Page 57 - Spring2010

All Thumbs Book Reviews

GAPS Guide tions within both the mundane practicalities of
Simple Steps to Heal Bowels, Body and Brain daily life, and the complex dynamics of the fam-
One Hill Productions, 2009 ily. Lashkov provides a template for this slow-
By Baden Lashkov motion evolution that gradually introduces a new
food preparation technique, a new food, locating
Baden Lashkov, a young mother who lives in alternative grocers and suppliers, outfitting the
British Columbia, has written a complementary kitchen with necessary tools, and planning for
guidebook to Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride’s uninterrupted time for the program. To be sure,
popular treatise on healing multiple gastro-intes- this prelude to the program itself will prove to
tinal conditions, Gut and Psychology Syndrome. safeguard more than one parent’s sanity!
Lashkov successfully implemented the GAPS The GAPS Guide provides in-depth details
protocol to improve her own health and that of to the introductory diet—a protocol that patients
her son, but not without pitfalls suffered along of Dr. Campbell-McBride will have received in
the way. Based on her experiences and those their personal recommendations, but readers of
of many others committed to the program, she Gut and Psychology Syndrome will not find in
has compiled this step-by-step guide largely for the book. Nevertheless, virtually anyone starting
newcomers to the GAPS approach to gut healing. on the GAPS program will benefit from begin-
Although the steps to heal bowels, body and ning with the “intro diet” and in fact, may only Many who
brain are deemed “simple,” and many who have achieve the desired results by doing so. This have
adopted the GAPS protocol will attest to near- preamble to the full GAPS diet is a simple yet
miraculous improvements, many have also been extremely nourishing and easy-to-digest varia- embarked
frustrated by setbacks, obstacles and apparent tion of meat broths, boiled meats and vegetables on the GAPS
failure to progress with the diet, even with the meant to soothe and pacify the digestive system protocol
best of intentions and dedication to instructions. while prompting its healing. The intro diet can
What is needed for those at such impasses is be returned to whenever some stage of the pro- without this
support from others whose own trial-and-error gram has provoked an uncomfortable digestive information
struggles can light the way and provide helpful response, and reliably returns the system to bal- will welcome
signposts at the critical junctures, which virtually ance. Many who have embarked on the GAPS
everyone dedicated to the program will stumble protocol without this information will welcome the added
upon. the added detailed instructions and guidance that detailed
Lashkov emphasizes the three-pronged ap- may make all the difference in their success with instructions
proach to the GAPS program—diet, detoxifica- the program. Recipes for foods in the intro diet
tion and supplementation—and the commitments are also provided in a separate section. and
one will need to undertake in order to receive the The chapter “Frequently Asked Questions” guidance
most benefit from seriously adopting the entire covers everything from practical matters of that may
program. With the calm assurance of one who has transporting foods to work or school to the ques-
been down this path before, she counsels new- tion of whether one can be vegetarian or vegan make all the
comers to ease into the program as slowly and on the program. Lashkov treats this last query difference in
comfortably as possible—the transition will not with sincere compassion—a former vegetarian their success
only be one of dietary habits, but of psychological and occasional vegan herself, she understands
and emotional patterns as well. Each new step the ethical position of those who choose these with the
must be taken with full awareness of its implica- paths. She herself needed the meats and broths program.

SPRING 2010 Wise Traditions 57