What is GAPS syndrome and «leaky gut»?

Factors such as chronic stress, prolonged alcohol consumption, certain medications including antibiotics, and disturbances in the gut flora (SIBO, SIFO, parasitosis) can over time trigger inflammatory processes in the intestine.

Due to chronic inflammation, the intestinal walls undergo «de-sealing» - the tight contacts between its cells break down, and various substances enter the bloodstream that should not be absorbed under normal intestinal conditions. These can be bacterial antigens or even entire bacteria, viruses, and food antigens in the form of food particles. Once they directly enter the bloodstream, these particles spread to the body's sterile areas, causing chronic self-poisoning. Settling in different parts of the body, toxic products cause widespread inflammation, leading to diseases such as vascular atherosclerosis, resulting in heart attacks and strokes, ischemic disorders of the legs, other internal organs, Alzheimer's disease, and various autoimmune diseases.

Clinical manifestations of the syndrome can differ among individuals, as the body reacts differently to prolonged intoxication. One person might experience food allergies; another gains weight and swells up; a third develops osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis; a fourth might suffer from other autoimmune diseases, the skin of a fifth is overtaken by dermatitis, and a sixth feels constantly under the weather or another may develop dementia.

This fact is one of the main causes of diseases. When consuming food, a sick person floods the sterile zones of their body with impurities, often unknowingly.

The intestine cannot start leaking for no reason.
(!) The primary reason for its permeability is the foreign macro- and microflora (especially fungal) that damages the intestinal walls during their life development and colonization of new territories.

Imagine the lining of the intestine as a «selective sieve» with very tiny holes that only allow fully digested, ready-to-consume nutrients to pass through. This barrier protects our body's internal systems from larger particles and various harmful foreign agents.

With increased intestinal permeability, the «sieve» in the digestive tract gets damaged in places, becoming torn. This leads to larger holes. And through these holes, all sorts of things start to penetrate: undigested food particles, proteins, gluten, trash, and impurities, including living microorganisms like Candida, pathogenic bacteria, and so on.

- Increased fatigue and «brain fog», especially after eating; 

- Skin problems (increased oiliness or dryness), pimples, acne;

- Dermatitis, neurodermatitis, rosacea, psoriasis, boils; 

- Food allergies and food sensitivity, histamine intolerance; 

- Thyroid issues, autoimmune thyroiditis; 

- Bloating, flatulence, intestinal obstruction; 

- Joint cracking and pain; 

- Heaviness in the head, headaches; 

- Digestive problems, malabsorption of nutrients; 

- Excess weight, rapid weight gain, swelling; 

- Metabolic diseases.

One of the main signs of a leaky gut is allergic reactions to food. Partially digested food can penetrate the damaged intestinal lining, enter the bloodstream, and thus trigger an allergic reaction.

According to some studies, GAPS is the main cause of autoimmune diseases, including Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

Moreover, with this condition, the absorption of essential minerals and nutrients is disrupted, including zinc, iron, and vitamin B12. A person can eat a lot, take supplements, and still experience a nutrient deficiency.

We strongly recommend the GAPS protocol to those who undergo our Candida cleansing course but don't achieve the desired results. This is because, for full recovery, you need to KNOW and DO more than just take a magical pill that will destroy the systemic Candida infection.

Many people believe that «Anti-Candida» is the complete solution to all their problems, but honestly, it's not the entire solution, but just the first half, which will quickly lead you to recover from symptoms. (Furthermore, we'd be doing you a disservice if we didn't introduce you to the second half of the solution!)

This is not to undermine the power of «Anti-Candida» – it works! If you use it, it will help your body quickly eliminate the fungus. However, once Candida leaves your body, it turns out there's still work to be done.

A friend of ours had to unexpectedly leave home for a few days. Upon his return, he found his house had been completely ransacked. His pet raccoon had gone wild without its owner, searching everywhere for food, sticking its nose in everything, and turning everything over with its little paws. It was a real disaster...

Having the Candida fungus living in your body is much like having a horde of raccoons causing havoc in your home. And even after you get rid of them, you'll have to spend a lot of time restoring order.

