If you have an autoimmune disease we have to take the Paleo diet a step further and do a thirty day elimination diet to test for sensitivities to nuts, eggs & nightshade vegetables like peppers, tomatoes, aubergines & potatoes. It also makes sense (if you can hack it) to remove coffee for the 30 days as well as that is a common gluten cross reactor (your body thinks it is gluten).

When reading about the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol, all too often the focus is on what you can’t eat rather than the wide and varied range of food choices left available to you so, rather than play the dietary Nazi, I am going lay out a list of foods that should for the basis of your shopping and I will follow this up next week with some simple ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even snacks (because I am nice like that).

Autoimmune Friendly Shopping List

So, just to be clear, all the following are 100% autoimmune protocol friendly and should form the basis of your shopping.

Vegetables

Your plate should be piled high with vegetables and the following are all 100% autoimmune friendly

• artichoke
• asparagus
• avocado
• beetroot
• broccoli
• brussels sprouts
• butternut squash
• carrot
• cauliflower
• celeriac
• celery
• chard
• collards
• courgette
• cress
• cucumbers
• kale
• kohlrabi
• leek
• lettuce
• mushrooms (all)
• okra
• onions
• parsnips
• pumpkin
• radish
• rhubarb
• shallots
• spinach
• squash (all)
• swede
• sweet potato
• turnips
• watercress
• yams

Fruits

Technically, no fruits are really off limits (discounting tomatoes) but it does make sense to try and stay on the lowish carb side of things and to avoid excessive amounts of fructose so I would work with the following list of low fructose fruits for the 30 day program and make these a snack rather than your main source of food.

• Pineapples
• strawberries
• raspberries
• blackberries
• lemons
• limes
• bananas
• rhubarb
• orange

Again, there are plenty to choose from and no reason to feel like you are denying yourself.

Meat & Fish

Well, it gets even easier here and we are fairly standard paleo at this point so some simple pointers to set you off on the right path should be enough.

Meat

Meat is pretty simple, you can buy the farm if you go for grass fed or pastured meat and you can eat the fattiest cuts you can find. If you are shopping in the supermarket then stick to lean cuts like pork loin, chicken breast etc and avoid fatty cuts of grain fed animals.

Fish

A Matter of Perspective

Ultimately, as with many things in life, this is simply a matter of perspective and you can view it as an exciting month of exploring new food choices OR you can mope and moan and attempt to hate your way through the month whilst you ultimately edge ever closer to giving in and giving up.

Remember, it’s only 30 days and you can try to reintroduce these foods and whilst you may find you have problems with some of them you are then a whole lot closer to securing your health.

Failing to plan is planning to fail

This is tough, no two ways about it, but do a little bit of planning and make sure you have a good set of meals laid out for breakfast, lunch and dinner else you are going to find yourself in a pickle, hungry and prone to making bad food choices. So, grab yourself a pen and pencil and sit down and sketch out some meals that you can shop for and fit in with what you and your family want to eat. Also, be sure to check back next week as I will lay out a bunch of my favorite breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes along with some autoimmune friendly snacks.

Copyright PriMod.

Homemade beef burgers (grass fed of course) are a favourite of ours at home and McDaddy’s is on the way to replace McDonalds as a favourite for the kids (I just need to supply the burgers in a cute box and with an instantly forgettable toy and I think i’ll have that fiendish Ronald McDonald bested for good.

Anyhow, if your looking for a way to jazz up standard homemade burgers and make them a little more glamorous for entertaining or for a weekend then this stuffed burger recipe is a winner.

There are various Paleo stuffing’s you can use, all based around avocado as a base and I will give you three of my favourites but I would love it if you experimented and could kick back some ideas as I am always looking for a reason to rock some of these badboys burgers.

Homemade Stuffed Beef Burger Recipe

As ever, I try to make my all my recipes compatible with the stricter autoimmune protocol or Paleo Leper Protocol as I have taken to calling it. In most cases a bit of fiddling is enough to do that without it impacting the food but one of the fillings I suggest is not AI compatible so…. I will state that and if you are one of the lucky (non leper) Paleo or primal people then fill your boots (or fill your burger rather).

