AIP (Paleo Autoimmune Protocol)
In 2014 I dove into a new way of life, a healing diet. I did hours of research and came across
Eileen Laird’s blog “Phoenix Helix”:
I also purchased Dr Sarah Ballantyne (The Paleo Mom) book “The Paleo Approach”:
The paleo diet is a diet that you eliminate the following permanently.
Processed Food
Emulsifiers and Thickeners (guar gum, carrageenan, etc.)
Refined Oils
Refined Sugars
Grains (including corn)
Dried Legumes (including soy and peanuts)
Stevia (and other non-nutritive sweeteners)
AIP is an elimination diet (reintroduce foods after a minimum of 30 days)
Eggs
Dairy
Nuts (including nut-based oils)
Seeds (including coffee and cocoa and seed-based oils)
Nightshades (both vegetables and spices)
Fresh Legumes (green beans and green peas)
Alcohol
Fruit-based and Seed-based Spices
Stevia (and other non-nutritive sweeteners)
These are known to be common food intolerances for people with autoimmune conditions. I made up my mind I was going to do this diet. After 30 days, my first reintroduction was eggs. I eventually started eating nuts and seeds along with an alcoholic beverage at times. For over 4 years I was pretty much exclusively on the AIP diet. I improved greatly and will admit I was afraid to reintroduce anything else on the list. In a later post I will write about a food intolerance test I did, and some introductions of food through Dr Maggie Yu’s program.
I will tell you it is not the easiest diet to conquer especially if you are the only one in the house eating this way. Going out to eat and going to friends’ homes also makes this quite difficult. I started to notice an improvement rather quickly, but then turned into a gradual improvement over time. I lost a lot of weight on this protocol. People were starting to worry and talk about my weight loss, but I was feeling a positive change. I remember going on an all-girls golf trip one year. I had to stay home for a few years prior because of my illness, but I decided I was going to give it a go. Because of my new diet I had to go to the grocery store and purchase things I could eat. Being in a strange city and someone else’s home I felt like I was a burden. But they insisted it was not a problem. I learned later that it was not exactly “not a problem”. In fact, one evening I overheard 2 of my friends mocking me. It was quite hurtful. In time I have learned to not take things so personally. First, people do not understand autoimmune disease and second, they likely do not understand a healing diet. I think now it is more common to have food intolerances, but back in 2014 this diet was new and not well known. Autoimmune disease often is referred to as the invisible disease for a good reason. We often do not look ill. I was so ill and was determined to get off my handfuls of medications. I was willing to try anything!
Here is an AIP grocery list through unbounded wellness:
Here are some other great resources that were helpful with my AIP journey.