CHAPTER 1 ABOUT THE AUTOIMMUNE PROTOCOL When first diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease as a teenager, diet was the furthest thing from my mind. I thought my fatigue, brain fog, and weight changes were a life sentence and there was little I could do about it. It was only when I discovered the world of healing with food, through a gluten-free diet, then a paleo diet, and finally the autoimmune protocol, that I saw vast improvements to my health. If you suffer from any autoimmune disease, not just Hashimoto's, you may find success with this protocol. The AIP is designed to lower inflammation, in general, to allow the body to heal In short, autoimmunity is characterized by the body attacking itself as if it were a foreign invader. This presents in a variety of ways depending on the particular autoimmunity disease. Inflammatory foods exacerbate the inflammation our body is already experiencing and can slow healing by adding more fuel to the fire. Diet is not the only piece of the puzzle with autoimmunity and chronic illness, but it plays a large role, as it does with health in general. The AIP and holistic health community opened my eyes to a new way of living — starting with the new diet, focusing on better sleep, lowering my stress levels, and more positive healthy lifestyle changes — and helped me greatly improve and maintain my health. So, how do you get started? How do you still live a life of abundance after giving up some of your favorite foods? AUTOIMMUNITY ON THE RISE The National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates up to 23.5 million Americans suffer from autoimmune disease and that the prevalence is rising. However, the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) says that number is closer to 50 million, as the NIH only includes twenty-four diseases (of the many autoimmune diseases) with good epidemiology studies available. As we've learned, autoimmunity is characterized by the body attacking itself as if it were a foreign invader. This is seen in Hashimoto's, as the immune system attacks the thyroid, in rheumatoid arthritis as the joints are under fire, and so on. Nonetheless, no one person's autoimmunity is the same and various risk factors are involved. Some of the most common are as followed: • Genetic predisposition • Intestinal permeability (characterized by the tight junctions in the gut lining becoming damaged, allowing potentially harmful substances into the rest of the body and eliciting an overactive immune response and damage to the immune system within the gut) • Physical or emotional stressors (e.g., stressful life events, infections, etc.) Though there is no cure for autoimmunity and experiencing relief from symptoms doesn't happen overnight, symptoms may be effectively managed with a balance of Western and holistic interventions, such as: • One-on-one care with a medical provider (e.g., functional medicine doctor, naturopath) and a customized protocol • Addressing the underlying infections, nutritional imbalances, and so on • Sleep and restorative lifestyle practices • Customized exercise • Community support • Positive mind-set changes • Spiritual practices • Individualized healing diet A CLOSER LOOK AT HEALING WITH FOOD Healing with food alone? Is it really that simple? Yes and no. Yes, because food has a significant effect on our overall health and well-being, and the food we choose to consume can help repair and restore our health. No, because there's more to good health than food alone. There's also our mind-set, lifestyle, and more, which we'll get to later. First, we'll start with food.Read an Excerpt
What your grandma told you about food is true! We truly are what we eat. Healthy fats can reduce inflammation, lowering the risk for serious disease, such as cancer. The minerals in protein are essential for bone health, and the nutrients in vegetables lay the foundation for our overall health and vibrancy. If the majority of foods we consume are not health-promoting whole foods in their natural form we can be putting our health at risk.
With every meal we eat, we have the opportunity to nourish our bodies with restorative foods to help us thrive. When we consider that, generally, we eat at least three times a day, every single day of our life, that's a lot of opportunity to make positive decisions for our health and well-being.
HOW THE AUTOIMMUNE PROTOCOL WORKS
The autoimmune protocol (AIP) is a diet template designed for those trying to heal autoimmunity, specifically to nourish the body with real, whole foods and eliminate inflammatory foods. A 2017 study published in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) showed that the AIP improved symptoms of and reduced inflammation in patients with IBD during a six-week study followed by a five-week maintenance period. Thousands of people, including yours truly, rave about its efficacy in online communities!
The AIP diet is designed to be followed for a minimum of thirty days (though most follow it longer) along with positive lifestyle practices, and working one on one with a health care practitioner.
After your symptoms subside to a noticeable degree, you slowly reintroduce foods — one at a time — and track your reactions. If a food reintroduction is successful, it is added back into your diet. If it fails, you keep the food out of your diet either long term gfbor try another reintroduction attempt.
Why Does AIP Work?
While your autoimmune disease symptoms or issues are unique to you, overall, inflammatory foods are unhealthy for everyone — but especially those with an autoimmune disease who are dealing with excessive inflammation. So, this diet allows your immune system to take a break from dealing with inflammatory foods, such as grains, dairy, and nightshades, by removing them, which can potentially calm the inflammation. When the immune system calms down, we give our body the opportunity to heal. The nourishing foods on the autoimmune protocol give the body the proper vitamins, minerals, and nutrients to assist it in the healing process.
