GAPS Diet for Type 2 Diabetes: Foods and Starting Route

GAPS treats type 2 diabetes as an insulin-resistance problem linked to long-term processed-carbohydrate intake. The practical route has two parts: remove the foods the source identifies as the driver, then be more deliberate with GAPS foods that still carry concentrated natural sugar.^[1] This page keeps the starting route, food pattern, cravings instructions, juice branch, magnesium support, monitoring, medication boundary, and ketone distinction together.

Where to Start: Full GAPS or Intro

Gut and Physiology Syndrome says many people with metabolic syndrome do not have severe digestive symptoms and can begin with Full GAPS. When serious digestive problems are present alongside the metabolic picture, the book says the Introduction Diet should be used at some point.^[2]

Full GAPS already removes the processed carbohydrates the source identifies as the main dietary driver of insulin resistance. Intro is the deeper digestive route. If you are deciding between them, compare the digestive picture and use the Intro versus Full GAPS guide before building a meal plan.

Foods to Build Meals Around

Build meals from the ordinary Full GAPS foundation, with the condition-specific emphasis on natural fat and modest carbohydrate intake:

• Fresh meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, and eggs.
• Homemade meat stock, soups, and stews.
• Natural animal fats, including butter, ghee, tallow, lard, duck fat, and chicken fat.
• Non-starchy vegetables served with natural fat and salt.
• Raw and fermented vegetables in forms that fit your digestive tolerance.
• Homemade fermented dairy when it is tolerated.

The Full GAPS food pattern keeps most daily food centered on meat, fish, eggs, fermented dairy when tolerated, vegetables, meat stock, and natural fat. Baked goods, nuts, and sweet foods stay a smaller part of the diet.^[3]

Use my GAPS Diet Food List guide for the wider categories, then apply the type 2 diabetes limits below. If Full GAPS is your starting route, my First 30 Days on Full GAPS course is in the WFLI shop catalog.

GAPS Foods to Limit for Type 2 Diabetes

GAPS tells people with type 2 diabetes, obesity, and other forms of insulin resistance to limit carbohydrate intake and go lightly on honey and GAPS desserts.^[1] Legal does not mean unlimited. Honey, fruit, dried fruit, baked goods, and desserts still need to fit the person’s blood-glucose response and the condition-specific route.

Freshly pressed juice is another separate case. The 2020 book does not recommend plain juice while blood sugar is unstable because juice contains concentrated natural sugar. Once blood sugar is normal and stable, it allows a GAPS shake made by blending the juice with one to two raw eggs and one to two tablespoons of homemade sour cream, raw butter, or coconut oil per person.^[1]

Foods and Drinks to Remove

• Refined sugar, syrups that do not belong on GAPS, and processed sweeteners.
• Sugary drinks, soft drinks, and beverages made with high-fructose corn syrup.
• All grains and products made from grain flour, including bread, pasta, crackers, cereal, and chips.
• Starchy vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, and Jerusalem artichokes.
• Processed oils and foods made with them.
• Packaged and highly processed foods.

These exclusions come from the Full GAPS avoid list and from the processed-carbohydrate mechanism described in the type 2 diabetes and metabolic-syndrome sections of the 2020 book.^[3][4]

Natural Fat for Unstable Blood Sugar

For unstable blood sugar, Campbell-McBride recommends a few tablespoons of coconut oil, raw butter, or homemade sour cream every half hour throughout the day.^[1] This is the GAPS source instruction for the early period when blood sugar and cravings are difficult to control. It sits alongside full meals built from protein, natural fat, and the other foods above.

The Butter or Coconut Oil and Honey Mixture

The diabetes guidance says to mix raw butter or coconut oil with a little raw honey to taste and eat it through the day while sugar cravings are interfering with the diet. It says to stop carrying the mixture once cravings are gone and blood sugar stays normal between meals.^[1]

For severe sugar cravings, the official GAPS FAQ gives the full mixture and frequency: soften 200 to 400 grams of raw organic butter, or use raw coconut oil, and mix in about one to four tablespoons of raw honey to taste. It directs the reader to eat two to three tablespoons every 15 to 25 minutes throughout the day for a month or longer, depending on the severity of the cravings, then stop when blood sugar is normal and the cravings are gone.^[5]

That second protocol comes from the FAQ’s severe-cravings answer. It is a temporary GAPS implementation tool with its own stopping rule. It does not replace blood-glucose checks, prescribed medication, or an existing diabetes care plan.

Magnesium Support

The metabolic-syndrome section connects processed-carbohydrate intake with magnesium deficiency. It says a good-quality magnesium supplement in an amino-acid-chelate form can be helpful for a few weeks at the beginning of the protocol.^[2] The source does not give a universal dose in this passage, so this article does not invent one.

Blood Glucose, Ketones, and Medication Boundaries

A person already using insulin or another glucose-lowering medication cannot treat a diet change as separate from monitoring. Food choices may change glucose readings while the prescribed treatment remains active. Keep using medication as prescribed and use the monitoring plan already set with the diabetes care team. This article does not supply a medication-reduction schedule.^[7]

Campbell-McBride distinguishes physiological ketosis from diabetic ketoacidosis. Physiological ketosis is the production of ketones when the body uses fat for energy. Diabetic ketoacidosis combines very high blood glucose with very high ketones and occurs mainly in type 1 diabetes and in very advanced type 2 diabetes, where normal energy production is impaired.^[6]

The CDC states that people with type 2 diabetes can also develop DKA and that high ketones are a medical emergency requiring immediate treatment. Fruity-smelling breath, vomiting that prevents keeping food or drink down, trouble breathing, or several DKA symptoms together require emergency care.^[7] Do not interpret high ketones beside high glucose as ordinary nutritional ketosis.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Have GAPS Desserts With Type 2 Diabetes?

GAPS keeps honey and permitted desserts on the wider food list, but its type 2 diabetes guidance says not to go heavy on either. The amount needs to fit the person’s blood-glucose response and the goal of reducing the carbohydrate load.^[1]

Is Plain Fruit or Vegetable Juice Part of the Early Route?

Not while blood sugar is unstable. The book says plain freshly pressed juice carries too much concentrated sugar for this stage. Once blood sugar is normal and stable, it uses the GAPS shake with raw egg and natural fat or sour cream.^[1]

Is Physiological Ketosis the Same as DKA?

No. Physiological ketosis is a normal fat-burning state. DKA is a dangerous diabetes complication involving insufficient insulin, high glucose, and excessive ketones. High ketones in a person with diabetes are not something to classify at home as harmless nutritional ketosis.^[6][7]

References

1. Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “Diabetes, type two,” pp. 414–415.
2. Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “Metabolic syndrome,” p. 430.
3. Campbell-McBride, N. Full GAPS Diet: Recommended Food List and Foods to Avoid List.
4. Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “Metabolic syndrome,” pp. 428–430.
5. Campbell-McBride, N. “Addictions,” Q3, GAPS FAQs.
6. Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “GAPS Ketogenic Diet,” pp. 201–202.
7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Diabetic Ketoacidosis.” Accessed October 7, 2026.