Here you can browse all of the articles I’ve written over the years, starting with the most recent ones. If you’d prefer to browse by topic, just use the menu above. And if you’re an audio learner, be sure to check out the Phoenix Helix Podcast, with over 200 episodes!
Being diagnosed with autoimmune disease is overwhelming, and when we discover the healing potential of the paleo lifestyle, we can clutch it like a lifeline. It’s natural to learn all we can about ancestral diet, sleep, stress, epigenetics, the gut-brain connection, evolutionary biology, gene mutations, etc., in our efforts to heal. The question is this: When does research turn into obsession? When does it start to hurt instead of help?
Let’s face it: the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) is hard to do. If we could just take a test to identify our food sensitivities, it would be so much easier! So, why don’t we? Unfortunately, food sensitivity testing is unreliable, giving both false positive and false negative results. An elimination diet (like the AIP) is the only accurate way to test for them. It’s called the Gold Standard. This is actually one area where conventional doctors and paleo doctors agree. I realize that this can be very frustrating to hear if you’ve spent a lot of money on these tests already. Click through to read the scientific evidence.
If you’re asking this question and researching paleo, I’m guessing your current diet isn’t improving your autoimmune symptoms, and you’re considering alternatives. Perhaps one of your healthcare practitioners has suggested you try the AIP. I know that if you haven’t eaten meat or seafood for years, possibly decades, it can be a hard thing to consider. So, first let me share the science with you, and then I’ll share some tips for making the transition easier.
Benjamin Franklin said, “If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail.” That applies to many areas in life, but especially a healing diet. If you don’t have healthy food available when you’re hungry, you’ll be tempted to go off diet and that can lead to an autoimmune flare. Today, I show you how I plan my own meals every week, including a sneak peek into my fridge! I also share a whole bunch of AIP meal planning resources, to make staying true your diet even easier.
Why is ghee excluded on the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol if it’s allergen-free? Many members of the paleo community praise it as a nutrient-dense food, and it’s allowed on other healing diets like The Wahls Protocol. So, what’s the deal? I delved into some deep research to answer this question, including some personal n=1 experiments, polls in the autoimmune community, and learning all about the science (pro and con) behind this flavorful cooking fat. Should people with autoimmune disease be eating it? Let’s find out!
Harnessing diet and lifestyle to improve autoimmune health is something no one can do for us. Yet, we don’t walk this world alone. We’re surrounded by friends, family and co-workers who are powerful influences on our lives. It’s a lot easier to stay on the healing path if we’re supported by those people, rather than thwarted by them. So, how do we get that support? In this blog post, I share my 10 best tips.
The paleo autoimmune protocol (AIP) has two phases: (1) eliminating potential food triggers temporarily, and (2) reintroducing them very carefully, to see how your body responds. It’s this second phase where we learn to communicate with our bodies, receiving clear messages on the foods that nourish us vs. the foods that harm us. This is very unique to each individual, and an empowering step in personalizing your diet to optimize healing. Have you tried to do food reintroductions but found the whole process really confusing? Or are you curious about the process and don’t know where to begin? In this article, I highlight the most common mistakes people make and teach you how to do it right.
You’ve embraced the paleo diet and lifestyle, noticed a reduction in your autoimmune symptoms, and overall you’ve been feeling great and grateful. Suddenly, out of nowhere, your autoimmune symptoms flare and remind you of where you started. What’s happening, and how can you return to feeling better? Today, I share my best 10 tips for overcoming a healing setback.
Kombucha is a beloved beverage in the real food community, and today I’m exploring the hot topic: What’s the best way to brew kombucha? Many people automatically say continuous brew, hands-down. I’ve been brewing kombucha for many years now, and I’ve done both the batch brew method and the continuous brew. I’m sharing the pros and cons of each. Spoiler alert: One’s not always better for everyone, but depending on your circumstances, one method might be better for you.
Yes, but they are a rare breed! I searched long and hard, scouring websites and directories, polling my readers and fellow autoimmune bloggers, and created this list. While the vast majority of autoimmune specialist MDs believe diet makes no difference and we are fooling ourselves to think otherwise, I found over 40 doctors who are open to the paleo lifestyle. This doesn’t mean that they prescribe a paleo diet. It means they understand that diet can be powerful complementary medicine and respect those patients who take steps to maximize their autoimmune health. My hope is that they are the pioneers of a growing movement in medicine, where doctors will embrace the simple truth that what we eat, and how we live, affects how we feel.
One of the basic tenets of the Paleo Diet is that it’s 100% grain-free. So why are all the paleo Instagram feeds filling up with #teamwhiterice photos? In this post, I delve into the pros and cons of this favored grain in the paleo community. If you decide you’d like to try reintroducing it into your own diet, I give you the best way to cook it for optimal benefit and least risk.
Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune disease that affects over 10 million people in the US alone. Damaging the thyroid gland, it creates symptoms so wide-ranging and confusing that it can be hard to diagnose. Sophie experienced a dramatic health decline that left her unable to work or care for her children. Today, she’s feeling 95% better. She shares her story with us today, including what diet and lifestyle changes made the biggest difference for her.
We’ve all seen the USDA food pyramid, and we know that’s a recipe for poor health. Are you curious what an AIP food pyramid looks like? What foods make up the foundation? Which ones are at the top and reserved for special occasions? When it comes to the paleo autoimmune protocol, we focus a lot on what we can’t eat. But the key to being happy on a healing diet is knowing what we CAN eat, and realizing that we can eat delicious, satiating food every single day, and heal at the same time.
