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Autoimmune- So what CAN I eat?


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I just finished ISWF and I agree whole-heartedly in the plan. I've actually done very well in the past following Paleo (got off track...trying to get back on). My concern is I have (docs say I have had) Rheumatoid Arthritis since I was 17 so 12 years and when I read the part about what to not eat for autoimmune issues I not sure what I CAN have. Having said that, I haven't had symptoms in over a year and am not currently on meds and haven't been since March. Funny, that's when I had been following the Paleo diet for about two months (about 80%). I don't want to limit myself so much that I get frustrated and go back to what I've been doing. Any suggestions???

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I can relate to this, and one thing that has helped me a lot is thinking about it as an experiment. For example, if I start day 1 telling myself I'll never be able to eat a tomato again, I'm setting myself up for failure before I've even begun. But looking at it as a monthlong project changes it for me. At the end of a month, I've proven that I CAN do without nightshades, and the question is just do I want to? Sometimes reintroduction gives you a very clear signal, clear enough that you know it's no longer worth it. Other times the effects are more subtle, and something just doesn't taste right any more. But whether you take something out of your diet long term or not is an educated choice, not a deprivation.

Another thing that helped me was making a trip to a spice shop. I was terrified that my quality of life was going to plummet without curry powder, or chiles, or cayenne. It was helpful to treat myself to a bunch of non-nightshade spices I had never heard of, again reframing my deprivation as an experiment.

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I just realized I ignored your initial question of what you can eat. Your possibilities are still vast, just... a little less vast. I don't know if you're really looking for a laundry list of foods, or if it might be more efficient for you to tell us what you're having a hard time giving up, and we can go into alternatives.

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I'm not sure what your question is. Your goal is to eat good clean food such as grass fed beef, wild fish. Veggies and some fruit. You have the book. Is there a list of foods you saw somewhere that you aren't allowed to eat?

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I get your question. Totally. My wife has a number of autoimmune issues and is very reluctant to try the AI protocol, although we did do Whole30 without nightshades (we kept eggs and nuts in). It *is* really restrictive but it depends on your mindset. If you are ready to do it I think it's manageable, although it may be a lot of effort and somewhat repetitious, particularly if you determine that you need to continue avoiding most of those foods past 30 days.

You can have any meats, most vegetables, and all fruits. The W30-approved fats (coconut oil, avocado, animal fat) are fine. A handful of spices are out, but as the PP said, there are lots of other spices to experiment with. Chicken eggs are out but duck eggs may be ok. Learning to cook without eggs may be the biggest hurdle, and finding convenient portable foods is harder. If you are ready to tackle it, though, it can be done, and there are lots of people here who can help.

Good luck!

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I'm not sure what your question is. Your goal is to eat good clean food such as grass fed beef, wild fish. Veggies and some fruit. You have the book. Is there a list of foods you saw somewhere that you aren't allowed to eat?

Yes. Towards the end of the book before the Appendix is a section on what people with certain chronic illnesses like Diabetes and autoimmune disorders should consider removing from their diet that is included in the Whole30 plan. The list is quite long for autoimmune and removes items that are a regular part of the Whole30 such as eggs, butter, nightshade veggies like tomatoes, peppers, a few of the nuts, etc. There are more but I won't list them out here.

Joey & jrustdc- thanks for the encouragement. I'm a huge fan of the spices and nightshades which take up a good portion of my veggies which is probably why it's frustrating. Also, butter. I did buy Coconut oil last night so that will help. Eggs to me go either way but I was excited to try some of the recipe ideas listed in the book for quick breakfasts. Last night I tried to brainstorm other breakfast ideas that are quick and on-the-go that don't include eggs such as the sweet potato hash listed in the book but could definitely use some suggestions. :)

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I'm happy to shoot out suggestions. Is there anything else you eliminate from personal preference? My wife's choices are further constrained because we were vegetarian for decades and she is still coming terms with eating meat. So far she has added seafoods and poultry.

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Couple things I was thinking of, regarding all the autoimmune restrictions. For me, thinking about doing it was harder than just doing it. Yes, a certain amount of planning is necessary to make sure you always have enough food on hand that you can eat. But the more time I spend thinking about how I'm going to live without peppers, the harder it's going to be. So I think you're on the right track, focusing on what you can eat instead of what you can't.

Like you, nightshades were a big part of my veggie consumption. I realized it wasn't just because of the flavor- it was partly because of all the color they added! For my first couple weeks of autoimmune protocol, it seemed like everything I consumed was green or brown. Or beige. So I learned to love me some bright orange sweet potatoes (which was tough at first- I had never enjoyed sweet potatoes before) and eat more pink salmon. Yellow squash, pink peppercorns, purple cabbage... when I would find myself wishing for a certain veggie I couldn't have, I would replace it with a different one of a similar color. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. But it was distracting and got me thinking of food differently.

I also did flavor experiments. For example, I can't have avocados, but I can make a pretty convincing "mockamole" with zucchini, garlic, and kala jeera. I learned this by accident. When what you can eat is so limited, you get really creative with what is left.

I recommend you start playing with vegetables you've never tried before. For every food you have to remove, add something new into the rotation. It doesn't have to be from the same food group. For example, I can't have peppers, but now I eat sardines, which I had never had before this. Your local Asian grocery is helpful here. Sometimes I'll eat a plate full of a vegetable without even knowing what it's called... but I know it's not a nightshade.

