Autoimmune paleo diet

[Joanneconnor]

I have been on the strict aip diet for 11 weeks now and started feeling much better, I started introducing things back in and I discovered I'm intolerant to cows milk and also yeast, but I can eat flour. Has anyone tried this diet?

[poppppy]

Hi I am very pleased for you that you have found a source of improvement. I would like to try this diet. Is it readily found on the Internet. Is it suggested by those who say source of auto immune diseases is a common cause of "leaky gut" problems. Sorry I am not wording this right but I hope you know what I am getting at. I have already gone gluten free and mostly sugar free.

What happened by the way when you reintroduced cows milk by the way. Also what happened with yeast. Where the reactions both the same.

Thankyou and well done for your perseverance. Lovely to hear some good news

Poppy

[Katepots in reply to poppppy]

Yes lots of info on paleo on the internet or a really good book with recipes is

The auto immune recovery plan by Susan Blum md

[poppppy in reply to Katepots]

Hi sorry to ask but could I not just cut out one thing at a time and see how I feel. And if I was to do this. Could you recommend the most common culprit. As in more people feel better cutting out dairy say than cutting out nightshades. My symptom I want to remove the most is painful weak muscles in legs.

[Katepots in reply to poppppy]

Gluten is the number one.

Gluten and casein (in milk) look similar to the thyroid to the body so when eaten if leaking in to the bloodstream your body attacks them and the thyroid if you have Hashimotos which is why gluten and dairy free works.

With pain in legs though (I suffer badly too) I found potato was the culprit so one of the nightshades. You could just cut that and see how you feel.

I have sweet potato instead.

Alcohol makes me feel achy and flulike too so moderation is key.

[poppppy in reply to Katepots]

Thank you so much. so much to think about. I am gluten free for about 4 years. No notable change. Now milk. Ooooo so hard. I love it. Is there any milk substitute anything remotely like it. Is it dairy free I need or lactose free. Or this casein is there such thing as real milk with casein removed.

Sorry I will investigate.

Thank you so much and good health to you.

[Katepots in reply to poppppy]

I think it's worse in cows milk. I'm ok with goats milk, goat butter is delicious. Sheeps milk. I'm not so keen on them so almond milk is my preference, delicious and makes really good sauces etc

Try and avoid soya milk as that's not good for the thyroid either!

Chris Kresser website has good info on leaky gut.

Dr Datis Khazzarian books are brilliant for Hashimotos. Do you have? I'm guessing you do.

Thyroid uk obs 😀

Really good book to help you find which foods are causing you problems is The Auto Immune Recovery Plan by Susan Blum

I've found a good probiotic has really helped with gut. Phi naturals 10/30 on Amazon.

Also collagen powder in a smoothie every morning.

Tumeric and cinnamon too, great anti inflammatory properties.

Check your B12, vitD, Folate and Ferritin too asall could be low and also could account for pain in legs.

If GP won't test bluehorizonmedicals or medicheck have good tests.

Thyroid plus eleven, twelve and fifteen are all comprehensive and will help you to find out what's going on and what to supplement.

Magnesium and selenium good levels to know too. Lots of people supplement anyway but that's not advisable as can make you more unwell if you don't need them.

I'm not medical but have spent the year or so researching everything and with trial and error I'm so much better.

NDT for me has been brilliant as I don't convert T4 to T3 so Levothyroxine is useless for me. Brought cholesterol right down too.

[Joanneconnor in reply to poppppy]

We have koko coconut milk in uk, it's not bad takes a little getting used to

[Blitzmiz in reply to poppppy]

It's possible you might get away with lactose free items. Most UK supermarkets stock Arla Lactofree milk, butter and cheese. Koko yoghurt is a great yoghurt alternative...nicer! I am lactose intolerant and these products suit me well.

[Joanneconnor in reply to poppppy]

Most common culprits are sugar, yeast and dairy, all the other you may get some improvement without them but not much, I too have the painful lower legs still, I have been the docs this week and asked for HGH (growth hormone) tests but have had to get rereferred to endo for this, docs don't do it! I read somewhere about all different hormones effecting different parts of your body, they measure the amount of fatty tissues on arms, legs, hips and back with calippers back is thyroid, hips and thighs is estrogen and lower leg growth hormone, hope this helps

[Joanneconnor in reply to poppppy]

