What is it?
The AIP (Autoimmune Protocol Diet is a strict, paleo based elimination diet that reduces inflammation, heals the gut, and helps to manage autoimmune diseases. By eliminating known trigger foods, the diet allows followers to identify foods that cause reactions ranging from indigestion to diarrhea. Typically the diet is run in three phases:
- Elimination: removes known triggers such as grains, nuts, dairy, nightshades, and processed foods. This phase typically runs 4 – 12 weeks.
- Reintroduction: adds trigger foods back into the diet gradually, allowing the follower to identify specific problem foods.
- Maintenance: modifies daily menus restricting identified triggers.
Where did it come from?
Dr. Loren Cordain, Robb Wolf, and Dr. Sarah Ballantyne have each contributed to the Paleo and AIP diets. The diet was initially proposed in 2002, and has progressively changed to it’s current format.
How does the AIP diet differ from Paleo?
The Paleo diet is usually considered a lifestyle diet, while AIP is an identification and treatment diet. AIP eliminates everything that Paleo does, but goes further by eliminating known food triggers. These include foods such as eggs, nuts, seeds, and nightshades.