For autoimmune conditions, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut by cooking the same thing over and over, which can lead to food sensitivities.
But being on the Autoimmune Protocol can be very time-consuming since you basically have to cook everything yourself – no packaged foods, limited restaurant visits, etc. Which is why you get stuck in a rut!
Try:
- new things!
- something weird!
- something intriguing!
This simple formula helps to avoid getting bored on the AIP, saves you some time, and sets you up for getting tons of nutrients.
Build Your Plate
You want to strive for 5 components to every meal:
- Greens
- Fermented food
- Protein
- Non-starchy veggies
- Fat
Aim for:
- Palm-sized amount of protein
- 2 cupped hands full of non-starchy veggies and/or greens
- Thumb-sized amount of fat (perhaps drizzled on your veggies)
- 2-3 tablespoons fermented food
- Fist-sized amount of starchy veggies (if desired)
Bonuses:
- At least once a week, add some offal (organ meats).
- Try to have at least a cup of bone broth every day (the best is homemade).
- Twice a week, add seafood as your protein.
- Add some starchy veggies to each meal if you feel like you need more carbs, for example if you are very active during the day, or are an athlete.
**Change up your menu at least every 4 days to ease the risk of developing a food sensitivity. For example, don’t have broccoli chicken casserole every day for dinner for a week – try to mix it up every 4 days or so. There’s a reason why they say eat the rainbow!
Then find some recipes online and cook them if you have the time, or just do a basic bake, roast, sauté, or fry.
Check out a few of my most basic recipes here. This is meant to be an inspirational list of a few quick things you can throw together for quick meals or sides.
Here’s some ideas of things you can get so you can have a variety of healthy options for meals:
Greens
- Arugula
- Cabbage
- Purple cabbage
- Spinach
- Kale
- Dandelion greens
- Bok choy
- Collards
- Chard
- Beet greens
- Turnip greens
- Mustard greens (may not be AIP)
- Watercress
- Microgreens
- Lettuces (such as endive, romaine, or escarole – avoid iceberg lettuce as it has not as much nutrition as the others)
Proteins
- Pasture-raised chicken
- Pasture-raised duck or goose
- Grass-finished beef or bison
- Pasture-raised pork
- Elk
- Deer
- “Exotic” meats such as ostrich, emu, alligator, kangaroo, etc.
Non-Starchy Veggies
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Zucchini
- Yellow squash
- Onions
- Carrots
- Beets
- Celery
- Daikon radish
- Asparagus
- Radish
- Brussels sprouts
- Cucumber
- Fennel
- Leeks
- Rapini
- Rhubarb
- Water chestnuts
- Sprouts like kale, radish, or mustard greens
Seafood
- Fresh-caught fish (not farmed) like cod, salmon, tuna, sea bass, etc.
- Shellfish
- Sardines
- Anchovies
- Uni
Starchy Veggies
- Sweet potato
- Delicata squash
- Butternut squash
- Spaghetti squash
- Pumpkin
- Rutabaga
- Celery root (celeriac)
- Turnips
Organ Meat/ Offal
- Liver
- Bone broth
- Kidney
- Heart
- Sweetbreads
- Black pudding
Healthy Fats
- Coconut oil
- Olive oil
- Avocado oil
- Bacon fat
- Grass-fed/ pasture-raised butter/ ghee
- Grass-fed tallow
- Pasture-raised lard
- Grass-fed/ pasture-raised suet
- Full-fat dairy (If you tolerate dairy. Raw dairy, although controversial, has not been stripped of its plethora of vitamins like pasteurized has.)
Fermented Foods
- Sauerkraut
- Kefir
- Kombucha
- Kimchi
- Shrimp paste
- Fish sauce
- Homemade fermented veggies
Any questions? Just drop them in the comments below and I’ll get back to you asap!
If you want to eat better but don’t know where to start, click here for some one-on-one nutritional coaching from yours truly.