Stage 4 keeps every tolerated food from Stage 3, then adds roasted or grilled meat, cold-pressed olive oil, fresh vegetable juice beginning with clear carrot juice, and bread made from fermented nut or seed flour.[1]
Use the six-stage Intro overview to keep this step in sequence.
Help With the Everyday Work of Intro. If you would like more help planning meals and organizing your kitchen routines, my First 30 Days on Intro GAPS: Stages 1–6 course brings the teaching and practical tools together. You can find the course in the WFLI shop catalog.
Roasted and Grilled Meats
Gradually add meats cooked by roasting and grilling, but not barbecued or fried meat at this step. Avoid any bits that are burned or too browned. Eat the meat with cooked vegetables and sauerkraut or other fermented vegetables, along with a cup of warm meat stock on the side, with probiotic food added to it the same way you’ve been doing since Stage 1.[1]
Cold-Pressed Olive Oil
Start adding cold-pressed olive oil to meals, from just a few drops per meal, gradually increasing to 1 to 2 tablespoons per meal.[1] Add it to the finished meal rather than cooking with it. The Full GAPS instructions describe cold-pressed plant oils as fragile and say not to heat them.[2]
Freshly Pressed Juices
Start with a few spoonfuls of carrot juice. Make sure it’s filtered clear. Drink it slowly, diluted with warm water or mixed with homemade yogurt. If it’s well tolerated, gradually increase to a full cup a day. Once a full cup of carrot juice is well tolerated, add juice from celery, lettuce, and fresh mint leaves to it. Always drink the juice on an empty stomach; the source names first thing in the morning and mid-afternoon as good times.[1]
Bread from Fermented Nut or Seed Flour
Try baking bread with flour made from almonds or other nuts and seeds, such as sunflower or pumpkin. This flour needs to be fermented before baking. The recipe calls for just three or four ingredients: fermented nut or seed flour, eggs, a natural fat (ghee, butter, goose, pork, or duck fat), and optionally a piece of peeled, deseeded, finely sliced winter squash, marrow, or courgette, with salt to taste. Start from a small piece of bread a day and gradually increase.[1]
Watch your stool closely while introducing this bread specifically. If you get loose stools, that’s your signal you’re not ready for this step yet, and pause the new food and wait a week before trying again. If earlier symptoms return after moving forward, go back to the previous stage and stay longer.[3][1]
Why Roasting and Grilling Come Before Frying
Earlier stages use stock, soup and slow-cooked stew. Stage 4 adds roasted and grilled meat while holding fried and barbecued meat for later.[1] Introduce the new cooking methods gradually and avoid burned or heavily browned portions.
What’s Next
Once the Stage 4 additions are established, Stage 5 adds cooked apple, raw vegetables and fruit in the vegetable juice. Use a tested fermented nut-flour method when you make the bread.
I do most weekday cooking in the morning before work, and our meat-stock pot starts first. Everyone in our household remained on the same Intro stage.
Common Questions About GAPS Stage 4
Can I Fry the Meat at This Stage Instead of Roasting or Grilling It?
Not yet. GAPS specifically calls for roasting and grilling at Stage 4, with barbecuing and frying held back for later.[1]
Does the Nut Flour Need to Be Fermented Before Baking with It?
Yes. GAPS specifies that the nut or seed flour needs to be fermented prior to baking the bread at this stage.[1]
What If the Bread Gives Me Loose Stools?
That’s your gut telling you it isn’t ready for it yet. Hold off on the new bread and wait a week before trying it again, continuing the foods you were tolerating.[3][1]
Why Drink the Juice on an Empty Stomach?
GAPS specifies drinking it on an empty stomach, naming first thing in the morning and mid-afternoon as good times.[1]
References
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “GAPS Introduction Diet,” Fourth stage, printed pp. 174-175.
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “The Full GAPS Diet,” cold-pressed plant oils, printed p. 178.
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “GAPS Introduction Diet,” symptom-return and one-week retry rules, printed pp. 168-169.
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