The AIP diet a temporary elimination-style diet protocol that consists of two phases: an elimination phase followed by a slow and intentional reintroduction phase. The goal is to figure out which individual foods contribute to adverse autoimmune responses.
The reintroduction phase is essential to the autoimmune protocol. In this phase, you reintroduce all of the foods you've eliminated in the beginning phase of the diet, paying attention to their impact.
Reintroducing food groups carefully, one at a time, helps you learn which foods may be causing your autoimmune reactions. You can compare how you felt without these foods to how you feel when you reintroduce them, giving you essential information to create the perfect thyroid-healthy diet for you.
There aren't any hard and firm rules on reintroducing foods, though ideally, you wait to reintroduce potentially triggering foods until you feel amazing. Food groups must be reintroduced one at a time—every three to seven days—keeping the rest of your diet AIP-compliant. Then, monitor yourself for symptoms of a reaction.
Symptoms of a reaction may not always be apparent but may include:
- Gastrointestinal symptoms
- Poor sleep quality
- Headaches, dizziness, or lightheadedness
- Increased mucus production
- Itchy eyes or mouth, or sneezing
- Aches and pains in muscles or joints
Don't be in a hurry to reintroduce foods! Rushing through the reintroduction phase dilutes the experiment because if you get an inflammatory reaction, you won't know which food caused it. Take it slow. Test only one thing at a time. The longer you wait between each food group, the more likely you are to be successful.
During the reintroduction phase, it's crucial to be entirely in control of the ingredients used in your food, which means lots of cooking at home. Ahead on the blog, delicious snack ideas for each AIP reintroduction.
You'll notice that each recipe includes one reintroductory food while the rest of the recipe is AIP-compliant. Again, food groups must be reintroduced one at a time.
Snack ideas for each AIP reintroduction
With gluten/grains —
Vegan Cornbread Muffins
Active time: 5 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- ½ cup cornmeal
- ½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup applesauce
- ½ cup coconut milk
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a muffin pan.
- Combine the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; stir in the applesauce, coconut milk, and maple syrup. Slowly add the oil while stirring.
- Pour the mixture into the muffin pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the muffin—about 15 to 20 minutes.
With dairy —
Basic Blueberry Ice Pops
Active time: 10 minutes
Total time: 4 hours, 10 minutes
Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 32 ounces (1 container) Greek yogurt
- 12 ounces fresh blueberries
- 1 tablespoon honey
Instructions
- In a blender, blend yogurt, blueberries, and honey until smooth.
- Pour into popsicle molds or small plastic cups with wooden sticks added at the end.
- Freeze until pops are solid, about 4 hours.
- Enjoy!
With legumes —
Beyond Easy Garlic Hummus Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 can (15 ounce) garbanzo beans, drained, liquid reserved
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a blender, blend garbanzo beans, garlic, cumin, salt, and olive oil on low speed, slowly adding reserved liquid, until desired consistency.
- (Optional: roast some garlic cloves ahead of time and use the roasted garlic instead of the raw garlic.)
- Squeeze some fresh lemon over top, and enjoy this dip with carrots, celery, or cucumber slices!
With eggs —
Salt n Vinegar Hard Boiled Eggs
Active time: 5 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes
Servings: 1
Ingredients
- 1 hard-boiled egg
- 1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar (*make sure it has "the mother," the living culture that provides gut-healthy probiotics)
- Sprinkle of sea salt
Instructions
- Cut hard-boiled egg in half and sprinkle with apple cider vinegar.
- Add a pinch of sea salt, and enjoy!
With nuts —
"Ants On A Log"
Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes
Servings: 10
Ingredients
- 5 stalks celery
- 5 tablespoons almond butter (*make sure your almond butter has only one ingredient: almonds)
- ¼ cup raisins or dried cherries
Instructions
- Cut the celery stalks in half. Spread each with half a tablespoon of almond butter. Sprinkle with raisins.
- Enjoy!
With nightshades —
Sweet potato toasts with bruschetta
Ingredients for toasts
- 1 medium-size sweet potato
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Pinch of salt
Ingredients for bruschetta
- 8 plum tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 cup basil, chopped
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper *optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven or a toaster oven to 400 degrees F.
- Very thinly slice the sweet potato lengthwise into long, thin slices resembling "toasts."
- Place the sweet potato slices in a bowl, and toss with olive oil and salt. Arrange on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 15 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are tender.
- Meanwhile, dice tomatoes and place in a bowl. Mix in basil, garlic, salt, pepper (optional), olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.
- Remove the sweet potato toasts from the oven. Top evenly with bruschetta, and enjoy!
Alternative toppings
- For a dairy reintroduction, top sweet potato toast with ricotta cheese, berries, coconut flakes, and honey.
- For an egg reintroduction, top sweet potato toast with a fried egg and fresh chopped parsley.
- For a seed reintroduction, top sweet potato toast with avocado slices, hemp seeds, and oregano.
- For a nut reintroduction, top sweet potato toast with peanut butter, banana slices, and maple syrup.
A note from Paloma Health
Many nutritional and lifestyle factors play a role in optimizing thyroid function. Work with a Paloma Health nutritionist in collaboration with a physician to determine nutritional status for your thyroid health and build healthy habits.
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