Burger Ingredients – enough for 2 Hungry Cavemen! 

• 500g  of grass fed beef – grass fed best but not a deal breaker! 
• 1 x tbsp of dijon mustard
• 1 x tsp sea salt
• good grinding of pepper

Fillings Options

Instructions

• Pre heat your oven to 200c (gas mark 6 / 400f)
• Mix up the burger ingredients by hand
• Mix up the chosen stuffing – you can mash it, or use a blender, all depends on whether you like it rustic and chunky or smooth, I go smooth on the mushroom and olive ones and I like it a bit more chunky with the autoimmune forbidden tomatoes but I will leave that one up to you
• Divide the burgers into 4 balls with 2 slightly bigger
• Take the bottom balls and make  a burger and try to make a bit of an indent for your filling
• Slop your filling onto the burger leaving enough space around the edge to seal the deal
• Form your 2 smaller balls into burgers and layer them on almost like a pie lid.
• stick them on a baking tray and throw them in the oven to cook for approx 25 mins give or take 5 mins depending on how you like your beef *

On the side

Well, that depends what kind of mood I am in. Maybe another stuffed burger? Seriously, I would generally have sweet potato wedges, a simple salad and this time I chopped up an avocado with some coriander (cilantro), a splash of olive oil, the juice of one big lime and a good grinding of sea salt and pepper and did an autoimmune friendly guacamole. You can always toss a few tomatoes into this if you are feeling adventurous!

Chow down!

Well, that is a current favourite in our house and it in now way feels like we are depriving ourselves despite the audible gasps and looks of pity we get when we describe our grain, dairy, legume, nightshade, egg & nut free diet to people!

Please, help us get the word out and share this via the social icons below and visit our Facebook page and give us a like and we will make sure the good recipes and Paleo information keeps a coming your way!

Copyright PriMod.

paleo autoimmune friendly pancakes

This is a great Paleo pancake recipe that does away with the need for any nut flours or eggs but does not compromise on the taste. This is perfect for those of you looking to keep your Omega 6 in check (too much nut flour is no good thing) and works as a recipe for those of us following the highly restrictive Paleo autoimmune protocol.

Autoimmune Protocol Paleo Pancakes

This is a simple enough recipe, just mix all the ingredients together and fry it slowly. These are nice with just some lemon or lime juice and some fruit on the side or you can heat up some fruit, berries and lash over some tinned coconut milk. You can use other autoimmune friendly flour mixes if preferred and tapioca works well.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup plantain flour
• 1 large ripe banana
• 1 cup of coconut milk – http://www.karadairyfree.com/
• 1 x tbsp of honey
• 1 x tsp of baking power
• virgin coconut oil for frying

Toppings

I like some lightly warmed cherries, the frozen ones from the supermarket are great and cheap enough but really, any berries, frozen or fresh will do. If you want to real spoil yourself some full fat coconut milk (the tinned one) with the berries will make this indulgent enough to have as a desert.

Instructions

• lightly warm the pan and melt the virgin coconut oil
• mix the flours, banana, baking power, milk and honey in a blender *
• lightly fry it for around 5 minutes or till it is browned and looks tasty
• let them cool for a few minutes and tuck in!

* It should be thick, but not too thick that it won’t pour out of the pan so experiment, even if it is wrong, it will still be tasty.

Job Done

Copyright PriMod.

When you first go Paleo, lots of the foods you used to eat are no longer available to you, and if you did a lot of baking this means many of the healthy, home cooked foods you used to prepare have to be taken off the menu. This is problematic, as in these busy lives that we all live, we need to get home, get our families fed, children into bed and try to find a small window of time for ourselves before the whole cycle starts again and having to reinvent the meal wheel every night is no fun (even for those of us that enjoy cooking).

