AIP Diet

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I can picture exactly where we were when this conversation happened. Not to be melodramatic, but it was definitely one of those “there was life before this and now there is life after this” moments.

My husband had been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and was having ongoing health problems. I’ll protect his privacy here and not go into the details, but just know his symptoms were not minimal and they were not fun.

We had been to what felt like 500 specialists, and for each one he was given a new diagnosis and a new pill to take with new side affects. Nothing was helping. Every day he woke up not sure what to expect from his body.

And then…

A family friend put us in touch with a functional medicine doctor. Let’s start here: she is a legitimate doctor, went through all the schooling, and has her D.O. She works for a legitimate health care system that takes health insurance. AND, her method of practice is to look at the WHOLE BODY as opposed to one individual piece of what is going on. This felt like such a relief, because his whole body was what was reacting, and each specialist was only looking at their specific area of expertise.

We were sitting on the couch in our living room and called her (because we’d been given her personal cell phone and we were desperate). We didn’t even get through describing all of his symptoms before she stopped us. “I know what this is. I’ve seen this before. I know what you need to do.”

It was a little off-putting after all of our work going to all of these specialists to be cut short, and then she dropped the food bomb.

“You need to read a book called Hashimoto’s Protocol by Dr. Isabella Wentz.” She then proceeded to tell us that the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) is a diet designed to reduce inflammation. Often when someone has an autoimmune condition, Western medicine’s response is to prescribe a pill and call you healed. The reality is that all autoimmune conditions usually need a medical response and a lifestyle response. This was his/our lifestyle response.

No more:

Gluten
Dairy
Eggs
Soy
Nightshades (tomatoes, peppers (and associated spices), eggplant, white potatoes)
Processed Sugar
Caffeine
Alcohol

We balked. How the hell were we supposed to cut out ALL OF THAT?! What would there be left to eat!?

But, we had tried everything else. Might as well give it a shot.

His symptoms were gone 48 hours after starting the diet.

I’m not kidding when I say this was life-changing. We initially thought this would be a 90-day change, but as we attempted to reintroduce things we quickly realized that, with the exception of eggs, a tiny bit of sugar and alcohol, and caffeine, this diet was for-EVA.

We’re not cooking separate meals for everyone each night, so this is the diet our family follows for dinner time (the three of us NOT on this diet eat ALL the gluten and dairy at lunch, LOL).

It was an incredibly tough transition. I had been vegetarian for fifteen years and essentially gave it up overnight because meat became one of the only things we knew was safe for a period of time. We had to completely relearn how to cook with a new set of ingredients than our staples.

As I’ve talked about this with more and more people, it has opened my eyes to how many are out there who have been told to be on an AIP diet (or one similar) and haven’t been able to do it because it feels so overwhelming. I’m with you! It was very stressful and overwhelming. AND IT WORKED.

I can now make ketchup and pasta sauce without tomatoes, a gluten-free, dairy-free, tomato-free pizza that doesn’t taste like cardboard, and even a few sweet treats like a berry crisp with vanilla dairy-free ice cream. Our days of 20-minute meals are mostly over, but if I’m being completely honest, our bodies all feel better because we’re not living on grilled cheese sandwiches and canned soup.

So, here is a list of books and products that have become Go-To’s for our family to recreate our menus and find products that were healthy and healing for an immunocompromised family member. Major thank you to Willard Library for having so many AIP cookbooks for us to try out!

Cookbooks

• Hashimoto's protocol : a 90-day plan for reversing thyroid symptoms and getting your life back by Izabella Wentz

• Hashimoto's food pharmacology : nutrition protocols and healing recipes to take charge of your thyroid health also by Izabella Wentz

• The Autoimmune Protocol Meal Prep Cookbook by Sophie Van Tiggelen

• The Autoimmune Protocol Made Simple Cookbook by Sophie Van Tiggelen

• The autoimmune protocol comfort food cookbook : 100+ nourishing allergen-free recipes by Michelle Hoover

• The nutrient-dense kitchen : 125 autoimmune paleo recipes for deep healing and vibrant health by Mickey Trescott

Food Products

• Simple Mills
  - Pizza Dough Mix
  - Almond Flour Bread Mix

• HU Chocolate

• Bob’s Red Mill

  I’m not kidding when I say we have 12 different kinds of flour in our pantry right now. It’s a whole new world! BRM is our go-to.
  - Gluten Free Oats (Oatmeal is naturally GF, but is often process on machinery that isn’t, so be careful)
  - Coconut Flour
  - Chickpea Flour
  - Almond Flour
  (We can’t use their gluten free flour blend because it uses white potato starch - be careful on this one if nightshades are a trigger for you!)
  

• Kiss My Keto Granola

• Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

• Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk and Coconut Cream

• Anything by GFB: The Gluten Free Brothers

• Ocean’s Halo No Soy Sauce

• Bragg Coconut Aminos

• Primal Kitchen Salad Dressings

Yes, my life now involves reading every single ingredient label when I go grocery shopping. Yes, our grocery bill is more expensive. Yes, I have to make substitutions to every single ever loving meal we prepare. Yes, my spouse misses the occasional feel-good foods.

And YES, it is absolutely worth it to have him feeling better and acting like himself.