This blog is part of a series on the GAPS diet and No Plant GAPS. I had the pleasure of spending time with Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, learning directly from her expertise. The information shared in these blogs comes from our private conversations, public interviews, and exclusive content from a special interview included in the No Plant GAPS training session.
Monika Holland asked Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride “Do I need carbohydrates on No Plant GAPS?”
Well, the liver contains a lot of glycogen, that is the organ that is the richest in glycogen, and glycogen is a carbohydrate. It’ s similar in its biochemical structure to to starch, which you find in potatoes and grains and beans and other plant matter. And it’ s an animal form of starch. It’ s a complex carbohydrate, but it has a different structure. It is easier for human beings to digest, to assimilate. Intrinsicly.
So, a chunk of animal that you will eat on a no- plant gaps diet is a complete balanced meal. It has proteins in it, it has carbohydrates in it, it has fat in it, and it has all the vitamins, all the minerals, all the elements that are necessary for your body to thrive. Absolutely, you do not need anything else, just that some salt salt is essential on the no- plant gaps diet. Because we lose a lot of sodium through kidneys and you have to keep replenishing that, and also use only natural salt. Never ever buy salt in supermarkets. Don’ t buy anything in supermarkets at all. Supermarkets are a place to buy disease. You’ re buying disease in there. So, glycogen coming back to carbohydrates. So that provides you with necessary carbohydrates for your body.
On top of that, human body is designed in such a beautiful way. It can, it can convert anything into anything, whatever it requires at the time. It can convert the proteins into carbohydrates, the fats into carbohydrates or carbohydrates into fat and vice versa. So, you know, your body will, your body is infinitely wise. It’ s your own body that heals itself, not the diet, not the pill, not the book, not the doctor. Your own body that heals itself. If you allow your body to do the job and trust it and listen to it instead of throwing things at it and dictating to it because some scientific paper said so. Then your body will do everything correctly. It will sort it all out.
And that’ s wonderful to hear because there are lots of people who just don’ t want to give up on carbohydrates in the form of vegetables. You know, you’ re not going to be able to do that. Let’ s say that’ s another issue here. There’ s probably another issue here. Practically every GAPS person is a drug addict. Let me explain this and I go into detail about this in both my GAPS books, in the yellow and the blue and the blue, perhaps more. These pathogenic microbes that overgrow in your digestive system, they love carbohydrates. They feast on them, particularly fungi, fungi, you know, and you’ re in a fungal stage. If you have a chronic disease, if you have autoimmunity, allergy or any other degenerative disease, you’ re in a fungal stage.
You have an overgrowth of fungi. That’ s a given. That’ s an axiom. You don’ t even have to prove that. You have a fungal overgrowth. Fungi love processed carbohydrates. They feast on them. They thrive on them. They convert a large percent of them into alcohol. So you’ ll be drunk all the time, slightly. That’ s where the brain fog comes from. That’ s where the hair comes from. That’ s where the headaches come from. That’ s where the clumsiness comes from, and all sorts of, you know, emotional instability and all sorts of other things. And part of and many other toxins will be produced from these processed carbohydrates. But these fungi are clever. They’ re intelligent. Part of that toxicity they produce in the form of endorphins and morphins.
And these chemicals absorb; they get into your brain and they’ re addictive for the brain. Your brain becomes a drug addict. You’ re not buying drugs on the street. The drug is manufactured by your own gut flora in your own body. And then it’ So fed to your brain to become a drug addict. So the brain wants more bread, more pasta, more rice, more fruit, more bananas, more vegetables. You know, whatever it is that feeds that vicious cycle of drug addiction. You’ re a drug addict. This drug addiction in many people begins in the childhood when they get introduced to the sweets for the first time. Another treat, so-called treats. And then that moves, that drug addiction then moves into addiction to coffee, tobacco, processed carbohydrates, drugs, illicit drugs and addictive behaviors as well and many other problems.
So many, many people are actually have an addictive personality. They’ re already addicts and they started that journey in their childhood and GAPS always comes with this kind of drug addiction. If you have GAPS, you’ re a drug addict and the drugs are manufactured by the fungi in your digestive system and not only fungi, but many other microbial stages of the evolution of the endobionts, basically, which are evolving into each other, depending on what’ s going on there. So, and people who are in that situation. Have you ever tried? To talk to a drug addict or to help a drug addict? They are so intelligent. They will convince themselves that I must have this.’ This is good for me. It s essential for me.
And there’ s so many scientific studies that they will find to prove this point to themselves and to everybody else. It’ s there’ s no way of convincing them that this is actually harming you. That is why in any alcohol recovery program such as Alcohol Anonymous, or drug recovery problem program or any other society, the first step in Alcoholics Anonymous, the first step on the journey of recovery is to admit I’ m an alcoholic. Many people find that step the most difficult to make. So the same for the GAPS, because you have to understand, I’ m addicted to these chocolate muffins. They’ I’ m not good for me, I’ m just an addict. I’ m addicted to these things. And I need to deal with that.
The protocol for the No Plant GAPS diet is outlined comprehensively in the book “Gut and Physiology Syndrome” by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, the creator of this approach. Further information on the protocol can also be found here.