Intro Diet
Congratulate yourself for all the hard work you’ve put in! As you complete this last stage of the introduction diet, you should reflect on where you started and how far you’ve come.
How This Stage Works
- • Increased honey and fruit As you begin to add more honey and fruit, pay careful attention to how your body responds. People can tolerate different amounts of honey and fruit without disrupting their blood sugar or gaining weight.
- • More nut consumption Nuts aren’t always easy to digest, even for a healthy gut. As you add more, especially in breads, muffins, and other baked goods, keep a careful eye on any increase in your symptoms, and remove the foods that cause trouble.
- • Moderation This is an important rule to observe moving forward. If a new food works for you, don’t go overboard. Binging is not a healthy behavior and doesn’t contribute to gut health.
Honey is the only GAPS-legal sweetener.
What You Can Expect
- • More sweets As long as honey is the sweetener, you can have more sweets now. Carefully watch how your body responds, though. If your digestive symptoms return, or if you find yourself getting blood sugar swings, back off the sweets.
- • Weight loss Some weight loss is normal on the GAPS protocol. If you’re concerned you’ve lost too much weight, wait to see what happens when you go onto the full GAPS diet. Most people find a new, healthy normal once they’ve been on the full diet.
- • Sense of accomplishment This is totally appropriate. You’ve shown great patience and restraint. Great job!
What You Can Eat
RAW FRUITS Finally, you should be able to tolerate raw fruit now. Add fruit back to your diet slowly and watchfully, starting with these.
- • Raw fruit Slowly add more raw fruit from the list of GAPS-approved foods.
- • Berries With their high fiber content, berries are a great place to start.
- • Canned or preserved fruits Jams or jellies are not allowed. Stick to whole or diced fruits with lower sugar.
Fresh fruit is a healthy way to add some sweetness to your diet. Berries especially are rich in fiber and antioxidants.
SWEETENED FOODS With honey as the sweetener, these treats can make a return to your diet. Still, be cautious as you slowly reintroduce these foods. After so long without them, they might taste too sweet right now.
- • Experiment with more honey If you do well with it, you can increase your honey intake. Watch for any carbohydrate sensitivity, such as mood and energy swings, weight gain, or binge behavior.
- • Desserts These can be increased during stage 6. Again, watch for any sensitivity.
- • Taste changes Your taste buds have likely recalibrated so you can taste the complex sweetness of dishes.
NUTS Brazil nuts can be added at this stage. As with other foods you reintroduce, be aware of any digestive symptoms you experience and back off as necessary.
Seasonal Mixed-Berry Crostata combines luscious seasonal fruits with a gluten-free crust.