If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know that I started with the GAPS diet, and then transitioned to the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (AIP), because I was still struggling with inflammation and autoimmune flares. Many people with autoimmune disease struggle on the GAPS protocol because it reintroduces foods very quickly, that are common food intolerances for people with autoimmune disease (such as nuts, dairy and eggs.) Katy Haldiman is a nutritional therapist who has modified the GAPS Introduction Diet to use with her autoimmune clients, with great success. She shares her modified protocol with us today, and tells us who benefits best from the Introduction Diet.
How many of us try to squeeze extra time out of the day, by staying up late or getting up early? We sacrifice sleep, because in our modern culture, we don’t value it. We consider it unproductive time, but we’re wrong. When it comes to reversing autoimmune disease, sleep is as important to our health as diet, and it might be the key (or the obstacle) to remission. Research also shows that we can’t “catch up” on sleep over the weekend. It feels like we can, because we’re less tired after a couple of good nights’ sleep, but on a cellular level we haven’t recovered. In today’s post, I share the research along with tips for how to sleep well and long.
The trickiest category on the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol is Spices. Which are allowed and which aren’t? Today, I clear up the confusion and also give some AIP-friendly tips for adding a wide variety of flavor to your recipes. Eating AIP should never be bland!
When I first discovered the connection between food intolerance and rheumatoid arthritis pain, I went through a period of being afraid every time I sat down to eat. Finding the paleo diet was a gift, because it gave me a template of safe foods to enjoy. When I hit a healing plateau, I turned to the autoimmune protocol and learned that dairy and nightshades were inflammation triggers for me. Some people find they need to restrict further to feel their best, reducing their intake of FODMAPs or oxalates, for example. Are you seeing the pattern? In our journeys to heal, the first thing we do is eliminate foods that are the problem. The question is, are we also focusing on the foods that are the solution?
By the time Angela was diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, she was so disabled, she could no longer care for her children. Now, after 3 years on a ketogenic paleo diet, her symptoms are 85% gone, and she’s been able to reclaim her life. She shares the details of her healing journey with us today.
One of the most common questions I get is how to travel on a healing diet. My family is spread across the country, so travel is an automatic part of my lifestyle. In this article, I share my tips for air travel: everything from what I pack, to how I shop, to how I navigate my diet among non-paleo family members. Fear can sometimes keep us at home in our own kitchens, but there’s a big world out there. We don’t want to miss out!
When we follow the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol, food is foremost in our mind. We avoid the foods that exacerbate autoimmune disease and eat the foods that help us heal. The right food is essential, but healing is about more than just food. Lifestyle affects autoimmunity just as strongly. Here are 5 ways to tap your body’s full healing potential.
A lot of the paleo autoimmune bloggers, myself included, offer our blogs as resources for people going through the elimination phase of the AIP. That’s the hardest menu to navigate, especially when you first make the switch. A lot of your standard meals are no longer an option, and it helps to have guidance on the foods you can eat. A side effect, though, is that many people think we still eat strict AIP. It’s not true. None of us do. So this article is designed to show you what life on the AIP looks like long-term. Dr. Sarah Ballantyne and other AIP leaders share their reintro journeys. I also share tips on how to personalize the AIP for you
My 2 year healing diet anniversary brought with it feelings I didn’t expect. It got me thinking about the language of healing, and the difference between reversal and cure. What do these words mean? What’s really possible? In this post, I take an honest and thorough look at healing autoimmunity.
The paleo autoimmune protocol is a powerful tool for healing, but it’s also a restrictive diet. Food is an emotional experience for us all, but if you struggle with eating disorders, that’s even more true. I’ve gotten emails from readers asking how they can navigate the paleo autoimmune protocol (AIP) without triggering disordered eating behaviors of their past. I’ve also seen conversations in the AIP Facebook groups that hint at some people using the AIP as an excuse to eat less. I’ve personally experienced fear of food, once I learned how it can exacerbate my autoimmune disease. My goal with this blog is to help us heal in every way. Today, I talk with Stefani Ruper, an expert on disordered eating, on how we can navigate the autoimmune protocol in a way that’s healthy both physically and psychologically.
I came to Paleo through the GAPS diet doorway, which is a low-starch version of the paleo diet. When I switched to the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol, I continued to eat low-starch. I had seen a lot of improvement and didn’t want to risk worsening symptoms. After 18 months, I decided it was time to test the low-starch theory. Did I really need to avoid them? As “safe starches” became more and more popular, GAPS became more and more criticized. I spent time slowly reintroducing starches into my diet and monitoring my body’s response. Are you curious about my results?
Today is World IBD Day, and what better day to share a story about healing ulcerative colitis? When Laura was diagnosed in March 2013, her doctor actually recommended the paleo diet. How cool is that? She’s been paleo ever since. In today’s interview, she shares the details of her first year of healing.
I have another inspiring success story to share. This time it’s Christie, who not only is healing her psoriasis through the paleo autoimmune protocol, but also eliminated depression, panic attacks, migraines, chronic fatigue, and more. But this isn’t a story about perfection. It’s about persistence, and the honest sharing of a journey that includes setbacks alongside successes.
After years of misinformation, it can be hard to wrap your mind around the fact that egg yolks are actually good for you. In fact, they are such superfoods that Chris Kresser recommends eating 3 of them every day, and Sarah Ballantyne recommends them as a first AIP reintroduction to try after the elimination phase. Today, I share why they’re so amazing, dispel cholesterol worries, give you 11 ways to include them in your daily diet, and I even filmed a little video showing you 3 easy ways to separate eggs and get to those luscious yolks.
