AIP Diet: Food List, Phases and What Studies Show

By Paleo Life Coach Editorial Team · Last updated September 25, 2026 · Evidence from studies indexed on PubMed; nutrition from USDA FoodData Central

The AIP diet, short for autoimmune protocol, is paleo’s strictest cousin. It starts with the paleo rules, then removes eggs, nuts, seeds, nightshade vegetables, coffee and alcohol for several weeks before adding foods back one at a time. People usually find it after an autoimmune diagnosis such as Hashimoto’s, Crohn’s disease or rheumatoid arthritis, hoping food can ease symptoms their medication hasn’t.

This guide explains what the protocol removes, how the phases work, what the three clinical studies actually found and how to keep an AIP diet nutritionally complete.

Quick answer: The AIP diet is an elimination diet for autoimmune conditions. For about 4–6 weeks you remove grains, legumes, dairy, eggs, nuts, seeds, nightshades, coffee, alcohol and processed foods, then reintroduce them one at a time. Small uncontrolled studies in IBD and Hashimoto’s found better symptoms and quality of life, but no randomized trials exist.

What is the AIP diet?

The autoimmune protocol is a temporary elimination diet built on paleo. In autoimmune diseases, the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s own tissues (NIAMS). AIP’s premise is that certain foods may aggravate that response in some people, and that removing and then testing them can reveal personal triggers.

It isn’t a cure and doesn’t replace treatment. A Cleveland Clinic dietitian describes it as a way to identify trigger foods in stages, ideally with a registered dietitian because the restrictions raise the risk of nutrient shortfalls (Cleveland Clinic). For the paleo baseline it builds on, see what the paleo diet is.

What does AIP remove beyond regular paleo?

What does AIP remove beyond regular paleo?
Food group	Regular paleo	AIP elimination phase
Grains, legumes, dairy, refined sugar, processed foods	Out	Out
Eggs (whole, yolks and whites)	In	Out
Nuts and nut butters, including almond flour	In	Out
Seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, chia, flax, sesame) and seed-based spices	In	Out
Nightshades: tomatoes, white potatoes, peppers, eggplant, chili and paprika	In	Out
Coffee	Usually in (see is coffee paleo)	Out
Alcohol	Limited	Out
Gums, emulsifiers, non-nutritive sweeteners	Discouraged	Out
Meat, poultry, fish, seafood, organ meats	In	In
Non-nightshade vegetables, sweet potatoes, fruit	In	In
Olive, avocado and coconut oil	In	In
Bone broth, fermented vegetables, herbs (non-seed)	In	In

Compiled from the Cleveland Clinic’s AIP guidance; protocols vary slightly by practitioner. The Cleveland Clinic guidance also advises avoiding tobacco and NSAID pain relievers during elimination; don’t stop any prescribed medication without talking to your doctor.

Useful AIP staples include bone broth, sweet potatoes, leafy greens, canned fish with bones and simple soups. Several of the paleo soup recipes work on AIP with small swaps (skip the pepper and paprika), and the autoimmune paleo recipes are built for it.

How do the AIP phases work?

Phase 1: Elimination (about 4–6 weeks, sometimes longer). Remove all the foods above at once and keep a symptom diary. The Cleveland Clinic suggests checking in with your dietitian around weeks 4–6; if symptoms haven’t improved, the protocol may not be the right tool for you.

Phase 2: Reintroduction (one food at a time). Following the Cleveland Clinic’s steps:

Pick one food. Eat about a teaspoon and wait 15 minutes.
If there’s no reaction, eat about 2 teaspoons and wait 2–3 hours.
If still fine, eat a normal portion, then avoid that food and add nothing new for 5–7 days while you watch for delayed symptoms.
No reaction? The food returns to your diet. A reaction? Leave it out and try again much later.

Phase 3: Maintenance. You eat the widest diet that keeps symptoms controlled. The goal of AIP is to end up eating as many foods as possible, not as few.

Because each test takes about a week, reintroducing ten foods takes around two and a half months. Many people start with the foods that matter most nutritionally, such as egg yolks and seeds.

