What is the GAPS Diet? What Are the Application Areas and Benefits?

Gaps diet is a diet made to regulate intestinal health. The word meaning of this diet is already Intestinal and Psychology Syndrome. The toxins leaking from the damaged intestine are affecting various organs day by day. These effects also cause Gaps in the future. Thanks to this diet, the leaky gut wall heals and the toxins exposed to different tissues are eliminated.

What Are The Foods In The Gaps Diet?

Before starting the Gaps diet, a specialist dietitian should be consulted. Before the diet program, the main source of the problem should be investigated and a treatment method should be determined accordingly. Apart from this, individuals should pay attention to the type of diet. Especially people who want to start the Gaps diet should consume some foods first. These foods should consist of:

• Coconut oil,

• Sweet potatoes,

• Avocado,

• Pumpkin,Homemade fat yoghurt,

• Red beet,

• Homemade pickles,

• Foods such as marrow and bone broth are among the foods that should be consumed with priority.

What are the Considerations in the Gaps Diet?

In the Gaps diet; There should be no grains such as wheat, barley, rye, quinoa, couscous, oats, rice, bulgur. All starchy vegetables and foods made from these vegetables should be avoided. Foods containing GMO and sugar should not be included in the diet program. All foods should be bought fresh and prepared at home.

It should not be forgotten that the gaps diet program is not a weight loss tool, but a treatment program. For this reason, it should be applied in a controlled manner by experts in this field.

How Is The Gaps Diet Made?

The Gaps diet consists of three main parts. These stages of the Gaps diet are as follows:

• Phase one: The first phase in the Gaps diet is the introduction diet. The physical and psychological symptoms of the diseases disappear from the first stages of the introduction diet, which consists of six stages in total. Thus, all foods that may disturb the intestine are removed from the diet and the intestinal wall is repaired. The repaired intestinal wall also performs digestion just before absorption. After that, food intolerance and allergies are eliminated to a great extent.

• Second stage: At this stage, the balance of the intestinal flora fully improves. In addition, during this period, people are in full harmony with the gaps diet.

• Third stage: All symptoms of the disease disappear at this stage, which is called the exit from the diet. However, this diet is continued for approximately one more year. At this stage, all foods removed from the diet are added back to the diet in a controlled manner, and then the gaps diet is ended.

In Which Situations Is The Gaps Diet Tried?

Some people use the Gaps diet to improve digestive problems, others to treat behavioral and psychological conditions. In this context, the medical conditions where the gaps diet is applied are:

• ADHD,
• Autism,
• Dyslexia,
• Epilepsy,
• Dyspraxia,
• Depression,
• Bipolar disorder,
• Schizophrenia,
• Impaired eating habits,
• Obsessive-compulsive disorders,
• Ulcerative colitis,
• Chronic fatigue,
• Joint pains,
• Diabetes,
• Asthma,
• Hashimato thyroid,
• Eczema,
• Psoriasis,
• Migraine,
• MS,
• Parkinson,
• Irritable bowel syndrome,
• Gaps diet can be easily applied in diseases such as food intolerance and food allergies in childhood.

What Are the Benefits of the Gaps Diet?

It can be said that digestion does not work properly in people with complaints of waking up weak and tired in the mornings, feeling of not being able to rest, having constant headache, pain circulating in the body, bloating or gas. When the gaps diet is applied to people who have these problems, most of the complaints they experience in a period of 1 or 2 months can be eliminated. However, this situation varies depending on how much the body is poisoned or how much it is exposed to toxic substances. Thanks to the Gaps diet, many negative conditions related to digestion can be resolved clearly. In this context, the treatment of digestive disorder progresses rapidly. In addition, various skin problems are quickly eliminated with gaps treatment. Thus, the unhealthy skin becomes more vivid and shiny over time.

How Long Does the Gaps Diet Last?

The end phase of the Gaps diet depends on the symptoms of the disease. Some people finish the induction phase in 20 or 30 days, while others may stay on the introductory diet for up to a year. In addition, there are people who complete the whole phase of the gaps diet in 4 days. Because the factor that determines the duration of this diet is the elimination of all psychological and physical symptoms of the disease. However, the gaps diet normally consists of a 6-step process and can take up to 1.5 or 2 years.

The most difficult phase of this diet program is the introductory phase. Because the first stage includes a program to completely change the diet. At the end of this first stage, the symptoms of the disease disappear completely.