AIP diet anyone?

[Cakedoesntjudge]

I have HS and after seeing Drs for years and eventually a dermatologist (the holy grail I'd been holding out for) who all turned out to be useless I turned to almost obsessive levels of doing my own research for ways to combat it.

The only thing I seem to have found that people have said they have had a lot of success with is the AIP diet.

However, my issue is that I am so desperate for a solution that I am prone to finding some new magic solution and clinging on to it. I am also overweight because I can't seem to stop stuffing my face and I'm completely daunted by everything I'd have to give up.

The writer of the book I read suggests that the AIP diet has miraculously helped people with all sorts of auto immune conditions rather than just HS so I wondered if anyone on here has had any success with it? I think it might be easier to commit to the massive lifestyle change if I know actual people have had success with it.

Feeling very down due to some nasty, painful flare ups at the moment and I just want to feel less hopeless about it all.

Seems to sap what little joy there is left in life for those with autoimmune conditions restrictive. I've just googled it and would be interested to know if anyone follows this with good results.

Foods eliminated on the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) Diet:

• ◦ *Grains - wheat, rice, corn, and others; and pseudograins (millet, amaranth, teff, etc.)
• ◦ *Legumes – all beans including peanuts, black beans, pinto beans, hummus, etc.
• ◦ *Dairy – all sources of dairy, even raw or fermented
• ◦ *Nuts and seeds - all nuts and seeds including cashews, almonds, quinoa, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, seed-based spices, chocolate, coffee, etc.
• ◦ *Eggs - especially the white part of the egg, which contains inflammatory proteins
• ◦ *Nightshades - tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, tomatillos, eggplants, goji berries and several spices
• ◦ *Industrial seed oils - pretty much all liquid oils, except for olive and avocado oils
• ◦ *Processed foods - basically anything that comes out of a package
• ◦ *Alcohol - it is well established that alcohol induces a leaky gut. [4]
• ◦ *NSAIDs - Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as Ibuprofen, aspirin, and naproxen, which cause holes to form in the gut and stomach linings. [5]
• ◦ *Sugar, starches, fruits, yeasts, FODMAPs - Sweet, starchy, and yeast-containing foods can contribute to imbalances in the gut microflora (dysbiosis) by feeding unfavorable bacteria in the gut. They are best limited or restricted especially at first on the AIP.

I must admit, I nicknamed it the diet of sadness when I first read about it. I think I'm going to give it a shot for a couple of months and see if I notice a difference. I already feel miserable and at the very least it should make me lose a tonne of weight cutting out the mountain of chocolate I currently inhale use for comfort. Being slim and lumpy would at least be a slight improvement on being chubby and lumpy 😂

I will keep you posted and would still be interested to hear from anyone who has/is trying it out.

My mum has. She has psoriasis and eating this way has really helped. It's not a cure, but has really eased her symptoms.
Mum isn't really strict, she still has tea and coffee every day with milk, she also eats potatoes, tomatoes and nuts roughly once a week.
I've recently been diagnosed with PBC (my immune system attacks the bile duct in my liver) and know I should give it ago. But with a husband and four children, it's too restrictive for all of them, but if I have the food in the house for them then I eat it as well.
Mum says she would struggle to stick to it if she had a family at home, she can only manage it as she lives alone and doesn't have the food in the house all the time.
I'm trying to cut things out or swap them for something else, but it's slow going and hard. I'm not doing enough to feel any benefits either, so don't really have any incentive to keep going.
Mum says her best tip is to be prepared. Meal plan and batch cook so there is no excuse to go and get something else to eat. Good luck if you give it a try.

That leaves black tea, apples, celery and meat for me then.

My autoimmune disease was caused by my system not liking the antibodies of my baby when I was pregnant, and my spleen or liver now destroys my platelets. I don't see that cutting anything out of my diet (except alcohol) will reverse this.

Er... no apples... this list excludes fruit.

Black tea, celery and meat then. No, won't bother.

I've ra and psa and have ran many suport groups for it. The number one subject we are asked about is diet. There is always someone who knows someone who eliminated tomatoes from their diet or only ate potatoes for breakfast and is now co petley cured and doing cartwheels.

Every clinical dietician without exception says it's not true. The best thing is a healthy varied diet and exercise is your friend. If you find that a food is triggering your illness then you probably already have an intolerance to that food and it's coincidental or stress or illness from the food causes your condition to flare.

That's what I've repeatedly been told anyway.

Hmmm that's a bit disheartening then snipsnip

I'm in a bit of a lose lose with exercise. My HS means I get painful cysts basically everywhere I sweat so everywhere embarrassing. When I sweat exercising this exacerbates it and makes it worse. I did get quite into the gym and was doing well with it for about 6 months before I went to see the dermatologist. She put me on a course of medication where one of the side effects was joint pain for 6 months. After 2 months the pain was horrendous just from walking around at work all day and I'd end the day in tears. Now I can't bring myself to face the level of pain again from the gym even though I know I need to to lose weight.

I also didn't notice any positive changes condition wise at all, it just made my flare ups worse.

It's really getting me down at the moment. I didn't date for years because I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to be with me because of it. A few months ago I started dating a really wonderful guy who has been amazing about it and said it doesn't bother him at all (although he does find it hilarious that I cover myself in plasters every time he spends the night ). I just really really want to be able to wear vest tops or short sleeved/sleeveless dresses again, or to not have to spend most days taking pain killers.

