I'm baaaack!

Having totally fallen off the wagon, we are working our way back on to the wagon. Life got a little overwhelming for a while for no good reason and we're settling back into a routine. We still eat about 90% pastured/grassfed meat but still supplement from the grocery store if we run out. The majority of our produce is from the grocery store as the growing season ramps up. However, this year, I started my *own* (first!) garden (which was an adventure in getting HOA approval!) and will hopefully have an abundance of peppers, tomatoes, onions, carrots, squashes, melons, lettuce, chard, beets, peas, pole beans and various herbs.

The big reason I'm bringing this journal back is because we have decided to start the GAPS journey. GAPS stands for Gut And Psychology Syndrome. The theory behind it is based on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet which was developed to help people with various intestinal problems and, later, autism (there is a common problem found in the gut of autistic children called Autistic Enterocolitis however it's pretty controversial because the doctor who found it has been discredited, but parents are still seeing relief for their children nonetheless which is the most important thing). Dr. Campbell-McBride saw relief with her own son on the SCD and expanded upon it then started noticing common things with her own patients (from autism to ADHD to even schizophrenia finding relief). It all comes down to the balance of gut flora, which has become a pretty popular/mainstream concept lately. That gut flora is put out of balance whether that's from prescription drugs, poor eating habits, various toxins, etc. What you're doing with GAPS is starving off the bad and supplementing with the good and feeding the existing good bacteria bringing your system back into balance.

Personally this makes a lot of sense. I am the fourth generation of formula fed children and was born via cesarean section (as were, sadly, both of my children). This is significant because children are born with sterile guts. Their guts are populated when passing through the birth canal and later through breastfeeding. However, when your gut is already compromised (like mine) then chances are you are passing along the same imbalanced flora. There are a variety of personal reasons for doing GAPS for myself - acne, asthma, seasonal allergies, and a variety of other mental snafus that overlap each other. I experienced my own gut issues in my teenage years into my early 20s and witnessed my daughter having her own gut issues as early as 6 weeks old. Let me tell you, nothing makes you feel more helpless than to know something is going on with your child and not knowing how to fix it. DH suffers from a variety of things and wouldn't it be nice to see relief, even if not 100%?

I know it is a lot of anecdotal evidence but really, funding is pretty limited for studies and the human body is so complex. There is so much we don't know that I can't imagine wasting time waiting to see if this is proven when I could just try it and see for myself. In addition, the primal lifestyle is VERY appealing to my husband and I, and there's not much difference between it and GAPS.

For the last few weeks I've been working on reading the GAPS book, the GAPS Guide book, and various websites/blogs I can come across with others' experiences. I joined the yahoo group. I already do things like cook with coconut oil, and make bone broth (well, from chicken at least), and ferment my own vegetables, and purchase pastured eggs/meat. I have made kefir before. However in the last week I have made ghee for the first time, and I picked apart a chicken and put everything that wasn't bone or tough cartiledge into a food processor for "chicken pate" to mix in with soups. I made Nutty Blueberry Protein Balls (walnuts, macadamia nuts, coconut oil, shredded coconut and fresh blueberries), Lemon/Blueberry/Pecan bars, attempted Cinnamon Apple Pecan bars (but it was crumbly, needs raisins or dates to hold it together), and I'm trying to get in the habit of making more soup.

This week I'll be getting some fermented cod liver oil (to add, small amounts at a time, to soup), beef soup bones (to make beef bone broth and beef pate), and hopefully I'll find some gherkins to make homemade fermented pickles. I also want find a good fermented salsa recipe so I can make dehydrated zucchini chips to eat with it. We are working on phasing out all of our non-GAPS/primal food and are down to some beans, rice and flour. I'll be trying out various recipes this week to keep food available to us so I'll be posting those relatively frequently.

I'm going to aim to post an update every day just so I can keep track of what we're eating and how we're feeling, though I want to be realistic that it may only happen every few days or a week. ;)