This grain free chicken noodle soup is GAPS friendly! For the intro diet, leave out the celery.
The intro diet to GAPS is the most effective way to heal, but it is quite restrictive. You can read the instructions for the introduction diet here. On stage one, you are basically consuming homemade bone broths, meats cooked in broth, and non-fibrous vegetables, also cooked in broth, with a little bit of sauerkraut juice. It can be hard to get through, get enough calories, especially if you have children on the diet. This is what I learned more recently when we did a test run of the GAPS diet for my daughter after some issues cropped up again after some unavoidable antibiotics.
But before I get to the practical tips, read this amazing GAPS story for encouragement. A mom with very fussy eaters on the GAPS diet with great results. I love it!
1. Make broth everyday so you don’t run out.
2. Make very large pots of soup so there are plenty of leftovers.
3. Plan to eat very, very often. I plan on feeding my daughter every two hours.
4. Everything has to be cooked in broth, but you can pull out hamburger patties, steaks, and other cuts of meat from the broth and eat it with a fork while sipping a cup of broth on the side.
5. If you don’t do well on a low carb diet, or have children doing the diet with you, eat lots of squash and carrot soups for the carbs.
6. Cut carrots into carrot sticks and cook until soft in broth. Remove, then sprinkle with salt and serve. This is a great way to get good carbohydrates.
7. Invest in a hand blender. When you can’t even saute onions in oil yet, your soups are going to pretty basic. By blending some of your soups, you will have a more enjoyable soup experience with certain vegetables. A hand blender makes this much easier.
8. My personal favorite soup on the diet. Creamed Cauliflower with Beef. Cut up cauliflower and place in pot with several peeled garlic cloves (I also add oregano which is not technically in stage one). Cover with broth. Cook until soft, blend with hand blender. Bring to a simmer and drop balls of uncooked, salted, ground beef into the soup to create meatballs. Simmer until cooked through. Adjust with salt to taste and serve with chopped cilantro.
9. My daughter’s favorite soup on the intro diet is ginger squash soup. Peel a large butternut squash soup and cut in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon and dice the squash. Place in a pot with a tablespoon or two of finely grated peeled ginger, and several peeled garlic cloves. Cover with broth. Simmer until the squash is cooked well. Blend until soft and salt to taste.
10. We also really liked broccoli beef soup. Thinly slice one or two well-washed leeks. Add to a pot of salted broth. Simmer for ten minutes. Then add cut up broccoli and salted ground beef shaped into small meatballs. Cook for about 7 minutes, or until cooked through.
11. Make sure you eat plenty of fat. Keep all of the fat in the broth. I found that the pureed soups tasted velvety when they contained lots of fat. This is important for both satiety and for healing.
12. Purchase the ebook, What Can I eat now? 30 Days on the GAPS Intro Diet You will not be disappointed as she walks you through the intro diet with a variety of tasty recipes. We have not used it strictly, but rather used it as a resource for more recipe ideas.
So there are 12 of my tips and recipes for Stage 1 of the GAPS intro diet. I’d love to hear yours as well!
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
Creamed Cauliflower with Beef sounds great! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for this! These are great ideas. I plan to do the GAPS intro in the future and I love reading advice and recipes!
Kimi, just one thing… I believe the GAPS instructions call for cooking intro veggies for 20 minutes (or more). Perhaps this makes them more digestible?
Thanks for pointing that out Tara! I didn’t catch that. Where are those instructions found?
Hi Kimi, on p. 146 in the GAPS book, where she describes stage 1 foods, there is a bullet point for homemade soup, and those instructions say to simmer for 25-35 minutes. This is also stated in the “basic soup recipe” on p. 180 (the recipe section of the book), though on that page she says 20-25 minutes. In the section on p. 146, she also states, “Cook the vegetables well, so they are really soft.” I assume this just makes things more easily digested. I’ve also seen this recommendation on the GAPShelp Yahoo group, where people state if they are eating in a restaurant, for instance, they ask for the veggies to be plain and well-cooked, at least 20 minutes. The other helpful tidbit in that section of the book is that in the early stage, peels and fibrous parts (such as broccoli stalks, cauliflower stalks) should be removed so as not to be too irritating to the gut.
Is the GAPShelp group still around, I cant find it! and I need help! I did find the GAPSdiet group…but so far it hasn’t been super helpful, not getting my questions answered.
I recommend that everyone get a zucchini noodle spiraler. They are AWESOME, especially for gaps. We got ours a year into the diet, but I wish we had especially had it for intro. I got mine at TJMaxx for 15, but I saw them on Amazon for 35. It is SO worth it on Gaps.
