+ AIP Articles

woman reading nutrition label in supermarket

How We Talk About Food – I Can’t Eat That vs. I Choose Not To Eat That

With autoimmune disease, many of us choose healing diets to reduce inflammation and live healthier lives. When we first make this change, we’re very focused on the foods we’re no longer eating, and it’s common to say “I can’t eat that” when those foods are offered. Have you ever heard the saying: “Be careful what you say because your body is listening?” It’s true! And our hearts and minds are listening too. Words matter – whether we say them out loud or in our thoughts – and there’s a big difference between the phrase “I can’t” and “I choose”. One is negative and one is positive. That may seem like a small thing, but it can actually have a big impact. I dive into the details in this article.

How My Diet Has Evolved Over 10 Years With Rheumatoid Arthritis

10 years is a long time! Are you curious where I started and what my diet looks like today? In this blog post, I share my whole journey, including how I ate before getting RA, the diets I tried immediately afterward, the diets that minimized my symptoms the most, and the food freedom I enjoy now. Our bodies change over time, and our diets are meant to change too.

List of Paleo-Friendly Restaurants Worldwide

Do you remember how it felt to relax in a restaurant? No fear of getting “glutened”? Lots of delicious menu items to choose from, each one packed with flavor? After countless hours searching the internet and double-checking menus, I offer you this list of paleo-friendly restaurants! From Texas to Malaysia, people are operating restaurants based on the belief that food is medicine. If you’re lucky, one of these restaurants is near you. If not, get ready to plan some fun trips!

10 Nutrient-Dense Fruit and Vegetable Scraps We Should Be Eating Instead of Throwing Away

A key component of a healing diet is nutrient-density and diversity. In the paleo AIP community, the list of foods to avoid often gets the most attention. But simultaneously, we need to expand the list of nourishing foods that we eat. One great way to do that is to look at the produce in our kitchens and see which edible parts we’re throwing away. Often, they are the most nutritious!

10 Answers to the Question: Why Do You Eat That Way?

The Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) has the potential to make a big difference in your health, which is why so many people with autoimmune disease try this healing diet. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy, and one of the challenges is how other people respond. Friends, family, coworkers, even strangers are likely to notice you’re suddenly eating differently than everyone around you. You turn down the birthday cake at the office or family birthday party. You show up with your own food to a holiday dinner. You ask the waiter extra questions when eating in a restaurant. You serve food in your own home that’s delicious but doesn’t come from a box. Healthy eating stands out, because we live in a world where unhealthy eating is the norm. It’s natural for people to have questions, and it’s helpful to have some quick answers ready. Here are ten answers for a wide variety of situations.

Finding Your Wiggle Room on the AIP

When you start the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol, it’s largely about restrictions. Removing inflammatory foods and habits and replacing them with healthier choices. When you see the positive impact on your autoimmune symptoms, it can be incredibly empowering. But this is just the first step. The long-term goal is learning to listen to your body. Where do you need to exercise self-control, and where can you have a little freedom? Finding this freedom is finding your wiggle room, and it’s key to making a long-term healing lifestyle sustainable.

Eat the Rainbow on the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol

Fuel your body for health on the Paleo AIP! The colors of fruits and vegetables aren’t just beautiful. Each color provides unique nutrients for your body: red, orange, yellow, green, purple, blue, and white. Here’s a detailed produce list for each color, along with the health benefits they provide.

Pooja’s Paleo AIP Reintroduction Experience

Are you curious (or confused) about the AIP food reintroduction process? I created this interview series so you could hear about other people’s experiences. Pooja Parikh has hidradenitis suppurativa. In this interview, she shares which foods she was able to reintroduce successfully, which reintroductions “failed”, how she discerned the difference, and what she learned along the way. The Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) has 2 phases: elimination and reintroduction. It’s this second phase where we learn how to expand and personalize the diet for our unique bodies.

10 Tips for Success on the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (AIP)

Autoimmune disease is strong inspiration for making healthy diet and lifestyle changes, but that doesn’t mean the AIP is easy to do! Here are 10 tips for getting started, staying on track, getting support, setting yourself up for success, and making the AIP work for you.

