Marie-Noelle Marquis (00:06):
Welcome to the AIP Summit Podcast, your go-to resource for taking control of your autoimmune health, presented by AIP Certified Coaches. Hi, I'm Marie-Noelle Marquis.
Jaime Hartman (00:16):
And I'm Jaime Hartman. And we're here to equip you with the tools knowledge and support you need to effectively use the autoimmune protocol.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (00:24):
And today we're talking about one of the most misunderstood meals on the autoimmune protocol. Breakfast. Yeah, the one meal that can set the tone for your energy, your mood, your cravings, and even your inflammation levels. So grab your mug of bone broth or herbal tea and let's get into it.
Jaime Hartman (00:44):
While breakfast might seem like a simple topic, there's actually a lot to discuss Today we'll go over why breakfast is a non-negotiable on AIP. We'll talk about some of the common breakfast mistakes on AIP and how to fix them. We'll talk about how protein, fat and carbs each play unique roles in autoimmune health, and we'll also share some tips and resources for building a balanced, satisfying, and doable AIP breakfast routine. But before we dive into all of that though, perhaps we should take a second to talk about why people starting AIP have such a difficult time with breakfast.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (01:20):
Yes, and it's probably because the elimination phase of AIP eliminates grains and dairy and eggs, all of which are staple components of many people's typical breakfasts. Once those are not options, it can definitely feel like there's nothing left to eat,
Jaime Hartman (01:40):
But of course we know that there still are lots of things you could eat even without grains, dairy, or eggs, but we'll get to that later. Let's start with why breakfast matters so much, particularly if you're in the elimination phase of AIP.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (01:55):
Absolutely, and I'm really glad that we're exploring this topic today because this is the number one question I get asked by my clients, what can I have for breakfast? And unfortunately I think many people who like the resources, we'll just skip breakfast altogether and as we'll discuss today, that might not be the best idea. So one thing to remember is that the entire autoimmune protocol is about implementing dietary and lifestyle habits to lower inflammation, heal your gut and regulate our immune system. And how and when you choose to break your fast truly plays a role in all three of those. For instance, cortisol is naturally higher in the morning, even more so if you've balanced your circuited rhythm and waiting too long or skipping breakfast can push your blood sugar instability, mood swings and immune dysregulation that will actually last all day. My chef and I at Urban AIP, we recently both got continuous glucose monitors just to take a peek at how our blood sugar was behaving throughout the day and she noticed right away that if she skipped breakfast, no matter how well she did food wise the rest of the day she just could not keep her blood sugar in range.
(03:06):
She was battling highs and lows all day. Now while occasional cortisol is actually anti-inflammatory, chronic cortisol output has the complete opposite effect and it will lead to a lot of inflammation. So if you do skip that breakfast, you are forcing your body to kick in more cortisol to source its energy and that in itself will lead to sustained inflammation throughout your body throughout your day.
Jaime Hartman (03:30):
Another aspect to consider is gut health. While we're sleeping, we're fasting and that is giving our body a chance to repair our tissues, including the lining of our gut. But when it comes time to break that fast, it's not just about do I feel hungry or not, it's also about feeding your microbiome. We have millions of microorganisms in our gut and they play crucial roles in optimizing every system in the body, including balancing our immune system. 70 to 80% of our immune system is actually located in our gut. So making a point to bring some fiber into our breakfast to feed our microbiome is really important. And breakfast is also the time where your gut might be at its peak when it comes to its ability to absorb nutrients because it's had that long resting phase leading up to it. So making nutrient dense choices will deeply impact how the rest of our day will go. Another thing about that cortisol is that it's a stress hormone and we know that stress impairs our ability to digest and absorb nutrients properly. So if we start our day purposefully creating that stress wave in our body, it will often dictate our ability to absorb our nutrients later at lunch and at dinner, which might be why your chef was noticing that blood sugar imbalance throughout the day prioritize eating a nutrient dense blood sugar stabilizing breakfast will definitely help create a solid metabolic foundation for your day.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (05:01):
Jaime, you're bringing up stress. And as our listeners know, stress management is part of the pillars of the autoimmune protocol and it doesn't have to be taking time to go to a yoga session to reduce stress. Something as basic as feeding our body can have just as strong sometimes even more of an impact, right? So when you eat first thing, your body knows it's safe. When the body doesn't feel food safe, whether it's due to undereating, poor nutrients, quality or irregular meals, it can trigger a stress response and keeping cortisol elevated in the immune system on high alert. So eating breakfast basically tells your body, your immune system that it can stand down. I like the analogy, imagine that our immune system is a hypervigilant security guard, and if you start your day underfed and stressed, that security guard starts patrolling more aggressively overreacting to everything. But if a solid breakfast is eaten in the morning, then you're basically telling that security guard, Hey, we're good, we've got resources and we're safe, and then he can relax.
