What are the Paleo AIP Reintroduction Stages?

What are the Paleo AIP Reintroduction Stages?

Believe it or not, the dietary aspect of the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) is not meant to last forever!

The Reintroductions Phase is where we switch the focus from eliminating foods to bringing foods back into the diet. During the Reintroduction phase you follow a strategic process of testing your body’s response to the foods that you eliminated (aka the No List).

We start with the foods that are most nutrient dense and least likely to cause a reaction, progressively moving towards the foods that are the least nutrient dense and the most likely to cause a reaction. Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, Ph.D., has created the 4 stages of Reintroductions.

Read on to learn the stages and how to reintroduce foods after you are done with the elimination phase!

4 Stages versus 2 Stages of Reintroductions

Since there are now two choices for the elimination phase, Core AIP Elimination and Modified AIP Elimination, this leads to two distinct starting points for the reintroduction phase, which are Core AIP Reintroduction and Modified AIP Reintroduction, as detailed below.

Core AIP Reintroduction Stages:

STAGE 1

• Egg yolks (pastured)
• Fruit-, berry- and seed-based spices
• Seed & nut oils
• Ghee (grass fed)
• Coffee (only on occasion)
• Cocoa
• Green peas / green beans (aka green legumes with edible pods)
• Legume sprouts

STAGE 2

• Seeds
• Nuts
• Coffee (daily)
• Egg whites (pastured)
• Grass-fed butter
• Alcohol (in moderation and small amounts)

STAGE 3

• Eggplant
• Bell / sweet peppers
• Paprika
• Peeled white potatoes
• Dairy (grass-fed)
• Lentils, split peas, chickpeas

STAGE 4

• Chilis
• Nightshade spices (chili / cayenne powders)
• Tomatoes
• White potatoes with the peel
• Alcohol (in larger quantities)
• Gluten-free grains
• Pseudograins (quinoa, millet, buckwheat, etc)
• All other legumes
• White rice

Modified AIP Reintroduction Stages

STAGE 1

• Egg YOLKS
• Nuts
• Dairy (Grass-fed, fermented, or A2 dairy may be better tolerated)
• Certain nightshades (only paprika and peeled white potatoes)

STAGE 2

• Egg WHITES
• Gluten-Free grains
• All other nightshades (ie: ashwagandha, sweet bell peppers, hot peppers, cape
• gooseberries, eggplant, huckleberries, goji berries, potatoes with skin, tamarillos, tomatillos, tomatoes)
• Gluten-free alcohol (in small amounts, ie: 1 serving or less)

What About Foods that Aren’t Listed?

Foods that are not listed in the four stages are considered to be foods that you may wish to avoid long term due to the negative health consequences and high amounts of inflammation they can have for those of us with autoimmune disease. This is of course always a personal decision you can make with your doctor, dietician or nutritionist.

Gluten, for example, is not a food that is recommended for reintroduction, for those of us with autoimmune disease. Foods such as refined sugars and food additives or processed foods are also not recommended for reintroduction.

“Meagen, am I Ready to Start Reintroductions?”

There is no one size fits all answer here. Some people are ready after 30 days and others need up to a year. It depends on the person and the amount of recovery that needs to take place. I personally needed 8 months!

The process is different for everyone, but if you can answer “yes” to the two phrases below then that is a good indication that you are ready to start considering reintroductions:

1. Have you completed at least 30 days of the Elimination phase?

2. Are you seeing a significant improvement or reduction in your symptom(s) and/or your doctor sees an improvement in your disease (e.g. lab results)?

If after 3-6 months you have not been able to successfully reintroduce any foods I recommend working with a healthcare provider such as a naturopath or functional medicine doctor that can order some tests that may identify an underlying problem preventing you from moving forward. I also can work with you if I have openings in my calendar for 1:1 coaching.

If you don’t address the underlying problem, your recovery will be stalled, and you may even start having issues with foods on the AIP Yes list. These underlying issues often go beyond diet and lifestyle and require the help of a practitioner.

Which Reintroduction Method is Best?

This honestly depends on how quickly you wish to reintroduce foods, and how thorough you wish to be when collecting data. I have personally used both what I like to call the “Wait 5 Method” per the Loving Diet, and the “Wait 3 Plus 7 Method” per Phoenix Helix and found merits in each of them.

With both methods, if you have a reaction it is best to avoid that food and wait for your body to return to its baseline before reintroducing your next food. Sometimes this requires going back to the elimination phase for a short period of time to allow recovery to take place depending on the severity of the reaction.

What do I do After a Failed Reintroduction?

A failed reintroduction often just means your body has more recovering to do (especially if the food does not elicit a strong reaction) and you can try again once more healing has taken place. That being said, some foods you will not be able to successfully reintroduce, and that is normal.

Those foods will be different for everyone and generally are the foods you have a strong reaction to. Be sure to complete all reintroductions at home so that you can ensure you are only reintroducing one food at a time.

The two best things you can do after a reaction are:

1. Rest, rest, rest.

2. Return to your baseline while enjoying anti-inflammatory elimination phase compliant foods.

Need More Support with the Paleo AIP Reintroduction Stages?

If you need help reintroducing foods, sign up for your FREE Reintro Readiness Bundle! See you there, friend!