Paleo AIP + GAPS Starchy Vegetable List

I came to the Paleo autoimmune community through the GAPS doorway. The GAPS Diet is designed to heal the gut and therefore heal the body. One of the tenets of the GAPS diet is that starch can feed pathogenic bacteria, so a low-starch diet can shift the gut microbiome toward health. The Paleo Autoimmune Protocol is designed to heal the gut as well, yet it allows many high-starch vegetables. So who is right? It turns out that starch tolerance is very individual. Some people thrive on a high-starch diet, while others feel best on a moderate to low-starch diet. If you’d like to conduct your own self-experiment, I’ve compiled a list of the vegetables allowed on both diets, from low-starch to high.

Andrew’s Paleo AIP Reintroduction Experience

Are you curious (or confused) about the AIP food reintroduction process? I created this interview series so you could hear about other people’s experiences. Andrew Smyth has psoriatic arthritis. In this interview, he shares which foods he was able to reintroduce successfully, which reintroductions “failed”, how he discerned the difference, and what he learned along the way. The Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) has 2 phases: elimination and reintroduction. It’s this second phase where we learn how to expand and personalize the diet for our unique bodies.

Life on the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol – a Story In Memes

Three of my favorite things about the internet: (1) The ability to connect with a global community. (2) Access to information we would never have otherwise. (3) Inspiration for laughter. It’s this last one I’m celebrating today. I offer you 20 images to make you laugh and say, “OMG! That’s me!”

The Complete Guide to Fats on the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (AIP)

I don’t know about you, but I fell for the low-fat food craze, believing that dietary fat was harmful and the more I avoided it, the healthier I would be. I didn’t learn otherwise until I switched to the paleo diet in 2012 and learned that dietary fat is actually beneficial. It was mind-bending to realize! In this blog post, I share (1) Why our bodies need dietary fats, (2) Which fats are allowed on the AIP, (3) The smoke point and shelf life of each one, (4) Why saturated fat is so controversial, and (5) Which fats are especially beneficial.

12 Tips for Eating Paleo AIP on a Budget

Are you afraid you can’t do the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol, because it’s too expensive? Or do you simply want to find ways to make your food dollars go farther? Either way, I’ve got you covered with these 12 tips

#NotPaleo Moments on the Paleo Diet

If you’re on Instagram, you’re familiar with hashtags, and if you follow paleo accounts, you’ll occasionally see a photo show up with a #NotPaleo tag. What does it mean? Have they left the paleo diet behind? Usually not. Instead, it’s often a conscious choice to eat “off-diet”, and there are many reasons someone might choose to do that. The same goes for the #NotAIP hashtag. In this blog post, I talk about the 80/20 rule, AIP reintroductions, the vacation effect, holiday temptations, flare vs. remission, and the difference between self-sabotage and worth-it-moments.

15 Hidden Sources of Gluten

When we switch to a paleo diet and start cooking our food at home, we have much more control over food exposures, including gluten. But it’s a tricky molecule that can trigger symptoms in very small doses, and it’s present in some surprising places. Today’s article is meant to educate and empower, not to scare anyone. First, I’ll tell you why avoiding gluten is wise for anyone with autoimmune disease. Then, we’ll cover the places gluten sometimes sneaks into our lives.

5 Things I Learned in 5 Years on the AIP

I cannot believe it’s been 5 years! I’m so grateful for that first step I took back in 2012 to reclaim my autoimmune health. Thank you for walking this path with me. To celebrate, I’m hosting an epic giveaway of some of my favorite paleo AIP resources. Because I love all of my readers around the world, I have a USA Prize Package worth $275 and an International Prize Package worth $300. Entering is easy! Just click through to the blog post and answer 2 questions in the Rafflecopter Box. There are no hoops to jump through! I also had fun filming a short video of 5 Things I Learned in 5 Years on a Healing Diet. And the learning never stops!

How and Why to do a Paleo AIP Sugar Detox

Even when sugar is natural and unrefined, our body still processes it as sugar, and too much sugar in any form is inflammatory. That’s why the leaders of the paleo community warn against eating too much (no more than 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon per day). The problem is that moderating sugar can be hard. You start within the limits – a tiny taste here and there – and before you know it, paleo AIP desserts have become a core part of your daily diet and you’re eating dried fruit by the handful. Suddenly, you notice your healing progress has stalled or even started to move backwards. This doesn’t happen to everyone, but if it’s happening to you, it might be time for a “reset”. In this article, I talk about my own experience with sugar and autoimmune health, and I teach you how to do a sugar detox, including handling your cravings and boosting your mood during the process. I also share the times when a sugar detox isn’t healthy.

