Breaking-up with the AIP

Where do I even begin to try to explain my complex thoughts on this topic? I wholeheartedly believe that the AIP (or whatever shade of the Paleo diet you choose to follow) can be a fantastic tool in your healing arsenal, as someone who has dealt with and overcome an eating disorder (recovered bulimic, but let's save that for another day) I think there needs to be more nuanced conversation on how the rules and restrictions that come along with following an elimination diet by any name, easily lend themselves to disordered eating, especially so for those of us with a complex history.

I too was once new to the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (aka AIP) and I would have fervently come at anyone who tried to say that it was disordered eating, after all, I’d argue that it had saved my life. While I still wholeheartedly believe AIP saved me in so many ways, I can acknowledge that it also brought me face to face with orthorexia for a period of time.  A place I never wanted to visit again. Food isn’t inherently good or bad, food is information.  Is canola the evil bastard we all claim it is?  It might in fact be, but is occasionally eating something less than stellar the end of the world when it comes down to enjoying our lives to the fullest? I don’t think so. I had become so rigid with my food that I was passing on opportunities to do life with my people.

I cannot underscore the need to feed our bodies in a health promoting fashion enough, I often turned to hosting friends and family as a way to prove that I wasn’t in fact deprived, and it was one of the only ways I felt like I could enjoy a happy medium. I felt like I had something to prove; that you can in fact eat for health while also enjoying every bite. I was excited to share, it was ultimately what led me to pursue blogging and AIP recipe creation, and despite no longer following an AIP or even Paleo template I don’t have any intention of discontinuing AIP recipe development in the near future- you are my people. I love the challenges that cooking “top 8 free” presents despite the maddening outcomes sometimes.

The beef I have with AIP (insert any elimination diet) is that we can fall into this fear trap where we experience the remission of symptoms, we experience the effortless weight loss, we experience our skin clearing for the first time in years and we stay on these limited diets from a place of FEAR. We are fearful that a failed reintroduction could spell symptom relapse. We fear our lack of self control when it comes to food. Conversely some may not experience the great healing we’re promised and will further eliminate entire food groups (I see you FODMAP’s, GAPS, etc) Not only does it have the power to be a real unsustainable mindf*ck, but it can also have detrimental effects on your microbiome in the longer term. 

Please don’t come at me with burning pitchforks (if what you read here triggers you, ask yourself why, sit with it), but staying on an elimination diet for extended periods of time is anything but safe. Remember that old adage about “you are what you eat?” Well it's kinda true and it's kind of more like “you are what you absorb.” Gut health is king here, having healthy digestion is integral to optimal absorption. When we follow elimination diets long term our microbiota can shift in favor of specific strains, and does so because all those little bugs have their preferred foods and environments too. We eat to nourish our bodies, but we also need to eat to nourish them as there are many necessary and beneficial compounds (postbiotics) that these little guys make for us if we take care of them. We need to eat to keep our gut friends happy and healthy, which we can’t do when we severely limit our foods. 

You may encounter people in this community who you will see continue eliminating more foods chasing that White Whale of wellness. We may even hear of (or have personally experienced) what is known as loss of oral tolerance. If stress and inflammation are still high it's not going to matter how hard you diet, you may find that you begin to tolerate even fewer foods, even sometimes those on our beloved AIP approved list because you haven’t gotten to the bottom of why you’re experiencing leaky gut or an overstimulated immune system. To paraphrase the words of the wise Erin Holt if your practitioner thinks the only solution is further elimination they’re “toolbag empty.” Elimination diets are just that, tools, they are NOT the be-all, end-all of healing. If you’re failing reintroduction after reintroduction it is likely that food isn’t the problem.

While I’m a huge proponent of eating for nutrient density, it is imperative to be in a good headspace before any attempts at reintroduction are made, and where I think having a coach or community support can be instrumental in successful reintroduction. Stress is intrinsically related to digestion, if your body or mind are stressed that alone can cause a reaction to food. Your digestion is slowed as blood is shunted away from your digestive organs in favor of your skeletal muscles and circulatory systems. It may not be real in this day and age, but from an evolutionary standpoint you can’t relax and digest efficiently when you’re trying to keep yourself off the menu. Eating in general, but more importantly, reintroducing foods should be done when you are feeling your best, are under a low stress load and always with a success mindset.

I’m going to say it again, I truly and deeply believe that AIP saved my life. In hindsight I don’t think it had as much to do with eliminating potential trigger foods as it did eliminating bullshit (some of it definitely my own) and toxic people from my life. It was very isolating, especially in the early days and somehow I was able to turn that energy inward and use it to assess and address areas that needed healing; personal relationships, movement at a level that was not stressful to my body, sleep, past traumas, etc. Unfortunately, I feel like this hyperfocus that allowed me to heal, was also what pushed me to being hypervigilant and unforgiving with my foods. Areas which don’t seem to share the same spotlight as food, but I would argue are just as important, if not more.

I followed strict elimination for over six months because at the time I was afraid of going back to where I was at rock bottom, but there came a time when I was feeling good and wanting to travel without packing numerous coolers full of food and planning our trips around where we would have access to replenish or have a meal with friends. I threw the reintroduction schedule out the window and started reintroducing foods that would make my life easier and more enjoyable; coffee, spices, nightshades and even occasional legumes and grains (gasp!). I still tracked symptoms, but less obsessively. Now nothing is off the table. There are foods that I recognize make me feel not so great, or trigger some sort of reaction, but as far as eliminating a whole food group we don’t do that around these parts anymore, for example I know I tolerate legumes just fine, but digest them better if they’re sprouted first. Small amounts of high quality dairy products are just fine, but the local raw a2 milk and yogurt I can consume without issue. Ditch the dogma, focus on what makes you happy and what makes your body feel and function its best without overanalyzing every goddamned bite. My philosophy nowadays is to eat real food the majority of the time and to not lose sleep over an occasional deviation as the anxiety over a one-off meal does more damage to digestion than a little bit of ANY food ever will. Each one of us has a unique and ever changing gut landscape, foods that we once did not tolerate can become less problematic as healing continues, but there may also be foods that wreck us no matter how much time goes by. 

So, what does this mean for UnapologeticallyAIP moving forward? Well not a whole hell of a lot. You may see real-food recipes from time to time that are not AIP or Paleo compliant. I’ve never been one to just comply with anything. I will do my best to include AIP substitutions where they are reasonable, the majority of our meals are still AIP or easily adaptable. A name change/total overhaul might happen down the road, but I want you to know that I am still here for this community, as a recipe creator, a health coach and as a friend.

If you’re ready to find your exit to the AIP, eliminate the elimination diet and rock those reintroductions, consider working with a trained practitioner to get you off AIP without sabotaging your healing. Drop me a line so we can chat about how I can help you take your life back.

In health,