain problems.
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Where did the GAPS Diet come from?
One way to understand the GAPS diet, both the scientific basis and how to implement it skillfully, is to go straight to the source! Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride developed this approach to gut-brain healing based on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.
She has written several books detailing how, what, and why around the GAPS diet. She is the source. Once you know what she says, you can easily evaluate all the other sources out there.
Dr. Campbell-McBride is a medical doctor with postgraduate degrees in neurology and human nutrition. She works with children and adults with learning, behavioral, digestive, and immune system disorders in Cambridge, England. She also knows the parental side of learning disability recovery, being the mother of an autistic son.
Gut and Physiology Syndrome– First Chunk
The parts of Gut and Physiology Syndrome aren’t really labelled in “parts” as I would have done; I would have arranged the material in four parts. The table of contents doesn’t look this way, but I understood the material in that way, so that is how I will explain it!
A brief introduction describes the problems of compartmentalizing medicine into different specialties (gastroenterology, neurology, etc.), when in reality the body and brain function as a whole. Each part affects the others, and is affected by them int turn. In fact, the same dysfunctions that lead to brain-related difficulties also cause physiological ones!
Besides the compartmentalization problem, a common root cause of many illnesses, psychological and physiological, is gut health. Gut health forms the main premise of the book. Included is a long list of physical illnesses and complaints that can be treated with the GAPS diet. Many of these are sadly common!
The Underlying Information
While one might be tempted to skip this whole first chunk because it isn’t “practical” in divulging exactly what to do, I would recommend reading (and re-reading!) it. There is a wealth of information in this section. You will understand your body much better!
The first couple of sections address what constitutes good health– how health is built, how the body works, and how microbes help and hurt us. Dr. Campbell-McBride presents the case for gut health and its fundamental importance. We get a thorough if not terribly long primer in how the gut affects everything else.
Some specific body systems
Having laid out the basics, the bulk of this first chunk delves into different body systems, how they work or( fail to work) well, and how the gut affects them. These topics are relevant to many people today, and offer a trove of information, some of which is not, in my experience, common knowledge.
Included are the immune system, hormones, liver and lungs, toxins and parasites, bones and teeth, male and female troubles, and some more behavioral topics. I learned a lot in these sections, and have read some of them multiple times.
The last section seems to me to belong with the next chunk, but here it is. This is a thorough discussion of what to eat and what to avoid and why. Identically to Gut and Psychology Syndrome, the short version is that you temporarily stop eating things that damage the gut or feed harmful microbes. This includes anything processed, grains, refined (and most unrefined) sugar, most non-animal fats, soy, uncultured dairy, and some others.
Once you know what to avoid, you will learn what you will eat on the GAPS diet and why. This is where you find lists of foods to avoid and foods to include.
The focus in GAPS is less on which foods to exclude than on which foods to include and, in particular, which to focus on to promote healing. We want to stop harming our guts, but we prioritize healing using beneficial foods. Primarily, meat stock (not bone broth!) and fermented foods are keys to healing. There are many other supporting foods beyond those.
On to advice about treatment.
Gut and Physiology Syndrome– Second Chunk
The nitty gritty,”what to do” details pour forth in the second, large section of the book. While you still find some of the “why” and you will employ your science-brain for this section, there are many instructions for the diet itself, supplement use, and detoxifying and lifestyle advice.
The GAPS Diet
If you have read the “yellow book” or otherwise gained a grasp of the GAPS diet, you will find initial dietary details to be very familiar. The GAPS intro phases and then the full diet laid out here are the same as in the yellow book.
While the principles and methods are identical to the “original” GAPS diet book, there are additions that some readers may find particularly helpful. The “dairy introduction structure” in this edition is extensive and specific. These instructions and explanations could be especially useful for anyone with a dairy sensitivity or allergy, as well as those who start with full GAPS rather than going through GAPS intro.
Here the blue book also provides special GAPS variations not covered in the yellow book. Each variation can benefit specific needs of different people, and each has its own set of instructions and recommendations.
These variations include:
- no-plant GAPS diet
- GAPS ketogenic diet
- more-plant GAPS diet
Also in this section is information regarding liquid fasting and coming off the GAPS diet, which is, after all, the long term goal.
A long section of food preparation instructions and recipes follows and is essential reading. I personally don’t turn to this section for recipes very often, but others might. The know-how is foundational to implementing the GAPS diet, and I find it helpful for evaluating GAPS cookbooks and blog recipes. Many of them are not super GAPS compliant.
Finally, we come to some thoughts on vegetarianism and tailoring the GAPS diet to the individual. One of the things I appreciate about both these books is the understanding that people are indeed unique. You can learn some things here about how to figure out what you or your different family members might need.