I was told quitting smoking would help so I did, it didn't. Then they told me losing weight would help, I lost 3 and a half stone (though admittedly have put half back on recently) and it just got progressively worse. I've tried all sorts of antibiotics, acne meds, creams and special washes. I just don't know what else is left to try. I'd decided to try the diet anyway from next week as my weight is getting me down too and that doesn't help. I am having the coil fitted so I can come off my pill - my HS only started after I had my son and went back on the pill, part of me is wondering whether or not the excess hormones are playing a part.

I think if it doesn't work I'm just going to have to stop looking for Hail Marys and learn to come to terms with it, I feel out of options really

I've been doing this diet for the past 3 weeks (although for a different reason - trying to cure recurrent thrush). I've really struggled with it to be honest, there's just so little you can actually eat!

I've not felt great - just generally lethargic, not sleeping well and mood swings (although they may be hormonal), and I'm loosing too much weight, so have just started to reintroduce some foods.

It's basically an extreme kerogen in diet, so it might work if you have weight to loose, as I guess then your body would call on it's fat reserves for energy.

I had a particularly bad day with 3yo DS and could have murdered someone for a piece of chocolate cake!

I'm on a similar diet, have been since Christmas. The aim is to burn fat and fibre not sugar and carbs.
Will retest for AI around July.

It is very restrictive BUT I have no food cravings at all. Strangely though I didn't actually realise I had food cravings before I started.
Plus I've gone from around 10st to around 8.5st without thinking about it.

The hardest bit is the first few weeks.

I do eat from your list eggs, tomatoes, pecans and almonds.

I think eggs will be the hardest thing to give up for me! I love eggs. Breakfast looks pretty tricky, think I'm just going to have to have less traditional breakfasts.

Huge congrats on your weight loss! That's amazing - has spurred me on slightly!

How have you handled social things like meals out and birthdays etc? I'm worried about that aspect of things.

Re going out.
At the moment with friends and family it's still a novelty so I have sparkling water and am designated driver.
Eating out I try to have a big meal beforehand just in case.
Lunch out last week was a huge Niçoise salad with eggs and smoked salmon covered in olive oil. (I didn't eat the potatoes)
Supper would be meat or fish with lots of side green vegetables and restaurants seem happy for me to bring my own oily dressing. Sometimes I double up on mains so two salmon steaks for example.
But to be fair I'm usually full on normal portions.
Very occasionally I eat something I shouldn't but try to stick roughly to the ethos of the diet. Glass of wine and gluten free pizza yesterday.
One gin at the Gin festival last week.
Becomes a real treat.

It looks like paleo and then some, really harsh. Paleo was all I needed to fix my UC. 12 years in, I'm mostly used to it (though I've decided to count dark chocolate and wine as acceptable)

I've been 'sort of' AIP diet for years now. I'm v strict over nightshade veg, but I do eat eggs and nuts, goat/sheep dairy, peas, some alcohol.
It did take time but has made a huge difference to my psoriasis. I had have it completely covering both arms and legs, in my ears, scalp and on my face. The light AIP diet I follow has cleared up all the psoriasis except for the stubborn patches on my face.
If you're interested in reading more about diet I think the Wahl's Protocol www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Wahls-Protocol-Radical-Chronic-Autoimmune-Conditions-Principles/1583335544/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1495143836&sr=8-2&keywords=the+wahls+protocol&tag=mumsnetforum-21 is great. I haven't been motivated enough as yet to commit fully. It's written by an american dr who has put her MS into remission through diet and lifestyle. There are 3 levels of diet, and alongside the standard AIP protocol she did intermittent fasting and ketogenic. It is a massive commitment but maybe worth it if your quality of life could be so much improved.
There may be no established scientific proof that it works but my philosophy is that I haven't got the time to wait for double-blind placebo-controlled peer-reviewed studies to be published and no one is going to fund that research anyway (there's not much money to be made in selling more coconut oil and vegetables). I want to get better now! AIP is basically a very healthy diet anyway so I don't see any reason not to try it, but it will take a lot of time!

Hi, I'm new and found this thread because I was searching for more info on the AIP diet. Over the last few weeks I've been trying it and decided to join you lot and add my experience. I found the diet because I was searching for something that might help me fight the chronic fatigue I've been getting, and learning about autoimmune diseases. It made sense to me because I gave up gluten a few years ago despite my gp saying I wasn't coeliac. That gave me a bit of improvement so I knew I was on the right track.

The book explains very well why all the foods are excluded, and gives lots of ideas for the foods you can eat. I've done the strict diet for 5 weeks, feeling the benefits for the last 2; my energy levels are out of this world, the brain fog is clearing (I'm not just getting old!!!) I'm just starting to reintroduce a few foods now - potatoes today. Hopefully I'll be able to dial down exactly what my gut reacts to, and stay at this level or better. I've not felt hungry - preparing lots at a time helps, so there's always some leftovers to go at - and not even craved anything!

I would suggest working up to it gradually; it took me 2 weeks to completely cut out coffee, and I'd been reducing sugar in all its forms for several months already. But it really has helped me so far!