What do the AIP studies show?

Only three clinical studies have tested AIP directly, all small and without a control group.

What do the AIP studies show?
Study	Participants	Design and duration	Main findings
Konijeti et al., 2017	15 adults with active Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis	Uncontrolled; 6-week elimination + 5-week maintenance	Partial Mayo score (UC) fell from 5.8 to 1.2 by week 6; Harvey-Bradshaw index (Crohn’s) from 7 to 3.6. CRP didn’t change significantly; fecal calprotectin fell from 471 to 112 (not significant)
Chandrasekaran et al., 2019	Same 15 IBD patients	Quality-of-life analysis, weeks 0–11	IBD quality-of-life score rose from 46.5 to 60.5 by week 11; improvements appeared by week 3
Abbott et al., 2019	16 women with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis	10-week online coaching program with AIP	Symptom burden score fell from 92 to 29; quality of life improved on all eight SF-36 scales; hs-CRP fell 29%; no significant change in thyroid hormones or thyroid antibodies

What this means in practice:

The signal is real but preliminary. Symptom and quality-of-life scores improved substantially in both conditions.
No control group means we can’t separate the diet from coaching, attention and expectation. Both research teams called for randomized trials.
Thyroid numbers didn’t budge. In the Hashimoto’s study, people felt better while TSH and antibodies stayed the same, so AIP is not a substitute for thyroid medication.
Official guidance is cautious. NIDDK says researchers have not found that specific foods cause or worsen Crohn’s disease symptoms (NIDDK), and that no specific diet guidance is available yet for Hashimoto’s beyond iodine considerations (NIDDK).

What nutrients do you lose on AIP, and how do you replace them?

Eggs, nuts and seeds are some of paleo’s densest sources of choline, magnesium and zinc. Here’s what they carry, and AIP-friendly foods that fill the same gaps (USDA data):

What nutrients do you lose on AIP, and how do you replace them?
Removed on AIP (serving)	Key nutrients it supplied	AIP replacement (serving)	What the replacement supplies
2 large eggs	294 mg choline, 12.6 g protein	Salmon, 4 oz cooked	102 mg choline, 25 g protein, 14.8 mcg vitamin D
1 oz almonds	77 mg magnesium, 76 mg calcium	Collard greens, 1 cup cooked	40 mg magnesium, 268 mg calcium, 7.6 g fiber
1 oz pumpkin seeds	168 mg magnesium, 2.2 mg zinc	Sweet potato, 150 g baked	41 mg magnesium, 1,442 mcg vitamin A (as carotenoids), 5 g fiber
1 red bell pepper	152 mg vitamin C	Kale, 1 cup raw	63 mg vitamin C, 170 mg calcium
–	–	Sardines with bones, 3.75 oz can	351 mg calcium, 4.4 mcg vitamin D, 22.7 g protein

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy (FDC 171287, 170567, 170556, 170108, 175168, 170407, 168483, 168421, 175139).

No single AIP food replaces eggs for choline. The adequate intake is 425 mg a day for women and 550 mg for men (Harvard). Liver is the richest AIP source: 3 oz of cooked beef liver has about 362 mg. But the same portion carries about 8,000 mcg of preformed vitamin A, well above the 3,000 mcg upper limit (Harvard), so treat liver as a small weekly food, around an ounce, not a daily one. It’s also why egg yolks are often among the first foods people reintroduce.

What does a nutritionally complete AIP day look like?

Here’s one AIP-compliant day, computed from USDA data:

Breakfast: breakfast hash of 150 g sweet potato and 4 oz ground pork with 1 cup kale, cooked in 1½ tsp coconut oil; 1 cup blueberries
Lunch: 1 can sardines (92 g) over romaine and cucumber with ½ avocado and olive oil dressing
Dinner: 6 oz roasted chicken thigh, 1 cup cooked collards, 200 g roasted butternut squash, olive oil
Snack: 1 banana and a mug of bone broth

What does a nutritionally complete AIP day look like?
Total for the day	Amount	Common adult target
Calories	1,702	Varies
Protein	98 g	Varies by body size
Fiber	31.6 g	25–38 g
Calcium	1,035 mg	1,000 mg
Magnesium	359 mg	310–420 mg
Choline	318 mg	425–550 mg
Vitamin D	4.4 mcg	15 mcg

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy values for every ingredient by weight. Targets from Harvard’s Nutrition Source pages on calcium, choline and vitamin D; magnesium from MedlinePlus; fiber from the National Academies DRI report.

