GAPS- For Kids
As a parent, you may struggle with your child’s attention, focus, mood or behavioural issues. It can be stressful, exhausting and overwhelming not know what is contributing and what might help. But what you might not realise is their gut could be to blame.
Your child’s gut plays a major role in their health and wellbeing, affecting everything from their digestion to mental health, from their skin to their immune system.
In fact, Naturopaths often refer to the gut as the second brain, because it controls so many aspects of your life. And if your child has any of the above, the GAPS program may be for them.
GAPS stands for Gut and Psychology Syndrome/Gut and Physiology Syndrome. It is a comprehensive healing protocol developed by Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride, a neurologist and nutritionist to correct digestive compromise and nutritional deficiencies in the body as a result of poor lifestyle and dietary habits.
GAPS is a condition where damaged gut flora and chemicals absorbed in the stomach affect the brain and other vital organs creating an imbalance in the body.
The GAPS Diet focuses on removing foods that are difficult to digest and damaging to gut flora and replacing them with nutrient-dense foods to give the intestinal lining a chance to heal and seal.
Many behavioral issues including autism, ADD, ADHD, Aggression, Anxiety, Depression, Developmental Delays, Learning Delays, Mood Disorders, Sensory Processing Issues and general behavior problems can be greatly improved with the GAPS healing protocol.
Some of the major systems affected are digestion, detoxification and immune function. Poor digestion contributes to nutrient deficiencies and the creation of food sensitivities. This then leads to further inflammation and digestion problems, the creation of toxins from dysbiotic bacteria, and the production of opiates from food that affect brain function.
The GAPS Diet is a very holistic approach to healing, starting with the gut. Between 70 and 85 % of your immune system lies within the gut. The gastrointestinal tract has a myriad of vital functions for your health, including digestion, nutrient absorption, defense against invading pathogens, hormone metabolism, detoxification, elimination and production of energy. Additionally, 99% of the body’s neurotransmitters (those feel-good chemicals) are manufactured in the small intestine.
So it is easy to see the critical role gut health plays in one’s overall health. Whether your condition is of the psychological category or primarily seen as a physical disease, the GAPS Program will allow repair throughout the many systems of the body.
The GAPS Program is an effective physical therapy to bring healing to the body. Hippocrates knew well that “All disease begins in the gut.”
And so, it is with the gut that we begin our steps back to health.
If you have any questions, you can call us to book a FREE 15-minute chat with one of our Naturopaths to see how we can help you. Call now on (02) 4961 4075.
Is your kid always sick? Do you suspect he/she has a food intolerance? Difficulty concentrating? Gut problems?
