Guest Blog – The GAPS Diet
November 2nd, 2009 | Blog, Stories & News, ADHD, colic, constipation, GAPS, gardening, gluten-free, lacto-fermentation, nourishing traditonal diet, rash, SCD
Guest Blogger Anna Miller-Rhees tells of of her experiences on the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet). It was this post from Anna that originally inspired me to take the plunge and get on the GAPS diet ourselves. It has changed our lives for the better. Thanks so much Anna!
Looking back over the last two years, I cannot believe how our lives have changed. I would wake up and struggle through the day, barely keeping pace with my two children. The fatigue was overwhelming; not just a normal fatigue, but a listless, no-energy-at-all fatigue with anger and emotional spikes in between. My son Elliot was often irrational and possessed with a frenetic energy. His behavior patterned after ADHD, which took so much energy to manage.
Fast forward to today. I wake up with more energy, even when I haven’t had the best nights sleep. I am able to get all the housework done, cook all our meals from scratch, focus on the children without getting frustrated, and just plain enjoy life. Not that I have super-human mothering abilities all of a sudden, just that now I know what normal functioning is.
This tremendous change has been largely due to the GAPS diet. Before, we ate a (mostly) nourishing traditional diet. I made fermented bread from fresh ground flour, and we drank raw milk. We consumed our fair share of raw vegetables (though not many fermented ones), and introduced coconut oil as a cooking agent. I did what I thought was important, but slowly began to realize that I was not well.