GAPS Pregnancy Foods: Meat Stock, Fats, and Ferments

The GAPS pregnancy guidance begins with the Full GAPS Diet. The expanded Gut and Psychology Syndrome book says that someone who is already pregnant should begin with Full GAPS rather than the Introduction Diet, while introducing fermented foods gradually if they were not already part of the diet.^[2]

The 2020 Gut and Physiology Syndrome book updates several practical details, especially meat stock versus bone broth, dairy preparation, cod liver oil, sunlight, and the short fasting exception for early-pregnancy nausea.^[1]

For the broader sequence, begin with Preparing for Pregnancy, Birth, and Breastfeeding on GAPS. For the starting-route question after conception, use Can You Follow GAPS While Pregnant or Breastfeeding?.

During my sixth pregnancy, I ate the Full GAPS meals I was already cooking for our family. Compared with my earlier pregnancies, my moods were steadier and I had fewer pica symptoms. I gained the most weight of any pregnancy, then lost all of it and more within three months. Our baby was healthy, nearly eight pounds, and born two and a half weeks early. That is the family experience I can speak to; I did not isolate one food as the cause.^[5]

Daily Meat Stock, Not Early Bone Broth

The older pregnancy chapter called for homemade meat or bone broth every day as soup, stew or a hot drink. The 2020 book makes a later distinction that controls this instruction: the GAPS Nutritional Protocol focuses on meat stock, and Campbell-McBride says she does not recommend bone broth for at least the first year of the diet, and for some people for several years.^[1][2]

Meat stock is made from meat on the bone, joints and soft tissues, cooked long enough to cook the meat and release marrow and gelatinous tissue. Bone broth is made from bare bones cooked much longer, often with acid. Under the current rule, pregnancy does not make bone broth an early substitute for meat stock. Bone broth belongs later, after at least a year and only when it is appropriate and tolerated.^[1]

The older pregnancy instruction to consume the gelatinous meat from bones and joints remains consistent with the current meat-stock method. The current Stage 1 instructions also emphasize the soft tissues, marrow and fat rather than bare bones alone.^[1] For the nonconflicting cooking and handling technique, I use Rachael Mamane’s Mastering Stocks and Broths; the GAPS books still set the pregnancy role and the later timing for bone broth.^[4] Compare the preparations in GAPS Meat Stock vs Bone Broth, or use the published GAPS chicken meat stock method.

The Pregnancy Fat Guidance

The older pregnancy chapter says to pay particular attention to fat because of its role in reproductive-hormone balance. It names butter, fat attached to meat and rendered animal fats, along with quality extra-virgin olive oil and coconut oil. It says to eat more fat than usual during pregnancy and to obtain most of that fat from animal sources.^[2]

The source gives no pregnancy-specific percentage or gram target for total fat. “Most” should remain the limit of the claim rather than being converted into a daily quantity. The 85 Percent Savory Guideline Before and During Pregnancy explains the separate daily food-pattern ratio.

Fermented Foods Belong in the Plan

The pregnancy chapter calls fermented foods essential and says to introduce them step by step. It connects them with digestion, nutrient absorption, B vitamins, vitamin K and other substances.^[2]

The 2020 Introduction Diet gives the current general pacing principle: begin probiotic foods in small amounts and increase gradually. Dairy ferments require separate attention because some people tolerate them and others do not. Someone who already eats homemade yogurt, kefir or other fermented dairy without a reaction does not need to restart at the smallest amount.^[1]

Raw and Pasteurized Dairy Are Not the Same Question

The 2020 book prefers organic raw milk from healthy animals and recommends using it to make yogurt, kefir and sour cream. But raw dairy is not the only allowed route. When raw organic milk is unavailable, the current book says to find pasteurized organic milk from natural breeds of cow or goat and ferment it at home.^[1]

The distinction is useful: pasteurized milk is not presented as a drink, but it can be used as the base for homemade fermented dairy. The book says commercially available fermented dairy is often fermented too briefly and may be pasteurized after fermentation, so it recommends home-fermented products instead.^[1]

For drinking milk itself, the current sequence is later and narrower. After digestion has healed, homemade fermented raw-milk products are tolerated and cheese has been introduced, some people may gradually try raw organic milk. The pregnancy chapter does not support choosing ordinary pasteurized milk as a beverage.^[1]

Juice and the GAPS Milkshake

The GAPS pregnancy FAQ says juicing can be used during pregnancy and nursing. It says to begin with a small amount and increase gradually. To combine juice with fat and protein, it gives the GAPS milkshake: mixed fruit-and-vegetable juice whisked with one or two raw eggs and a generous spoonful of homemade sour cream.^[3]

The source does not call straight juice unsafe. Its instruction is to introduce juice gradually and presents the milkshake as a useful way to add fat and protein. The full preparation is linked in GAPS Milkshake.

