Are you ready to do the AIP?

A lot of people wonder how anyone can do anything as drastic sounding as the AIP. The autoimmune protocol version of the Paleo diet and lifestyle.

What is the AIP?


There are so many foods that are taken out of your daily diet. Daily staples. Bread, milk, eggs, pizza, pancakes; the very thought of not being able to consume your favourite comfort food as well as being sick with some horrible illness, is seen as a step too far for many people!

Food has such an emotional connection, that the thought of having to give up our favourite foods is very overwhelming for many people. People also dismiss the very idea that food can have such a major impact on your disease and its daily symptoms and progression. It’s so much easier to go to the doctor and get a prescription for the all those pills and capsules and just swallow them without having to change anything you consume or how you live your life.

Easier? But not better!

Most of the pharmaceuticals drugs on the market today, do not treat Autoimmune disease, in fact most of them suppress the immune system to prevent it from attacking whichever area of your body your disease has taken hold. They also come with a multitude of side effects, which require that you take even more medications to counter those symptoms. Also another negative, is that while these admittedly life-saving drugs stop the wrong part of your immune system from attacking you, it also stops it from attacking the ‘nasties’ that it SHOULD be defending against, such as viruses, bacteria and parasites. This means you become even more susceptible to contracting infections; this can be everything from simple colds to deadly pneumonia.

For some people the thought of drastically changing the way they eat is even worse than the thought of being sick. Nobody wants to eat a restricted diet. Nobody wants to go into a restaurant and sit down and realise they cannot order a single thing off the menu; nobody wants to inconvenience their friends and family when they are invited for a meal and they have a laundry list of things they can and cannot eat.

The Question is then, When are you ready to do the AIP?

At what point are you able to say, OK I will give up my morning coffee and bagels, my lunch of delicious breads and amazing fillings, oozing with cheese and when I’m too lazy too cook, I’ll order in pizza? I believe there is only one answer to that question?

When you are sick, so sick, that daily living is a struggle. When you are in too much pain, too tired and so depressed from constantly being not well; when you can’t sleep at night, but are exhausted during the day; when you have a headache every day; when you are popping pain killers and anti-inflammatories for the constant pain you are in, when life doesn’t seem worth living. When you’ve had to put work and your relationships with those you love on hold, because every day is a struggle. When your doctor tells you there is not much you can do, and offers you yet another prescription; when you have become a full time patient and all you spend your time doing is making doctor’s appointments.
When you can barely function to work, live, play and dream of a better future, then, trust me… cutting out a few foods and cooking all your own meals, is really truly not that bad….

AIP FOOD IDEAS

My Personal Reaction to the AIP:

I had a very quick reaction when starting the AIP; I began to feel better very quickly. For me, changing my diet and other lifestyle factors made me feel really good and so the motivation to continue was in fact very easy. It was also only the start of the journey, but it was well worth it..
You won’t know until you try, but you have to be ready to do it…

Please note that I don’t think it has to be either diet or medication. I do believe many people need medication and should not feel guilty for taking it. I do think though that diet and lifestyle changes should go hand in hand with any medication needed.

Some people have different responses to following the AIP. For me it wasn’t a drastic change. I was already gluten free due to being diagnosed with Celiac disease, but I ate lots of commercially bought gluten free food, full of grains and gut irritants and processed sugar.

For more about me and my story and how I came to disover the AIP after being ill for over twenty years see here.

 

 

 

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