Why GAPS Diet

I started this post thinking it would be a general post on the GAPS Diet including links to my favorite (so far) recipes and websites and a general overview.  However as I started writing I realized that I needed to break this up into a few posts.  So I'm starting at the beginning, as it should be...

Ever since having children I have struggled to keep my psoriasis under control.  Before children I just had very mild spots on my elbows - after children I have been increasingly covered on my arms, legs, chest, and patches on my face.

Elbows on Day 39

In addition to not feeling confident wearing short sleeves, shorts, skirts, etc it is really itchy and uncomfortable.  In the past I have tried topical creams, phototherapy, and anything else my dermatologist recommended - short of drugs.  The problem was none of them cleared it up completely, and I wasn't really comfortable with the options, both for myself and also my babies since I have also been breastfeeding during this period.

Legs on Day 39

Although Western Medicine doesn't readily recognize that many illnesses can be healed through diet, I have always believed that diet has to have a huge influence on one's overall health (you are what you eat after all), and that many of us have a problem digesting the foods in a typical North American diet (namely sugar and wheat).

So on that note, on April 17th I went to visit my Naturopath at Sage Clinic who I had seen when I was pregnant with William.  I anticipated what she was going to say, so I had been mentally preparing myself for a radical diet change.  And, not to disappoint, she recommended that I go on the GAPS Diet.

GAPS stands for Gut and Psychology Syndrome, and is essentially a sugar-free, grain-free, limited dairy diet that is related to Specific Carbohydrate Diet, helping to heal various gut disorders, among other ailments.  A number of individuals have also had success with it healing eczema and psoriasis.

Coincidentially (or maybe not as is often the case), I had been following Rachel Wolf's blog Clean for a while, and had read a number of her posts about being on the GAPS Diet.  So I left the naturopath's office and went home that night to begin researching, and then jumped in and started it 3 days later (I don't recommend that... planning truly is key to this... live and learn).

I meant to take before pictures, and here I am 40 days in and just getting around to it. 

In the next couple of GAPS related posts I will talk about how the first 40 days has gone, and include info on my diet/meal planning and some links to my favorite resources.