AIP Diet Plan
Discover the AIP Diet Plan: Your essential guide to managing autoimmune conditions with dietary choices.
Fact Checked by Ericka Pingol.
What Is an AIP Diet Plan?
Autoimmune protocol or autoimmune paleo (AIP) diets are a variation of an elimination diet that seeks to eliminate food items that trigger inflammatory symptoms amongst autoimmune individuals (Ruscio, 2022). Autoimmune disorders such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis occur when an individual’s immune system mistakenly targets pathogens, healthy organs, and body tissues, leading to chronic inflammation.
Chronic inflammation can lead to further symptoms and worsen symptoms of autoimmune diseases, often resulting in swelling, pain, fatigue, and skin rashes, which can be incredibly overwhelming for autoimmune individuals (Ruscio, 2022; Zakrzewski, 2022). The AIP diet can be beneficial in reducing inflammation by eliminating inflammatory foods contributing to symptoms and maintaining autoimmune symptoms at lower, more manageable levels (Ruscio, 2022).
Additionally, anti-inflammatory foods, such as those high in antioxidants, can remove free inflammatory radicals from the body to reduce inflammation (Chandrasekaran et al., cited in Ruscio, 2022).
The AIP diet follows a typical elimination diet, beginning with an elimination phase that eliminates all potentially inflammatory foods while opting for nutrient-dense options such as bone broth, brightly-colored vegetables, and fermented foods (Phelps, 2023). This is followed by the reintroduction phase, where food items on the elimination list are introduced back into the diet every 72 hours.
In this phase, individuals are encouraged to document any symptoms or experiences. If they experience any adverse symptoms, they should stop eating the food immediately. Additionally, they should only move on to the next food item once symptoms are apparent (Zakrewski, 2022).
The final phase is the maintenance phase, where individuals continue to avoid the eliminated, triggering foods while consuming the foods without symptoms established during the reintroduction phase (Cleveland Clinic, 2023).
An AIP Diet Plan is a resource designed to simplify the AIP diet by providing a comprehensive guide that breaks down the process into simple, manageable steps. Individuals and healthcare providers, such as registered dieticians and general practitioners, can use this plan to guide their approach to the AIP diet to reduce inflammation's effects and enhance autoimmune individuals' well-being.
Printable AIP Diet Plan PDF
Check out our free AIP Diet Plan PDF here
How Does It Work?
Carepatron’s Printable AIP Diet Plan can help support your or a client’s journey to reducing inflammation and alleviating some autoimmune disease symptoms. The plan breaks down the phases of the AIP diet, from which individuals can identify foods they will be eliminating, including, or reintroducing throughout the phases that can be easily personalized to fit their tastes and dietary preferences.
Here’s how to use our diet plan:
Step 1: Obtain the AIP Diet Plan
Access our Printable AIP Diet Plan here, or download the PDF version as a reference. This can be used as an initial roadmap to guide the three phases, aid documentation, and produce a list of inflammatory foods that should be eliminated and implemented in the normal diet.
Step 2: Consultation
Before beginning the diet, clients should schedule an appointment with their healthcare provider to see if following this diet plan is for them. Within this consultation, healthcare providers may discuss and document information regarding autoimmune symptoms, routine measurements, medical history, dietary restrictions, current diet, and suspected inflammatory foods.
Step 3: Phase Planning
After establishing a list of suspected foods, clients and healthcare providers can begin planning the diet's elimination, maintenance, and reintroduction phases. This will include the foods to eliminate and subsequently reintroduce and establish the durations of each phase. Note that duration will likely depend on the number of eliminated foods included.
Step 4: Meal Planning
After establishing the foods to eliminate and include at each phase, it would be beneficial to list some meal and snack options. Doing this can help individuals adhere to the diet and avoid further inflammation or worsened symptoms.
Step 5: Ongoing Monitoring and Support
It is recommended that clients keep a food diary to monitor changes in inflammation or autoimmune symptoms they experience during each phase. This would be particularly important during the reintroduction phase, where clients and healthcare providers can document any symptoms experienced as foods are reintroduced back to the diet.
Furthermore, tracking food-related changes can help keep track of progress and identify causes of inflammation, where they can gain further advice, treatment, or support from healthcare providers.
AIP Diet Plan Example (Sample)
We have constructed a sample AIP Diet Plan for a fictitious autoimmune individual experiencing potentially food-related inflammation to show you how this plan works. This resource is just one of our many resources you can access for free. Using this resource as a reference when building your own or a client’s AIP Diet Plan is highly recommended.
However, this general example should differ from personalized advice or diet plans.
You can access the sample here or download it as a PDF for reference.
Download the Free Aip Diet Plan Example (Sample)
When Would You Use This Plan?
The AIP Diet Plan can be used for individuals with autoimmune conditions experiencing food-related worsening symptoms or suspect inflammatory foods playing a role in their symptoms but have not received a formal diagnosis. It is also suitable for individuals without autoimmune conditions.
However, it is recommended that taking this dietary approach should be done by referral following consultation with a healthcare provider. Additionally, individuals who are pregnant, underweight, or experiencing malnourishment are not recommended to follow this diet plan (Starkman, 2023).
Scenarios may include: :
- Reduce Chronic Inflammation: For individuals experiencing chronic inflammation or autoimmune disorders, such as psoriasis or celiac disease, this diet plan can help identify inflammatory and anti-inflammatory foods that may have a role in inflammation and symptoms. These can then inform dietary strategies for long-term health and management of chronic inflammation and autoimmune symptoms (Cleveland Clinic, 2023).
