What does Stage 4 look like?

• Start each day with a cup of mineral or filtered water, warm or at room temperature, with a slice of lemon. Don't eat the lemon though, it's just for flavor (and to relieve constipation).
• meat stock (beef, poultry, fowl or fish)
• homemade soup with meat and/or veggies (use the meat stock as the base)
• ginger, mint or chamomile tea with honey (if you want)
• Add crushed garlic to your soup the last minute or two. You can also crush it right into your bowl then add the hot soup.
• Raw yolks from pastured chickens. Add these to your soups or cup of meat stock. Most people I’ve seen plop the yolk in the bottom of their bowl (with some garlic) then add the soup and stir. Start with one yolk a day and increase it until you are having one yolk in every bowl of soup.
• Soft-boiled eggs in soup (yolks runny and white cooked) – add these only after the yolks are well-tolerated.
• Stews and casseroles made with meats and well-cooked veggies.
• Fresh herbs
• You should be having the juice from fermented veggies 3-5 teaspoons a day (if you’re tolerating them well). Eventually you want to get to where you are adding 3-5 teaspoons to every bowl of soup/stew/etc.
• Fermented fish – start with one piece a day and gradually increase
• Homemade ghee – start with one teaspoon a day and gradually increase
• Increase the amount of homemade whey, sour cream, yogurt and kefir, if you are introducing them at this point.
• Ripe avocado mashed into soups. Start with 1-3 tsp. and gradually increase the amount.
• Nut-butter pancakes/crepes. Start with 1 a day and gradually increase.
• Scrambled eggs made with lots of ghee, or other animal fat. Make a fun ‘scramble’ by adding cooked veggies and avocado.
• Cooked onion
• The fermented veggies! Yes, you’ve been drinking their juices and now you get to eat the actual veggies. Start small, as always, and increase to 1 to 4 teaspoons for each meal.

To the Stage 1, 2, and 3 foods listed above, you can add:

• Meats cooked by roasting (baking) and grilling. No more boiled meats! Avoid the burned or crusty bits.
• Cold-pressed olive oil. Start with a few drops at each meal (on the meal, not in a glass) and slowly increase to where you are eating 1 to 2 tablespoons per meal.
• Freshly pressed juices (homemade) – start with a bit of carrot juice (1/4 cup or so). Gradually increase it to 1 cup a day. After a cup of carrot juice is tolerated you can slowly start adding other veggies. Drink the juice on an empty stomach – first thing in the morning or in-between meals.
• GAPS bread – one slice a day. The official recipe is listed on pages 151 and 200 of the GAPS book.