Proteases are a group of many kinds of a digestive enzyme that helps us digest and break apart proteins. Why consider them? Because, they do contain small amounts of protease inhibitors. Ballantyne does note in The Paleo Approach that if you aren’t experiencing obvious improvement using AIP, you might consider these small seeds. Foods like berries, kiwis, watermelon, pomegranate, cucumber, zucchini, and even bananas or plantains are not a problem, mainly because we don’t really chew these seeds. This is often an area of concern for folks trying to carefully comply with the elimination phase of AIP. Verdict: Gluten-free vanilla extract (alcohol will cook off), grain-free, sugar-free vanilla powder, and possibly fresh vanilla bean scrapings are elimination-phase legal.įruits & Vegetable-like Fruits with Seeds In some cases, those in the AIP community use the seeds scrapped from the inside of a vanilla bean, since they can be consumed without chewing them, like many of the seeds in elimination-friendly fruits (more on that below). This allowed for gluten-free vanilla extract (where the alcohol will cook off, so best for hot-preparation recipes) or grain-free, sugar-free vanilla powder (which works for cold preparation recipes). Sarah Ballantyne (in her book, The Paleo Approach) that vanilla bean, along with other fruit or berry-derived spices, should be avoided during elimination phase, because the seeds of these plants are ground up with the spice. In fact, some of us who started the protocol in those early days never eliminated vanilla at all, as it was not mentioned. Back in the way back, when AIP was first coming on the scene, vanilla was not mentioned as a food to eliminate, it just rested in a no-man’s land. Okay, before we get started on this one, let it be known that this is a nit-picky area of the protocol. Verdict: Coffee and chocolate are NOT elimination-phase legal. While caffeine consumption is best kept low on AIP, it is not the basis for food eliminations. It is also not because of caffeine content. Seeds contain protective compounds that can be awfully tough on our systems. Coffee and chocolate are misleadingly referred to as beans, but they are actually seeds. It is not because they are “beans” and legumes are out. Most people know that coffee and chocolate are eliminated initially on AIP, but the “why” is a source of confusion. We’ll try to clarify and clear up the mysteries! And, if you have ideas for future posts about other foods you aren’t sure about, leave me a comment. Read on to get all the deets on “tricky” AIP foods. That being said, we only promote authors, products, and services that we wholeheartedly stand by!Īre there any foods that make you go “hmmm” while following the AIP? I decided it was time to start compiling answers to these often confusing foods all in one place. In order to support our blogging activities, we may receive monetary compensation or other types or remuneration for our endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this blog.