What Is the AIP Paleo Diet?

Brittany Bowman
Aug 15, 2016
5 min read

Aloha Friends!

I have talked a lot about the AIP Paleo Diet but I barely touched on what exactly this lifestyle is. If you have any questions, I am going to tell you all about it here!

In one simple phrase, it is exactly what the bottom of this book pictured above states - "An allergen-free approach to managing chronic illness." This lifestyle approach seeks to help alleviate many symptoms commonly found in those with autoimmune diseases, regardless of the disease, by getting to the root of the problem. It seeks to lower inflammation in our bodies, allowing the body a better chance at healing. It is a much more restrictive "diet" than the Paleo diet because it is designed with a purpose to heal & combat inflammation. The idea behind this lifestyle goes back to our "ancestral" way of eating. The way Mickey Trescott puts it in her book,

"...modern foods like grains, beans, refined sugar, vegetable oils & food chemicals are out. In addition to excluding these modern foods, there is also emphasis on adding high-quality animal foods that were available to our ancestors: pastured meats, wild-caught fish, as well as making use of the "odd bits" like bones & organ meats."

Also, notice how I say the word "diet". The reason I say this is because paleo is more of a lifestyle than it is diet. Diet can be described in two ways: 1. a way of eating to lose weight; 2. foods included in a person's eating habits. Moving forward, and throughout my blog, when I say diet, I mean eating habits. The thinking behind going with an ancestral approach is that when we give our bodies whole natural foods, free of all of the toxins, we allow our bodies to naturally detoxify & heal.

So we know what the basis of the AIP is but what is the approach? Before I get into the approach, it should be said this diet is a slow process. If you want to get better, you need to go into this knowing it will be slow, arduous & sometimes downright frustrating. It is very restrictive and here is why. You are trying to find what food item, or group, is causing inflammation in your body. Right there is the entire basis of this whole diet. It is finding the source of your inflammation so you can minimize your risk and help your body to better heal.

For the approach, there is an elimination period. During the elimination period, you are excluding many foods in your usual diet such as anything in the nightshade family (tomato's, peppers, eggplant), all grains (gluten), all beans & legumes, all nuts & seeds, eggs, dairy & other items (alcohol, NSAIDs, stevia, thickeners, etc.) You will find that you are making more recipes from scratch like sauces, dressings & bone broth.

The length of the elimination period varies from person to person. It can take anywhere from 3 months to a year, sometimes longer. What you are trying to do during this period is heal your gut. It is believed many autoimmune diseases start with your gut & it's permeability. (Click on Hashimoto Thyroiditis or Alopecia Areata to learn more about these autoimmune diseases. ) During the elimination period, you are working on healing the permeability of your intestines so you can absorb food better, lower your chance of inflammation & live the healthiest life you can imagine. The reason there is no defined time frame for this period is because it is based on how a person heals & the rate of progress they are seeing. It is advised to wait until the person see's significant progress before moving on from the elimination period.

Once you are ready to move on from the elimination period, there is a 4 stage process of reintroducing foods. Stage 1 has the highest chances of being tolerated, while stage 4 has the lowest. As you begin to reintroduce foods in stage 1, you will want to eat one food item at a time. For example, Egg yolks is the first food item listed in Stage 1. What you will do is take a bite, give it about fifteen minutes and see how you feel. If there are no adverse reactions, take a bigger bite, wait another 15 minutes. If there are still no negative reactions, finish the food item. Eat that food item throughout the week to gauge how your body reacts. Sometimes symptoms will not show up until a few days later. If you have no negative reactions from egg yolks moving forward, that is a food item you can eat on a regular basis and begin including back into your list of approved foods. It is best to keep a journal to track your progress as you move forward. From there, you can move onto the next food item listed in Stage 1.

So you see why this is a slow, arduous process. It will span over many months, if not years. Don't let that deter you from moving forward with this. You cannot put a price or time frame on healing. If you are truly serious about getting your autoimmune under control, I have no doubts this is the best approach. Though I have faltered a few times on this approach, it is also the best I have ever felt. When I do falter, my body does a great job reminding me why I started this approach in the first place. One thing Mickey says when reintroducing foods is "take it slow & when in doubt, leave it out."I highly recommend The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook by Mickey Trescott. This book has already helped me out significantly from the advice to the recipes. It has been my lifeline when I question which foods I can & cannot eat, when I do not know what to cook for dinner & for when I am falling off the bandwagon. I am definitely learning in the process. I jumped in with both feet first & took off running. I did some research of course but the little research I did convinced me this approach was best. With God & holistic healing, I am well on my way to recovery. Ready to recover too? Take control of your health right now! Go AIP! Let me know if you have any questions, I will answer them the best of my abilities or direct you to someone who can answer you.

Mahalo!