Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride describes Type 1 diabetes as an autoimmune condition and places it within the gut-and-immune explanation in Gut and Physiology Syndrome. Her nutritional account sits alongside the practical need to monitor glucose and use prescribed insulin.[1][2]
If you are trying to understand where GAPS fits, start by separating the disease itself, the explanation in the book and the food changes being considered. Those questions are connected, but they do not all have the same answer.
Type 1 and Type 2 Are Different Conditions
In Type 1 diabetes, the immune system damages the pancreatic beta cells that make insulin. People with established insulin deficiency need insulin treatment. Type 2 involves a different pattern, principally insulin resistance; it should not be treated as another name for Type 1.[1][2]
The Type 2 diabetes guide and metabolic syndrome guide cover those related subjects separately. The food advice written under the book’s Type 2 entry should not silently become a Type 1 instruction.
The GAPS Gut and Immune Explanation
Campbell-McBride describes abnormal gut flora and a damaged gut wall allowing microbial toxins and inadequately digested food into the body. In her autoimmune account, continuing exposure to contaminated or altered proteins engages the immune system. She applies that gut-healing approach to Type 1 diabetes.[1][3]
Her explanation includes several possible contributors. It does not identify one exposure that a reader can use to establish what caused their own diabetes.[3]
| Source Discussion | What the Passage Describes |
|---|---|
| Microbial toxins | The book names Streptomyces achromogenes and its beta-cell-damaging toxin, streptozotocin.[3] |
| Viruses | It names an association with Coxsackievirus B and discusses uncleared viral infections more broadly in autoimmunity.[3] |
| Environmental toxins | It describes toxic metals affecting proteins in endocrine organs, including the pancreas.[3] |
Keep the Research in Its Actual Context
The streptozotocin paper cited by the book studies chemically induced diabetes in rodents. It describes beta-cell damage, glucose toxicity and responses to treatment in those models. It does not test whether a person’s intestinal Streptomyces caused their diabetes or whether GAPS restores human insulin production.[4]
The book also discusses porcine whipworm and hookworm research as part of its wider immune-regulation account and includes Type 1 diabetes among the conditions mentioned. In the cited Helmby review, the Type 1 work described involves experimental mouse models and helminth products; the human trial discussion concerns other inflammatory disorders. This is research context, not a recommendation to acquire worms or an established Type 1 treatment.[5][6]
What the Book Reports About Recovery
Campbell-McBride says the pancreas can regenerate when the autoimmune attack stops. Her sequence is to heal the gut first, improve digestion before absorption and allow autoimmune activity in the pancreas to downregulate. She reports that some patients slowly reduced insulin and some stopped injections.[1]
The same 2020 entry says this takes time and patience. It tells readers not to expect changes in blood-sugar regulation or insulin doses for a while, because gut healing may take considerable time. Those qualifications belong with the reported outcome, rather than being separated from it.[1]
These are the author’s clinical observations. A change in symptoms or an improvement after starting a diet does not show how much insulin your pancreas makes or establish that insulin can be stopped.
Insulin Changes Need a Written Plan
The official GAPS FAQ emphasizes checking blood sugar before every insulin injection to avoid overdosing. It also says insulin products have their own dose-adjustment rules and that the diabetes nurse can provide written instructions. That is the practical instruction to carry into a food change: use the monitoring and dosing plan supplied for your actual insulin.[7]
Keep taking prescribed insulin and arrange food changes with the clinician managing it. A GAPS stage, a list of symptoms or the pancreas-regeneration account is not an insulin adjustment rule. Current diabetes guidance likewise keeps insulin, food, activity and measured glucose connected.[2][7]
Where Food and Dairy Fit
The Type 1 entry says that removing all dairy for a time helps some patients, while explicitly saying this is not the case for everybody. It gives no fixed dairy-removal duration. Keep that optional trial separate from any decision about insulin.[1]
The Type 1 food and starting-route guide explains the book’s Intro and No-Plant routes, relevant general Full-first situations, food stages and the dairy question. The Type 1 diabetes appointment notes helps you organize symptoms, glucose records and questions for the appointment.
Our family has followed GAPS since July 2024, with the cooking fitted around homeschooling and my second-shift work. That is the practical side I bring to these guides: helping you find the next manageable kitchen task while keeping the medical plan clear.
My course Your First 30 Days on GAPS is listed in the WFLI Shop. Start with the Type 1 food and starting-route guide to identify which food discussion applies before changing the menu.
References
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), A–Z, Diabetes, Type One.
- NIDDK, Type 1 Diabetes, definition, insulin and glucose-monitoring guidance.
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), Gut Flora, microbial toxins; Immune System, autoimmunity, endocrine tissues and uncleared viral infections.
- Wu, J. and Yan, L.-J. Streptozotocin-Induced Type 1 Diabetes in Rodents as a Model for Studying Mitochondrial Mechanisms of Diabetic Beta-Cell Glucotoxicity. Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity 8 (2015): 181–188. doi:10.2147/DMSO.S82272.
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), Gut Flora, Worms, and cited helminth research.
- Helmby, H. Human Helminth Therapy to Treat Inflammatory Disorders: Where Do We Stand? BMC Immunology 16 (2015): 12. doi:10.1186/s12865-015-0074-3.
- Campbell-McBride, N. Official GAPS FAQs, Diseases and Symptoms, question 59, blood glucose and Type 1 diabetes.
Leave a comment