An estimate 50 million people suffer with an autoimmune disease. The Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) was a diet designed to reduce inflammation in the body, allow your gut lining to rest, work toward healing leaky gut, and finally help you determine what foods may be triggering an autoimmune response in the body. For those of us with autoimmune conditions it can be beneficial to accomplish all of these things because when we have high inflammation in the body it causes our autoimmune disease to go on overdrive, making us all uncomfortable to say the least! You will have to restrict the foods that you eat for a bit to give your body a well deserved break from the inflammation and I will say it is not the easiest thing but it is 100% worth it in the long haul! Lets dive in on just what is involved when doing the AIP diet.
The Elimination Phase
Starting out we will eliminate foods that are known to cause inflammation. It is typically recommended that for a period of at least 4-6 weeks you are going to eliminate the foods on the avoid list from your eating habits and focus solely eating those on the allowed list.
AVOID
- grains (wheat, oats, rice, corn, etc)
- dairy
- legumes (beans, soy, etc)
- nightshades (peppers, potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes, etc)
- sugar
- processed foods
- nuts and seeds
- soy
- chocolate
- eggs
- seed oils (vegetable, canola, sunflower oil, etc)
- alcohol
ALLOWED
- coconut products like coconut oil
- fruits
- vegetables (except nightshades)
- grass fed meats and poultry
- wild caught seafood
- fats (avocado, bacon fat, ghee)
- green tea & herbal teas
- fermented foods (kombucha, fermented veggies)
- herbs (cinnamon, basil, thyme, rosemary, etc)
- organic maple Syrup or honey
- vinegar (balsamic, apple cider, etc)
You are looking at this list right now and I know you are thinking what the heck can I eat?!? Trust me, you will not die by giving these up for a period of time and there are so many things you can eat and a whole lot of wonderful recipes out there! After you complete 4-6 weeks of following this plan, you will move into the reintroduction phase. Insert your huge sigh of relief here!
Reintroducing Foods
The next part of the protocol is to slowly reintroduce foods back in. You will eat a food for 3 days, just small amounts, it is important NOT to gorge on the item you are reintroducing. After we eat small amounts of this food for the 3 days we will wait 2 days to see if we have any sort of reaction over that 5 day period. It typically takes the 3 days for our body to produce an immune response. Here is the tricky part –> your response may not be just a physical response, but it could also be a mental or emotional response. I will repeat that again: the autoimmune response can be PHYSICAL, MENTAL or EMOTIONAL. Some examples of a response that your body does not agree with the food you just reintroduced could be:
- headaches
- bloating
- constipation
- mood swings
- brain fog
- lethargic
- stomach cramps
- irritability
- fatigue
- insomnia
From my personal experience with this almonds gave me really bad acid re-flux and made me feel just unbelievably angry, and potatoes caused bloating and tiredness. Alcohol makes me very irritable the next day and super fatigued and my latest experience with alcohol was feeling like I was hung over the next day without all the fun! Let me tell you the almonds experience was cray cray! I was walking around just mad about EVERYTHING and I kept questioning why I was just so angry because I had nothing to be upset about and then it smacked me in the face…almonds! I had just reintroduced almonds and my body was NOT having it. These are just a few examples I experienced so you can understand what I mean when I say your response could be a range of things and it may not be a response you are expecting. So pay attention and really listen to your body.
Something helpful to keep track of your reintroduction phase is to have a journal of things you have tried and if they created a response and if so what that response was. Another crazy thing I have learned is that odds are the foods you crave or eat the most of are going to be the foods that you have responses to. Why is this? Because you are constantly eating them, and with leaky gut it means those foods are constantly leaking into areas it does not belong and the immune system is attacking that food item on a regular basis. AKA: creating a food sensitivity. So do not be surprised if you are sensitive to a food you eat on the daily. I use to eat potatoes daily, so when I had a response to these it only made sense that I would be sensitive to these. However, do not feel discouraged! The great news is if you are sensitive to a food you eat regularly, it does not mean that you will never ever be able to eat that food again, but you will need to take a break from it for at least 6 months before you try reintroducing it again. Healing is not an overnight process and takes some time.
The AIP lifestyle really helped change my life and made me become more in tune with my body. While this is not a cure, it may give you just enough information about yourself to help you make changes that can ultimately change your life in big ways.
Here are some other great resources I used on my AIP journey:
- Jessica Flanigan’s: What is AIP?
- Unbound Wellness: The Ultimate Guide to the AIP Diet
- Healthline: What is the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) Diet?
AIP Friendly Recipe Books & Websites:
- Unbound Wellness
- The Healing Kitchen
- The Autoimmune Wellness Handbook
- The Autoimmune Protocol Made Simple Cookbook
XOXO, Brooke
*Disclaimer: Always consult with a professional medical practitioner before taking any dietary supplements or recommendations listed, especially if pregnant, nursing, taking prescription medications or under a doctor’s medical care.
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