Gut and Physiology Syndrome– Third Chunk
The shortest portion of the book, this section offers suggestions and a lot of information about supplementation. While the GAPS diet leans on food and, to a degree, lifestyle habits, for healing and nourishment, GAPS people are deficient in nutrients and often consider supplementation.
Supplement topics include probiotics, fats, cod liver oil, digestive enzymes, and supplementing vitamins and minerals. The fats part comprises, in my opinion, the most interesting topic, as common advice about cholesterol and which fats to consume has been so grotesquely mistaken. There is a lot to learn here; those familiar with Weston A. Price will not find this section surprising at all.
I highly recommend reading this part and looking further into these topics. Even if you decide to disregard some of it and continue supplementing in a more mainstream way, there is food for thought and inquiry here. Anyone working with a practitioner on supplementing will need to decide which advice to follow. Much of the advice here is rather heterodox. You will need to decide for yourself what to do!
We did not fully follow her supplementation advice. Some of us were being advised differently by knowledgeable practitioners, and followed their advice rather than the GAPS ideas. I have since moved more toward what is in this book, but uncertainties remain. Of course, it is always possible to change your supplements later!
Gut and Physiology Syndrome– Fourth Chunk
This portion isn’t really structured as a section; I would organize the book differently. It doesn’t really matter, though. A grab-bag of relevant topics follows the section on nutritional supplementation. It isn’t laid out as a section in the books, but one topic follows another.
Detox and Bowels
These two portions provide practical suggestions for managing common, nagging problems, and, ultimately, resolving them.
The detoxification section is both informative and specific, ranging from reducing toxins in your daily life to different detox baths to strategies to support detox naturally and more. Many people will keep following some of these practices long-term. Effective detox is an ongoing need that can become a component of health. Many of the suggestions are not difficult or expensive!
The bowel section is quite specific about how to work on different sorts of bowel issues– diarrhea, constipation, swinging between the two, etc. Some of these approaches are not easy or convenient! They are generally inexpensive, though. If you struggle with bowel difficulties, you may find help here.
Healing on the GAPS diet and in general
Finally, the main text covers a few broad topics. These wander a bit more than most of the book and offer fewer specific recommendations. I find this the least helpful part of the book, but it is worth at least a quick read as food for thought, if nothing more.
The healing process, the role of stress, different thoughts on how to support healing (beyond what has come before), and the role of the mind and spirit in healing and health all come up here. The discussion is interesting and some specific suggestions pop up.
I am skeptical at best on the spiritual particulars, though I generally agree that our minds and spirits affect our bodies. What do you think?
Reference Material
The book ends, as so many do, with some references. A section covering 61 different GAPS conditions provides brief commentary on particulars of many common chronic conditions. There are some interesting anecdotes, though not for each condition.
This is not a how-to. You may gain a better grasp of a particular problem here, though. It isn’t structured as part of the reference materials, but I think many readers will use it that way. At least read the ones that apply to you!
A page of recommended reading is a good resource for learning more. Though a substantial list, it is more accessible than the reference section. These are books for patients and their loved ones to read, even if they aren’t health professionals or scientists.
The 50 pages of references are worth a bit of a glance as well. The scientific basis (as well as the practical experience) is one of the aspects of the GAPS diet that I appreciate most. While I doubt I will ever read most (or even many) of the works cited, there is some value in scanning over them. Not only are there an awful lot of them, but you get an idea of the quality and sort of sources Dr. Campbell-McBride relied on.
There is an index at the end. You know what an index is; this one is typical.
Conclusion
I read “the blue book” a couple of years after I read “the yellow book” and after we had implemented the GAPS diet. You could start with either. The plans are essentially the same. She didn’t change the diet from one to another, even though decades intervened.
The yellow book focuses more on brain and psychological healing. The blue book aims more at physiological recovery, as the title suggests. Since many people with yellow book issues also suffer from blue book troubles, and vice versa, either is a good starting point.
The yellow book is shorter. If you want to start sooner, that might be the way to go. You can always learn more later. There is plenty of both the scientific basis and the practical instructions in the yellow book to start and succeed with the GAPS diet.
I enjoyed the blue book more. It is, admittedly, quite a bit longer. She covers some of the same ground that I remembered well from the yellow book, so I skimmed parts. Dr. Campbell-McBride presents a lot of information in the blue book that isn’t in the yellow book, and I found it fascinating. Some of it was new to me, and I learned a lot!
Parts of the blue book simply provide good knowledge about how the body works. I have renewed respect for the design of the Creator, and less concern about ordinary illnesses and complaints than I did before.
Anyone reading either book, but the blue book in particular, will have a better grasp of what promotes health and why. You will be able to make better decisions about caring for your health after reading this book, even if you don’t fully implement the GAPS diet, or even try it at all!
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