I am very passionate about educating people on how to manage autoimmune disease with diet and lifestyle changes.  This is because of my own personal battles with autoimmune disease and my struggle to find more information about the paleo diet Autoimmune Protocol.  When I first started trying to understand the rationale behind the extra dietary restrictions behind the autoimmune protocol, there was virtually no information out there either on the web or in any of the paleo resource books in print at the time.  It was my frustration over the lack of information readily available and my desperate need for that information to help me manage my own autoimmune disease that has compelled me to write so many posts on the topic on my blog.

But, I’m happy to report that there are more resources available now for those with autoimmune disease than when I started on my autoimmune protocol journey a year ago.  I’ve already mentioned the information in Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo (you can read my review of that book here).  And as more and more paleo bloggers are finding themselves having to tackle the autoimmune protocol (or versions of it) for various health reasons (like myself, Stacy of Paleo Parents, Hayley of Food Lover’s Kitchen, Mel of The Clothes Make The Girl, and Allison of Paleo Non Paleo), more and more bloggers are posting autoimmune protocol-friendly recipes and AIP-related information.  However, there is still a deep need for more information, for a guidebook, for food lists and meal plans and supplement guides all of the information all in one place.  The autoimmune disease community needs a Practical Paleo just for them.  The Autoimmune Paleo Plan by Anne Angelone is not this book, but it is a resource that many will find extremely valuable.

The Autoimmune Paleo Plan, A Revolutionary Protocol To Rapidly Decrease Inflammation and Balance Your Immune System by Anne Angelone is an e-book (kindle platform) dedicated to summarizing the paleo diet autoimmune protocol, listing important lifestyle factors and supplements, and guiding those with autoimmune disease through this powerful approach to mitigate disease.

Anne Angelone is a licensed acupuncturist and functional medicine practitioner with a history of ankylosing spondylitis.  Her practice is called Expanding Qi (also on Facebook and Twitter) based in San Francisco, California.  She is registered both in the Paleo Physician’s Network and Primal Docs.  Anne also offers a teleclass starting to help individuals get oriented in starting a 30-day Autoimmune Paleo Diet challenge.

In The Autoimmune Paleo Plan, Anne walks the reader through the major rationale behind the autoimmune protocol (and the paleo diet in general in the context of autoimmune disease) with a focus on leaky gut and gut dysbiosis as a contributing factor to autoimmune disease.  Anne also provides a brief explanation of several key immune regulators and lists botanicals and supplements that can help support these systems.

The Autoimmune Paleo Plan includes a concise (yet complete) list of Do’s and Don’ts which includes diet change but also important lifestyle factors and recommendations for immune support, digestive support and detoxification support.  And, she includes what so many people have e-mailed me to request:  food lists!  The Autoimmune Paleo Plan includes food lists in two different formats.  First, is a list of Autoimmune Paleo Plan Foods, broken down into fruits, vegetables, carbs, wild fish, meat, milk and yogurt, fats, coconut, beverages, fermented foods, herbs and spices, sugar substitutes and some others.  She then includes a comprehensive list of foods to eliminate.  This information contained in these two lists is repeated in a beautiful table (appropriately titled “Foods to Include In and Eliminate from the Autoimmune Paleo Plan”) in the back of the book which would provide a great quick reference guide for anyone wondering whether a particular food was “safe”).  Although, I should mention that the food guides to not explicitly separate out how the different vegetables can be problematic for some people (starches for those with SIBO, FODMAPs for those with intolerances, goitrogenic vegetables, etc.) although this information is touched on earlier in the book.

The book also contains 26 basic recipes (plus a detoxification bath recipe!) for some simple foods and beverages that can be eaten on the Autoimmune Paleo Plan.  It should be noted that there are some small differences between the plan that Anne presents in this book and what I present on my site.  For example, The Autoimmune Paleo Plan doesn’t explicitly limit seed-based spices and actually includes spices such as cumin and pepper in her recipes.  Edible fungi (i.e., mushrooms) are also excluded in the Autoimmune Paleo Plan (due to ability to disrupt TH-1 and TH-2, which I am reading up more about for a future post).

One of the most useful sections of this book (in my opinion) is actually the last “Final Thoughts” section that lists botanicals and supplements (as well as some conventional medicine strategies) for supporting various systems, such as reducing bacterial overgrowths, supporting digestion and healing the gut, supporting detoxification and methylation, reducing inflammation, and supporting production of regulatory T-cells [Regulatory T-cells are a type of white blood cells whose job is to control the cellular adaptive immune system by turning off activated helper and killer T-cells.  Regulatory T-cells are known to have diminished numbers  in autoimmune disease.]  Recommended doses of these supplements are not provided and the reader will need to get individual recommendations from a health care professional.

The book is almost completely devoid of illustrations (there are some graphics included in the table in the back of the book), which I think is a shame.  In particular, no recipe photos are included.  However, I want to emphasize that this is an e-book that costs $3.99 from amazon.com.  It may not be the complete guide to the autoimmune protocol that is needed in the autoimmune disease community; but it is a great start.  Who would benefit from this e-book?  I think this book would be helpful for anyone who finds the information on what to eat and what to avoid overwhelming.  Where this book truly shines is in the organized and concise manner that foods are divided into either foods to eat or foods to avoid (although I will again mention that vegetables are not subdivided).  You may also find the lists of botanicals and supplements helpful to give you a starting point for discussions with your health care practitioner.

Where can you find this book?  It is a kindle book available from amazon.com.  Don’t worry, you don’t actually need a kindle to buy and read this book.  Free programs and apps are available for computers, tablets and phones (click here for more information).