- Reduce Symptoms of Autoimmune Disorders: Following this diet plan may enhance adherence to the AIP diet, allowing individuals with autoimmune conditions to identify foods that may be heightening their symptoms. This can then inform long-term dietary management to minimize disease-related symptoms (Petre, 2023).
- Gut Healing: Ongoing consumption of certain foods may slowly erode intestinal barriers and gut linings within the digestive system, resulting in conditions like leaky gut. Following this diet plan may eliminate inflammatory foods and introduce gut-friendly bacteria back into the digestive system, promoting it to heal (Cleveland Clinic, 2023).
What Do the Results Mean?
Experiences of the AIP Diet Plan may vary across individuals depending on numerous influencing factors. These may include lifestyle behaviors, genetics, autoimmune condition symptoms, previous medical history, and adherence to the diet plan. The following are some everyday experiences and what they may mean for an individual:
Reduced Inflammation
Eliminating inflammatory foods during the AIP diet plan may eliminate or reduce the body’s immune responses to these food particles, reducing prolonged inflammation. Furthermore, consuming anti-inflammatory foods may help remove the free inflammatory radicals in the body, reducing inflammation and associated symptoms.
Improved Symptoms
By eliminating inflammatory foods from the diet, the body is less likely to release an immune response, which can cause autoimmune symptoms related to inflammation.
Enhanced Digestive Health
Clients can heal their digestive system and gut lining by following the AIP diet and eliminating inflammatory foods. This can help alleviate leaky gut or irritable bowel syndrome symptoms such as painful bloating, excessive flatulence, and stomach pain.
Enhanced Dietary Management
The AIP Diet Plan seeks to build a lifelong dietary management plan that eliminates inflammatory foods while including various food groups to ensure the mind and body get the nutrients they need to function effectively. By using this plan, individuals will have comprehensive documentation of their journey and a personalized dietary approach they can maintain for the rest of their lives.
The journey to alleviating autoimmune symptoms and chronic inflammation can begin here. By accessing our Free AIP Diet Plan, you will receive a thorough, user-friendly guide to the AIP diet to inform a personalized approach to dietary management that allows you to flourish.
Why Use Carepatron as Your Aip Diet Plan App?
Carepatron is an online platform that allows for reliable, user-friendly clinical documentation and health management, essential for tracking patient notes and progress. Using our AIP Diet Plan app and software, healthcare professionals can track clients' progress on the AIP diet and document any symptom changes to implement a practical approach to dietary management.
This can help reduce future instances of inflammation and autoimmune condition symptoms. Here are some reasons why Carepatron is the ideal platform for dietary management and health:
Mobile Access
Being an online platform, Carepatron gives healthcare providers and patients remote access to patient records and the AIP Diet plan. Additionally, our patient portal is a user-friendly interface that allows patients to navigate our software easily for quick access to information.
This is particularly beneficial for individuals on the go, who will save time and resources usually consumed by typical healthcare practices.
Safe and Secure Documentation
In compliance with worldwide security requirements, Carepatron can assure its users that any information held within our software and app is kept safe and secure.
An All-in-One Experience
Carepatron integrates multiple facets of healthcare, including appointment scheduling, communication, and clinical documentation, for a seamless experience. This removes the time and resources usually taken by clinical practices, allowing healthcare providers and their clients to focus on health and dietary management.
References
Abbott, R., Sadowski, A., Alt, A. G., (2019). Efficacy of the Autoimmune Protocol Diet as Part of a Multi-disciplinary, Supported Lifestyle Intervention for Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. Cureus, 11(4). doi: 10.7759/cureus.4556
Cleveland Clinic (2023). A Little of This and That: Your Guide to the AIP Diet. Health Essentials, Cleveland Clinic. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/aip-diet-autoimmune-protocol-diet/
Petre, A. (2023). AIP (Autoimmune Protocol) Diet: A Beginner’s Guide. Healthline.com. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/aip-diet-autoimmune-protocol-diet
Phelps, N. (2023). AIP Diet: Food List and Meal Plan. Chomps.com. https://chomps.com/blogs/nutrition-sustainability-news/aip-diet
Ruscio, M. (2022). When and How to Use the Autoimmune Protocol Diet for Hashimoto’s IBD, and More. A Guide to the AIP Diet for Beginners. https://drruscio.com/aip-diet-for-beginners/
Starkman, E. (2023). The Autoimmune Protocol Diet. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/diet/autoimmune-protocol-diet
Zakrewski, J. (2022). AIP Diet for Beginners: What to Know About the AIP Diet. Nourish. https://www.usenourish.com/blog/aip-diet-plan
Commonly asked questions
An AIP Diet Plan may be requested by an individual experiencing inflammation with certain foods or worsened symptoms of autoimmune diseases. Additionally, individuals expressing signs of poor gut health, such as cramping, painful bloating, excessive flatulence, or fatigue, may be recommended to try the AIP diet plan as a final dietary testing and management strategy.
AIP Diet Plans can be used for various scenarios but are typically used to identify foods that may be inflammatory and worsening symptoms of autoimmune conditions.
AIP Diet Plans are resources that can guide the AIP diet, including how to structure each of the three phases involved. This can help individuals and healthcare providers identify which foods may be inflammatory or worsening autoimmune symptoms, helping establish an approach to dietary management that alleviates these effects.
The duration of an AIP Diet Plan varies depending on the number of suspected inflammatory foods that are being tested. Individuals testing more suspected foods tend to use the AIP diet for a longer amount of time than individuals trying fewer food items.
