The Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (or AIP) has become extremely popular recently as a dietary approach to manage autoimmune disease. I’ve been aware of the AIP for quite some time, but have been pretty turned off of very restrictive diets for the past few years based on my experiences with GAPS/SCD (and for other reasons as well). But after dealing with several back-to-back flare-ups related to recent treatments I’ve been exploring, I decided to give it a shot.
However, I was a little worried about getting enough carbs on the diet. Most common starchy foods (including potatoes and white rice, two of my staples) are on the “no” list, and AIP proponents usually recommend limiting fruit and sweeteners. That leaves sweet potatoes and plantains as the only familiar sources of dense carbohydrate, with things like squash and parsnips providing lesser (but respectable) amounts of non-starchy carbs.
I personally had a little trouble figuring out how to get enough carbs on the AIP, even with the Internet and my existing nutrition knowledge at my disposal. Granted, this is partially because I personally do better when I include plenty of starchy carbs, so I can’t really rely on veggies like squash and parsnips. And I just don’t love sweet potatoes enough to eat them that every day. Regardless, I’ve since discovered AIP-friendly foods (which I’ll tell you about below!) that fully and easily satisfy my carb needs.
But given how easy it is to default to a very-low-carb diet on the AIP, I really feel like the carb issue should be addressed more frequently and fully by proponents of the diet. (Although maybe it is, and I just missed it!) Of course, many people do really well on lower-carb diets, which is fantastic! But everyone’s needs will be different, and people who are already dealing with the physical and mental stress of chronic illness often do poorly when saddled with the additional physical stress of a low-carb diet.
So my goal with this post is to compile a bunch of information about why carbs are an important consideration when starting the AIP, as well as AIP-friendly food sources and recipes that are more carbohydrate-dense.
How Many Carbs Do You Need?
Being slightly more involved in the AIP community now, I’ve noticed many AIP newbies reporting certain new or worsening symptoms on the AIP, including digestive issues, trouble sleeping, hormone issues, and hair loss.
My friend Laura Schoenfeld does a ton of work with clients who are recovering from eating too few carbs and/or calories for their stress and activity level, and I’ve had my own experiences with low-carb issues on the SCD. So a lot of these issues jumped out at me as potentially being caused or exacerbated by not eating enough carbs.
As I mentioned above, existing stress load plays a huge role in determining how your body will react to a low-carb diet. One reason for this is that cortisol is one of the hormones responsible for promoting gluconeogenesis (the creation of new glucose) when your body is low on stored glucose. If your cortisol levels are already up-regulated due to other stressors, this additional bump in cortisol could lead to or worsen any of the myriad adverse health effects of chronic stress.
I don’t want to get into it too much here, but below I’ve linked some articles and podcasts from Laura and her podcast partner Kelsey…
Is a Low-Carb Diet Ruining Your Health?
When Should You Try A Low Carb Diet?
Higher Carbohydrate Paleo Diets for Hormone Related Health Issues
Is A Paleo Lifestyle Giving You “Adrenal Fatigue”?
How To Adjust Your Macronutrient Percentages When Increasing Carbohydrate Intake
The 3-Step Process to Determining Your Ideal Carbohydrate Intake
…and a couple articles from Chris Kresser…
7 Things Everyone Should Know About Low-Carb Diets
Are You Lower-Carb Than You Think?
…that should explain more about why carbs are important, and help you figure out how many carbs are right for you personally. I’m sure there are many other resources out there to help you answer the carb question for yourself; these are just the ones I was already familiar with. Feel free to link to other helpful resources in the comments!
AIP-Friendly Carb Sources
Now that you have a general idea about how many carbs you should be eating, here are some places to find them! Below are a couple tables I made listing AIP-friendly foods and their carbohydrate content. I included good sources of carbs, as well as foods that people often think are good carb sources, but really aren’t!
