AIP DIET
STARTER
GUIDE
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
THE
AUTOIMMUNE PROTOCOL
BY MICHELE SPRING
hey there,
I´m Michele
I’M A CERTIFIED HEALTH AND LIFE COACH,
NLP PRACTITIONER, QI GONG AND YOGA
TEACHER, AIP COACH, AND OWN THRIVING
AUTOIMMUNE. I’M ALSO A WIFE, MOM OF 2
BOYS, AND I LIVE WITH TWO AUTOIMMUNE
DISEASES - HASHIMOTO’S THYROIDITIS AND
CELIAC DISEASE.
For years I was told I had “hypothyroidism”, that
my symptoms were in my head, and that there
was absolutely nothing that could be done
beyond the medication that I was given for my
thyroid.
Yet it wasn’t until my quality of life suffered so You might be asking - what were the diet changes
greatly that I turned to diet and lifestyle as ways I made that finally got me back on track?
to feel better. It was then that I learned I could
stop all of the symptoms I was experiencing, my The biggest improvement I saw was from doing
body would no longer keep harming itself, and I the Autoimmune Paleo Protocol (AIP diet). I fully
could live a life feeling fantastic. In fact, I feel believe this is the most effective diet out there for
better in my 40’s than I did in my 20’s! helping those suffering from autoimmune disease.
More than once I've used this protocol to first put
Now I lead an active lifestyle where my family and my disease into remission and then quell flares.
I go hiking, skiing, camping, etc and I feel constant,
great energy all day long. I no longer suffer from It's an amazing gift we've been given - this ability
the brain fog, inability to articulate, cold hands to heal ourselves with the food we eat. This guide
and feet, achiness, heart palpitations, bloating, aims to help you understand the basics of this
gas, and debilitating exhaustion that used to be a protocol so you can help reduce or remove your
normal part of my day. symptoms as well.
Michele Spring
COPYRIGHT 2024 MICHELE SPRING
This guide is for informational purposes only. This guide is
not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any illness
or disease. You are solely responsible for your health care
and activity choices. Using this guide from Thriving
Autoimmune is at the reader’s sole discretion and risk. The
information provided in this guide is for general inspirational
purposes and is not to be used as a dietary or nutrition plan
for health goals. This guide has not been reviewed nor
approved by the FDA and is not intended to take the place of
advice from your medical professional, licensed dietician or
nutritionist. Using this guide does not constitute a client-
coach relationship.
What is AIP?
An elimination and reintroduction protocol where
you remove all of the foods known by scientific
research to be a problem for those with autoimmune
disease
The diet helps heal a leaky gut, calms the immune
system to prevent further attacking of bodily tissue,
and reduces inflammation throughout the body
(which helps symptoms to stop)
Developed by Dr. Sarah Ballantyne who endlessly
researches autoimmune disease-related topics and
suffers from autoimmune disease herself
There are 2 phases - strict elimination and
reintroduction of foods
Typically one stays on the strict AIP diet for 30-90
days (but sometimes longer) at 100% compliance,
then starts reintroducing foods one at a time to find
any sensitivities
Two important components - Diet & Lifestyle
Why it's so effective
Most people are deficient in the essential nutrients
01. needed by the body to regulate the immune
system. By giving the body the nutrients it needs it
will help destroy antibodies that attack our own
tissues and possibly regenerate tissue as well.
The foods removed all contribute in some way to
02. leaky gut, immune system stimulation, and
bacterial overgrowths in the body. Including them
is like keeping your body under constant attack. By
removing them you give your body a chance to
heal.
It reduces inflammation, which in turn helps stop
03. your symptoms.