Paleo Baking

Much of the problem relates to ‘Paleo Baking’ and in the last few years loads of new paleo recipe sites have sprung up and there is some truly amazing stuff out there (check out civilised caveman).

The problem here is that whilst many of these recipes are technically within the Paleo guidelines and use Paleo safe foods like nut flours and honey, eating too many of these kind of treats or making them a staple part of your diet is most certainly not in your best interest and it is too easy to skyrocket your omega 6 and phytic acid just from nuts and nut flours alone.

Paleo Friendly Flours

Looking at the raft of admittedly very cool Paleo baking sites you could be mistaken for thinking that nut flour was the only safe Paleo flour when in all honesty, it is one of the worst unless used very sparingly. This becomes more of an issue for those of us with Autoimmune disorders as the regulation of our omega 3 & 6 balance to keep control of inflammation is top priority.

The following is a list of other Paleo friendly flours that are all okay for standard or autoimmune protocol paleo baking. You can use these in your baking, often as a direct replacement for the nut flours and whilst still a form of processed carbohydrates, there is much less phytic acid and omega 6 so we are at least optimising these dietary treats as much as possible.

1. Plantain Flour

This is a very fine and dense flour made from green plantains. It works well in pancakes and as a direct replacement for nut flours. It is a safe starch in so much that it does not include any major levels of anti nutrients, food toxins or omega 6 PUFA and is okay for those of us following the stricter autoimmune protocol. The only real problem I have found with plantain flour is that is tricky to use and it works best as part of a flour blend (1 part plantain, 1 part coconut flour, 1 part flax meal seems to work well).

2. Tapioca Flour

This is a flour created from the root of the cassava plant and is another of the so called ‘safe starches’ with no food toxins, antinutrients or omega 6 PUFA and is autoimmune protocol friendly. Tapioca flour is a little more user friendly than plantain flour and works really well in pancakes, banana bread and other paleo baking. Again, it works well as part of a flour blend and for those of you  that can tolerate nut flours then 2 parts tapioca, 1 part almond flour & 1 part coconut works well.

3. Coconut Flour

This is the king of Paleo flours, almost. It is high fiber so lower carb, it is autoimmune friendly, no fragile fats or omegas, only problem is that it’s pretty useless as a flour in and of itself. It works well as part of a flour mix with plantain, tapioca etc and if you can get away with 2 parts coconut and 1 part tapioca/plantain then you are optimising things just about as much as is practical. It works well with eggs so you can use it as it is in pancakes with a couple of eggs and maybe a smushed up banana to keep it all together.

Use your loaf

Ultimately, Paleo baking should be a treat, but if you are going to bake then these three flours form a better base than the almond and nut flours and especially for those of us with autoimmune disorders. There is no fragile omega 6, no antinutrients or toxins and with a little bit of blending and fine tuning, these flours can be used for pretty much anything.

Remember, they are still processed, so take the carb load into consideration and use coconut flour blended with the other options to keep the carb impact as low as possible. Also, try to use your baked snacks as a post workout or weekend treat rather than the backbone of a healthy Paleo diet.

Copyright PriMod.

Breakfast can be a bit of a dirty word on the Paleo diet, but, add in the additional restrictions of following the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol with no eggs, nuts, tomatoes etc and then, well, that Intermittent Fasting to skip breakfast can look a whole lot more attractive (and is what I tend to do in the week). Still, ever the optimists, there are still things you can eat for breakfast that are not just leftovers or steak (steak for breakfast, gotta love Paleo eh folks).

Smoked Salmon & Sweet Potato Hash Browns

This was a cute Paleo breakfast that took about 20 minutes to make and was a change from bacon & sweet potato but I did manage to sneak a bit of bacon into the hash browns.