Liver, Food and Supplements

The pregnancy chapter says to eat liver and other organ meats regularly and identifies liver as a major source of folate and other nutrients. The FAQ goes further and says eating liver daily is particularly important during pregnancy.^[2][3] Vitamin A, Liver, and Pregnancy in the GAPS Books covers the vitamin-A distinction, while Liver as a Natural Folate Source in Pregnancy owns the focused folate question.

In response to a question about a multivitamin, the FAQ calls good food the most important supplement and names natural animal fats, meat, fermented dairy, eggs, liver, vegetables, fruit and some seaweed. A later FAQ answer says to be cautious with supplements during pregnancy and names probiotics, seaweed, bee pollen and fermented cod liver oil as its natural options rather than recommending a standard multivitamin.^[3]

Cod Liver Oil and Sunlight

The older pregnancy chapter names a maintenance dose of quality cod liver oil. The 2020 cod-liver-oil section gives more specific current guidance, generally recommending about twice the adult amount during pregnancy and lactation. For ordinary cod liver oil with natural vitamins added, it gives a range of one and a half to two teaspoons per day and says manufacturer-specific vitamin amounts affect dosing.^[1] The separate cod liver oil dosing guide keeps those product distinctions together.

The FAQ says to spend at least three hours per day in fresh air and sun. The current 2020 book gives a less rigid instruction: spend a good amount of time outdoors every day, and consider season and actual sun exposure when deciding whether cod liver oil is needed. It says many people may not need cod liver oil in summer when they receive enough sunlight.^[1] The older three-hour figure should therefore not be presented as a universal current requirement.

Morning Sickness

The 2020 book says prolonged fasting is not suitable during pregnancy or nursing. It makes one short exception: during the first few days of pregnancy, when nausea removes appetite, the GAPS Liquid Fast may help. As soon as nausea subsides and appetite returns, the instruction is to move to the Full GAPS Diet.^[1]

The pregnancy FAQ suggests sipping fresh ginger tea, adding lemon if tolerated, drinking meat stock or vegetable stock and eating what can be tolerated until the nausea passes. The older book also names warm meat stock with a little probiotic yogurt, kefir or sour cream. The 2020 book adds fermented-vegetable brine as another food it says pregnant women may find helpful for nausea.^[1][2][3]

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Bone Broth a Daily Pregnancy Food from the Start?

Not under the current 2020 rule. Use meat stock during at least the first year of GAPS. Bone broth is a later food and may need to wait longer for some people.^[1]

Can Pasteurized Milk Be Used for Homemade Ferments?

Yes. Raw organic milk is preferred, but the 2020 book says pasteurized organic milk from natural breeds of cow or goat can be fermented at home when raw milk is unavailable.^[1]

Can Pasteurized Milk Be Used as a Drink?

Not in the current GAPS sequence. Pasteurized milk may be used for home fermentation, while drinking milk is reserved for a later trial of raw organic milk after digestive healing and successful fermented-dairy introduction.^[1]

Does the Source Give a Daily Meat-Stock Volume?

The pregnancy chapter says to consume it daily as soup, stew or a hot drink but gives no pregnancy-specific cup or ounce target.^[2]

Is Three Hours of Sun a Current Fixed Rule?

The FAQ gives that figure, but the current book says to spend a good amount of time outdoors daily and adjusts the cod-liver-oil discussion for season and actual sunlight. It does not repeat three hours as a universal fixed rule.^[1]

Prepare the Pregnancy Kitchen

Preparing for Baby: A GAPS Preconception Plan for Both Parents brings the food pattern, both-parent preparation, pregnancy kitchen, and next-step decisions into one sequence.

Explore the preparing-for-baby course.

References

1. Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), meat stock and bone broth, dairy, Introduction Diet, fasting, liver, cod liver oil, sunlight and fermented-vegetable discussions.
2. Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Psychology Syndrome, expanded English edition (2013), accessed through the second German edition (2015), “Having a New Baby in the GAPS Family,” pregnancy diet section.
3. Campbell-McBride, N. GAPS FAQs, pregnancy and breastfeeding sections.
4. Mamane, R. Mastering Stocks and Broths (2017), meat-stock and broth preparation technique. GAPS sources retain control of stage placement, pregnancy use, protocol role, and meat-stock-versus-bone-broth timing.
5. Garnica, E. Personal family account and pregnancy timeline: sixth pregnancy on Full GAPS in 2026, family meals, steadier moods, fewer pica symptoms, weight course, and the healthy nearly-eight-pound baby born two and a half weeks early.