The data is all from the USDA Nutrient Database, so hopefully it’s somewhat accurate. And I’ve listed everything in terms of a one-cup serving, because even if you wouldn’t eat, say, an entire cup of blueberries, I find things easier to conceptualize when the physical amount of food stays constant.
Starches and Vegetables
Food | Carbs (grams per 1 cup) |
Yuca (Cassava/Tapioca) | 78 |
Plantain | 62 |
Sweet Potato | 58 |
Malanga | 56 |
Taro | 46 |
Yam (Ñame) | 42 |
Acorn Squash | 30 |
Parsnips | 26 |
Butternut Squash | 22 |
Pumpkin (canned) | 20 |
Beets | 17 |
Carrots | 13 |
Turnips | 12 |
Celeriac | 10 |
Spaghetti Squash | 10 |
Fruits
Food | Carbs (grams per 1 cup) |
Banana | 34 |
Grapes | 27 |
Cherries | 25 |
Pear | 25 |
Mango | 25 |
Pineapple | 22 |
Oranges | 21 |
Blueberries | 21 |
Apple | 17 |
Papaya | 16 |
Honeydew | 16 |
Peaches | 15 |
Raspberries | 15 |
Cantaloupe | 14 |
Strawberries | 13 |
Watermelon | 12 |
A Guide to Unfamiliar Starches
Now, you may be wondering – what on earth is malanga? Or taro? Or ñame? These, along with yuca (aka cassava/tapioca, which you’ve probably heard of) are all carbohydrate-dense starchy tubers that are neutral-tasting, rather than sweet like sweet potatoes. This makes them fantastic potato replacements for those of us on the AIP.
Honestly, having been on this diet for about a month and a half now, I really don’t miss potatoes, aside from how easy they are to find in stores. All of these other tubers are equally satisfying and versatile, and I often find myself liking them even better than potatoes! I used cubed yam (ñame; these are true yams, which are nothing like sweet potatoes, despite common labeling confusion) in a beef stew recently, and it was fantastic. I liked them better than potato, because the cubes had a denser texture and really held their shape, rather than getting grainy or falling apart.
I’ll probably update this post once I have more experience cooking with them, but for now, check out this post from Amanda at The Curious Coconut for an excellent guide to some of these foods!
As far as where to find these things: I’ve found plantains at almost every grocery store (including Walmart), and my local Publix actually has malanga, yuca, and yams, which I was extremely surprised about. But in general, your best bet is going to be ethnic markets.
In the picture at the top of this post, you can see malanga (bottom left), frozen yuca (top left), and green plantains that I found at my local Mexican market, and taro (middle), yam (to the right of the taro), and sweet potato glass noodles from my local Asian market. (Note: The only ingredients in the glass noodles are sweet potato starch and water, but I’m not sure there’s a consensus on the AIP-okayness of them due to questionable labeling standards in other countries. Proceed at your own risk.)
Carb-Tastic AIP Recipe Roundup
Linked below are some recipes featuring these tropical starchy tubers, as well as sweet potato and green plantain. Obviously there are tons of recipes out there, but these are either ones that I’ve tried and liked, or just really caught my eye! I’ll add more as I find them. And again, feel free to share your favorites in the comments!
The Best Paleo Rice Replacement (not cauliflower!) — The Curious Coconut
Mashed Malanga, Taro, or Yuca — The Curious Coconut
Crispy AIP Hashbrowns — The Curious Coconut
Ultra Nourishing Puerto Rican Sancocho — The Curious Coconut
How to Make Puerto Rican Pasteles — The Curious Coconut
Moroccan-Spiced Rice – Grazed and Enthused
Rosemary + Prosciutto Stromboli – Grazed and Enthused
Cinnamon Plantain Fritters – Grazed and Enthused
Sweet Potato Gnocchi – Paleo Pumpkin
Spicy Roasted Sweet Potato and Pineapple Salad – Autoimmune Paleo
AIP Plantain Waffles – Simple & Merry (Note: I’ll be posting a slightly modified version of this recipe soon that has a higher ratio of green plantain to arrowroot, making it a little more whole-food-y)
Now, go forth and carb it up!