Jaime Hartman (06:13):
I love that relaxed security guard. That's right. So don't skip breakfast. I'd say that's a very common mistake I see as well. And if you're just getting started and maybe eating in the morning is hard, maybe you haven't gotten your sleep well balanced yet, so try having just a cup of bone broth. Bone broth is really nutrient dense. It has beneficial nutrients for your gut and it will help rehydrate your body. The warmth of it is also soothing, but also drinking hot beverages in the morning contributes to boosting your energy levels, so that could help you get over that need for a cup of coffee as well if you're trying to break that. For some it can even provide a more positive and a less anxious start to the day Mar Noel, other than just not eating in the morning, what other common breakfast mistakes do you see people making on AIP?
Marie-Noelle Marquis (07:04):
I think going too light, just fruit for example, that'd be another one. Like fruits are carbohydrates and even though they're healthy carbohydrates without fat or protein, it can definitely and probably will lead to a crash, right? So pairing your fruit with even coconut yogurt and that cup of bone broth that you mentioned could just be a quick way to provide something more balanced. We can also replace the fruit bowl with a sweet potato hash greens, sausage patties to elevate it and be much more nourishing. Yeah, I would say going to something that I see often. What other mistakes can you think of?
Jaime Hartman (07:47):
Well, I wouldn't say that this is a mistake exactly, but more of a habit that can lead to someone just getting burnt out on their AIP breakfast and that's getting stuck in just eating dinner for breakfast leftovers can be a really convenient way to source our breakfast on AIP and it's something I do recommend people try, but breakfast doesn't have to feel like another dinner if you're really not in the mood for dinner foods at breakfast, there are a lot of AIP recipe blogs out there and it might be worth testing some of those recipes out maybe on the weekend when you know you'll have a little bit more time to experiment. You can make and you can batch cook things like AIP breakfast sausages. You could make little mini AIP frittata that are veggie based. Also things like an AIP porridge made with tiger nut flour or plantain.
(08:37):
Many of us are used to the idea of spending a little more time with breakfast on the weekend. So you could take that opportunity to plan your breakfast and batch cook them on the weekend to eat during the week, and that will really set you up for success. And just as a side note, while we're thinking about breakfast, I'm a really big fan of soup for breakfast soup's, actually a traditional breakfast food for a lot of cultures throughout the world, both present and historical. Now they aren't necessarily making that soup from scratch first thing in the morning though in these traditions, especially in the past, it was that a pot of bones and other scraps was simmering overnight on a fire that was tended throughout the night to keep the family warm. So soup for breakfast was sort of a natural way to connect these two vital needs at the same time. Obviously today our world is really different than that, but you could definitely plan ahead and make a big batch of soup and then refrigerate it or freeze it in individual breakfast ready portions to be heated up and eaten even on a busy morning.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (09:40):
I love that even when we're talking about the bone broth and your leftovers, maybe add a little bit of the meat and veggies from my before to your bone broth and then you can quickly make a soup. But I love that idea. I'm going to do that tomorrow morning. So what do you think? If I find a breakfast item that works for me, Jaime, can I eat it every day?
Jaime Hartman (10:08):
I say yes. For the other meals of the day, I would still strongly encourage you to eat a variety of different types of foods and flavors, but it's totally natural and normal to seek some comfort and familiarity for breakfast. So yeah, it's totally okay if you get into a breakfast routine and you eat the same thing day after day until you feel like changing it up. I know I kind of get into patterns like that where I have a go-to breakfast and then one day I'm like, ah, don't want that anymore. I switch it out for something else. But of course that's assuming that your go-to breakfast is providing you with the micronutrients and the macronutrients that you need. Eating a balanced breakfast is key. And actually that's making me realize that some of our listeners might not be clear on what that means. So maybe we should talk about the macronutrients and what each one does for the autoimmune body.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (10:57):
Yeah, that's a great point. So there's three macronutrients. There're protein, fats and carbohydrates as far as what they do for us. If we start with protein, that's what I refer to as the repair crew. The whole idea of eating high protein meals to build muscles. It's not just to get buff proteins get broken down into amino acids and they're literally the building blocks for our tissues. They not only rebuild our tissues, they will also support our ability to detox and build neurotransmitters. Therefore they improve brain fog and overall mood as well. I often say that when you have an autoimmune disease, we have a similar protein needs in my opinion as an athlete would, especially in the beginning or when we're in a flare, our body is potentially attacking and breaking down tissues. And if you've been struggling with symptoms for a long time, it's actually going to take some time to a lot of building material I'd say to repair you.