Look up the thyroid secret, it outlines what you need to do then I just searched what to eat and not what to eat, basically take out wheat, sugar,coffee, dairy, seeds, nuts, spices and night shades, sounds hard but after 4 days you start to see the benefits. I get bad lower stomach pains and a bit of diarrhoea from cows milk when reintroduced, I thought my problem was gluten even though I could eat cakes and muffins,anyway put a stock cube in my soup after checking allergies in bold (only celery) then almost straight away started with terrible indigestion that hurts then radiated into awful gall bladder symptoms right through the back into shoulder blades and a swollen gall bladder. I ended up in hospital again as the pain was so intense. I checked ingredients of stock cube- yeast extract which I had always bloated with bread before

[janiebell]

Well done, i only managed two weeks then i reintroduced nuts and wine at weekends! In all honesty i didnt notice very much difference. I think i tolerate most foods although milk is probably a no no just because i really dont like it - except in latte! I notice congestion after milky things that contain added sugar. What were your symptoms when you reintroduced yeast and dairy ?

[Joanneconnor in reply to janiebell]

Symptoms in above post

[Agapanthus]

Well I admire you for sticking with it for so long. I have struggled with food intolerance issues for years now, and hate so much living on a restricted diet. I have removed so many foods and it's really only meat (cooked simply and quickly) and most veg that are definitely OK for me. I cannot eat some of the foods on the AIP diet (coconut other than the oil, or most fruit and definitely not most fermented foods - all due to histamine issues)

I never removed nuts and seeds and eggs, as I didn't have any evidence that they were causing me problems and at times my gut has calmed down and I feel relatively OK. I also eat sheep yogurt and butter. However at other times some foods that I have reintroduced, like goat cheese begin to cause issues again. So it does seem to vary, and at the moment I have been on NDT for a few months and then come off it due to problems on it, and gone back to T3 only, and my stomach is in revolt as a result I think. Hoping that it will calm down soon.

I just don't know how people on this diet manage to be honest but that is probably because I have the extra issues to worry about. If I am on such a restrictive diet I keep thinking of foods I would like to eat!

[Ebs73]

Hi, I did a similar thing. But many years ago it was called an elimination diet or anti inflammatory diet! I cut out all grains as I had worked out that they were causing me grief, I cut out dairy but only realised a while later that it caused my severe joint pains. I cut out eggs, nuts, seeds, legumes, sugars, coffee, alcohol, yeast, refined foods & pretty much ate just fresh meats, fish, vegetables (no potato, corn etc... ) & some fruits such as berries, at first I felt awful as if I had very bad flu, I kept it up & eventually felt amazing. A whole list of ailments disappeared including eczema, chronic hay fever, cat & dog allergies, IBS, insomnia, constipation, sugar slumps, etc.... Eventually I added back some foods including dairy, it took a while to work out it was giving me severe joint pain because most people associated it with gastro problems. I switched to goat & sheeps dairy. I have fallen off the wagon with non gluten grains occasionally but its not very nice so I remain off ALL cereal grains. I started to get ill again & after being told I had chronic fatigue & fibromyalgia & there was nothing I could do but be medicated up to the eyeballs & die slowly in my late 30's!!! I kept researching & eventually went to see an integrative Dr after that she told me to see Dr P immediately! I was later diagnosed with hypothyroidism & adrenal fatigue. When I saw Dr P he said my diet was good & the more I researched the AIP/Paleo type diets seem to be the safest & seem to be based on the elimination diet that I had followed all those years ago! I'm a foodie & therefore I have chosen to eat/drink things I probably shouldn't such as potato, tomato, eggs, chocolate, coffees, etc... I can make most paleo recipes fairly well but miss being able to go out to eat whatever I want! 😊

[milupa]

Hi - it really isn't easy to do AIP or any other health supporting diet, well done you!

There are so many theories, variations, ingredients to consider!

I have been wheat free since I found that holidays in Italy made me feel very ill (30 years ago) and have been removing/adding/tweaking ever since.

Paleo AIP was important for me because I now know that nightshades are definitely not for me. Cooking without tomatoes, peppers, aubergines is not easy. Potatoes have never agreed with me.

Dairy I find difficult: aged rawmilk cheeses: superfine. aged gouda: disastrous. fresh goatscheese: not good. goat butter: fine. homemade 24 hour yoghurt: great. off the shelve yoghurt: tummy distress. grassfed butter: no problem.

I also have a histamine problem so I try to counterbalance higher histamine and fermented foods with a high nutrition diet.