True customization - You understand at the end
04. what foods make you feel good and which ones
don’t help you feel your best
It helps regulate hormones (though you might
05. need further blood sugar regulation by reducing
the treats and baked good-type foods for a while
to achieve this)
THE DIET
2 parts
Elimination
&
Reintroductions
NO
grains (including wheat, any rice, oats,
millet, barley, sorghum, etc)
pseudo grains (like quinoa, buckwheat)
PART 1: dairy (including butter and ghee)
beans (even with edible pods, like peas
ELIMINATION and green beans)
legumes (like peanuts and peanut oil)
refined sugars (like white and brown,
agave nectar)
refined vegetable oils (like canola oil)
food chemicals (like guar gum,
carrageenan, MSG, xanthan gum)
nuts (coconut is ok)
seeds (like sunflower, chia, pumpkin,
poppy, hemp, sesame)
seed-based spices (like mustard, fennel,
cumin, nutmeg, coriander )
nightshades (like tomatoes, peppers,
eggplant, white potatoes, goji berries,
ashwagandha, tomatillos)
nightshade-based spices (like paprika,
chili powder, red pepper flakes)
nut and seed-based oils (like sunflower,
sesame, macadamia nut)
eggs (including chicken, duck and other
species)
coffee (it's a seed)
chocolate (including cocoa powder)
alcohol (unless cooked off, like in a
stew)
sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners
(aspartame, erythritol, stevia, xylitol)
Fruit and berry spices (like allspice,
anise, caraway, cardamom, juniper, and
pepper)
pastured meats and poultry
pastured organ meats (like liver, very
nutritious!)
seafood
vegetables
fermented foods (lke sauerkraut,
kombucha, kvass)
fats (like avocado, lard, coconut oil,
tallow, bacon fat, olive oil)
fruits and berries
sweet potatoes/yams
coconut products
Tigernuts (these are actually a tuber,
not a nut)
flours like cassava, tapioca, arrowroot,
coconut, and tigernut
apple cider vinegar
s
occasional sweeteners like honey,
Ye maple syrup, coconut sugar, molasses
Capers
Olives
Fish Sauce
Carob Powder
Balsamic Vinegar
Coconut Aminos
Red Wine Vinegar
White Wine Vinegar
Sea Salt
Lots of Herbs and Spices (like basil,
cilantro, cinnamon, garlic, ginger,
oregano parsley, rosemary, thyme,
turmeric)
tea (though make sure no nightshades
or seeds)
Emphasis is placed on getting nutritionally
dense foods like organ meats, seafood,
vegetables, meats, fruits, fermented foods,
and fats. These foods are needed for the
immune system to start to function normally
PART 2:
REINTRODUCTIONS
After you’ve felt measurable improvement with your disease symptoms, typically 30-90 days,
you can start reintroductions of foods.
Done in stages. There are 4 stages (see next page)
Wait at least 72 hours between each reintroduction
It's important to keep a detailed journal of symptoms, sleep, bowel movements, mood, etc to
figure out if a food is a trigger for an abnormal symptom
Make sure you don't do reintros during a time of stress or sickness
If a food causes a negative side effect, remove it for a few more weeks and then retry it again,
unless it’s a really bad reaction, in which case you might want to wait several months or never
reintroduce it
After a bad reaction, it’s best to go back to the elimination phase for a few weeks to recover
Some foods, like gluten, aren't recommended to be ever reintroduced as they are just too
harmful for those with autoimmune disease (whether you are Celiac or not)
If you have no reaction to a food, it's safe to bring back into your diet!
After you've successfully reintroduced several items from a stage you
may move onto the next stage.
