The autoimmune paleo diet is an elimination diet that supports the immune system and gut lining in people with autoimmune disease. Could it help you?
Autoimmune diseases occur when your body’s immune system mistakenly attacks your own cells, perceiving them as a dangerous foreign invader or pathogen.
This reaction causes systemic inflammation as autoantibodies start to attack your healthy tissue. More than 20 million people in the United States have some sort of autoimmune condition, according to estimates. And millions of them are yet to be diagnosed.
Symptoms of autoimmunity can vary but commonly include skin rashes, joint pain, brain fog, and fatigue–just to name a few.
The autoimmune paleo diet, also referred to as the autoimmune protocol or AIP diet, is a variation of the paleo diet that strives to heal the immune system and digestive tract lining in those suffering from autoimmune disease.
The diet temporarily eliminates potential dietary triggers that may be causing inflammation and further fueling autoimmune reactions.
How does the autoimmune Paleo diet work?
The protocol requires at least 30 days of elimination of the following.
grains
pseudo-grains (like quinoa, buckwheat, and amaranth)
legumes
nuts
seeds
nightshade vegetables
eggs
processed vegetable oils
alcohol
added sugar or sweeteners
food additives
NSAIDs (such as ibuprofen)
After the elimination phase of the diet, you reintroduce eliminated food groups one at a time and assess your reaction.
If a reaction occurs, these foods should be eliminated again. Then you can retest for tolerance at a later date, usually after another month.
The AIP diet helps to uncover a more personalized paleo-based diet that helps to reduce inflammation, promote gut healing, and diminish autoimmune-related symptoms for the long-term.
Beyond just a diet, the autoimmune protocol also emphasizes a way of life that prioritizes adequate sleep, stress reduction, and regular physical activity. These lifestyle factors are known to have a direct influence on symptoms of autoimmunity.
At Parsley Health, we promote these self-care practices as essential components in achieving optimal health and wellness for all individuals.
Until recently, the AIP diet was only supported through the anecdotal stories of the thousands of people who successfully used the protocol to help treat their autoimmune disease.
But new research in the past few years in the journals Inflammatory Bowel Disorders and Current Developments in Nutrition examined the effectiveness of AIP for inflammatory bowel disease, a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine.
In both studies, the researchers found that the majority of study participants, greater than 70 percent in each study, achieved remission after six weeks of following AIP.
The AIP diet has also been shown to help with Hashimoto's disease.
Broader applications of the AIP diet and autoimmune disease require more research.
Is the AIP Diet right for you? Is it healthy?
If you don’t have an autoimmune disease, it’s unnecessary to follow the AIP diet. You do not need to fear any food groups if you are otherwise healthy and symptom-free. This is because the healthiest diet is truly one that offers the greatest diversity of nutrients from whole foods.
If you’ve been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and want to better manage active and ongoing symptoms, AIP could be a good option for you.
However, because of the extremely restrictive nature of AIP, the diet is not appropriate to try if you are at risk of eating disorders, have food aversions, are unwilling to make dietary changes, or have other diet-related medical conditions.
If you feel the AIP diet might be too limiting for you, many members at Parsley Health often see positive results when implementing less restrictive elimination diets. If you’ve already tried other types of elimination diets without success or reduction in symptoms, AIP might be worth experimenting with as a next step.
Get started with the autoimmune Paleo diet
With the elimination of suspected gut irritants, the diet focuses on including more anti-inflammatory, nutrient-dense foods, including the following.
vegetables of all kinds and colors (except nightshades)
well-sourced organic meat and organ meats
wild-caught fish
fermented foods
bone broths
small amounts of antioxidant-rich fruits like berries
healthy fats from avocados, olives, and coconuts
While AIP may feel daunting and restrictive, many healthy recipes can be easily adjusted to fit the bill.
Here are some great Parsley Health recipes you can try if you’re going AIP.
Easy Wild Salmon Salad: Just exclude the sundried tomatoes and black pepper.
Bison Burgers: Ditch the tomato slice on top, opt for some fresh cucumber or red onions instead, and skip out on the black pepper.
Green Detox Smoothie: Replace the almond butter with coconut butter or avocado and swap our Parsley Health Rebuild plant-based protein powder for some collagen peptides.
How to know if the AIP diet worked for you
Thirty days is a suggested minimum amount of time to follow the diet. However, for best results, you may wish to wait until you see clear improvement in your symptoms before starting reintroductions.
Some people may need longer than 30 days to see marked improvement. Once you see a benefit, you can reintroduce foods safely and slowly following a formal schedule.
At Parsley Health, we recommend working with one of our providers for guidance and support while challenging and reintroducing foods. The ultimate goal of AIP is to create a personalized diet that uncovers specific dietary triggers and will promote healing in the long-term.
For those suffering with symptoms related to autoimmune disease, including fatigue, muscle and joint pain, bloating, gas, rashes, hair loss, and body aches, reduction in these symptoms can often be an obvious indication that AIP is working. You may also wish to get tested for changes in inflammatory markers.
At Parsley Health, we have seen success in those with autoimmune conditions such as multiple sclerosis, eosinophilic esophagitis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and inflammatory bowel disease, among others.
One member came to us with eosinophilic esophagitis, an autoimmune cause of reflux, and with the AIP diet combined with a gut-healing protocol we use at Parsley Health, her condition completely resolved.
Our takeaway
AIP can be extremely effective for individuals with a diagnosed autoimmune disease who have tried other dietary changes but who did not see a reduction in symptoms.
Elimination diets are highly regarded in the medical community as an effective means of identifying dietary triggers.
The autoimmune paleo diet should be thought of as an elimination diet that is focused on analyzing all potentially inflammatory foods for a highly reactive population.
The autoimmune protocol is best used as a tool to help personalize the diet to include the foods that help individuals feel their best while keeping inflammation and symptoms to a minimum. AIP should not be followed long-term.
