If you’ve been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, you might have come across the autoimmune protocol diet (AIP) in researching holistic solutions. As your doctor may have already explained, autoimmune diseases are not curable. But they can sometimes be managed with proper lifestyle adjustments and supervised supplementation or medication from a licensed practitioner.

Two significant lifestyle changes you can make to get you on the path to feeling your best are mitigating stress – both physical and emotional – and developing a supportive way of eating.

The AIP diet is one way to start your journey. Intended as a temporary elimination diet, AIP is a stricter version of the paleo diet, a gluten-free, grain-free diet that also excludes legumes, most dairy, and processed sugars and oils. In addition to these restrictions, the AIP diet targets foods that trigger inflammation, exacerbating autoimmune symptoms.

The aim of an AIP lifestyle is to heal the gut by replacing pro-inflammatory foods with nutrient-containing ones, including bone broth , fermented foods and beverages, most vegetables, and some meats.

We’ve gathered a list of easy AIP recipes, plus a downloadable PDF , to help get you started in the first phase of your journey.

What Is Autoimmunity?

Autoimmunity is a malfunction in which an overactive immune system attacks healthy cells in the body. In a well-functioning individual, only pathogenic invaders (such as viruses or harmful bacteria) should trigger an attack – a healthy immune response that keeps us from getting sick. With autoimmune disease, healthy human cells are attacked, wreaking havoc on various systems of your body, and eventually causing real health problems.

As you might guess, autoimmune diseases are dangerous, often painful conditions that require a complex treatment plan in order for the patient to live a pain-free, normal life. Although medical scientists haven’t yet pinpointed every mechanism that leads to each specific autoimmune disease, at the root of these conditions is chronic inflammation in the gut.

When the gut lining is not sealed, contents that should remain inside the intestines are able to leak out into the body, setting off an inflammatory cascade that can trigger an overactive immune response. Preventing and addressing this inflammation through a gut-healing dietary protocol is one of many steps in any attempt to promote autoimmune wellness.

What Can I Eat On an Autoimmune Protocol?

The overarching goal of the AIP diet is to heal your body with gut-nourishing, nutrient-dense foods designed to quell inflammation. This includes whole fruits and vegetables (limiting fruit to two pieces per day, if fruit is tolerated at all), pastured or grass-fed meats, wild caught fish, and unprocessed sources of fat, such as avocados, coconut oil, cultured ghee, olive oil, and lard.

By default, this diet eliminates just about all processed foods, which typically contain seed and vegetable oils, processed sugars and flours, and preservatives. The limitations beyond this are a bit less obvious.

Foods to Avoid

Here are food to steer clear of in the elimination phase ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ):

Vegetables in the nightshade family (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, paprika, mustard seeds, and all peppers, including dried spices like cayenne or chili powder)

Vegetable oils (allowed: olive oil, lard, palm oil, and coconut oil)

Dairy products (allowed: cultured ghee)

Eggs

All forms of sugar and alternative sweeteners (maximum 1 teaspoon of honey or maple syrup allowed per day, no other added sugar allowed)

All processed foods (including alcohol)

Nuts, seeds, and cooking oils made from nuts and seeds

Beans and legumes (including coffee and soy, but not including green beans or sugar snap peas)

Grains (including corn)

Dried fruits

Chocolate

Culinary herbs and spices made from seeds (mustard, cumin, coriander, fennel, cardamom, fenugreek, caraway, nutmeg, dill seed)

Gums (guar gum, Tara gum, Gellan gum, Gum Arabic)

Tapioca (Start out avoiding this one, as it’s considered a “cross-reactor” with gluten. You might be able to reintroduce it after a few weeks without a problem.)

Foods to Enjoy

The following foods can be eaten on the AIP diet ( 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ):

All vegetables except nightshades

Fruit (up to 2 pieces per day)

Pastured or grass-fed meat and poultry

Wild-caught seafood

Fats: olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, lard, bacon fat, cultured ghee

Bone broth

Coconut products: coconut oil, coconut cream, coconut butter (manna), coconut aminos, shredded coconut, coconut flour, and 100% pure coconut milk (no additives like guar gum or carrageenan; avoid cans with BPA lining) Not allowed: coconut sugar and nectar

Fermented foods (coconut yogurt, kombucha, non-dairy kefir, kimchi, raw sauerkraut, fermented vegetables)

Non-seed herbal tea

Green tea, black tea, and white tea

Vinegar: apple cider, coconut, red wine, balsamic (no added sugar)

Honey and maple syrup (maximum 1 teaspoon per day)

Herbs: all fresh, non-seed herbs

Grass-fed gelatin and arrowroot starch

After Elimination

Once you’ve been on the AIP for a period of time (usually six to eight weeks), you’ll begin to strategically reintroduce foods from the disallowed list. This will help you discover which foods negatively impact your condition, and which foods can safely return to your diet.

We recommend keeping a food journal for this phase so that you can track your foods and your symptoms as you add them back, one at a time. It might feel overwhelming at first with all of these restrictions, but you can do it.

Autoimmune Paleo Recipes

Finding recipes that fit into the AIP lifestyle can feel challenging, especially when breakfast foods like eggs, dairy products, and grains are eliminated.

In addition to a goal of promoting nourishment and healing, you might also have a goal of keeping things simple and easy as you make these lifestyle and diet adjustments. We’ve chosen recipes that can last for multiple meals to reduce your time in the kitchen.

These meals will be heavy on the vegetables, grass-fed meats, and coconut products (like many paleo recipes you might have already tried), but absent of the foods that are triggering to those with imbalanced immune responses.

AIP Breakfast Recipes:

AIP Lunch Recipes:

AIP Snacks:

AIP Main Dishes for Dinner:

AIP Side Dishes for Dinner:

AIP Dessert Recipes:

Your AIP Meal Plan

While the AIP diet is a good place to start, a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t always the most successful option. It’s very possible that you will need to make adjustments along the way.

Your first step should always be to find a health practitioner who’s knowledgeable about your specific set of circumstances in order to find a plan that best suits your needs. Remember, no matter where you start in your AIP lifestyle, the restrictions are meant to be temporary to allow your body to begin thriving again.

Pin for later: