The Full Gaps Diet
In looking at effective diets to combat leaky gut, we came across the GAPS diet. GAPS—which stands for Gut and Psychology Syndrome—is a diet designed to heal the lining of the gut and subsequently treat chronic inflammatory conditions in the digestive tract. It seeks to remove difficult-to-digest foods from the diet and replace them with nutrient-dense healing foods to encourage healing of the intestinal lining. The concept of “heal and seal” is evident in the first of the two phases the diet calls for. The Introduction phase consists of six stages, starting out with primarily broths, boiled meats and vegetables in phase 1, then slowly introducing more cooked meats, raw vegetables, and lastly fruits through stage 6. The second phase of the GAPS diet is referred to as the “Full GAPS diet,” which consists of similar foods, but is definitely more flexible than the first restrictive phase. The full GAPS Diet list is printed below – find more detail on GAPS here.
| Allowed | Not Allowed |
| Almonds, including almond butter and oil | Acesulphame |
| Apples | Acidophilus milk |
| Apricots, fresh or dried | Agar-agar |
| Artichoke, French | Agave syrup |
| Asiago cheese | Algae |
| Asparagus | Aloe Vera |
| Aubergine (eggplant) | Amaranth |
| Avocados, including avocado oil | Apple juice (commercially prepared) |
| Bananas (ripe only with brown spots on the skin) | Arrowroot |
| Beans, dried white (navy), string beans and lima beans properly prepared | Aspartame |
| Beef, fresh or frozen | Astragalus |
| Beets or beetroot | Baked beans |
| Berries, all kinds | Baker’s yeast |
| Black radish | Baking powder and raising agents of all kind |
| Black, white and red pepper: ground and pepper corns | Balsamic vinegar |
| Blue cheese | Barley |
| Bok Choy | Bean flour and sprouts |
| Brazil nuts | Bee pollen |
| Brick cheese | Beer |
| Brie cheese | Bhindi or okra |
| Broccoli | Bicarbonate of soda |
| Brussels sprouts | Bitter Gourd |
| Butter | Black-eye beans |
| Cabbage | Bologna |
| Camembert cheese | Bouillon cubes or granules |
| Canned fish | Brandy |
| Capers | Buckwheat |
| Carrots | Bulgur |
| Cashew nuts, fresh only | Burdock root |
| Cauliflower | Butter beans |
| Cayenne pepper | Buttermilk |
| Celeriac | Canellini beans |
| Celery | Canned vegetables and fruit |
| Cellulose in supplements | Carob |
| Cheddar cheese | Carrageenan |
| Cherimoya (custard apple or sharifa) | Cellulose gum |
| Cherries | Cereals, including all breakfast cereals |
| Chicken, fresh or frozen | Cheeses, processed and cheese spreads |
| Cinnamon | Chestnuts and chestnut flour |
| Citric acid | Chevre cheese |
| Coconut milk | Chewing gum |
| Coconut oil | Chickory root |
| Coconut, fresh or dried (shredded) without any additives | Chickpeas |
| Coffee, weak and freshly made, not instant | Cocoa powder |
| Colby cheese | Coffee, instant and coffee substitutes |
| Collard greens | Cooking oils |
| Coriander, fresh or dried | Cordials |
| Courgette (zucchini) | Corn |
| Cucumber | Corn syrup |
| Dates, fresh or dried without any additives (not soaked in syrup) | Cornstarch |
| Dill, fresh or dried | Cottage cheese |
| Duck, fresh or frozen | Cottonseed |
| Edam cheese | Cous-cous |
| Eggplant (aubergine) | Cream |
| Eggs, fresh | Cream cheese |
| Filberts | Cream of Tartar |
| Fish, fresh or frozen, canned in its juice or oil | Dextrose |
| Game, fresh or frozen | Drinks, soft |
| Garlic | Faba beans |
| Ghee, homemade (many store varieties contain non-allowed ingredients) | Feta cheese |
| Gin, occasionally | Fish, preserved, smoked, salted, breaded and canned with sauces |
