Taking on Full Autoimmune Paleo Protocol and dealing with a possible Herxheimer reaction

Feeling pretty good on this fourth day without prednisone. I have a few lesions, nothing major. But I do have quite a bit of thrush, which is odd. It’s nearly covering my entire tongue. This usually doesn’t happen unless I’m having a bad flare. The thrush on its own isn’t painful, just annoying. And I’m thinking it may be a reaction to detox, since I’ve been really strict on AIP the last few days. The last time I experienced thrush like this (without a bad flare) was when I did a 3 day juice cleanse. “Fuzzy tongue” is a pretty common side effect of detoxing. I think it has something to do with toxins released as bad bacteria and yeasts in the body die off. I’m surprised that this would happen to me, since AIP isn’t a huge jump from what I was already eating. But I guess it’s possible that nuts, seeds, eggs, and nightshades really were wrecking havoc in my system. I hope that’s the case, because it would mean I’ve found another big piece of the puzzle. Nuts, seeds, and eggs were also the mediums through which I ingested quite a bit of sugar (dates/honey) in the form of grain-free baked goods and (my favorite treat ever) date/nut “cookie dough” balls. Those changes may be starving the baddies in my gut of the sugar they thrive on. That would elicit some die-off, and might help explain the thrush.

I’ve gone full-AIP now. So in addition to the typical Paleo restrictions (no grains, legumes, or dairy) I’ve also eliminated nuts, seeds, eggs, and nightshades (tomatoes, eggplant, peppers). So what I DO eat is lots of fruit and vegetables, grass-fed beef, organic chicken (I don’t have access to pastured chicken right now), humanely raised pork, all with no nitrates/nitrites or preservatives, and now I CAN’T eat any pre-seasoned sausages, hot dogs, jerky, or deli meats since they almost always use spices derived from nightshades (like paprika). I am also eating lots of fish. I found some great BPA free and wild caught canned tuna and salmon. Plus, to avoid losing weight on this diet, I’m including lots of healthy fats: extra virgin coconut oil, ghee, extra virgin olive oil (not for cooking, though- olive oil deteriorates quickly at high temps and becomes inflammatory and toxic). I’m hoping to work in some healthy animal fats from good sources (like lard) for cooking, but I haven’t tracked down those sources yet. And I’m not about to use conventional lard from the grocery store. Yuk!

PUMPKIN SOUP with COCONUT SOUR CREAM
I blended a can of organic, BPA free pumpkin purée with some homemade bone broth (chicken stock) and a clove of garlic, in the vita-mix for about 7 minutes until it got hot. Super easy. The coconut sour cream is actually homemade coconut yogurt, but the taste works perfectly for this. I mixed the coconut cream from 3 refrigerated cans of organic coconut milk with a powdered kefir starter and left it in my oven with the light on for 24 hours. The oven is off during this process, but the light creates enough heat to facilitate the culturing activity of the probiotics. Once it’s refrigerated again, it’s thick, creamy, and tangy, and LOADED with probiotics. Blended with something sweet, it tastes like yogurt. On something savory, it tastes like sour cream. Either way, it’s delicious.

That same coconut sour cream/yogurt worked beautifully in this tuna salad. I also mixed in some raw sauerkraut, making this dish a probiotic powerhouse. I would’ve loved to add some olives, but my daughter has decided that she doesn’t like them and we were sharing.

These are allergy-free breakfast cookies from the Against All Grain cookbook. Bananas, applesauce, dates, coconut flour, plus dried fruits and spices. Good stuff.

Applegate beef slices wrapped around my homemade fermented carrot sticks. Yum! And more probiotics! Now that I’m thinking about all the probiotics I’ve been eating, that could be another explanation for the Herxheimer (die-off) symptoms. Hopefully the good guys are crowding out the bad guys in my belly.

Smoothie time! A banana, coconut milk (leftover from all that coconut cream), frozen blueberries, and 2 huge handfuls of spinach. Alongside some Applegate turkey slices, it makes for a satisfying AIP breakfast.

The turkey slices do contain carrageenan, which weirds me out. But it’s certainly healthier than most other super-convenient protein options, and it doesn’t contain any nightshade spices, so I’m not going to worry about it for now.