(12:02):
So you need a lot of those proteins. I personally recommend at least 1.2 to two grams of protein per kilograms of body weight per day for healing and maintenance. Another thing is that we talk about healing chronic leaky gut, so that will also require protein to strengthen and mend the damage to our gut lining. And protein doesn't just deliver nutrients, it actually also helps your body become better at absorbing and using the nutrients you eat. So for AIP, AIP friendly sources, try to prioritize pasture raised, grass fed, grass finished meats if you can. Wild caught fish and seafood and organ meat. Jaime, what about fat?
Jaime Hartman (12:47):
Well, fat is of course also a crucial macro. It's a hormone helper and an anti-inflammatory ally. I can think of it as the do it all. Macro nutrient fat is essential also to absorb fat-soluble vitamins like vitamins A, D, E, and K, and it supports brain health. It helps slow down the absorption of glucose and stabilizes your blood sugar and you need fat to make hormones. For example, cortisol as well as all of our sex hormones depend on cholesterol to be manufactured. There are also hormone like substances that the body creates specifically from Omega-3 and omega six fatty acids that help regulate inflammation, regulate immune responses, blood flow, and even things like pain. So many, many benefits and all things that we need to help us mitigate autoimmune symptoms. Now the best AIP sources of fat are going to be things like avocado, olives and olive oil, coconut, coconut oil, animal fats, particularly from those really high quality clean sources that we talked about before. Now what about carbohydrates?
Marie-Noelle Marquis (14:02):
Those are bad and get rid of all of them. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Somebody just stops the episode right there. Carbs are your gut supporter and your cortisol soother. So do not fear the carbs, especially Whole foods. One, they provide fuel for short-term energy and help keep cortisol in check in the whole food form. They contain a lot of fiber, which are a key to a healthy, resilient and balanced gut microbiome as well. And brain health too, in a sense. By nourishing our microbiome. Carbs help reinforce neurotransmitters pathways. There's about 90 to 95% of serotonin. It's actually made in the gut. So this connection is especially important in the context of autoimmune health and mental wellbeing. And carbs will actually help tryptophan, which is an amino acid derived from protein being broken down and is the precursor to serotonin. So actually help tryptophan cross the blood-brain barrier and serotonin we know makes us feel happy. It helps us sleep better, it makes us more resilient to stress. So sort of a full circle loop here. So again, do not fear the carbs and prioritize quality over quantity for great AIP carbs. Think things like sweet potatoes, plantains, squash, berries, tiger nut also a good source.
Jaime Hartman (15:29):
So I want to repeat that because it's just so important. Do not fear carbs. When you start the elimination phase of AIP, you do cut out most of the common sources of carbohydrate in the standard diet. In fact, some people use the word carb as a synonym for bread, potatoes, pasta, and grains in general. But when you hear an AIP Certified Coach talking about carbs or carbohydrates, we're using it in the scientific sense and we are always going to be encouraging you to make sure you are still consuming adequate amounts of car carbohydrate. Now, earlier I mentioned batch cooking on the weekend and that it can give you the perfect opportunity to explore new AIP breakfast ideas. I also wanted to mention if you're looking for nutrient dense breakfast and you don't have time to cook, you can find some great options with urban AIP both in their plated individual meal options and their grab and go mau. Well tell us about those.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (16:28):
Yeah, of course. So Urban AIP is a food company that I founded and it offers AIP compliant organic meals and pantry items that are designed to be super convenient and they're delivered right to or anywhere in the us. So we offer plated individual breakfast plates with all the macros that we've discussed. And we have our newest release, which I'm really excited about, and it's our AIP breakfast meat buns, which is basically, basically it takes your fat, veggies, carbs, protein, and wrap it all together in one delicious convenient little button. We have four flavors and they pair perfectly with a cup of bone broth for a quick and incredibly healing and nourishing breakfast option. That's whether you are actually on the AIP or not. Also, I want to bring up other ways to support yourself as you're transitioning, right? If you feel you do need extra support and guidance on your AIP journey, AIP Certified Coaches are an incredible resource and making sure that you are getting the support you need from someone that's certified in the protocol is really, really important. There are lots of lot of myths online when it comes to AIP and if you're already taking that step to bring AIP into your healing journey, it's a huge step, right? You deserve to get the correct information that will really help you on that. And if you're not sure where to find an AIP Certified Coach, you can check the AIP Certified Coach directory to find someone that's near you and we'll post the link in the show notes also, Jaime, would you like to add anything about resources that you offer?
Jaime Hartman (18:03):
Yes. Thank you. If listeners are interested in some structured support for moving through the elimination and reintroduction process of AIP while incorporating some of the lifestyle pieces, they might be interested in my signature program, which is called Ready Set AIP. And I now have that set up with rolling enrollment. So that means that you can start any time, you don't need to wait for a specific date or to start with a group. I also want to put in a plug to remind listeners to check out the other AIP summit programming. We have the annual summit held every year in January and then we rebroadcast it seasonally, plus monthly webinars featuring AIP Certified Coaches and other special events throughout the year. It's a great place to get support along the way. You can go to AIP Summit dot com to see our upcoming events and to sign up for our newsletter so you don't miss anything. And speaking of the AIP summit, before we wrap things up today, we thought it would be nice to share a clip from our archives to give you some breakfast ideas. It's a small portion of a session that was presented by our fellow AIP Certified Coach, Doris Rabey back in 2022. We'll provide a link to download the recipes that she's demonstrating in the show notes. So if you are enticed to make one or more of the tasty dishes she's demonstrating, you can do that.