Thanks so much for this. I, too, have done poorly on low carb diets and am looking into trying AIP, but want to make sure my carbs don’t slip too low.
So glad it was helpful, Carmel! Best of luck if you try AIP.
Living in Europe it’s impossible to find the carbs u talk about, what then? No rice etc? I mean, this diet cant be only fir those living in countries with these vegetables.
Hi Amaya! Lots of people do AIP with their primary carb sources being sweet potatoes, fruit, winter squash, and other root veggies like beets and carrots that are easy to find. And lots of people just eat fewer carbs in general while following AIP. I didn’t find that either of those approaches worked particularly well for me at the time I wrote this article, which led me to seek out these other options, but that certainly doesn’t mean it’s the only (or best) way to do things! I encourage you to check out thepaleomom.com or autoimmunewellness.com for more resources on AIP.
Hi Amaya, I wanted to respond to you as Amaya is my daughter’s name! Though we probably pronounce it differently (we say a-may-ah not a-my-ah?). Anyway, I’m from the UK and find it hard to find the above too, though I know I could probably find Asian or Carribbean super markets if I traveled far enough. I do as Allyssa suggests and eat the easy to get ones. I’ve been AIP for a year now and fully recommend it for chronic illness. I’ve got to say, I’m getting fed up of sweet potato now. We grate sweet potato and carrot into stir fries, make turnip and root veg chips, swede and celeriac and parsnips are good for stews and mash. We buy plantain chips from Amazon too.I feel better with carbs. I can go low carb at lunch but need carbs ar breakfast and my evening meal. I hope this helps!
Thanks for chiming in, Anny! I’m the same way – I can eat lower carb at lunch, but definitely need carbs at breakfast and dinner to feel my best.
Thank you so much for this!! I found you here after a few nights of poor sleep on AIP Paleo, striving to find the answer!!
Aw you’re welcome Nairi! I hope you find your answer soon! I’m crossing my fingers that adding more carbs helps 🙂
Alyssa Luck Thank you so very much for your list of the carbohydrates that I am allowed to eat. I’ve had gut surgery due to Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and you probably know that I cannot eat grains, pastas and I so needed your above-carb list! I love your carb food list! I can eat these! Yay! Again, THANK YOU!
You’re so welcome Jade! So glad this was helpful to you.
Hey, I thought this helpful.
I’ve started just making cassava flour tortillas for every meal, and that’s been working for me.
Hey Anish! That’s a great idea. Cassava flour makes surprisingly good tortillas.
Thanks for the acknowledgement that, sadly, quite a few of us ultimately can NOT sleep sufficiently on the popular low carb/no carb (indeed, low inflammatory) diets.
I am one of those insomniacs, regrettably.. so much so that I added back a slice of bread w/my dinner (yikes, eh? ).
I would love more detail of “basic prep” of frozen taro/cassava root (must one soak??!! I know native cultures cook/drain/rinse/soak .. as very high goitrogenic?? And oxalates?? Anyone familiar w/primitive cultures approaches?)
Thanks much!
Also, what can I do with tapioca beads?? If I were more confident eggs were my friends tapioca pudding would be a side-dish w/every meal, the cool texture is delectable to my palette.
Keep comments rolling in, people!
PsA, (too) low bmi, 64 yrs F.
PS: sweet potato & cassava flour mini-tortillas are the bomb…
Hi Eugenie,
Thanks for chiming in! Sadly I can’t help with either of your questions – it’s been so long since I did AIP that I can’t for the life of me remember how I prepped the frozen cassava, nor do I have any creative ideas for tapioca beads. But hopefully you’ll be able to find that info elsewhere online! Feel free to report back if you do – it’s so nice having people leave comments with their experiences, since it adds so much additional info and experience to these posts.
Warmly,
Alyssa