Thursday, January 2, 2014

Traveling on the GAPS Diet

Eating on the GAPS diet is hard enough when at home, but what about when you are flying? There is rarely food in the airport that is GAPS friendly, and even if it is, I have a serious concern with gluten contamination.

For me, today is day one of starting the GAPS diet again. I vow to make it to six months as the doctor ordered, and to do that I am vowing to avoid traveling by plane! Despite the snacks I bring, I usually end up breaking down and buying something warm or moist, rather than the packaged dry stuff I usually bring. However, I have come up with some ideas that are helpful.  Before I made my vows 0 I already bought a plane ticket to New Orleans for Jazz Fest this year, so I am still going to put these suggestions to good use. I'm not saying these recommendations are the perfect GAPS friendly, but they are better than binging and eating something that is not GAPS friendly at all and which may not be gluten free.


Protein
I have a friend who says she takes a roast chicken on the plane with her! I haven't tried that yet - it sounds messy and smelly. I do eat a lot of jerky, however this is hard to find sugar free. You can make your own jerky, but I have not ventured into that realm. At least you can get gluten free jerky! And when I eat mostly protein with a little bit of sugar, I don't seem to have too much of an issue.

Nutrients
I also bring packages of super food green drinks which add probiotics in addition to many vitamins, minerals and some protein.  You can add it to water or apple juice.

Sweets
One of my weaknesses is fruit snacks and the airport is usually where I break down and buy some. Fortunately, I've learned to make my own! I've adapted a recipe from Butter Believer and I'll write a post about it later.  These are really chewy so they can help relieve ear pressure as well!

Fillers
I also like to make mini muffins, GAPS friendly ones of course! The mini muffins bake through better, and are less crumbly which means they are less messy. Since they are basically bite size, that also reduced the messiness.

Drinks
I've been a soda junky my whole life! When the flight attendants come around with drinks, it is so hard for me to resist. Try packing a tea you are excited about and ask for hot water. Though they don't have honey on the plane usually, I bring a little thing of my own honey and some pure stevia packets. I know stevia is questionable to some people, but my doctor said it was okay for me to have on the GAPS diet. You can also bring tea bags that are made for ice tea and add them to bottled water. However, I prefer not to have caffeine on flights where I want to sleep.

Supplements
Being stressed is usually what gets me craving food.  To avoid that frazzled, stressed experience that going to the airport can be, you can try taking some aminos such as 5HTP (a precursor to serotonin) or L-Theanine, a relaxer and stress reliever which is also found in green tea (bring green tea bags!). I take something called Total Amino Solution on a daily basis which has additive therapeutic benefits, helping me feel happy and sleep easily. Another option is to try Rescue Remedy, a floral based de-stresser.