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"Many people have to do this dance of step forward, step back, step forward, and step back for several months," Dr. McBride says. "Some people have to follow the introduction diet for up to 18 months before moving into the Full GAPS Diet. This is usually the group of the most severe people such as those with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, ME, multiple sclerosis, and people with more severe degenerative conditions. In the majority of people, particularly the children, the introduction diet takes a couple of months maximum."

""I have patients who have done best on a completely no-plant diet," she says. "I have people who have been on a no-plants diet at all; purely animal foods. They eat meat, fish, eggs, and yogurt. That's all. They don't eat anything else. They have no vegetables, fruits, grains, and nothing of plant origin at all for 18 months, two years, and two and a half years, and they do beautifully.

"These are usually people with obsessive-compulsive disorders, bipolar disorders, schizophrenics, or people with other conditions. "

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/03/18/mcbride-and-barringer-interview.aspx

I haven't heard of that particular condition, but I have been reading a few things lately that link imbalances of gut bacteria with a number of health problems, including brain function.

I do know that I saw a documentary a few years ago about how two explorers were stranded in the arctic and survived the whole winter on nothing but the seals they hunted with no adverse effects to their health, which led to some research about native peoples' diets.

That reminds me of something I read once upon a time that North America's Plains Indians' standard diet was heavily carnivorous, and that you could live on 2 lbs (~1 kilo) of buffalo hump meat a day and be quite healthy.

Wish I could remember the source.

I went on a diet that involved no complex carbohydrates under the guidance of a nutritionalist in order to sort out my gut bacteria (according to her) and I got so so much worse and ended up with severe ME. Be careful with extreme diets. A lot of people call themselves nutritionalists. And there is no accountability if you deteriorate either. I think fermented foods are a good idea though.

I believe nearly all health problems are originated in the gut. They have only just begun to explore the different bacteria and microflora responsible for various things in the gut.

The next process to straighten out the gut will be fecal microbiota transplants, which is like it sounds, kind of yucky. It already cures Clostridium Difficile, an otherwise incurable illness.

I've done my own fecal transplant using my cousin's feces, mixing it in a blender and using an enema to implant it in my colon. It was quite messy and time consuming though and I can't wait until you can get one at a doctor's office. My gastro doc was so excited to hear I'd done this, he can't wait either. There are DIY videos on YouTube to teach you how.

This process is moving slowly through FDA and soon should be more studied and more available. I thought it might help CFS and weight loss but I was only able to do it for 4 days so didn't notice much.

Among the things I've learned, some call the gut the second brain, as it has some input into what hormones get released and when. There are even neuron cells in the gut.

While I am not crazy about Mercola's site - seems a little fringe - I am a big believer in the gut ruling the body situation. Leaky gut is a huge issue with the inflammatory foods we've all grown up eating. I don't personally feel that there is any perfect diet for everyone. I think that it's blood type/genetics/dna and personal sensitivities.
I have always done best with no grains at all, very little veggies, no fruit at all....when I am feeling my best I eat high fat, moderate protein, and under 20 carbs a day, all from my salad, or cooked veggies like spaghetti squash, all fodmap foods. It's a dull diet, but it's better than hurting.
This approach is called the Keto Diet. It's used for epilepsy, and other illnesses. It looks a lot like the one you are describing but I think higher fat (coconut oil, butter, olive oil) My cholesterol is fabulous, my blood sugar is finally stabilized and I'm finally losing weight. The day after I slip up by mistake and get too much sugar or some fructose I didn't notice I feel like utter crap.... But that is what works for ME, doesn't mean it will work for anyone else. But anything we can share here for folks to try to find their personal best food plan is great :) Thanks so much for sharing this Jack and wondering do you plan to try the GAPS diet?

Nina1959 -- No, I'm not going to try the GAPS diet per se. I have been/am reading Mercola's nutrition plan, despite having been somewhat leery of the whole site as kind of fringe-y, like you, for a long time. He does stress that there is no one-size-fits-all diet; that it's critical to listen to our bodies and adjust according to what it tells us. Since I *never* bought into that "margarine (liquid-oil-screwed-around-with-until-it's-a-solid) is better for you than butter (no screwing around with it)" cr*p, a lot of what I read at Mercola makes sense to me. Plus, I'm pretty thoroughly disgusted with how little conventional medicine knows or accepts or even cares about ME/CFS/SEID, which kicks my @ss everyday... If I'm going to have to do my own research and treatment-trialing, I'm going to look to other sources, because conventional medicine doesn't have sh*t for me.

I have been using coconut oil in place of all other other fats that I can -- I don't eat *that* much processed food (though I am sometimes overtaken by a DD donut or a Burger King item). I've been eating similar to you, Nina, very few veggies -- onions and garlic in my eggs everyday. and not a lot more -- no fruit at all (except for apple cider -- yes, I know, fructose like crazy), high levels of high quality fat, lots of protein and as few carbs as I can manage. I still have a lot to learn about the carbs though, and get my dietary sugars down. I also need to test and monitor my sugar levels, and a few others.

FWIW, here's the site I started with at Mercola: http://www.mercola.com/nutritionplan/index.htm#factor1

Best Wishes, Love and Light to All,
Jack

Phooey -- I wish I could edit my own posts... I forgot to include this.

Mercola refers to Weston A Price quite a bit. I had run into him some years back, and what he says makes sense to me too.

I guess we New Englanders like our meat and fats...maybe it's those long winters we have :)

lol.... I'll buy that! ;-)