After 3 months on the Gut and Psychology diet I’m finally starting to feel better.
The constant hunger and cravings have dissipated, which means my biome is finally starting to have more good guys than bad guys.
Transitions, dietary and otherwise, are always challenging but when it becomes your new normal, everything settles down.
Before starting the GAPs I felt burned out. I had mood swings, fatigue, stress intolerance, sleep issues and brain fog.
I began to doubt this diet in the second month when die off made everything worse. My bowels slowed down and I woke up with a pounding heart in the morning. Both have resolved. I’ll write a separate blog post on how I fixed constipation, so stay tuned.
Healing can be a stressful event It’s like a renovation, chaotic before the transformation takes place.
Now, with the improvements I am feel, I’m confident this diet is working for me.
My sleep is excellent (according to my Oura ring scores) my nervous system is regulating, my mood is calm and stable, I feel lighter in my body (less inflammation) and my energy is up.
The improvements in my mental health is a reminder of how closely the mind and body are connected. And how nutrition supports mental health.
While I had no digestive symptoms before starting GAPs, my digestion started getting worse in month two. My liver was overwhelmed by the initial detox/die off and my bowels slowed down. I could see signs of liver stress through the color, shape and quality of my poop.
My liver has always been my weak link for me, so this is not surprising. 21 years ago liver support was a large part of my recovery.
The improvements have been much slower than I thought they would be, the inflammation lowers gradually and my gut lining heals.
More huge health wins
According to my thyroid blood test I NO longer have thyroid antibodies. My antibodies were low, below the cut off for autoimmune thyroid disease, and I managed to lower them, but they were always there for years.
My GI Map saw a huge leap in my gut immunity. My SigA went from 402 over a year ago (when I was eating lots of gluten-free processed foods) to 1251 after a month on GAPs.
Also I got rid of very mild candida/yeast overgrowth, which I have also had for many years.
I never addressed the candida with an herbal protocol because it did not seem to be causing obvious issues. And it never got worse on my yearly GI Map test. I decided to leave it alone and live in peace with it but I did not like the idea that it was there.
Candida is extremely hard and uncomfortable to kill. And your beneficial bacteria are caught in the crossfires with many herbal protocols.
I knew if I wanted to get rid of candida (picked up from living in mold years ago) that I would have to change my diet drastically and I was not ready to do that. Dairy/lactose was a big part of my diet and likely feeding the candida, but I didn’t want to give up my dairy products.
I will share below, what helped weaken the candida so my body could kill it.
My hope for this diet is that the continued gut, liver and adrenal healing will improve my thyroid function.
Though my thyroid markers are in a “normal” standard medical ranges, my free T3 is below the functional medicine range. T3 and Free T3 is the active thyroid hormone used by the body. While my TSH and T4 are in a good range, my body doesn’t convert into and use the active hormone well. This means my thyroid is a bit on the slow side. This is why I can’t let go of belly fat, despite how cleanly I eat.
I am working on these conversion issues by lowering my gut inflammation and supporting my liver, adrenal and nervous system health.
How I got rid of Candida
More than 21 years ago I healed a raging case of candida with diet and mineral balancing.
The candida snuck back in after two years of living in moldy apartment. It was low enough to not cause much concern. I was not very symptomatic, so I lived with it.
Killing Candida was a commitment I was not ready to make.
I don’t believe in harsh killing protocols for candida because they also kill good bacteria, make you feel awful and often don’t work.
You have to change the terrain or environment that yeast lives in by making it less appealing. The idea of crowding out candida by gently starving it and feeding all the good gut bacteria was my strategy of choice. And I could do that because my overgrowth was not severe or systemic.
This is how I did it. I combined the GAPS diet with an enzyme that broke down the yeast’s protect cell walls, leaving it vulnerable to immune attack.
The two weeks on GAPs was very low carb. Just protein, broth, select veggies and fats. I also added in fermented foods. No fruit, just a touch of honey. The second two weeks I ate apples and a little bit of banana and berries.
I took zero anti fungals. The 30 day course of a candida fighting enzymes is all I took. The enzyme is called Candex. I got it from a trusted dispensary to make sure I wasn’t buying a knock off product on Amazon. This is the dispensary I used.
I had a bit of die off for sure but nothing unbearable.
My recent GI Map showed that my Candida was completely gone.
The right diet, immune support (rest and nervous system regulation) and enzymes weakened candida’s defenses.
It may not work for severe cases, but it got rid of a light overgrowth like mine.
I plan to be on GAPS for 12 months and post another update in month 6.
Last time I did a diet like this for a year, it transformed my biome and immune system for the next 20 years.
This resilience may be why a light case of candida was not very symptomatic for me.
What I’m doing now will hopefully set my body up for the next 20 years. Twelve months of effort for a 20 year reward is worth it.
An integral part of the GAPs diet is drinking bone broth. It has definitely been part of my healing. I was inspired to write a free e-book on the magic of broth. How to make it a part of your daily routine.
Download my free guide: Bone Broth is magic here.
