For those people with Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis who are following an autoimmune paleo diet, one of the biggest challenges is to find snacks that are autoimmune paleo friendly. And so I figured I’d put together a brief post listing some of snacks that are fine to eat for those who are following an autoimmune paleo diet. This is an incomplete list, but for many people, the snacks I include in this post will make it much easier to follow an autoimmune paleo diet, and of course if you have other AIP-friendly snack suggestions please feel free to share these in the comments section below.
One thing to keep in mind is that while the snacks I have listed below are safe to eat for most people with Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, this doesn’t mean that it’s okay to overindulge in these snacks. It’s easy to eat too many servings of fruits, sweet potato chips, and other snacks. With regards to fruit, I would make sure to eat at least twice as many vegetables as fruits, and in many cases it’s a good idea to limit your consumption to two or three servings of fruit per day.
But how about other snacks such as plaintain chips, sweet potato chips, tiger nuts, etc? This does depend on the person, but in most cases you will want to eat no more than one or two servings per day of these other snacks. I realize this might be challenging to do, but one tip is to divide the snacks into smaller portions every night or morning. So for example, if you purchase a bag of sweet potato chips or coconut flakes and if you eat them directly out of the bag then of course it’s more challenging to keep track of how much you’re eating, and before you know it you might end up eating half the bag. On the other hand, if every night after you eat dinner you take a few minutes to portion your snacks into smaller servings then you are less likely to overindulge.
With that being said, here are nine AIP-friendly snacks:
1. Plaintain chips or crackers
2. Sweet potato chips
3. Kale chips
4. Coconut chips or flakes
5. Unsweetened coconut yogurt
6. Tiger nuts
7. AIP friendly beef jerky
8. Baby carrots and other vegetables
9. Certain fruits (i.e. apple, pear)
Preparing Your Own Snacks vs. Purchasing “Pre-Packaged” Snacks
When it comes to certain snacks such as fruit or baby carrots there shouldn’t be too many questions regarding where to purchase these foods, although I realize that not everyone will have access to organic fruits and vegetables. But other than fruits and veggies, you will have the option of preparing your own snacks, or purchasing pre-packaged snacks. Of course it is always best to prepare your own snacks whenever possible, as this will give you full control over the ingredients. For example, there aren’t too many brands which carry unsweetened coconut yogurt, and most brands that are available have ingredients which might be problematic for some people. On the other hand, I realize that many people would prefer not to prepare their own coconut yogurt.
The same concept applies with other snacks. For example, you of course can prepare your own sweet potato chips, and if you are willing to do this then that’s great. However, there is a brand I recently came across called “Jackson’s Honest [1]” that has sweet potato chips with coconut oil, and there probably are a few other healthier brands that I’m not familiar with. Although I personally don’t like beef jerky, the company “EPIC [2]” has both beef jerky and protein bars which consist of 100% grass fed bison and beef. Just keep in mind that not all of their products are AIP-friendly, as some of them include seeds.
It was only recently that I had the opportunity to try tiger nuts, as I was in a Whole Foods Market in New York that carried the brand Organic Gemini [3]. And so I decided to purchase a bag, and I must admit that I wasn’t crazy about them at first, but after awhile I got used to them, and now I really do enjoy them. Unfortunately, they don’t offer tiger nuts at our local Whole Foods Market in Charlotte NC, but I order them online directly from the company. Not only do I find that they make a good snack, but they are an excellent source of fiber, which is important for anyone following an autoimmune paleo diet, as some of the best sources of fiber (i.e. nuts, seeds, beans) are excluded from an autoimmune paleo diet.
What Is Your Favorite AIP-Friendly Snack?
Please feel free to share your favorite autoimmune paleo-friendly snack in the comments section below. This can be from the list I included in this post, but of course if there are any other snacks you recommend which are AIP-friendly please feel free to share this with everyone as well.