GAPS Diet: Day Five May 1, 2008

Note: You may want to skip this post if talk about poop bothers you. I’m not going to get graphic, but stools are discussed.

This is our fifth day on the GAPS diet. So far, it hasn’t been too bad. And some amazing things are happening!

I was listening to Konstantin Monastyrsky’s lecture on his book Fiber Menace (from the 2007 WAPF conference).He said an interesting thing. He said that stools should be no larger in diameter than a nickel. The width of a dime is ideal. This was shocking to me. A dime is tiny!

My first couple of days on GAPS I had diarrhea. But since yesterday, I have had small little blobs that are no wider in diameter than a nickel! I have never had this before in my life. It looks exactly like # 5 on the Bristol stool chart.

Seth is also doing great on the diet. The first few days were very rough. He was VERY VERY cranky. Depressed, anxious, irritable, sullen. Worse than I’d ever seen him. And complaining a lot about how he wanted dessert and fast food burgers, etc.

But yesterday we were out running some errands and I noticed that his whole demeanor has changed. He was easygoing, affable, cracking jokes, smiling a lot more, laughing. We hugged and kissed more than usual, laughed together, etc. This is rare for him. He is usually much more uptight, cranky, etc.

He told me this morning that he used to think he had occasional gut pain. Now he realizes that it was constant — constant chronic aching with surges of sharp pain occasionally. He never knew that before. I guess you just get used to it and consider it normal. He was able to realize this because for the first time since childhood, he is having times during the day where there is no pain in his gut.

I think he has had undiagnosed IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) for decades.

Also, the past two nights he has not had nightmares. Nor has he woken up stricken with anxiety — which is the normal state of affairs. I told him this morning, “This is what normal feels like.”

I’m really happy we are doing this!

It hasn’t been so hard, either. We drink 3 cups of chicken broth per day (8 ounces with each meal). For breakfast, we always have eggs cooked in coconut oil (we can’t have butter yet). Lunch is either tunafish salad or chicken salad or egg salad on lettuce — or meat in broth. Dinner is some kind of meat with broth and/or soup (made from broth). No grains, no sugar or sweeteners (only honey), no dairy, no seeds, legumes, or nuts.

Last night I made Sloppy Joes in lettuce wraps, with Deviled Eggs. I made the mayo with half coconut oil, half olive oil. Seth couldn’t even tell he was eating coconut oil. We’re supposed to eat a lot of coconut oil — but he does not like it. Using it in the mayo is a great way to hide it. (I take 4-5 TBS per day in addition to the mayo. I melt 1-2 TBS in a little bit of hot water or hot tea.

In the mornings and evenings, we drink 4-8 ounces of beet kvass. We also try to juice at least once a day (carrots, greens, celery, apple, strawberry, etc. — 50/50 ratio of green veggie and sweet fruit). We are taking BioKult (2 per day) and he is taking a couple of other supplements recommended by Dr. Cowan. I do let him have one up of weak coffee in the morning and he is allowed to have a little wine in the evening. It’s not so bad!

We will slowly start introducing dairy — maybe as early as next week. He can start with ghee, or clarified butter. We’ll see how he reacts.

I have not had any coffee in three days. No headaches, no irritability. This Dandy Blend stuff really works (and it tastes great, too).