Intro Diet

In stage 4, you’ll start to feel like a normal person again who can eat (somewhat) normal food. The addition of baked and roasted meats and breads made from nut and seed flours brings a welcome variety.

How This Stage Works

• • New foods As mentioned, you can enjoy new foods in stage 4. Add them slowly, paying attention to how your body reacts. Just because it’s time to add a food to the protocol doesn’t mean the food is right for you. Your body will show you. Gas, bloating, or diarrhea means you’re not yet ready for that food.
• • Juice inclusion At this stage, you can add some simple vegetable juices. Although beneficial, juicing is not strictly necessary, so if it’s too much for you right now, set it aside and add it later.
• • Maintain It’s easy to feel like you’ve healed at this stage and can go back to your former habits. Don’t!

Properly soaked and dried seeds, if you can tolerate them, are back on the menu. Or try seed flours for lots of new baking options.

What You Can Eat

MEATS You have more options for preparing meat during this stage of the diet. You always can stick with your favorites from earlier stages, but now you have more variety available to you.

• • More choices Beef, chicken, lamb, and fish are all good options, depending on your tastes.
• • Baking and roasting These meat preparation methods are now allowed and add more flavor and texture to the finished dishes.
• • Barbecuing and frying Avoid these preparation methods. They’re still not allowed.

VEGETABLE JUICE At this stage of the diet, you can incorporate juice. This also gives you a way to promote detox. Now you can enjoy vegetable juices as a drink, but you need to work up to it.

• • Carrot juice Begin slowly, with 1 teaspoon carrot juice per day on an empty stomach.
• • Celery, lettuce, and mint juices Add these to your juicing protocol slowly. Find a combination you enjoy.
• • Don’t go overboard. Only drink a few tablespoons of juice at a time.

Vegetable juices return to your diet but need to be started slowly.

FATS Healthy fats are still a vital part of the diet, but now you have a popular new favorite to add back to your diet. But don’t abandon the animal fats. They should be a permanent part of your diet.

• • Cold-pressed olive oil You can use this fat now. Start sparingly and build up, watching your body for reactions.
• • Animal fats Continue to use these for sautéing and in soups.
• • Canola, sunflower, and other vegetable oils These are not permitted.

NUT FLOURS These bring a wealth of new choices. Now you can have gluten-free bread made with nut flours. Suddenly, sandwiches are back on the table, as are gluten-free empanadas and muffins.

• • Nut flour You can use nut flours to make breads. Seed flour is also acceptable but probably best saved for later stages.
• • Almond flour Start with almond flour, noticing how your body reacts. Progress slowly with other nut and seed flours. Nuts are often difficult to digest, so pay attention to what your body tells you.
• • Cashew or walnut flour These are good choices for your next flour.

Everyday Grain-Free Bread made with nut flours is a welcome reintroduction.