Supplements for GAPS Patients
The majority of my patients progress very well with the use of the diet and these essential supplements without adding anything else.
The essential supplements for GAPS patients:
1. An effective therapeutic strength probiotic.
2. Essential fatty acids.
3. Vitamins A and D in the form of cod liver oil.
Please read the relevant chapters in the GAPS books on these supplements.
In some individual cases, particularly in adults, I use digestive enzymes. Children usually do very well without them. The most important intervention here is supplementation of the stomach acid, as GAPS patients usually have low stomach acidity. It is from the action of the stomach acid that the whole digestive process begins. Please, read more about it in the chapter Digestive Enzymes in both GAPS books.
In some individual cases I prescribe certain vitamin and mineral supplements. However, in majority of cases there is no need for these supplements, particularly at the beginning of the programme. We, humans, are designed to receive our vitamins and minerals from food, not from pills. Nutrients help each other in their absorption and metabolism, that is why they have to come in a complex physical form of natural food. The body has not been designed to use single, particularly synthetic molecules of vitamins and minerals.
Don’t be tempted to use other supplements. The main treatment of GAP Syndrome is the diet. Supplements may contain many ingredients, sometimes not listed on the label, which irritate the gut lining. You do not want to put a lot of effort into the diet and then upset the healing process in the gut by a pill. If you are strongly recommended to take a particular supplement, complete the Introduction Diet first before starting it. By then a lot of healing will happen in your gut, so it will be in a better shape to handle the new supplement.
Please, read the relevant chapters in the GAPS books for a full understanding on using supplements.