Stage 1 Stage 2
Egg yolks
legumes with edible pods
Seeds
fruit and berry-based spices
Nuts
seed-based spices
Egg Whites
seed and nut oils
Grass-fed Butter
ghee from grass-fed dairy
Alcohol (in small quantities)
chocolate
Coffee (regular basis)
cocoa
coffee (occasional basis)
Stage 3 Stage 4
Chile Peppers
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Eggplant
Other nightshades & nightshade
Sweet Peppers
spices
Paprika
Alcohol (in larger quantities)
peeled Potatoes
White Rice
Grass-fed Dairy
Soaked/Fermented Legumes
Soaked/Fermented Gluten-free
Grains
THE LIFESTYLE
Just as important as the food
Sleep,
Movement
&
Stress Management
SLEEP
Sleep is one of the most important things
you can do to improve your health
If you wake in the middle of the night every
night you might need to get your blood sugar
under control - best to remove all natural
sugars for a few weeks and make sure if you
eat fruit or starches (like sweet potatoes or
squash) that you do so with a fat and/or
protein
You need at least 7-8 hours of sleep, but if
you need more at first that’s OK
Limit caffeine to before noon and remove it
completely if possible
Avoid electronics in the evening if possible. If
you must use them, install a program like
F.lux or Night Shift on your computer or
wear amber-tinted blue-blocking glasses
NO light in your room at night. Even if you
can't see it your skin can absorb it and this
affects your hormones
Your room should be between 62-68
degrees F
M O V E M E N T
You want neither too little nor too much exercise. Too little
doesn't allow for proper detoxification, immune function,
resistance to stress, and circadian rhythms. Too much leads to
dysregulated hormones, susceptibility to colds & viruses, leaky
gut, inflammation, and immune suppression.
Walking is considered to be the ideal movement for
autoimmune disease.
Movement Ideas:
Walk
Stretch
XC Ski
Housework
Dance
Barre
Swim
Hike
Bike
Yoga
Pilates
STRESS MANAGEMENT
Chronic stress can cause leaky gut, activate the immune system, keep your body from
doing normal restorative processes, cause sleep problems, and alter your hormones. In
other words, stress can be just as detrimental as eating harmful foods. Aim to get some
sort of stress relief into your day EVERY day.
10 Ideas for Relaxation:
01
Crafting
02
Meditative Drawing
(check out
Zentangle)
03
Meditation
(check out
04
Yoga
(google Yoga with
Headspace.com or Adriene for free
download the app) YouTube workouts)
05
Gardening
06
Smile
(even a fake one
can reduce stress
hormones)
07
Get out in nature
08
Practice gratitude
09
Visualize yourself
(complete with
10
Write down
EVERYTHING that
sounds and smells) you have to do,
in a peaceful place that's on your mind,
that's causing you
stress. Getting it
out of your head is
one of the biggest
stress relievers.
Implementing
Start as you mean to go on
How to start,
What you need,
&
Easy Swaps
PART 2:
REINTRODUCTIONS
Cold Turkey
This method is great for those who need relief
NOW and are usually pretty good at making and
keeping commitments to themselves. You'd pick a
date to start, figure out everything you need to
know, buy the items you need, batch cook a few
items so you have them on hand, and start!
Advantages: quicker relief and healing, less
thinking about it
Disadvantages: Can be harder to implement, easy
to push the date to start off, less time to get used
to it
Slow and Steady
This method, developed by Angie Alt of
Autoimmune Wellness, involves slowly removing
foods each week over a period of time. For
example, in week 1 you'd remove gluten. Then in
week 2, you'd remove grains. Then in week 3,
you'd remove dairy. You'd remove groups of food
like this until you get to the full elimination phase
of AIP.