I would also add that most people seem to need to stay on stage 1 for only a couple of days – not weeks or months. I think that part can be intimidating, when people see the very limited menu and imagine it going on for a long time! But if there is no diarrhea, I believe the idea is to keep progressing, only doing stage 1 until that issue clears. So maybe that makes the idea more bearable for some people! After those first few days, you can begin to add the other items, one at a time, which introduces more (and more diverse) nutrition.
I was actually reading the GAPS book this week & this was not my impression about the intro phase. I will look this up & post with a page refernece later on today or tomorrow. If anyone else can comment on this, I would appreciate it.
Jessie, I am not referring to the entire Intro phase, only Stage 1 of the Intro. Note that there are multiple stages of Intro (6 to be exact); I am referring to only Stage 1, which is what Kimi is describing in this post – the stage where you are eating a VERY short list of foods. As you progress through the following stages of Intro, you add in additional foods, one by one. So to say it another way, I am simply saying that a person doesn’t have to live on broth, boiled meat and boiled veggies indefinitely – just a short while until any diarrhea clears up, and then can begin adding the next foods, including raw egg yolks, ghee, etc. So a person is still eating soups/stews for a while, but after stage 1 it does get a little more interesting, step by step. In the GAPS book (mine is published 2010, I think it’s the latest edition?), see the section titled The Appropriate Diet for GAP Syndrome, and beginning on p. 142, she begins the description of the Intro diet, including a discussion of each of the 6 stages of Intro.
Pureed soups are SOUPER haha velvety when there’s fat. Like I just made a soup with a full can of full fat coconut milk, butter nut squash, chicken stock and some beef liver. FANTASTIC. It is solid in the fridge, and I add some water to it on the stove and reheat. YUM
Thanks Kimi for this article. To date, I haven’t seen so many recipes for Intro in one place. I also appreciate your article from yesterday on the possible downside of doing GAPS. We tried Intro a month or so ago. I just plunged in without preparing much. We lasted one day! Now that I know more, we are working towards doing full GAPS first.
In the creamed cauliflower with beef soup, I do have one question. What kind of stock do you use? Beef, or chicken? I assumed beef.
Thank you for all the wonderful recipes.
I have a question about leaving Stage 1 when one has chronic constipation. Do you stay on Stage 1 until chronic constipation is no longer a problem or move to Stage 2?
Also what if you know you have candidas which has been long term–Do you stay on Stage 1 or move on?
I love this weeks post they have been so interesting.
You can move on if you have constipation (you should do enemas or castor oil or something to help you eliminate). I had C until about halfway through intro. Enemas worked well.
If you have candida you can also keep moving through the stages just skip the nuts, honey and sweet veggies as you add foods to your diet.
THANK YOU for asking and answering this question! I’ve been trying to figure it out, and all of the yahoo/facebook groups have not had an answer! I’m on day 6 if intro stage 1. I planned to start stage 2 tomorrow. I saw that it was suggested to add in juice earlier to help battle constipation. Should I start with egg yolk or the juice? At this time I’ve been doing nightly enemas. I eliminated grains sugar and fruit 30 days before starting GAPS (and was consuming kraut and stock with my meals…so kiinda like Full Gaps plus starches
Anway, even after making those changes I was going 4-5 days between BM. So I was told after the first 2 weeks that I needed to do nightly enemas if I”m not going on my own. SOOO, just didn’t want to rush off intro 1 if I need to get regular first…THANKS SO MUCH!
Thank you so much for this…..I love hearing concrete details of your favorite foods to eat in this stage.
I have a question about the bone broth: When you say to make it every day, what kinds of bones are you using for that? Do you always use a whole chicken, or mix it up with all different cuts of chicken? And beef, is it always the same type of bone, or do you buy bone in roasts and ribs and all kinds? I’m just trying to figure out the logistics of broth every day…..it seems a bit overwhelming. I think I’m just too stuck-in-a-rut with my broth, which is always just a whole roasted chicken carcass.
And that’s only about once a week and then we eat it almost all in one night’s worth of soup.
Megan,
Using any kinds of bones from a butcher or meat source that you trust. I even mix and match. My favorite is chicken and beef. Sometimes I roast bones first for added flavor. I have a big family (4 children). One of the best pieces of cookware I have is a 5 gallon stock pot. I use 2 chickens or 10 lbs of beef bones or the combination and depending on how strong I want it. In the 5 gallon pot I add 5 or 6 carrots, 2 to 3 stalks of celery, a couple of large onions, lots of celtic salt and a cup of cider vinegar. I fill it 2/3′s full of water and then gently boil for 2 days. I remove the chicken from the bone as soon as it is cooked through so the meet has some flavor when I add it back to the soup later. What I don’t use I put in the freezer for later. When I decant the soup I put them in old yogurt containers and put them in my freezer. I label them and then have quarts of broth for the ready. Then when I make soup I almost pretend that the broth is just water and add all of my ingredients to make a really rich soup. Because I have broth at the ready I can make one or two or three different kinds at t a time and have a variety of leftovers. It makes life more interesting for the kids.
