Quote from Sarabeth on October 17, 2019, 8:29 pm

I'm working Toward a Universal Theory of my family’s dietary adventures. 🙂

So far I have a whole lot more questions than answers...but I thought I would write down what we've done so far as I try to make sense of it with what I know now.

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— 11/12/79 - April 2010: VEGETARIAN

Pros: High in plants, lots of fresh food.
Cons: High in vegetables, moderately high in processed foods* (PUFA vegetable oils, fortified soy/almond milks/cereals/flour/pasta), high in soy and processed dairy and unfermented wheat products (although one of us was gluten-free from 2006 through 2010).

Babies #1 and #2 were born while I was still vegetarian.

— April 2010 - April 2011: GAPS (low sugar, low carb, high fat, high protein)

Pros: Gentle on the gut (peeled and cooked and fermented vegetables), high in fresh foods and nutrition, no processed foods at all, disrupts “bad” gut flora in some people, high in protein, good quality fats.
Cons: Disrupts functional gut flora in some people, high in vegetables/carotenes.

— April 2011 - January 2014: GAPS (low sugar, moderate carb (including squash and eventually fruit), high fat, high protein, inclusive of raw dairy)

Pros: Gentle on the gut (peeled and cooked and fermented vegetables), high in fresh/fermented foods, no processed foods, disrupted “bad” gut flora, high in protein, good quality fats, lots of starch.
Cons: Disrupts “good” gut flora, high in vegetables/carotenes, high in liver/dairy/egg yolks/CLO/preformed Vitamin A, too low in carbs. We stayed on GAPS too long.

Baby #3 was born in 2012.

Various 3-week stints of “GAPS Intro”

Pros: Gentle on the gut, nourishing if one is deficient in fats and easy-to-digest proteins, disruptive of certain patterns of “bad” gut dysbiosis (but it’s impossible to know which you’ve got going in).
Cons: An incomplete diet, way too low in carbohydrates, too high in fat for some, does not disrupt gut flora in the same way as when starting GAPS to begin with, disruptive in a bad way for some people’s “good” gut flora.

3 months in 2011: MILK CURE (just for one family member; 2-3 gallons of raw whole milk per day)

Pros: No processed foods, gentle on the gut, all fresh raw milk/highly nutritious, decent macronutrient ratios, plant toxins absent, family member was able to gain weight when all else had failed.
Cons: Not sustainable, did not provide feelings of well-being, weight gain was lost as soon as the “milk cure” was over, probably high in preformed Vitamin A.

9 months in 2013: LEPTIN RESET (very high protein, high fat, low carb)

Pros: No processed foods, potentially stabilizes blood sugar, fewer vegetables.
Cons: Way too low in carbs, I hate eating hamburgers for breakfast every day, plenty of plant toxins.

— January 2014 - September 2016: PALEO a la Paul Jaminet (moderate protein, moderate fat, moderate carbs)

Pros: Normalized macronutrients, plant-based, high in starch and low in sugar, good quality fats, good amounts of protein.
Cons: High in vegetables/carotenes with no comments about their relative toxins, high in pre-formed vitamin A (liver, egg yolks, some dairy).

Baby #4 was born in 2015.

Several months: LOW HISTAMINE

Pros: Nothing Noticeable (apart from being inclusive of fresh foods).
Cons: Restrictive, does not address endogenous histamine production.

Several Months: LOW OXALATE

Pros: Lowers some plant toxins.
Cons: Does not lower other plant toxins, nor did it make a difference in the context of our diet at the time.

Several Months: LOW FODMAP

Pros: Relatively gentle on the gut, removes common allergens/triggers.
Cons: Does not address root cause of gut dysbiosis or leaky gut, contains many plant toxins.

September 2016 - July 2019: LOW LECTIN, high-veggie paleo; essentially Jaminet’s macronutrient ratios combined with Gundry and Wahls low-plant-toxin high vegetable plant-based

Pros: Plant-based, lots of fresh food. High fiber
Cons: Can include more processed foods (chips, bars, etc.). High fiber

Tried for several days: LOW PROTEIN

Pros: cheaper.
Cons: Everyone wilted without enough protein. Moderate to high protein is not negotiable for healing, I believe.

July 2019 - present (I plan to continue/modify for at least two years unless evidence shows this to be a bad idea): Low Vitamin A Diet

Pros: Removes most preformed Vitamin A/carotenes, easy to cook, everyone likes the food, 4/6 of us are feeling enormously better, removes almost all vegetables/plant toxins, our version includes no processed foods.
Cons: Can include lots of sugar. Is it bad to eat so few vegetables? Is it counterproductive to eat gluten-containing grains during healing? Potentially low in some nutrients? What comes afterward? What is a Good Health Maintenance Diet for Healthy Humans?

*“Processed foods” = Commercially prepared foods that come in a wrapper and have more than 1 ingredient.