Jump to content

AIP necessary?


Recommended Posts

Hi all! I'm gearing up to start a W30, and unfortunately I just got diagnosed with a condition called temporal arteritis. Basically I have inflammation of my arteries, which causes all sorts of pain (head, jaw, throat, scalp, etc.), but also can cause blindness and aneurysm, if inflammation isn't brought down. Treatment is short term, intermittent steroids (prednisone). The doc says the cause of TA is unknown, but it is generally assumed to be an autoimmune condition. Question is- should I jump right into AIP, or is W30 likely to bring down inflammation, without cutting out all the extras (eggs, night shades, etc.). I'm very intimidated by the AIP protocol, to be honest, but I want to feel better, so I am hoping for some direction. W30 first, then transition to long term AIP? Or jump right into AIP? Thoughts or experiences to share? Thanks everyone!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

Definitely start with just a Whole30, especially if it's very much of a change from how you're currently eating.

 

 

One thing I'd suggest is to do a Whole30, just the regular one, but check out the egg- and nightshade-free shopping list, and concentrate on having mostly the stuff that isn't grayed out, and limit the grayed out stuff as much as seems reasonable to you. So, maybe don't cut out eggs completely, but don't have them every day for the next 30 days. Or, if your very favorite spices are ones that are pepper-based like chili powder or paprika, if you have that occasionally, not a problem,  but maybe don't have every dish all week be spiced that way, start trying out different spices and flavorings. The point isn't to leave those foods out completely, but just to start making sure you try new and different foods now, so that if you do end up having to cut them out, it won't seem so overwhelming. If you think you may ultimately do an AIP Whole30 in the future, you don't want all the recipes you try now to be bell pepper and potato heavy, and then you have to cut those out and you're back to square one finding new favorites. Make sense?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Keep taking the steroids until they tell you to stop, they will give you some immediate relief.

 

I have MTHFR and have trouble with inflammation (although much better without grains and dairy! yay!).

For anyone who has never been tested for it (it's a genetic test, from a blood sample), one of the signs is high inflammation, which can in turn cause other problems.

 

I don't do AIP itself but I have toned down my load or eliminated a few items that seem to be troublesome (I used to eat waaay too many nightshades, meals with 5+ and sometimes I'd have that 3 times a day), such as the cheap cage eggs from the supermarket (don't seem to have trouble with free range or organic, I think it's what they eat) and keeping my nut and Omega 6 intake low. I've found I can have white potato if I skip the skins, but I don't eat lots of it. Things like blueberries are great as they're high in antioxidants. I find blood orange my body really likes, it has anthocyanins not found in a regular orange.

 

I find Omega 3, Vitamin D3, zinc, B vitamins and Vitamin C very helpful for me. I take loads of Vitamin C and my body uses it all :) Your body will wash out any excess Vitamin C (so you can't overdose), but it's really great for inflammation.

 

Keep a food diary, it's really helpful to track the things which really help and things that might hold you back.

 

Also just making a note for search here that temporal arteritis is also known as giant cell arteritis.

 

This is one of my favourite soups and it's AIP (without the pepper):

http://meljoulwan.com/2012/11/05/silky-gingered-zucchini-soup/

 

I love it made with chicken bone broth. I never used to be a person who raves about soup, but this one is a winner :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...