Finding Success with the Autoimmune Protocol
The list of foods to avoid can be a bit overwhelming, but don't panic! With the right action plan, you too can find success! Here's how:
• Plan ahead. When it comes to huge dietary changes, failing to plan is planning to fail. All it takes is a few minutes each week to sit down and map out what you plan to eat, make a shopping list, and make a plan to cook ahead of time. Taking time to meal prep some staple dishes each Sunday can save you hours in the kitchen throughout the week! It takes time to get into the habit of planning ahead, but it's worth the effort. This cookbook lists meal-prep-ready meals you can serve throughout the week.
• Work one on one with your health care provider. It's crucial to have the support of a health care provider throughout your healing journey, whether a functional medicine doctor, naturopath, holistic chiropractor, or other professional. Food is a powerful tool, but it can only do so much. We need one-on-one customized medical attention to address deep-rooted infections, imbalances, and other health issues.
• Track your symptoms and keep records of medical testing. All too often, we don't notice the day-to-day changes unless we write them down! Keep a journal to track your major symptoms daily. You may be surprised with the changes you see, and your findings will help guide your progress.
• Get community support. Community support is one of the most essential foundations to a healthy lifestyle. The human race itself is meant to be in community, and finding your community can change everything. Whether it be online communities, in small church groups, from strong family and friendship ties, human connection truly matters.
• Remember, it's not all about the food. You need to address other factors as well. Beyond working with a health care provider to address root causes, positive lifestyle changes such as getting enough exercise and sleep, reducing stress, and adjusting your mind-set are also crucial to long-term success!
• Give yourself permission to have fun. I know this process seems daunting. That thought is what held me back so long. However, it doesn't have to be. This protocol can be filled with an abundance of foods you love. Use this cookbook and other resources to keep things interesting while integrating the AIP into your life!
REINTRODUCING FOODS
The AIP is not meant to last forever. Rather, it gives your body time to heal and, potentially, tolerate certain foods in the future.
Though the process varies for everyone, many generally begin to reintroduce foods after following the AIP for at least thirty days, and once you and your health care provider see a reduction in symptoms and improvement in your health. If a reintroduction is not successful and you experience a flare of symptoms, it may be a sign you still have more healing to do. However, some foods may not ever be fully reintroduced. You may experience one or more of the following symptoms after a reintroduction:
• Digestive reactions
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Hives, rashes, or flushing
• Joint pain
• Mood swings
• Sleep disturbances
The Reintroduction Phases In the reintroduction phases, foods are reintroduced in order of least inflammatory to most inflammatory. There is no standard for how long each phase lasts, and everyone takes the reintroduction process at their own pace. As you proceed with the reintroductions, each food you reintroduce successfully, with no associated symptoms, can be included then as a regular part of your diet. If you have a bad reaction and experience symptoms, the best course of action then is to lean back into healing foods such as bone broth, water, vegetable-rich meals, and fermented foods and give your body time to rest and recover before moving on to more reintroductions.
To effectively reintroduce potentially inflammatory foods back into your diet, follow this process:
1. Start with the Phase 1 foods (see following).
2. Reintroduce one food at a time (do not reintroduce multiple new foods at once) and wait three days to gauge a reaction.
3. Track your reactions in your food journal. You're looking for responses such as headaches, mood swings, skin changes, fatigue, bloating, and so on.
4. Add foods that work to your regular rotation, and restrict the foods that don't.
5. Repeat the process with the next food.
LIFE AFTER AIP
The AIP is designed to be a short-term healing protocol. However, life after the AIP should still incorporate the same healthy lifestyle principles of eating high-quality whole foods, working with a health care practitioner, practicing self-care, and so forth.
Many people who complete the diet and experience positive effects on their health still enjoy AIP recipes and AIP resets, and remain in the AIP community for ongoing support for living well with autoimmunity. I still avoid the majority of grains as well as all nightshades and certain other foods and find amazing health benefits from a long-term diet based on an AIP template. Look to this cookbook not just for a 30-day protocol, but as a part of a healthy diet for life.
COOKBOOK INGREDIENTS GUIDE
Shopping for new and unfamiliar ingredients can be a challenge. This section gives you more insights into the ingredients used in the recipes.
Anchovies Use anchovies packed in olive oil or water and that do not contain any seed oils.
Arrowroot starch Also known as arrowroot flour, this starch is derived from a tropical root vegetable.
Arrowroot is great for baking, and can often be substituted with tapioca starch.
Artichoke hearts Artichoke hearts often are canned with citric acid. Look for canned artichokes without citric acid, or frozen artichoke hearts.
Beef tallow Beef tallow is rendered beef fat and can be made at home or purchased at farmer's markets and health food stores.
Cassava flour Cassava flour is derived from the yucca plant and can be purchased online or in many stores.
