Autoimmune Protocol Diet

Do you have an autoimmune disease, or just want to do the diet?

There are quite a few people with Hashimoto's on here. I'd advise you to ask with that in your title. You'll get pertinent answers that way. Best.

^^ That said, I did a gluten elimination diet at one point, and it was negative for both my wallet and my reaction to gluten. Later confirmed by antibody test.

I'm likely celiac. My wife isn't but has Fibromyalgia. I get sick immediately (and violently) with gluten. My wife doesn't. But if she has gluten, she gets very sick longer term. There have been three studies on gluten and Fibro. All three indicated dramatic improvement going gluten free. I honestly feel the whole, "if you're not celiac, you don't need to go gluten free" is old advice -- ten years old.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6JrHteOsII

As for the AIP, aside from being gluten free, I honestly think it's good in that you eliminate sugar and vegetable oils. If you do nothing else, work to eliminate fried food, sugar and sweeteners along with gluten. You will feel world's better. Many are reactive to cow milk/dairy and don't know it. You could also eliminate that too. My wife was allergic to cow dairy. When you go gluten free and dairy free, guess what? It eliminated 99% of the junk out there and highly processed foods and you are forced to go to mostly a whole food diet.

My wife is 95% better from Fibro, something few can claim. She works out 6 days a week and is 58 years old and, other than arthritis, feels great. 6 years ago, she told me she just wanted to die she felt so bad.

The main concern I have about AIP claims is that pain levels aren't proven to go down. There's been two studies so far on AIP. All of its supporters were waiting for these highly anticipated studies. What they showed is that AIP helped (a bit) with Crohns and digestive issues, but C-Reactive proteins stayed the same (C-Reactive Proteins are the standard measure for inflammation). So either the people (self reported) cheated on their diet or AIP didn't work to reduce inflammation. There's no other ways to read the results.

Edit - I should clarify -- the studies I've read apply to Auto Immune Paleo, not the Autoimmune Protocol (a bit more restrictive, but based on the Autoimmune Paleo diet).

The main issue I have is when whole grains are eliminated along with legumes. Every single "Blue Zone", where people live the longest, legumes and grains are the main part of their diet -- yet AIP assumes that whole grains and legumes are bad for you or that you might be reactive to them. For a rare few, that might be the case, but not often. To the contrary, most of the research backs either the DASH diet or the Med Diet as the best, healthiest way to eat. Fiber is important. So are many of the brans on whole grains. I would bet if you eliminate dairy, gluten, fried foods while reducing sugar and sweeteners, you'd feel world's better like my wife and not have to deprive yourself of everything. She has added back in goat and sheep dairy, which she tolerates well.