Hilary has five children. Her fourth child developed severe eczema at the age of two months, which they treated with Zyrtec and steroid cream. It worked, but as soon as she stopped using the cream, the eczema would flare up again.

Another of her children has epilepsy, and it was in trying to address her daughter's seizures that Hilary came across the GAPS diet. Mary, on the other hand, has struggled with stomach problems her entire life. She was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) at the age of 16.

She eventually discovered the Weston A. Price Foundation and Sally Fallon Morell's book Nourishing Traditions, but even after implementing those strategies, she still wasn't healing.

After discovering and implementing the GAPS diet in her household, it took only a week before both she and her son began improving.

The GAPS diet starts out as an elimination diet, which means taking out all inflammatory foods. This includes high-fiber foods, processed foods, and anything that is going to be difficult to digest.

By doing that, you lower the level of inflammation in your gut, allowing your body to begin to heal and thus be able to actually properly digest the food. A wide array of health problems stand to benefit from this kind of diet, as it addresses basic gut function.

Leaky gut is the root of many allergies and autoimmune disorders for example. When combined with toxic overload, you have a perfect storm that can lead to neurological disorders like autism, ADHD, and learning disabilities.

In 2005, an investigation by the Environmental Working Group (EWG)1 revealed the presence of 287 different toxins in the cord blood of 10 babies. Most babies born today also have compromised gut flora, setting the stage for a number of potentially serious health problems, including a heightened risk for allergies and vaccine damage. A woman can provide her child with the best possible head-start by cleaning out her own toxic burden and optimizing her own gut health before getting pregnant. It's important to realize that the healing process can take some time though. It's not an overnight fix.

The initial elimination portion of the GAPS diet has six stages, based on the digestibility of the foods allowed. If you're healthy, you do not have to start at the very beginning. You could jump into the full GAPS diet, forgoing the initial elimination part of the diet.

But if you have any kind of autoimmune disease, allergies, asthma, autism, attention deficit disorder (ADD), eczema, psychological disorders, or other signs of gut dysbiosis, IBS, Crohn's, or colitis, you must not skip this initial step. You start off withbone broth. Not only is it very easily digested, it also contains profound immune-optimizing components that are foundational building blocks for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

I urge you not to dismiss bone broth, thinking that it's either too simple to work, or too much of a hassle to bother with. Bone broth is truly a crucial component of healing your body of many of its ills. So, what's the best strategy to acquire the raw materials to make this magnificent healing concoction? As noted by Hilary:

You can make bone broth using whole organic chicken, whole fish or fish bones (including the fish head), pork or beef bones. Each will render a different flavor. Hilary and Mary suggest starting with chicken only because it has the mildest flavor. Beef tends to be more overpowering.

If you're using chicken, simply place the entire chicken, raw, into a pot and cover with water. Add a small amount of vinegar to help leach the minerals out of the bones. Alternatively, you can use the carcass bones from a roasted chicken after the meat has been removed. You can also add vegetables of your choice into the pot. Don't be afraid to add chicken feet and the chicken's head, as they're great sources of collagen. Pig's feet are another good addition.

Bring it all to a boil, making sure to skim off the frothy bubbles that rise to the top as the broth begins to boil. Pay careful attention to this stage, as once the broth begins to boil the scum is rolled right back into the broth. The scum are the impurities that you want to remove. Then, turn down the heat and let it simmer overnight. (If you're not comfortable with that, turn off the heat and let it sit overnight; then turn it back on and let simmer all day the next day.) All in all, it needs to simmer for 12-24 hours. A crock pot is an excellent way to go as this is less risky than leaving a burner on all night.

In this elimination stage, which could take several weeks, your diet will revolve around bone broth with boiled meat and boiled, easily digestible vegetables such as carrots and zucchini. Then, you slowly begin to add in some organic pastured egg yolk, followed by avocado. Little by little, you start to add foods back into your diet, paying careful attention to any reactions.