Doris Rabe (19:22):
Tiger nut porridge can be eaten warm or cold. So a handful of tiger nuts in water overnight drain the next morning and blitz in a food processor stop before it's turning into a tiger nut flour. You still want some crunch if you eat it unheated, it's more like a granola, but if you heat it up, it turns into a very filling porridge just at milk substitute of your choice. Let it simmer for 10 minutes and enjoy the stewed apples or fresh berries and some coconut yogurt. For the pear cauli porridge, all you need is roundabout a cup of cauliflower rice, a cup of finely chopped pear, one tablespoon shredded coconut, one teaspoon ground cinnamon, a cup of coconut milk, a pinch of salt, and some maple syrup of desired. Put all the ingredients into a saucepan steer to combine and bring to the boil, reduce heat to a medium low cover and let some for approximately 15 minutes, enjoy with some stewed apples, berries, and sprinkle with cinnamon tapioca is a starch extracted from the cassava root.
(20:25):
You might know it as a flour, but it can also be bought as pearls. This is a very simple version of tapioca porridge and there's loads of room for you to experiment with your choice of liquid, the flavors, the consistency, and so on. Put the liquid, the sweetener of choice in this case, half a mashed banana and spices into a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium lu. Steer in the tap, yuca pearls and simmer for about five to 15 minutes. That really depends on the size of the pearls steering frequently. Then take the sauce pin of the heat and pour the porridge into bowls. Top up with the other half of the banana and some berry sauce. Put the berry sauce. Just eat up a cup of frozen berries, spring through the boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. You can prepare double portions and store in the fridge so that you can create tasty breakfast options throughout the week.
(21:21):
Can you hear this? This is the sound of a freshly baked waffle. This recipe is so simple. It was inspired by BondwithHealth.com and this is how it goes. All you need is some cassava and arrow root flour, baking soda, shredded carrots, pinch of salt, some apple cider vinegar, avocado or melted coconut oil and full fat coconut milk. Mix the dry ingredients first, then mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl before you add them to the dry ingredients. Mix well and let rest for a few minutes. Meanwhile, grease your waffle iron and switch it on. Add better to the center of your waffle maker and cook for a few minutes. How long it takes? Depends on your waffle maker. Mine needs just five minutes. Make a batch and free some waffles. They can be reheated in the toaster. Waffles go well with anything sweet, but even better with anything savory or both. We love our waffles with homemade liver parties, some salad leaves and blueberries. And if we have visitors around, we like to serve waffles with bacon and maple syrup. Waffles are great bread substitute. They're very versatile and love by young and old alike. It's a true, I think I have another one.
(22:47):
This recipe serves two small tummies or one grownup tummy. So for the banana pancake, you need large rip banana, some cassava and tiger nut flour, coconut milk, olive oil, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground turmeric, pinch of salt, and some cider vinegar. Mix all ingredients, well heat some coconut oil in a non-stick pen over medium heat and cook a few small pancakes for approximately three or four minutes per side. Serve with topping of your choice, sweet or savory. There's of course, nothing wrong with the salad for breakfast. There's so many options here. Look at this. Isn't that a beauty? So what I've used here is half a grapefruit, some pickled red onions. I come back to a pickled red onions later, half a kiwi and a handful of salad leaves. Add some protein of choice, for instance, fish or chicken, some which leftovers and some dried herbs. If it can't, keep in mind a salad without oil is missed opportunity. You really need the oil to help your body avail of the nutrients in the salad.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (24:06):
We hope this episode has been helpful in communicating to you the importance of breakfast on AIP and that it is one of the first ways to tell your body, Hey, I got your back. So show up for your immune system, your energy and your healing process.
Jaime Hartman (24:20):
And remember, AIP is not just a diet, but a protocol with multiple branches. And there are multiple ways to approach it. And through this podcast, AIP Certified Coaches bring you resources so that you don't have to do AIP alone.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (24:34):
We'll be back with another podcast episode in two weeks. So make sure you subscribe to the AIP Summit Podcast in your favorite podcast player if you have not already, so you don't miss it.
Jaime Hartman (24:43):
And if you'd like to leave us a rating and a review, it would help others find this podcast where we are committed to helping you use the power of the autoimmune protocol to elevate your wellness journey to new heights. The AIP Summit Podcast is a Gutsy By Nature production. Content presented is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
