After I got out of the hospital I was on high doses of strong steroids that kept me up all night with nothing to do but think. Instead of wallowing in self pity about taking a medical leave from college or allowing anxiety to overcome me, I decided to be proactive and figure out how to stay as healthy as possible. That is when I found the blog, Autoimmune Wellness. I highly suggest you guys to check it out because it is awesome and answers any and all in depth questions you may have about the AutoImmune Protocol/Paleo diet. Below I will give you a quick summary of what it is and my journey following AIP.
AIP is a way of eating to reduce inflammation in your body and to patch up and cleanse your gut. Although there is controversy over what causes autoimmune diseases, many people believe that it stems from how the food we eat affects our intestines. When we consume a lot of sugar, processed foods, gluten, alcohol, etc. our gut becomes porous and releases toxins into our body. The AIP diet, patches up those holes so those toxins cannot be released. Below is a really great video explaining it!
I have never personally tried any of Dr. Gundry's products
AIP consists of two/three phases depending on who you talk to. For me, there are two phases, the elimination phase and the reintroduction phase. I started the elimination phase cold-turkey on October 21, 2017. I didn't slowly phase out of products and into healthier living. My mom remembers waking up and seeing me eat steamed vegetables for breakfast! For other people, slowly phasing out of old habits is easier and that is also perfectly okay.
In this article, I will specifically be focusing on the elimination phase of the AIP diet. The elimination phase has you eliminate the following from your diet,
gluten
dairy (including eggs)
processed foods
sugar and other sweeteners (stevia and agave)
alcohol
nuts
seeds (including coffee and cocoa/cacao)
beans
legumes
nightshades (vegetables that grow at night: tomato, potato, eggplant, pepper)
NSAIDs (ibuprofen)
high fructose
Soy (vegetable oil and tofu)
Canola oil
thickeners, emulsifiers, and food additives
When I show people this list, the first thing that they think is...well what can I eat? The answer is, a lot! You can eat,
All natural (preferably grass-fed organic) meats
All natural (preferably wild-caught) fish
All fruits (preferably organic)
Most vegetables aside from nightshades (preferably organic)
Here is a chart that I used when first getting started. There are so many guides on line that help. Take a screen shot or print it out when you go shopping so you have it on hand in case you need some guidance.
Now, I never said that this diet was easy! It can be excruciatingly difficult and awkward especially when eating out at restaurants or with other people but soon you learn buzzwords when ordering so people respect your way of eating. Personally, I say that I have severe allergies and restaurants get spooked and make my meat with no spices and vegetables with no butter! In the beginning, I rarely ate out and just ate steak and steamed spinach at home until I found resources and websites with great recipes.
I started this diet in October of 2017 and did not start the second phase of it until almost a year later. Look out for future articles outlining the reintroduction phase and my personal experience with it.
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