I was in full 🤓 mode (again), Reader.

It was the 4^th annual GAPS OnCon (online conference) and this year’s theme was “Metabolic Syndrome Demystified: Discover How the GAPS Nutritional Protocol Addresses This Common Condition.”

Pretty relevant considering that it’s estimated that only 12% of Americans are metabolically healthy right how – including only 1/3 of the people who are thin. 🫨

I’ve been a GAPS Practitioner for 13 years now, but I still attend every OnCon, and find that I learn and see something from a new perspective each year. In case you didn’t attend, I’ll share my top takeaways from my favorite talks at GAPS OnCon 2025.

Metabolic Syndrome is our Modern Plague by Dr. Natasha: Even when I’ve got a handle on a concept, hearing Dr. N’s take is always reinforcing. She just has a way of speaking that’s so matter-of-fact. A few highlights:

• Insulin is the master fat storage hormone. As long as you have high insulin, everything you eat will become fat. When your fat cells are full of insulin, new fat cells will be made to store more.
• You cannot lose weight with high insulin. In order to lose weight, blood sugar and insulin must be brought down to normal levels.

The facts we know about metabolic syndrome and other chronic illness:

• People who stop eating grains, potatoes, sugar, veg oils and all processed foods recover from metabolic syndrome and other chronic illnesses.
• The vast majority of humanity continues eating these things and it’s difficult to convince them not to. Why? Because they're addicted.
• They’re addicted to foods which feed pathogens in the gut: sugar, starch, wheat flour, rice, corn, potatoes, sweet fruit, processed carbs, beer.
• Fungi are clever and produce addictive molecules that absorb into the blood and go to the brain. Then the brain dictates to you, “I love bread” “I love chocolate,” etc.
• Pathogens convert these into endorphins, alcohol, and other addictive chemicals, which turn the person into an addict. (I've been there!)
• The majority of humanity is addicted to processed carbs and is alcoholic from a constant stream of these molecules.
• Vast amounts of grains, potatoes, sugar and beets are grown by arable agriculture to feed this addiction. The government says “we must feed the world” This feeds addiction.
• Arable agriculture is very destructive to nature and our planet. We lose soil to these addictive commodity crops.

Metabolism: How it Works, What Disrupts it, and How to Restore Balance the GAPS Way. Amy Mihaly from Be Well Clinic is always one of my favorite teachers because she dedicates herself to reading old medical textbooks to see the evolution of medicine pre and post-pharmaceutical age. This year, she dropped this gem:

• 100 years ago, the textbook treatment for diabetes was B vitamins and animal fats.

Animal Foods & Healing: How No-Plant GAPS Transforms Metabolism. Monika Holland did a fantastic job of presenting the differences between No-Plant GAPS and other versions of a carnivore diet. She notes that the GAPS emphasis on eating nose-to-tail and including foods that are simmered and fermented maximizes gut healing.

Cardiometabolic Syndrome & Insulin Resistance: The Reversible Meta-Contributor to Modern Diseases. Dr. Michael Gaeta of The Gaeta institute went into the specific criteria for diagnosing Metabolic Syndrome:

Dr. Gaeta also shared the three blood tests that you can ask your doctor for:

• Fasting insulin, with the optimal range being 1-5 (this test is almost never ordered and it's cheap!)
• Fasting glucose
• Triglycerides

These last two are used to determine your triglyceride-glucose index: fasting triglycerides x fasting glucose / 2000.

Optimal is 3.5 and the upper limit is 4.5.

Your Brain on Trauma: How Ketones, Cortisol, and Metabolism Change Our Healing Journey. I love hearing Jen Donovan’s perspective on pretty much everything because she has overlapping education in nutrition and as a licensed trauma therapist.

• If the brain isn’t utilizing glucose properly, therapy doesn’t “stick”, the nervous system remains stressed and dysregulated, and the body remains in a state of chronic inflammation.
• My personal experience has confirmed this, and my simple statement is “If you want to feel happier, eat more butter.”
• She also stressed one of my favorite points: there are no “keto foods” – ketosis is a metabolic state, not a food. You must measure your ketones to gauge ketosis.

The Connection Between Metabolic Syndrome, Alzheimer's and Other Cognitive Issues. I’m still in the midst of listening to this talk by Amy Berger. If this is a concern in someone you love, check out her book The Alzheimer’s Antidote.​

The simplest advice of all to prevent and reverse metabolic syndrome naturally came from Dr. Natasha:

• Stop eating sugar
• Stop eating all grains
• Stop eating processed foods - including vegetable oils

I find it easier to add in the good before deleting the bad. My suggestion is to start eating lots more ghee, butter, lard, and egg yolks now. You’ll be more satiated and nourished, which makes it easier to cut ties with your sugar addiction when you’re ready.

Is metabolic syndrome on your mind, Reader? What's your biggest take-away from this?

Warm wishes,

Jenn

​Body Wisdom Nutrition​

P.S. If you’re just beginning your GAPS journey, grab a copy of my GAPS food journal to start recording what you’re doing and how it’s going. This is my go-to method to make sense of it all and progress quicker!