Advantages: Better for busy people, easier to get
used to restrictions, less of a shock
Disadvantages: Longer to heal and feel relief,
which can be frustrating
What You May
Need
This is by no means a comprehensive list,
but it's what I used the most on my
recent time on AIP:
Coconut milk with no guar gum
(see my recipe)
Bay leaf
Apple cider vinegar
Cassava flour
Coconut flour
Coconut oil
Lard
Avocado oil
Tapioca starch
Tigernut Butter (see my recipe)
Carob powder
Dandelion root
Chicory Root
Mace (nutmeg replacement)
Primal Palate spices (The
Everyday Spice blends are AIP-
compliant)
Plantain chips
Unsweetened banana chips
Immersion Blender
Instant Pot
Easy AIP Swaps
WHY
MACE Nutmeg is a seed, but mace is part of
NUTMEG
the same plant, tastes like nutmeg and
is compliant
DANDELION Coffee is a seed, but this combo tastes
COFFEE
ROOT surprisingly like coffee with
CHICORY customizable bitterness
CAROB
CAROB Chocolate is also a seed, so carob can
CHOCOLATE/
lend a chocolatey taste to things
COCOA
instead
POWDER
WHITE SWEET White potatoes are nightshades, but
WHITE
POTATO white sweet potatoes are from a
POTATO
different family and are not nearly as
sweet as red sweet potatoes
TIGERNUTS Despite the name, these aren't actually
NUTS
nuts. Theiy're tubers and replace nuts
rather well. Try the flour, butter, and
milks as well as toasted into a granola.
RECIPES
"Let food be thy medicine, let medicine be thy
food"
- Hippocrates
01. Cassava Flour Pancakes
02. Sweet Potato Bowl
03. Coconut Cauliflower Rice
04. Super Easy Kalua Pork
05. Baked Yellow Plantains
06. Avocado Lime Mousse
07. Lavender Shortbread Cookies
recipe
Cassava Flour
Pancakes
SERVINGS: 8 PANCAKES
INGREDIENTS
1 cup Cassava Flour
1/4 cup Tapioca Starch
1 tsp Cream of Tartar
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Sea Salt
1 cup + 1/8 cup Coconut Milk
1/3 cup Banana, mashed
(about 1 small - or use
applesauce)
1.5 tbs Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tbs Coconut Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Coconut or Avocado Oil for
the pan
DIRECTION
Mix all of the ingredients in blender (preferred method for
fluffy pancakes) or in a large bowl and mix until smooth. Go
for at least 30 seconds in the blender. Heat a skillet over
medium heat. Add a small amount (about a tablespoon) of
coconut or avocado oil to the pan, melt if necessary, and then
swirl around to cover. Spoon 1-2 large spoonfuls (approx 2-3
tbs) of batter into the pan to form a pancake, and repeat until
you run out of space. (These will be small, silver dollar sized
pancakes, about 2 inches wide) Cook for 3 minutes and then
flip and cook for 3 minutes more.
recipe
Sweet Potato Bowl
SERVINGS: 1
DIRECTION
Cook the sweet potato until tender (I like
1 cooking mine in the Instant Pot whole with 1
cup of water for 20 minutes, but you can boil
diced potato for 15 minutes or roast in the
oven)
Remove the peel, add the potato to a large
2 bowl and mash.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
INGREDIENTS
3
Add any toppings you'd like and serve.
1 small/medium Sweet Potato
4
(can be white or red)
1 cup Coconut Milk
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 tbs Beef Collagen (not gelatin)
pinch Sea Salt
Toppings: Fresh fruit, berries,
unsweetened banana chips,
shredded coconut
recipe
Coconut Cauliflower
Rice
SERVINGS: 4
INGREDIENTS DIRECTION
1 medium/large head (Skip this step if you bought pre-riced cauliflower) Cut
Cauliflower 1 the cauliflower and remove the leafy outside. Put the
1 tbs Coconut Oil for the pan shredder blade in your food processor and then feed the
1/4 tsp Sea Salt cauliflower down through the top chute while the
1 tbs Coconut Oil machine is on to create the cauliflower rice. You may
6 tbs Coconut Milk
have to cut the cauliflower up a bit smaller to get it to fit
1 tbs Cilantro, minced
in the chute. Alternatively, you can use your regular S-
(optional)
blade, but you may have to do this in batches so you
don't wind up with cauliflower puree. And yet another
option if you don't have a food processor – use a grater
and grate the cauliflower into rice.