Eggs were a staple for me before. To me, eggs = breakfast. So I tried taking the advice from the book to heart, and calling it Meal 1 instead of breakfast, and it helped a lot.

I do wish there was a little corner of the internet just for people following the AI, because most recipes do take some tweaking to bring them into our realm. But looking at it as a fun project instead of a chore goes a long way for me.

I'll give you a short list of my staples, that can either be be picked up at any grocery or made at home:

coconuts

ground beef

seafood

fowl

zucchini

spaghetti squash

dark leafy greens

fresh herbs

celery

cucumbers

sweet potatoes

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Not to pressure you into buying yet another book, but Practical Paleo has an entire section on Autoimune, including a 30 day program. You may have to tweak it just a smidge to make it also W30, but it would be a GREAT place to start. I just got my book yesterday and I am FLOORED by how much information is in it. I was only expecting a cook book. There is a TON of information in there, plus several 30 day plans for specific issues (Autoimune, thyroid health, etc).

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Not to pressure you into buying yet another book, but Practical Paleo has an entire section on Autoimune, including a 30 day program. You may have to tweak it just a smidge to make it also W30, but it would be a GREAT place to start. I just got my book yesterday and I am FLOORED by how much information is in it. I was only expecting a cook book. There is a TON of information in there, plus several 30 day plans for specific issues (Autoimune, thyroid health, etc).

Is this the new book that came out?? I've been waiting for it and am very interested. I've heard great things! I think the whole30 crew gave it rave reviews too.

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I agree 100% with hobbitgirl; my copy of Practical Paleo just arrived a couple of hours ago, and for anyone trying to eat for specific health issues, this is a gold-mine! It's also the best presentation of information about eating paleo vs eating standard american diet that I've seen - and the book is just plain pretty. The photography in the cookbook section will have you salivating; I can't wait to try the chorizo meatballs!

In my opinion, this book belongs on every Paleo bookshelf!

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I just want to offer encouragement! You have a tough road ahead of you, but I want to encourage you to stay positive! Don't let the AI or restrictions bring you down. This is a challenge that only you can conquer. I know it seems daunting, but you can do it!!

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Sausage is a good transition breakfast. Applegate has several flavors that are W30 compliant and I am pretty sure they are nightshade free (I can't remember right now if the label says, generically, "spices," or if it lists them). Other brands that are likely to have acceptable sausage are Nieman Farm, AmyLu, Lou's, Wellshire Farms, and Aidell's. If none of those fit the AI protocol (I am not 100% sure, unfortunately) I've been told it's not that hard to make your own bulk sausage, in which case you would control the seasonings.

I agree with Joey that the main thing about breakfast, though, is that you will have to start eating nontraditional breakfast foods. It takes a little getting used to but it becomes pretty normal after a while. I recently had a pesto (no cheese) turkey burger with avocado for breakfast and it was awesome. While you couldn't do full-on (vegan) pesto because of the nuts, I would think that a basil/olive oil/garlic blend would be good for seasoning all kinds of things. I also like grilled or roasted vegetables for breakfast.

In terms of general cooking, Penzey's is a great resource for spices. If you are lucky enough to have a retail store near you, you can browse the marvelous scents and a knowledgeable salesperson can help you find some great seasonings to expand your repertoire. If not, they are online and once you join their mailing lists you will get catalogs which usually come with coupons for free samples (full size jars!).

We eat a lot of seafood now. I get wild caught frozen fish (several varieties), scallops, and shrimp at Costco and we have one of them almost daily. I grill or oven roast them with olive oil, lemon and S&P for a quick, tasty dinner. Throw on some herbs to jazz it up.

I will come back with more ideas when I have time again.

Good luck and good eating!

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Just wanted to give you another recommendation for the Practical Paleo book .. it is GREAT! I'm also struggling a little with the... well - what CAN I eat ! .. but each day it becomes a little easier .. and PP has a great meal plan specifcally for autoimmune and some YUMMY recipes :)

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Sounds like a lot of people here have read Practical Paleo! I'll be travelling tomorrow and won't receive my copy on time. I was thinking of possibly getting the book on kindle. Has anyone checked out the kindle version? I just bought the ISWF hardcopy because the kindle left something to be desired (specifically, the Meal Maps were a bit chopped up!).

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I have the paper version, not kindle. There are a lot of graphic charts and tables that I think would be annoying to try to read on the kindle - and since 50% of the book is a cookbook, you may want the ability to easily flip back and forth between meal plans and recipes... I don't care for cookbooks on the kindle myself, though for most books I love it.

Just my 2 cents...

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I wish they'd come out with print + Kindle pricing, where you can get both for slightly less than the total of both bought separately. I like the convenience of accessing the book whether or not I physically have it with me, but a lot of books work better in paper.

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My understanding is the kindle version doesn't give you the 'full experience' like the hardcopy version does - like the pull out practical guides .. the meals plans are great as well, and I'm not sure how well they would translate in the kindle version.

For travelling it would be a good inbetween option... but the pull outs are SO helpful!

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My understanding is the kindle version doesn't give you the 'full experience' like the hardcopy version does - like the pull out practical guides .. the meals plans are great as well, and I'm not sure how well they would translate in the kindle version.

For travelling it would be a good inbetween option... but the pull outs are SO helpful!

I agree! and I had forgotten all about the pullouts...

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