The Great Paleo AIP Book & Cookbook Roundup

When I first started the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) on 1/1/13, there were no books for me to reference. A few people like myself had found some basic information on the internet and were figuring it out as we went along. It’s amazing how much has changed since then. There are now 40+ resources created specifically to help people succeed on the AIP. It’s an abundance of choice! In this blog post, I give descriptions of each cookbook to help you find the style of cooking that works best for you. Which ones are your personal favorites, and which ones are you adding to your wish list?

The Paleo AIP Cold & Flu Survival Guide

Sometimes a cold or flu is inescapable, no matter what we do to try to prevent it. It’s happened to all of us, and it’s definitely not fun! Thankfully, there are things we can do to soothe ourselves while we heal. In this post, I share natural health tips for a sore throat, runny nose, cough, sinus congestion, aches/chills, fever, nausea, and the best foods to support healing. I also share some advice for nipping a cold in the bud before it fully blooms. Wishing us health at every level, and comfort for those times we fall ill.

50 Paleo AIP Holiday Gift Ideas

I’ve always been someone who loved finding the perfect gift, whether small or large, homemade or purchased. This blog post covers all of those categories, with a focus on autoimmune health. I had so much fun putting it together, and found some great items for my friends and a few wish list items for myself as well. Happy Holidays, everyone!

What Is Gluten Cross-Reactivity?

You have probably seen lists on the internet of foods that are said to “cross-react” with gluten. What does this mean? Where did this list come from? And is it even accurate? I answer these questions and more!

mini cupcakes with frosting and strawberries on top

Where Do Natural Sugars Fit on a Healing Diet?

Treats are a point of controversy in the paleo community. Our ancestors had limited access to sugar, natural or otherwise. Yet healing diets also need to be sustainable, and some days we just want a cookie. So, what should we do? In the autoimmune community, this is an even more important question. We aren’t following paleo to simply optimize good health; we’re trying to reverse autoimmune disease, which is infinitely harder. The truth is, our bodies behave very differently than those without autoimmune disease, and sugar can have a bigger impact on our system than the general population. In this post, I look at all aspects of this question and ask some paleo experts their opinion.

Why Food Sensitivity Testing Doesn’t Work

Let’s face it: the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) is hard to do. If we could just take a test to identify our food sensitivities, it would be so much easier! So, why don’t we? Unfortunately, food sensitivity testing is unreliable, giving both false positive and false negative results. An elimination diet (like the AIP) is the only accurate way to test for them. It’s called the Gold Standard. This is actually one area where conventional doctors and paleo doctors agree. I realize that this can be very frustrating to hear if you’ve spent a lot of money on these tests already. Click through to read the scientific evidence.

Can I Do the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol as a Vegetarian?

If you’re asking this question and researching paleo, I’m guessing your current diet isn’t improving your autoimmune symptoms, and you’re considering alternatives. Perhaps one of your healthcare practitioners has suggested you try the AIP. I know that if you haven’t eaten meat or seafood for years, possibly decades, it can be a hard thing to consider. So, first let me share the science with you, and then I’ll share some tips for making the transition easier.

Meal Planning – A Paleo AIP Survival Tool

Benjamin Franklin said, “If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail.” That applies to many areas in life, but especially a healing diet. If you don’t have healthy food available when you’re hungry, you’ll be tempted to go off diet and that can lead to an autoimmune flare. Today, I show you how I plan my own meals every week, including a sneak peek into my fridge! I also share a whole bunch of AIP meal planning resources, to make staying true your diet even easier.

To Ghee or Not to Ghee

Why is ghee excluded on the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol if it’s allergen-free? Many members of the paleo community praise it as a nutrient-dense food, and it’s allowed on other healing diets like The Wahls Protocol. So, what’s the deal? I delved into some deep research to answer this question, including some personal n=1 experiments, polls in the autoimmune community, and learning all about the science (pro and con) behind this flavorful cooking fat. Should people with autoimmune disease be eating it? Let’s find out!