What to know about gaps stage 5

Stage 5 is about increasing your variety and adding in sugar. These sugars are in the form of fruit, but if you still have an overgrowth of bad gut flora in your intestines, the introduction of fruit at this stage will cause a return of symptoms. If that happens, simply go back to the previous stage and do a little more healing work.

The goal of this stage is not to eat fruit or salads as a majority of your diet but rather as additions to the healing foods you are already eating. Depending on your body’s needs, you may find that you enjoy these fresh foods a couple times a week, or perhaps every day. Listen to your body and watch carefully for a return of symptoms that may indicate you need to slow down a little bit in your healing journey.

How long does stage 5 of the gaps diet last?

You should stay on this stage for a minimum of five days, and have no major intestinal symptoms. As with all the stages, you should be having daily bowel movements that are type of 3 - 4 on the Bristol Stool scale. You also need to be tolerating all the foods on this stage, including salads and cooked fruit.

As with all stages, the number of days you are on Stage 5 is dependent on your individual symptoms.