“All disease begins in the gut” — Hippocrates
Gut Health
What is GAPS?
Two names, one idea. Gut and Psychology Syndrome describes the link between the digestive system and the brain. Gut and Physiology Syndrome extends the same link to the rest of the body.
Learn it properlyThe gut is not
a separate department
Most of us were taught to think of the body as a set of specialisms — a skin problem goes to a dermatologist, a mood problem to a psychiatrist, a joint problem to a rheumatologist.
The GAPS concept starts somewhere else. It says that a damaged gut wall and a disordered microbiome send their consequences everywhere: into the bloodstream, the immune system, and the brain.
Which is why the same protocol keeps turning up in conversations about very different-looking conditions.
- Learning, focus and behaviour
- Eczema, allergies and asthma
- Digestive and bowel symptoms
- Autoimmunity and immune dysfunction
- Mood, anxiety and low energy
- Skin, joints and chronic inflammation
How the protocol works
It is a sequence, not a shopping list. Each stage prepares the ground for the next.
- Take out what is doing the damage
Processed food, sugar and the starches that feed an imbalanced microbiome come out first. This is the part everyone expects — and the part that does the least on its own.
- Heal and seal the gut lining
Meat stock, well-cooked vegetables, animal fats and fermented foods, introduced in a deliberate order. The Introduction Diet is slow on purpose.
- Rebuild the microbiome
Fermented foods and a therapeutic-strength probiotic re-establish the populations that do the daily work of digestion and immune regulation.
- Widen the diet again
The Full GAPS Diet reintroduces foods as tolerance returns. Most people stay on it for around two years.
- Come off GAPS
The goal was never to stay on a restricted diet for life. It was to repair the system that makes an ordinary diet possible.
Where to begin
- Read the book first
Gut and Psychology Syndrome is where the whole thing is set out. Start there before you change anything.
- Take the Masterclass
If you want the reasoning as well as the instructions, 75+ hours of it, taught by Dr Natasha.
- Work with a practitioner
A Certified GAPS Practitioner can adapt the protocol to your situation, which matters more than most people expect.
- Join the community
Recipes, troubleshooting and people a few months further along than you.
An honest word before you start
GAPS asks a lot. It means cooking most of what you eat, sourcing good ingredients, and holding a course for months rather than weeks. People who start it casually usually stop it casually.
It is also not a substitute for medical care. If you or your child are under treatment for anything, talk to your doctor before making significant dietary changes — and consider working with a certified practitioner rather than going it alone.
The information on this site is educational and is not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Learn the system
behind it all
Stop piecing together fragments of information.
Start with the education that makes the rest make sense.
- 14 structured modules
- 75+ hours of video
- 6 months access
- Taught by Dr Natasha