What is the AIP (Auto Immune Protocol)?

You probably keep reading that acronym AIP all over my site and have no idea what it actually means. Well let’s get things straight it’s not some weird cult or some insane juice fast. 🙂

What is the AIP?

Ok let’s start with what is stands for.

Auto Immune Protocol.

It is more commonly known as the AIP Paleo diet and lifestyle (please see my lifestyle pages for more info on that).
It is a version of the Paleo diet that is specifically for autoimmune conditions (though it has proven successful for quite a number of other conditions).

It is meant to be an Elimination diet, that removes the most common highly inflammatory foods for a period of time, in order to calm down the immune system against self-attack, heal a leaky gut and provide nutrient density.

Gut dysbiosis and a leaky gut are associated with all autoimmune diseases. The reason the AIP is successful is that 70-80% of the immune system is in the gut.
The gut lining is the barrier between the outside world and the inside of the body. It is the place where the body begins to recognise what is harmful and what is not and where the mistaken attack on self occurs. So if we are looking at the root causes and the foundation of autoimmune disease, the gut is the source. Ultimately the majority of the immune system resides in the gut. Healing this barrier helps stop the Immune system attack.
AIP

FOODS NOT TO EAT :

• Gluten

• All Grains: Rice, Corn etc

• Dairy

• Legumes, beans, chickpeas

• Modern Vegetable Oils, eg sunflower/canola

• Food Chemicals or Additives

• Nightshades (potato, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cayenne, goji)

• Processed Food

• No Seeds (incl Cocoa, Coffee and Seed based spices)

• No Nuts

• No Pseudo Grains, Quinoa,

• Potential Gluten-Cross Reactive Foods

• No NSAIDs ( aspirin, ibuprofen)

FOODS TO EAT:

• Fish and Shellfish (wild caught if possible)

• Quality Meat (pasture raised/grass fed/wild as much as possible, less poultry)

• All Vegetables (except nightshades), including
– Green Leafy Veg
– Cruciferous Vegetables
– Colourful Veggies and Fruit, Sea Vegetables

• Organ Meat and Offal

• Quality Fats from pasture raised animals, fatty fish, olive, coconut, avocado

• Fruit –small amount, berries are best

• Probiotic Foods (Kombucha, fermented foods, coconut/water kefir)

• Glycine rich foods (connective tissue, joints, skin, esp bone broth)

You should remove all the possible offending foods for as long as it takes to heal your gut, or at least 1-3 months, and then you can slowly start to reintroduce certain of the restricted food, one at a time, to see if you react to it or not. Certain things can never be reintroduced and other things some people will react to, while the next person will be fine. Each person’s disease is unique and affects them differently. Once you are over the Elimination phase, you should stick to regular Paleo foods.

Also remember that diet alone is not sufficient to heal the the autoimmune attack. Lifestyle factors, such as getting enough good quality sleep is vital, relaxation techniques and ways of reducing stress and exercise are also imperative and sometimes those thing can be even more important than diet!

Here are some resources related to the AIP you can buy to help make your life a little easier 🙂

  1.  Pantry Box
  2. Paleo Angel Power Balls
  3. AIP Snack Box
  4. Wild Zora lamb and Veggie Snack bars
  5. Vital Proteins Collagen