At first glance, the AIP diet looks dread! It’s restrictive, it’s a challenge to eat out, it’s no fun and unless you like cooking, it’s something that looks impossible to follow. But follow it we do, and there is a good reason for that – to make us feel better, to relieve us of painful symptoms, to fuel our bodies with only good, nutritious, organic food.

This can make us better.

AIP – It’s hard – I’m not going to pretend otherwise, it’s expensive to eat organic; it’s expensive to eat good quality grass fed meats;  it’s a commitment to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, it takes will power to say no to those things we know are bad for us but can’t help eating – sugary treats, even those ‘healthy’ snacks like nuts and fruits are not allowed, so how do we stick at it?

Well, we may fall off now and again, and that’s when you realise that you made a mistake. That may bring on a twinge or a flare up, and that is the sign that AIP is working well for your body. You may have MS, you may have some other autoimmune disease, so why put any extra load onto your body? You need to look after yourself now, this is serious. Your choices now have big consequences.

When I started my AIP venture I was a vegetarian. I had not eaten meat for twenty five years. One thing I had noted from listening and reading other AIP followers was that they wasted too much time trying to remain a veggie on the diet. I like food but it was hard work trying to eat the huge amounts of vegetables necessary, so I basically tried to get my head around the possibility of eating fish. This I did and without any distress, I guess I had to get my head around a new total change of lifestyle. And AIP is a lifestyle – it’s not all about the diet, you need to get in enough sleep every night, and exercise too. Quit smoking, try not to drink too much alcohol, do your body a favour, look after it and yourself the best you can at all times. It will thank you for it.