Ingredients

• 1 x Large Sweet Potato
• 1 x small Onion
• 2 rashers of streaky bacon
• wild smoked salmon
• large mushrooms
• spinach
• virgin coconut oil + extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. Chop into small pieces and start to fry the bacon
2. Peel & Grate the sweet potato
3. Finely dice the onion
4. Mix the onion and sweet potato and add it to the pan with a good chunk of virgin coconut oil 
5. You will kind of need to stir it around for about 10 mins or so until it really softens up and starts to get a bit crispy. Then, you can start to form into shapes and let it crisp up a bit more. You can flip it in the pan or stick the pan under the grill to the do the tops as they may be a bit more fragile than normal hash browns. 
6. Slice your Mushrooms and fry them up in virgin coconut oil or a few minutes
7. Your salmon can be raw or you can warm it up for a minute in the pan (i like it warmed but that’s a matter of personal preference)
8. Throw your spinach in the pan for a minute tops till it wilts

Throw it on a plate

Then just throw it all on the plate and splash over a bit of olive oil if that’s your thing. A pinch of nutmeg on your spinach won’t hurt either and make sure to add a bit of good quality sea salt and pepper and you have yourself a tasty, posh and 100% paleo autoimmune protocol friendly breakfast that will please and satisfy.

Comments, questions and sharing

I will be adding several recipes as and when I can to help people on the autoimmune protocol but if you could help us by sharing this page on Facebook, Twitter and clicking the Google Plus button and Facebook Like button in the right hand column that would be a big, big help.

Any questions or comments please drop below and if you have any particular meals you would like us to Paleo’ise or Autoimmune Paleo’ise just let me know!

Copyright PriMod.

coconut macaroons with no nuts or eggs

Since going paleo, if there is one thing that has really made a difference, it has been coconut. Coconut milk curries, virgin coconut oil for frying, coconut flour for baking and desiccated coconut for, well, for wherever the heck I can work it in. Also, when you factor in the additional restrictions from the Paleo autoimmune protocol (no nuts, peppers, toms, aubergines or eggs) coconut kind of comes to the rescue as so many great paleo recipes are out of reach.

Paleo Autoimmune Recipes

My wife and I have been paleo for a while now as the last destination on a journey that started off with an MS diagnosis, took a wrong turn into vegan city and finally ended up in Paleo county. We have not been 100% autoimmune strict, as, well, it’s pretty damn hard and there is just a total lack of any good Paleo autoimmune protocol recipes out there. And, we have been doing okay with a standard strict(ish) Paleo diet. (strictly no grains or dairy, the odd bit of dark chocolate, a bit too much honey and wine as well).

After an ill advised few sips of Baileys Liqueur last week, my wife had a bit of a wobble and had some fairly brutal MS fatigue symptoms so we have finally made the push towards a strict autoimmune protocol for 30 days and this is the first of hopefully, many recipes that you can use if you are following the autoimmune protocol.

Autoimmune Coconut Macaroons

Okay, this is a nut free, egg free, macaroon recipe that I can honestly say is better than the ‘real thing’ with eggs, or nut butter, or almond flour or whatever else you want. If you are desperate for those things, you can check out the ultimate paleo macaroon recipe else go with this for a happy gut!

Ingredients

• 3 x Apples
• 3 x figs or 6 dates
• 6 cups of desiccated coconut
• 2 cups of coconut flour
• 2 heaped tablespoons of organic virgin coconut oil (melted)
• 1 cup of honey

Instructions

• pre warm the oven to 200c (gas mark 6 / 400F)
• stew the apples & figs till they are nice and soft
• mash or blend the apples & figs into a smooth puree
• mix in the coconut (desiccated & flour)
• add in the honey

You should have a fairly wet, sticky mixture. If it is too wet, add a bit more coconut flour, if it is too dry, add a bit more honey. With your hands form into small, tight cake shapes and place them onto a sheet of parchment paper or an oiled baking tray.

Stick them in the oven and cook for 30 mins or their abouts. You should see the bottom edges and peaks going brown when they are ready to come out. Let them cool thoroughly before eating.

And… Eat

And there we have it, Paleo staple made autoimmune friendly without any need for eggs or nut flour. This will be the first of many recipes that can be used on an autoimmune protocol and if you have any feedback or requests just drop me a comment below.

Copyright PriMod.