| Ginger root, fresh | Flour, made out of grains |
| Goose, fresh or frozen | FOS (fructooligosaccharides) |
| Gorgonzola cheese | Fructose |
| Gouda cheese | Fruit, canned or preserved |
| Grapefruit | Garbanzo beans |
| Grapes | Gjetost cheese |
| Haricot beans, properly prepared | Grains, all |
| Havarti cheese | Gruyere cheese |
| Hazelnuts | Ham |
| Herbal teas | Hot dogs |
| Herbs, fresh or dried without additives | Ice-cream, commercial |
| Honey, natural | Jams |
| Juices (freshly pressed from permitted fruit and vegetables) | Jellies |
| Kale | Jerusalem artichoke |
| Kiwi fruit | Ketchup, commercially available |
| Kumquats | Lactose |
| Lamb, fresh or frozen | Liqueurs |
| Lemons | Margarines and butter replacements |
| Lentils | Meats, processed, preserved, smoked and salted |
| Lettuce, all kinds | Milk from any animal, soy, rice, canned coconut milk |
| Lima beans (dried and fresh) | Milk, dried |
| Limburger cheese | Millet |
| Limes | Molasses |
| Mangoes | Mozzarella cheese |
| Meats, fresh or frozen | Mungbeans |
| Melons | Neufchatel cheese |
| Monterey (Jack) cheese | Nutra-sweet (aspartame) |
| Muenster cheese | Nuts, salted, roasted and coated |
| Mushrooms | Oats |
| Mustard seeds, pure powder | Okra – mucilaginous food |
| Nectarines | Parsnips |
| Nut flour or ground nuts | Pasta, of any kind |
| Nutmeg | Pectin |
| Nuts, all kinds freshly shelled, not roasted, salted or coated | Postum |
| Olive oil, virgin cold-pressed | Potato sweet |
| Olives preserved without sugar or any other non- allowed ingredients | Potato white |
| Onions | Primost cheese |
| Oranges | Quinoa |
| Papayas | Rice |
| Parmesan cheese | Ricotta cheese |
| Parsley | Rye |
| Peaches | Saccharin |
| Peanut butter, without additives | Sago |
| Peanuts, fresh or roasted in their shells | Sausages, commercially available |
| Pears | Semolina |
| Peas, dried split and fresh green | Sherry |
| Pecans | Soda soft drinks |
| Peppers (green, yellow, red, and orange) | Sour cream, commercial |
| Pheasant, fresh or frozen | Soy |
| Pickles, without sugar or any other non-allowed ingredients | Spelt |
| Pigeon, fresh or frozen | Starch |
| Pineapples, fresh | Sugar or sucrose of any kind |
| Pork, fresh or frozen | Tapioca – starch |
| Port du Salut cheese | Tea, instant |
| Poultry, fresh or frozen | Triticale |
| Prunes, dried without any additives or in their own juice | Turkey loaf |
| Pumpkin | Vegetables, canned or preserved |
| Quail, fresh or frozen | Wheat |
| Raisins | Wheat germ |
| Rhubarb | Whey, powder or liquid |
| Romano cheese | Yams |
| Roquefort cheese | Yogurt, commercial |
| Satsumas | |
| Scotch, occasionally | |
| Seaweed fresh and dried (once Introduction Diet has been completed) | |
| Shellfish, fresh or frozen | |
| Spices, single and pure without any additives | |
| Spinach | |
| Squash (summer and winter) | |
| Stilton cheese | |
| String beans | |
| Swedes | |
| Swiss cheese | |
| Tangerines | |
| Tea, weak, freshly made, not instant | |
| Tomato juice, without any additives apart from salt | |
| Tomato puree, pure without any additives apart from salt | |
| Tomatoes | |
| Turkey, fresh or frozen | |
| Turnips | |
| Ugly fruit | |
| Uncreamed cottage cheese (dry curd) | |
| Vinegar (cider or white); make sure there is no allergy | |
| Vodka, very occasionally | |
| Walnuts | |
| Watercress | |
| White navy beans, properly prepared | |
| Wine dry: red or white | |
| Yogurt, homemade | |
| Zucchini (courgette) |
The above data was taken from:
http://www.gapsdiet.com/gaps-full-diet.html