Like others have found: my body functions best on a wide variety of meat, fish, vegetables and healthy fats supplemented by fruits, nuts and occassional treats made from coconut, raw chocolate etc. I can eat egg yolk but not white (tested for this). Good coffee and good wine are my indulgences I should probably give up but -- right now I won't. Sugar and grains are out forever.

Eating a lot of a foodstuff we are meant to eat in small amounts (i e cake made from almond meal compared to the effort it would take to crack and eat just a handful of almonds) also makes me feel unwell.

Going out to eat has become so difficult. I have found that small, individually run restaurants are happy to be creative if contacted in advance.

Why not keep us updated with your progress - which symptoms are improving?

[tiptoes47]

I'm what they class as sub clinical hypothyroid (TSH around 6) and as yet have not taken medication (despite being offered a trial). I started an experimental diet a few weeks ago to see if I could improve my symptoms before deciding whether to accept the trial. It's almost / mainly paleo, but not quite. (I eat legumes and eggs and occasionally yogurt). Tending to get around 8-10 portions of fresh fruit and veg a day. I have to say I feel amazing compared to before. Constipation / bloating / tiredness / depression / pins and needles in hands / lack of energy and libido have all vastly improved in an 8 week period. And I have lost half a stone. I think diets are very personal - different people have different intolerances (and weaknesses!) The biggest change I have noticed is from cutting out gluten / processed foods and sugar. It was tough at first - but over this time my tastebuds have gradually changed and become much more sensitive to the natural sugars in veg and fruit - I no longer crave cakes and biscuits and absolutely love my (healthier) meals more than ever before. I am currently symptom free. I would recommend anyone give the auto-immune diet a serious go - and to stick with it for a few weeks for results - but appreciate it might not work the same for people with more serious hypothyroidism than myself.

[SilverAvocado in reply to tiptoes47]

Tiptoes47, 6 is actually a fairly considerable TSH. Doctors are always extremely reluctant to diagnose people as hypothyroid, so make the bar very high. 3 or 4 are more reasonable thresholds to call someone hypothyroid, but very few healthy people have a TSH as high as 2, generally it is close to 1.

Although symptoms are more important than blood tests. Some people would be almost bed ridden with a TSH of 6, others can be happy and comfortable with enormous TSHs. If you feel fine, and your energy levels are fine, there's no cause for alarm. But if there comes a time when you do want treatment, don't be fobbed off with talk about 'subclinical'.

[tiptoes47 in reply to SilverAvocado]

Yes - I understand TSH 6 isn't good from various books and forums. Mine tends to fluctuate and I find I do feel quite well when mine is around 3.7-4 mark. I was offered a trial of Levo and the endo I was seeing (even though I found him very difficult to deal with) also suggested he wouldn't be completely averse to prescribing NDT if that didn't work. So I'm fortunate to be basing my decisions on how I feel in myself rather than coming up against resistance from doctors. I am very much an advocate of natural remedies where these can be effective - so the change in diet was really an just an experiment to see if I could improve things before I made a decision whether to take medication. So far this is showing very promising results - so just wanted to encourage anyone who feels they want to try the diet route. I do appreciate your response though... I know many people are being short changed with the health care they receive - and it's great that sufferers are supporting and advising each other on forums like this. x

[Katepots]

It's the casein in cows milk that can be the problem. You may be ok with sheep or goats but my preference is almond 😀

It's a good diet to wheedle out problem foods. Nightshades can be a problem, potato, tomato, aubergine...

Think yeast is bad for me too but I'm in denial about that as I can't not even have a bit of gluten free bread!

[Simba1992]

Here basics on AIP.

wellnessmama.com/22689/auto...

I have been controlling my RA with AIP, LDN and supplements for 1,5 years. No RA meds. Before diagnosed had also hypothyroid problems, that were never diagnosed. Thyroid dysfunction and RA often go hand in hand.

[Joanneconnor]

All of your comments sound so familiar to what I was feeling and your all feeling better, given the choice now I'm much happier staying with the foods I eat then occasionally having a cake, or a gluten free biscuit, if I'm out now I would ask for sweet potatoes fries steak and salad, I also eat 2 pieces of over 70% dark chocolate a day as it keeps my cortisol levels down, it took me 6 months to get my levels down not from any help from gp's

I have recently started to feel a little hotter so thinking I may need to lower my thyroid s a bit but will wait to see what bloods say first.

It's really worth sticking at it all my inflammation has gone and I'm starting to feel like my old self again

[Joanneconnor]

I Have reintroduced some gluten free products, some biscuits and porridge and my body doesn't look as good again now, could I be intolerant to carbs now too 😕