My tip is when you’re eating soup with chicken to take all the fat and soft parts (you don’t particularly want to chew, but need to eat) and pop them along with a cup or 2 of warm broth into your blender and blend until smooth. Pour it back into your soup and keeps all that good fat in your soup. We tend to blend our whole soup since it distributes the fat throughout the soup and doesn’t leave that layer of fat on the top.
Love everyone’s ideas!
That’s a good tip, thanks!
Hi. My son is 3 years old. He is in the 4rd day of the intro diet. First day as so encouraging, he ate his soups without complainings. 2nd and 3rd day did not want anything to do with broths or soup, he will only eat some steam broccoli and cauliflower.
I am worry he will get very week and sick. I am hoping he will give up this fight and eat the soup.
He also has not poop for 2 days, so we are considering doing the enema today. Very scare about enemas, we try once and was not a good experience .
He is autistic with lots of bad bugs in his gut and he is having withdrawals, fatigue and extremely tired.
Did anybody go throuh this with a young child and would like to share an experience?
When would be a good time to move to the second stage?
Thanks.
Rosana
2 of my 4 kids wouldn’t eat much day 2, 3 & 4 of intro. They also started vomiting days 2 & 3. They both happen to be the carb lovers of the family so I pushed them to eat carrots and squash and made them a rehydration solution with 1T honey, 1/4t celtic sea salt & 2c water. This pulled them out of the vomiting and their appetites came back. Today is day 10 and they are eating everything in sight! Also, 1 didn’t have a BM for 1 week. I let her go that long because she didn’t feel the need to go (she’s 9 and old enough to trust her judgment on this) and she had barely eaten for several days. With 1 of my younger kids I probably would have done the enema. I hope this helps, even though it’s been a few months since your post.
Thanks, Stacy!! Dealing with two of mine vomiting on days 2 & 3. Needed the rehydration solution. Hoping for a better day 4 tomorrow.
Thanks for this post! Very helpful. We are on day 3 of the intro… and your stage 1 tips are very valuable!
This blog was EXTREMELY helpful! I’m doing GAPS intro for the second time, and I have just about had it with my standard chicken soup and meatball soups. I now have a new grocery list for tonight! Butternut squash, ginger, cauliflower…..These new souper recipes are SOUPER (love the pun!)
Great tips here, everyone–thanks. After a full year of psyching myself up, I’m starting my GAPS intro diet tomorrow for the first time. I’ve been cooking broth all week and made my own sauerkraut (feeling very proud). I’m going to do the 30-day intro and a few months of GAPS, and if the results are good, I’m hoping my husband and teenagers will also give it a try. I’m especially glad to hear about the GAPS Yahoo group–I’ve been wishing for a support group to be part of.
I’m a bit worried about doing the gaps while breast feeding, I know you go straight to full gaps, but I’m thinking I might have candida and just worry about the die off effecting her if I have candida. She is 4 months and I plan making it a year nursing. Any opinions?
Thinking of starting GAPS diet due to leaky gut, food intolerances, and IBS(no diarrhea, just constipation, bloating). I’ve been doing Paleo diet and love it but recently found that I am intolerant to staple ingredients on both GAPS and Paleo…almond, tomato, egg yolk, dairy, broccoli, cauliflower, some other veggies and fruits…frustrating. How the heck am I supposed to get off stage 1 of the intro if I have to add egg yolk and fermented products?…so many recipes with whey…not to mention the almond flour…the soups with the above ingredients that I can’t have. Overwhelmed and don’t like the idea that I am going to have to eat just broth and soup since I can’t seem to eat other stuff…not to mention broth/soup has never been a favorite of mine to either make or eat. I don’t mind doing it if I have some variety, but it will get old quickly.
I also want to start on the GAPS diet, but I have leaky gut, candida, ibs and food intolerances including wheat, soy, avocados, coconut, bananas, tomato, dairy, potatoes, nuts, etc. So overwhelming. I’ve tried eating broths and soups, but I feel too weak.
I have UC and have been on GAPS intro stage 1 for 11 days. I am still having diarrhea. Has anybody been in stage 1 that long? How do you keep from being sick of all broths? I’m trying to up my intake of the broth maybe I’m not taking enough. I’m on yogurt 8-9 tbl a day. Please give any advise! Thanks