Incredible clinical study into AIP for IBD proves the diet really works

"We did not hypothesize that clinical remission would be achieved so early". This statement from a recent study that put the Paleo autoimmune protocol to the test in patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis is quite remarkable. A gastroenterologist at Scripps was introduced to AIP after witnessing one of her patients with ulcerative colitis make an astonishing recovery using the elimination diet. She decided to put together a study to formally investigate the diet in both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease patients.

Inflammatory bowel disease includes both ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). Like other autoimmune diseases, conventional therapies for IBD typically focus on suppressing the immune system. This has numerous unwanted side effects, including an increased risk for infection, and the efficacy of the drugs is quite variable. In some cases, like that of a family member, surgery to remove of part of the bowel is required.

The Paleo autoimmune protocol (AIP) is a Paleo-type diet, which removes grains, legumes, dairy, refined seed oils, and refined sugar, but also recommends initial removal of eggs, nightshades, coffee, alcohol, nuts, and seeds. It is this diet that I followed to heal from my mental illness.

The results were astonishing:

"Clinical remission was achieved by week 6 by 11/15 (73%) of study participants, and all 11 maintained clinical remission during the maintenance phase of the study."

This study suggests that the Paleo autoimmune protocol can be used as an effective treatment in many patients with IBD and that remission occurs quite rapidly.

This is not news to me, I healed from my illness in just 10 days, however this is the first peer reviewed clinical study into the diet and marks a significant shift from the, as until now, unscientific anecdotal evidence, to a proper scientific basis for the diet.