The day hits calcium and fiber without dairy, grains or legumes, thanks to sardines and dark greens. It still falls short on choline and vitamin D, the two nutrients to discuss with your clinician or dietitian. For more on non-dairy calcium and vitamin D, see the paleo nutrient gaps guide.

Who should not try the AIP diet?

AIP is restrictive enough that some people should skip it or only do it under close supervision:

Anyone with a history of disordered eating.
Children, teens, and people who are pregnant or breastfeeding, whose nutrient needs are higher.
People who are underweight or losing weight unintentionally, including many with active IBD.
Anyone who would stop or delay prescribed treatment. AIP is an add-on, never a replacement.

Talk to your doctor before starting, especially if you take immunosuppressants, thyroid medication or steroids, and consider working with a registered dietitian. MedlinePlus has an overview of autoimmune disease treatment options to discuss with your care team.

Common AIP mistakes

Staying in elimination indefinitely. Months of elimination without reintroduction raise the risk of nutrient gaps and don’t teach you anything new.
Reintroducing several foods at once. You won’t know which one caused a reaction.
Forgetting hidden seeds and nightshades. Paprika, chili powder, mustard and generic “spices” on labels often break the rules.
Replacing eggs and nuts with nothing. Plan for choline, magnesium and calcium from fish, greens and sweet potatoes.
Judging success by labs you didn’t take. Track symptoms and ask your doctor which markers are worth rechecking.

Frequently asked questions about the AIP diet

What can you eat on the AIP diet?

During elimination you can eat meat, poultry, fish and seafood, organ meats, non-nightshade vegetables such as leafy greens, squash, sweet potatoes and cucumbers, fruit, olive, avocado and coconut oils, bone broth, fermented vegetables, herbs, and small amounts of honey or maple syrup. Eggs, nuts, seeds, nightshades, grains, legumes, dairy, coffee and alcohol are out.

How long should you stay on the AIP elimination phase?

Most guidance suggests about 4–6 weeks, sometimes a few months, before starting reintroduction. The clinical studies used a 6-week elimination phase. If you see no improvement by then, talk with your dietitian or doctor rather than staying on the elimination diet longer.

Does the AIP diet work for Hashimoto’s?

In one small uncontrolled study of 16 women with Hashimoto’s, a 10-week coaching program built on AIP improved symptoms and quality of life substantially and lowered hs-CRP by 29%, but thyroid hormone levels and thyroid antibodies did not change. It may help some people feel better; it does not replace thyroid medication.

What is the difference between AIP and paleo?

AIP starts from paleo and removes more: eggs, nuts, seeds, nightshade vegetables, seed-based spices, coffee, alcohol and additives. Paleo is meant as a long-term way of eating, while AIP is a temporary elimination and reintroduction process to identify individual trigger foods.

Which foods should you reintroduce first on AIP?

There’s no single correct order. Common approaches are to start with the foods you miss most or the most nutritious ones, such as egg yolks, seed-based spices, and nuts and seeds. Test one food at a time over 5–7 days so you can link any reaction to that food.

Your next step: plan week one before you start

Before day one, write a simple 7-day menu from the AIP-friendly list, stock bone broth, canned sardines and salmon, and set a date for your first reintroduction. For recipes, start with the autoimmune paleo recipes and the soups on this site, and use the paleo diet food chart as your base list, crossing off the AIP exclusions.

This article is for general information and isn’t a substitute for advice from your doctor, gastroenterologist, endocrinologist or a registered dietitian who knows your health history.

AIP Diet Guide: The Autoimmune Protocol Food List, Phases and What the Studies Show