Step One: First, you need to cleanse the body of Candida.

Step Two: You have to heal the damage that occurred when Candida lived inside you.

For a full recovery, you need to restore the integrity to your leaky gut, which you inevitably have. Over the years of infection, fungi and other parasitic flora damage its walls. The ongoing presence of pathogenic flora eventually causes the gut to leak, allowing various impurities to enter the bloodstream and sterile areas of the body.

You will also need to restore the microbial balance and renew the intestinal microflora, which is also inevitably present, because the absence of beneficial bacteria is one of the reasons why people suffer from fungal infections.

And let's not forget about all the domino negative effects these two conditions create in the body. Such as food intolerance, leptin/insulin resistance, hormonal imbalance, heavy metal retention, and autoimmune reactions in the immune system.

Once you change your diet and focus on repairing your leaky gut and balancing your microbiome, your body will begin to heal, and everything will start to fall into place naturally.

Your body has an innate ability to heal itself when given the opportunity.

But if you don't do these two crucial things (heal the gut walls and populate it with symbiotic flora), you'll get infected again. And we wouldn't want that to happen to you.

That's where the GAPS diet comes in to lend a helping hand.

Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride developed the GAPS diet (based on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet) to treat dysbiosis and symptoms of leaky gut, as well as to recover from neurological conditions that arise in the body as a result of chronic inflammation and the persistence of toxins in the gut.

THE CORE PRINCIPLE OF THE GAPS DIET involves the temporary elimination of most foods from your diet, with a gradual reintroduction. All potential foods that might, even hypothetically, irritate your gut and subsequently cause food allergies or intolerances are excluded. Over a specified period (for example, every 5-7 days), you introduce a few new foods to your diet and listen to your body's reaction. This strict diet is, first and foremost, designed to strengthen the digestive system and, secondly, helps determine which foods your body tolerates well and which ones trigger food allergies. The process can be lengthy, but you'll gain a very accurate picture. By removing gut-irritating foods from your diet, you give it the chance to restore the integrity of its walls and heal it. Then you can peacefully eat even those items that previously caused food irritation and intolerance.

1. Introductory GAPS diet, which itself is broken down into 6 stages.
2. Full GAPS diet.
3. Partial GAPS diet.

The diet aims to:

✔ Quickly address gut permeability by strengthening its inner wall.
✔ Eliminate gut dysbiosis by repopulating the digestive tract with beneficial bacteria, while expelling pathogenic strains.
✔ Introduce to the gut easily digestible, nourishing foods.
✔ Balance mineral and nutritional deficiencies.
✔ Remove aggravating and inflammatory foods that cause autoimmune reactions and hinder the healing process.
✔ Reduce inflammation and toxicity in the body.

Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride strongly advocates for listening to your body and using the elimination process to quickly determine which foods serve as your medicine and which ones are detrimental to your healing process.

What's food for one person is poison for another.

The GAPS diet focuses on healing a leaky gut, and since your gut is the foundation of your health, the benefits are extensive. Many people begin to feel the effects within the first 3-7 days:

✔ Finding relief from digestive issues such as: bloating, constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, upset stomach, acid reflux, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome),
✔ Reversing or reducing food intolerances and sensitivities,
✔ Boosted immune system and efficient elimination organ function,
✔ Improved mood and cognitive functions, reduced anxiety and depression,
✔ Losing belly fat and maintaining optimal weight,
✔ Improved energy levels throughout the day,
✔ Hormone balancing and reversal of insulin and leptin resistance.

As you progress through the 6 stages of the introductory diet and transition to the full diet, you will stick to simple and easily digestible foods that work to quickly heal the leaky gut.
⇒ Meat and bone broths,
⇒ Organic animal proteins: chicken, beef, eggs, game,
⇒ Healthy fats and oils: clarified butter, lard, pasture butter, olive oil, coconut oil, avocado,
⇒ Nuts, seeds, and nut oils (preferably soaked and/or sprouted),
⇒ Well-cooked non-starchy vegetables,
⇒ Some GAPS-approved fruits,
⇒ Homemade fermented foods: sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir, sour cream, beet kvass.

