I was born with a severe rosy rash on my face. My background and history are completely GAPS-y. I am a GAPS adult and was a GAPS child...Reading the GAPS book was like unlocking a key to my life. It has been life-changing just to have the information, not to mention all the changes that have come from implementing the diet. To summarize my childhood: I had ear infections, yeast infections, and rashes. I had keratosis pilaris on my arms, legs and face and dry cracked feet. I was very anxious and OCD. I always had food issues, I would get "food poisoning" at least 10 times a year and threw up quite a bit. By age five, I had uncontrollable sugar cravings, I would eat bowls and bowls of pasta. I started wetting the bed and woke up with debilitating leg cramps. I became severely overweight almost overnight at age five and my food cravings continued to plague me. I was clumsy and broke bones and they didn't heal right. I developed severe nut allergies at age six. My stomach always hurt. I tried to become a vegetarian at age 12 because I couldn't digest meat any longer. I remained a vegetarian until I was 28. I weighed over 200 lbs. as a teenager and suffered from insomnia. I developed bulimia in high school. I was compulsive about hobbies and art. I became a vegan and lost a 100 lbs. and then crashed. I was very sick, weak, and depressed. I also suffered from migraines every week. My teeth were in poor shape and I had frequent UTI's and a lot of other problems. I tried gluten free diets, but I just felt worse, and my joints hurt. One day I found a book by Sally Fallon called Nourishing Traditions and knew it was the right path for me. I read the book and started by cutting out sugars. I tried eating grains still but found I couldn't digest them. I started to feel alive again and learned how to cook. My body started dictating what I needed. I went to the store and suddenly bought collard greens because they looked and smelled good, even though I had no clue how to cook them! This happened with a lot of foods. The process of nourishing myself became sacred as I tried my hand at roasting chickens, making stock weekly, making home-made soup, eating liver, and fermenting! How I loved it and how much better I felt! I lost weight naturally and everything seemed to be going well. I still suffered from bloating and sugar cravings. That is when I found the GAPS diet. I read the GAPS book, and I knew it was what I needed. I started GAPS and it has totally changed my brain! I am calmer, less anxious and able to be my real authentic self with others. My depression has lifted to the point of being unnoticeable. This is a true gift and miracle of GAPS. I am less anxious, and my stomach has flattened. The constant pain in my abdomen is gone and my vision has improved. My skin has become softer, and the rash and dryness is gone. I have lost the constant cough I had, and my mouth is healthier and cleaner. My allergies have lifted, and my blood sugar is stable. I love that GAPS allows you to truly listen and be in communication with your body. GAPS food is like a language that speaks to your body! GAPS has truly changed my life and my world view. I now understand that everything is connected to the health of your gut. Lydia Rose, GAPS Stories compiled by Medinform Publishing

I am the mom of Reilly who was diagnosed with autism at the age of three. Around five years of age we were implementing early home intervention programs, coupled with speech therapy and support from his certified assistance dog and implementing the strict Introduction diet from GAPS. I watched Reilly transform rapidly from being in a world of his own, with no communication and self-harming behaviors to an interactive boy gaining quickly on his peers in the areas of social and developmental progress. Arriving at this stage was wonderful and overwhelming and very rewarding! However, it was not achieved without its challenges. I took my son to several dieticians, health professionals and biomedical doctors to seek the best advice on diet and treatment for ASD. However, no direction or guidance on GAPS was offered, and collective advice conflicted with each other. It was through my own extensive research that involved traveling to autism expos, conferences, seminars and workshops and presentations that led me to the discovery of the Gut and Psychology Syndrome book. This book became my bible. Prior to GAPS my son was an extremely fussy eater, self-limiting food range to an extreme minimum, resulting in a variety of deficiencies and nutritional problems. After two-weeks on the introduction diet he was eating everything we gave him and even asked for seconds. We would never have believed this possible if we had not seen it with our own eyes. The circles around his eyes were gone, he started gaining weight but more importantly he was participating in lengthy conversations, socializing in ways never seen before, showing lots of affection and sharing his emotions. The list of improvements went on, but the rest of this story is yet to be revealed, as I believe my son will continue to heal and gain developmental ground with his peers, as he continues to progress with the GAPS diet. Linda Paterson- GAPS Stories- compiled by Medinform Publishing- the full story is published in this book

I am 48 years old and work as a teacher. I developed abdominal pain and chronic diarrhea, having to go to the bathroom several times a day. After testing it was revealed that I had thickening of the bowel wall and some fibrosis. I have arthritis in my knees, as well as a prolapsed disc in my back. I have been taking anti-inflammatories intermittently for around nine years, and increasingly in the last few months. I was offered steroids to help with the inflammation in the bowel, which I declined. Meanwhile I researched my condition extensively on the internet and came across the GAPS diet. I began the GAPS Introductory Diet. The diarrhea reduced immediately. The best thing of all was that the abdominal pains ceased very quickly, as did the gurgling in my tummy. This gave me hope, so although it was very hard work (especially holding down a full-time job and feeling very weak and anxious); I had the motivation to keep going. Now I am pleased to say that my symptoms have completely disappeared! I can now tolerate fruit and salad and am enjoying them very much. Just in time for the summer! I am now on the Full GAPS Diet with virtually no problems. I don't miss anything from my old diet, except rice and potatoes, but I am hopeful that I will be able to eat them again in about a year. I have thrown away the anti-inflammatories and use regular ice for my back and PT for my knees. I think as many people as possible should know about the GAPS program. It's amazing when you get a problem such as mine and tell others about it, how many people are suffering in similar ways. I have been spreading the word in my own small way as much as possible. Thank you, Dr. Natasha! Janice- GAPS Stories- compiled by Medinform Publishing

I am 49 years old and prior to learning about GAPS nutrition protocol, I had never been successful at losing weight. As a child I was slightly overweight and once I was in middle school, I was obese. My family, in an attempt to help me and my siblings, incorporated the low-fat diet and we also ate processed food. I struggled with eczema, asthma and allergies and frequent, severe migraines. Once I was in my twenties, I slowly gained more weight over the years. I tried eating healthy foods, I tried certain diets. I was never able to lose much of the weight. In my early 40s I began to experience more joint pain, and my insomnia was worse. My doctor also convinced me to take statins. I heard about GAPS from a friend and decided to try the Introduction diet. The first two weeks were difficult because I felt very hungry, weak, tired, moody and out of balance overall. But I stuck with it. By the 4th week I was feeling much better. It has now been 8 months, and I feel renewed. I am on Full GAPS now and will stay on it as long as my body shows me that it needs to in order to heal. I have lost 30 lbs., and a lot of my bloating and inflammation over my whole body has decreased. People comment often asking what I am doing to lose weight and that I look very healthy. I have no issues with eczema any longer. I feel rested each morning and sleep all night getting around 8hrs of sleep. My joint pain has reduced substantially. I have decreased my statins to 1/2 a dose and plan to eliminate them, eventually. I have only had 2 migraines since I started on GAPS. I know that my body is still healing and that I will lose more weight. I am enjoying the GAPS meals, I like to eat Kefir and ferments now and have learned to eat things I would have never considered before. GAPS has turned my health around and I want others to know that they can take control of their situation too. I was headed for chronic inflammation and pain, eventual diseases such as type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Now I don't have to worry about those problems. Marcus S.