Recommended for: People with GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) and parents of people with GAPS. Expecting parents (there is good information for pregnant ladies, in addition to foods to introduce to babies). Or weirdos like me.

I was first introduced to the book, Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, through a shout out (or perhaps should say advertisement) from Dr. Mercola. The topic fascinated me and I wanted to learn more. I do not have gut and psychology syndrome, but ever since I became pregnant a year ago, I have had digestion issues.

I cannot offer any personal anecdote for her treatment. The diet Dr. Campbell-McBride prescribes is a difficult diet to live by. The staples of the diet are homemade broths (made by any animal bones you have on hand) and fermented foods (preferably homemade as well). In addition, there are very long lists of foods you can and cannot eat while on the diet. My mild digestive issues are not compelling enough for me to alter my food lifestyle, at least for the time being. If I do develop serious health issues in the future or have a child with autism, dyspraxia, ADD, dyslexia, ADHD, depression, or schizophrenia, I can imagine that that will be enough motivation to experiment with the diet for a couple of years. If you would like anecdotes, there are plenty that you can find online, as well as Dr. Campbell-McBride’s story of how she treated her son with autism.

Despite not personally living by the book, I have always had a holistic view concerning health and the interconnected-ness of our bodies and so it makes a lot of sense to me that these manifested problems in one’s psychology is a symptom of a larger all around health problem. As Dr. Campbell-McBride mentions in her book, the medical field has become very specialized in the last century and because of this, our culture generally treats our health in a very specialized way. For instance, we supplement our water with fluoride for strong teeth with little concern of how fluoride affects the body as a whole. Dr. Campbell-McBride states “Colic, bloating, flatulence, diarrhoea, constipation, feeding difficulties and malnourishment, all to various degrees, are a typical part of autism, schizophrenia and other GAPS conditions. Doctors often explain these symptoms as a result of patients’ ‘funny’ feeding habits and are not inclined to investigate them.” If we help a troubled digestive system to heal, the troubled mind (or other troublesome health issues) can start to recover as well.

Again, I wholeheartedly recommend that if you or someone dear to you has any of the previously mentioned health issues that you check out Gut and Psychology Syndrome. In fact, I wholeheartedly recommend that you check out this book even if you do not have any health issues. It ultimately is very interesting and easy to read. It will provide you with information of what damages the good bacteria in our guts (namely antibiotics, drugs, and diet), how to heal a damaged gut, recipes, and interesting health tidbits. Though I have to return Gut and Psychology Syndrome to the library tomorrow, I plan to someday soon add it to my library.