I first heard about AIP while visiting a girlfriend in NYC. Her and her sister had been doing it as her sister randomly started having daily panic attacks out of nowhere. After months of testing and initially being put on psych drugs, the root of it all revealed that it was about leaky gut and the toxins leaking out to mess with her brain. Talk about being fucking mind blown listening to that!
It was the first time I had ever heard such a story. I was seriously b-l-o-w-n away! Once they discovered that, and she began the Autoimmune Protocol way of life, she saw immediate results! No more panic attacks! No more issues! it was like a freaking miracle!
Her twin sister, my girlfriend, had been diagnosed as a Type 1 diabetic in her early 30’s. Again, out of nowhere. She was healthy, active, thin, ate a diet of high quality and healthy foods – all the things – and then randomly one day, or so it seemed to her, she was now an insulin dependent Type 1 diabetic. Crushing…
In the years after that, she also had been having thyroid issues and when all of this happened with her twin, she wanted to give it a try too. So she did! And then she shared it with me, as I then was not sure what the hell was going on with my body as I had gained weight in shorts bouts of time, struggled with energy issues (even after sleeping 8+ hours I could barely drag myself out of bed), skin changes, hair changes, period changes, etc. Needless to say, I was frustrated and over it, and was definitely fascinated by the concept of these three little letters!
The Autoimmune Protocol is essentially an elimination diet. It’s got a list of certain foods, even down to spices and oils, that can or cannot be consumed. And let me tell you – the list ain’t that damn big! The point is to load your body up with a crap ton of nutrients so that it has the best chance it can at healing! At the time you’re loading up, you’re also avoiding things that often contribute to disease and dysfunction in the body, or just don’t let it be its best?! The results and findings in following such a protocol are often life changing and HUGE, though! So don’t let the word avoid and limiting fool you.
The diet was created for those that suffer from known autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, IBD, Type 1 diabetes, psoriasis, Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroiditis and Graves’ disease. The point of following AIP is that ideally you’ll lesson the symptoms of your disorder, reduce inflammation and pain throughout the body, and heal the gut.
For most peeps, you follow it for 30 days, and then you slowly introduce things back into your diet through a reintroduction phase. If you feel you need to do it longer, or if your situation and the way your body has been feeling or being is more severe or serious, you can of course adhere strictly for multiple months. My girlfriend’s twin actually did it for over a year before the reintroduction phase!
The catch though, is that the reintroduction phase isn’t like – today, I’m going to have fries with ketchup as my “reintro”.
It’s more like, I’m going to try cilantro today, maybe even for two days, and see how that goes for my body. I’m going to probably even journal my weight each morning as I reintroduce my body to things, document how I “felt” and any reactions that arose from bringing X back. While that’s common for any elimination diet (a diet in which you eliminate most things and then slowly bring them back to see what is causing you issues or wreaking havoc on your body), it’s ideally really specific and intentional and slow coming off AIP.
Generally, this isn’t to be confused with – I did Whole30 for a month and now I’m at Krispy Kreme cause my calendar says I’m done and I’ve had enough “clean” fun for a while, or gave my body a little reset and lost a few LB’s. Or even when we do a juice cleanse for a few days to give the digestive tract a break from all the work we make it do, and then go right back to our lives. Not the same thing.
Autoimmune issues and disorders or not, this program could be for you if you’re struggling to figure out what the hell is going on with your body – why it’s not acting like it used to, why there’s been a slow decline to your health, or why there’s been an out of nowhere attack on your system. It is an amazing and impressive way to reset, regulate and heal the body. You also get to truly find out which foods you have an intolerance to, in case you ever wanted to know – which you should. Maybe you’re not fully allergic to tomatoes or nightshade vegetables*, yet you notice when you haven’t had them for 60 days and bring them back, that you ache, have spots on your body or sleep differently. So going forward you probably limit them in your diet, versus having them on the reg?
Bottom line is – the shit is hard. Hard, yet worth it. Mentally you need to prepare for something like this. You need to enroll those you live with and work with and hang out with, that this is what you’ll be up to. You need the share the WHY with them – that you’re doing this for your health and to better your overall life and lessen the symptoms you feel from your autoimmune disease. You’re doing this to feel and look like you again! You’re doing this to have the energy to enjoy life and parenthood again! You’re doing this to be a better employee and friend and human! Hello, you might even just inspire or school them a bit?!
The recipes and things you’ll make aren’t nasty on the AIP plan, by any means. They don’t taste like cardboard or anything of the sort – yet it’s just different. You’ll grocery shop differently, you’ll cook differently, you’ll maybe have to make two meals for the household now – or one main dish and then various sides. You don’t really get to eat out. You have to pack lunch and meal prep and set yourself up for success – on purpose, and cause you’re fucking worth it!
Click here to see the lists of what you’ll gobble up, and what you’ll avoid!
And believe me, hard as it is….you get used to it. It becomes normal. Your cravings disappear. Your stomach “shrinks” in the sense that you just naturally start eating less. You don’t feel as bloated or gassy or crampy. You sleep better. You are more alert and generally have more mental clarity. Sometimes people experience headaches for a week or so as their body detoxes, yet it’s normal and will go away. For real. And on the other side of those headaches and being cranky you miss your ice cream or a few beers watching the game, or ranch dressing with fries at lunch, you will be okay.
Don’t forget – you’ve been “okay” for years. You’re looking for better. You’re looking for new. You’re looking for lighter. You’re looking for healed. You’re looking for healthy-ish, now!
PS – I put that delish pic of the burger and hand cut fries just to fuck with us all 🙂 Cause noooone of that greasy goodness is allowed when we’re working on healing our bodies!
*Nightshade vegetables, according to some, are known to increase inflammation in the body for certain individuals. Many people can eat them without concern or negative impacts. Sometimes though, autoimmune goers (including those with arthritis) find they do better avoiding them. The list consists of: tomatoes, potatoes (white), eggplant and peppers. They’re supposedly called “nightshades” as they tend to grow in shady environments, and potentially bloom at night. Please note: these veggies also contain plenty of very beneficial nutrients, so be sure to do your homework on YOUR body, resulting in doing what’s right for you in regards to limiting or avoiding.
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