Coconut aminos Use this as a substitute for soy sauce. Even gluten-free soy sauce is still soy based, which makes it noncompliant with the AIP. You can find this ingredient online and in most health food stores.
Coconut butter Also known as coconut cream concentrate or coconut mana, this is different from coconut oil. Coconut butter has a creamier texture and includes the meat of the coconut. This is sold in most grocery stores in the nut butter section.
Coconut cream You can purchase this in a can or make it yourself by placing full-fat coconut milk in the fridge overnight and using the hardened cream on top.
Coconut flour This is a common ingredient used in AIP baking that can't be easily substituted. The coconut-free recipes are labeled in this book, and I would not recommend swapping coconut flour for other flours as it doesn't swap one to one.
Coconut milk If you're buying premade coconut milk, watch out for gums and thickeners by reading the ingredients list.
Coconut sugar This unprocessed sugar is great in baked goods! You can find it in most stores.
Collagen Collagen is broken down gelatin derived from the bones, joints, and skin of animals. It adds a protein boost to recipes as well as gut and joint healing benefits.
Gelatin Gelatin is derived from the same source as collagen and can be used as an egg substitute in recipes such as Orange Turmeric Gummies (page xx).
Honey Try to find a local raw honey for the best quality product possible. If you prefer, substitute maple syrup in a 1:1 ratio.
Horseradish Horseradish is a great way to add spice without nightshades! You can buy horseradish powder online.
Maple syrup I love using maple syrup in baked goods! You can often swap honey at a ratio of 1:1.
Matcha powder Matcha is a green tea powder that yields a beautiful green color. You can save money by using culinary matcha if you're only using it for color, but it is also great as a cold or hot tea beverage.
Nutritional yeast Nutritional yeast lends a cheesy flavor in recipes such as Cauliflower "Mac & Cheese" (page xx). This can be found at health food stores and online.
Palm shortening Palm shortening is different than palm oil, and gives body to recipes such as the frosting for the Gingerbread Cookies (page xx) or Mint Chip Brownies (page XX) and a cakey texture to baked goods. Coconut oil isn't a good substitute as it yields a different texture. Make sure to buy sustainable palm shortening.
Plantains Plantains are similar to bananas, but can't be swapped 1:1. Green plantains are starchier and ripened yellow/black plantains are sweeter and used for baked goods. You can find plantains in many health food stores and Latin American grocery stores.
Sweet potatoes Sweet potatoes come in several varieties, and many are used in this cookbook. Each recipe notes the variety used as well as a substitute, if applicable.
Tapioca starch Tapioca starch is also derived from the yucca plant, and is used in baked goods. Though it can often be swapped 1:1 with arrowroot starch in baked goods, I would not swap it in savory meals as it can produce a gummy texture.
Tigernut flour Tigernuts are not nuts, but tubers! Tigernut flour has a similar texture to almond flour, but is slightly starchier, which makes it great for baked goods. You can find tigernuts and tigernut flour online or in many health food stores.
GADGETS & COOKWARE GUIDE
Adding new recipes to your rotation can often mean adding new gadgets and cookware to your kitchen. Most cookware in this section is standard in most kitchens. However, you don't need to run out and buy every single item to be successful. Go at your pace and add new items slowly.
Baking sheet Also known as a cookie sheet, you'll want to have a few of these on hand so you can make multiple dishes at once. Stainless steel or ceramic are both great options.
Casserole dishes and a brownie pan Ceramic casserole dishes are a must for making classic recipes such as Sloppy Joe Casserole (page xx) and Tuna Zoodle Casserole (page xx). Having a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33 cm) casserole dish on hand is best for large casseroles, but it's also a good idea to have smaller sizes if you wish to scale down any recipes. An 8 x 8-inch (20 x 20 cm) brownie pan can also be used for casseroles as well as crisps, dessert bars, and brownies.
Cheesecloth Cheesecloth is cost effective as it's reusable and is used in recipes such as Coconut Yogurt (page xx), and can be used to strain excess water from steamed vegetables.
Food processor A food processor is useful for shredding vegetables such as zucchini and sweet potatoes. If shredding is your goal rather than blending, I highly recommend using a food processor versus a blender as the two yield different results.
Glass storage containers When it comes to food storage, plastics are not a preferable choice as they can leech harmful chemicals into our food. Opt for glass for safer food storage.
Handheld milk frother This is the secret for making a perfect gelatin egg every time! You can find handheld milk frothers for $10 or less online.
High-speed blender A high-speed blender is helpful for making soups and sauces.
Immersion blender This tool is great for quickly blitzing soups or sauces.
Knives and other cooking utensils When it comes to cooking knives, you can do a lot with a good quality chef's knife. I also recommend a stainless steel spatula, soup ladle, large cooking spoon, whisk, serving spoon, and kitchen scissors.
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