The introductory diet consists of sequential processes divided into 6 stages. Stage 1 is the most restrictive and requires the most patience and persistence, as you eliminate almost all fibrous foods, sticking to simple and easily digestible products.

The introductory diet consists of sequential processes divided into 6 stages. Stage 1 is the most restrictive and requires the most patience and persistence, as you eliminate almost all fibrous foods, sticking to simple and easily digestible products.

Dr. Campbell-McBride explains: «The more fresh animal fats your patient consumes, the faster they recover».

You adhere to specific meal plans, progressing from stage 1 to stage 6 at your own comfortable pace. Each stage gradually introduces a new food item — raw egg yolks or clarified butter, and teaches you how to properly incorporate fermented foods into your diet.

Dr. Campbell-McBride recommends staying on each stage of the introductory diet for 3-5 days and advancing to the next stage as soon as your body permits.

This means that with the consumption of each new food, you wait and listen to how your body responds. Adverse symptoms indicate that you are not ready to move on and should remain at your current stage for a while longer. Some people progress through the stages faster than others; it all depends on the state of your gut.

⇒ Diarrhea or constipation

⇒ Bloating

⇒ Excessive gas formation

⇒ Abdominal pain

⇒ Rashes

⇒ Migraines

⇒ Mood swings

We strongly advise you to keep a journal to note your dietary intake. This will help you better monitor what you eat and how you feel (both physically and emotionally), as well as keep track of your stool quality. Detailed descriptions will help you identify which foods cause issues for you and need to be avoided while you work on restoring your digestive system.

Once all the products from stages 1 to 6 are well-tolerated by you and healthy digestion is maintained, you transition to the full GAPS diet, introducing one new product at a time from the list of approved GAPS foods, which you can download HERE. As you progress from the introductory stages to the full diet, you'll compile a large list of foods that will nourish your body without harming your health. This will be your own, individually tailored, nutritional rescue plan. Stick to this fastest path to recovery.

We recommend starting with the introductory GAPS diet. However, if you need time to adjust to dietary changes, you can begin with the full GAPS diet. It will be easier for you and still promote gut healing. Dr. Campbell-McBride suggests that if you suddenly suffer from constipation, then in such a case, you should start with the full GAPS diet. Stay on it until your bowel motility normalizes. Only then transition to the introductory diet. The first stage removes all fibers and roughage from the diet, which is essential to improve bowel motility for someone suffering from constipation.

For comprehensive information on how to correctly implement this protocol, we strongly advise you to read Dr. Natasha Campbell's book on the natural treatment of autism, ADD/ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, depression, and schizophrenia. This is arguably one of the most essential health books one could recommend.

You might be thinking, «Why should I restrict myself like this?» or «I'll never be able to stick to this diet!»

To be candid with you, initially, you'll feel very restricted, but very soon, you'll experience positive changes in your well-being and feel much better. This will noticeably uplift you. And you simply won't want to go back. With our course, you'll realize that you have a choice: to eat everything you like or only those products that make you feel good. Most importantly, now you'll know precisely what those products are!

Your body will thrive each day, and once you taste the hint of an approaching victory, you won't want to revert to your old dietary patterns. You will choose only what's good for you!

You will find freedom and independence, finally ignoring the often contradictory (and even dangerous) dietary advice from mass media with a «one-size-fits-all» motto. THIS IS FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG.

We all know well that this theory doesn't apply to anything surrounding us. So why do we think it applies to something as significant to our well-being as our nutritional needs?

The truth is quite simple... No one can tell you what to eat and what not to eat. Of course, there are some general recommendations, but the best way to find out what works for you personally is to test it yourself! Now you have the leverage.

The GAPS Diet is a process that will teach you to mindfully listen to your body at every step, empowering you with knowledge for a lifetime about which foods are beneficial for you.

This is a valuable skill that will work for your well-being all your life. This is robust health. This is youth and longevity. This is your advantage that others lack. When you decide to cleanse your body of Candida, you'll instantly gain access to our support group. Therefore, if you choose to try the GAPS diet for yourself, we'll be there to consult and assist you in the process.