Auto-Immune Protocol Diet

The AIP is also known as Paleo Autoimmune Protocol because it is derived from the Paleolithic diet (which is based on meat, fish, vegetables, nuts, and seeds) (Medical News Today), although it is a stricter version, eliminating foods that may be antigenic, stimulate the immune system, or create dysbiosis. There are three phases: the initial elimination phase removes grains, legumes, nightshade vegetables, sugar, dairy, eggs, nuts, seeds, alcohol and coffee, processed foods, and industrial seed oils; the reintroduction phase, where items are individually reintroduced while monitoring for symptoms or progression of disease; and the maintenance phase, in which patients sustain their personalized restrictions and reintroductions as long as they are symptom free. The effects of the AIP in adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis were first reported in 2017. See AIP publications on the NTforIBD website for a listing of the research on AIP.

AIP Food List Overview

The food list provided is a simplistic overview of the basic requirements of the diet, offering a bird's eye view of restricted and allowed foods. It is not an all-inclusive list of the allowed and restricted foods, nor does it define all the rules of the diet. This list should NOT be used as a guide to following the diet.

The AIP is a little different from the other diets. The AIP begins with a restrictive Elimination Phase, which must be followed for a minimum of 30 days, but may require longer use. It then shifts to a Reintroduction Phase in which patients test adding back in other foods. In the Maintenance Phase, the foods that were tolerated in the Reintroduction Phase are incorporated back into the diet. Unlike some other therapeutic diets in which reintroductions are de-emphasized or cautioned against, AIP emphasizes and encourages the adding back in of tolerated foods to achieve healthy diversity. Our table represents the Elimination Phase of AIP, which is actually the first and most restrictive phase of the diet, and not the most inclusive phase as with most of the other diets. This was done because the Elimination Phase is the only phase to define specific foods as being allowed and not allowed. It is important to note that while AIP may look very restrictive as defined in the table, the actual diet used in Maintenance Phase likely will include more diversity than suggested in the table, but that diversity will be highly individualized.