2 Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add the coconut oil
for the pan and let get warm. Then add the cauliflower
rice and salt and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring
occasionally. Add the remaining coconut oil, let melt,
then mix in. Add the coconut milk and cilantro and mix
in. Serve.
recipe
AIP Pork Bowls
INGREDIENTS DIRECTION
Mixed Greens Put a layer of mixed greens in a bowl. Top
Coconut Cauliflower Rice 1 with some coconut cauliflower rice, then put
Super Easy Kalua Pork the pork in one section of the bowl. Add some
(recipe follows) plantains next it, some pineapple on the other
Baked Plantains (recipe side, and a big dollop of avocado lime mousse.
follows) Top with any additional toppings you'd like
Avocado Lime Mousse (recipe and serve.
follows)
Optional toppings: pineapple
(fresh or canned), sliced
radishes, cilantro
SERVINGS: 4-6
INGREDIENTS
4-5 lbs Pork Shoulder (doesn't
matter if bone in or out)
2-3 slices of AIP-compliant
Bacon
1 tbs Sea Salt
DIRECTION
Put the bacon in the bottom of the slow
1 cooker. Sprinkle salt all over the pork
shoulder and then place it on top of the recipe
bacon in the slow cooker.
Super Easy
Cook for 8-12 hours.
2 Kalua Pork
Shred and serve. *adapted from
3 NomNom Paleo's Kalua Pork recipe
SERVINGS: 4
INGREDIENTS
2-3 Yellow Plantains (almost
black ok too, just NOT green)
2 tbs Avocado Oil
1 tsp Sea Salt
DIRECTION
Preheat the oven to 425 F.
1
Remove the peel from the plantain and
2 slice into 1-inch pieces. Place on a
baking sheet covered in parchment
paper and then drizzle with avocado oil
recipe and sea salt.
Bake for 25 minutes, flipping the
Baked Plantains 3 plantains halfway through.
recipe
Avocado Lime
Mousse
SERVINGS: 4
INGREDIENTS DIRECTION
2 Avocados Combine all ingredients in a blender or a
1 tbs Lime Juice (approx 1 lime) bowl with an immersion blender.
1/4 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 cup Coconut Milk
recipe
Lavender
Shortbread Cookies
DIFFICULTY: PREP TIME: 10 MIN COOK TIME: 15 MIN SERVINGS: 10 COOKIES
INGREDIENTS DIRECTION
For the cookies:
Mix the coconut flour, arrowroot flour, sea salt, and
1/4 cup Coconut Flour
1/2 cup Arrowroot Flour
1 lavender in a medium bowl. In a large bowl with a hand
or stand mixer, cream together the palm shortening and
1/4 tsp Sea Salt honey. Add the dry ingredients to the shortening
1 tsp dried Lavender (food- mixture and mix until the pieces start to come together
into a big ball. Pour the mixture out onto a piece of
grade)
plastic wrap and shape into a log shape. Wrap with the
100 g (about 1/2 cup) Palm
plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or
Shortening (in solid form) freeze for up to 3 months.
1 tbs Honey or Maple Syrup
Preheat the oven to 300 F. Remove the log from the
For the glaze: 2 fridge, unwrap from plastic, and cut into 1/4 inch slices.
1/4 cup Coconut Flour Put the slices on a baking sheet covered in parchment
1/2 cup Arrowroot Flour paper. Bake for 15 minutes or until starting to turn
golden brown.
1/4 tsp Sea Salt
Let sit for at least 10 minutes to cool before moving
1 tsp dried Lavender (food-
from sheet. Meanwhile, melt the glaze ingredients
grade) together in a small pan over medium heat. Stir to mix.
100 g (about 1/2 cup) Palm Using a spoon, pour the glaze on the cookies and then
Shortening (in solid form) sprinkle optional desired toppings on the cookies.
1 tbs Honey or Maple Syrup
For optional topping:
Edible flowers, chopped freeze
dried strawberries, chopped
freeze dried peaches, lavender
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