I followed the paleo diet pretty strictly for about 10 months without a huge amount of success mast-cell wise. I then tried the autoimmune version for a couple months with some benefits, but nothing life shattering like many of these blogs would have you expect. I also found the autoimmune protocol not easily compatible with my own mast cell needs: many of the recipes rely heavily on foods I REALLY need to be careful with, such as bananas (used frequently in those recipes as a replacement for eggs or other binders), shellfish, fermented veggies, apple cider vinegars, citrus, and so on. I still browse the autoimmune recipes for ideas for things that could work for me, though.

I’ve had the most success starting with the extremely limited diet suggested to me by my mast cell doc and then personalizing it by adding in things I can tolerate. I also avoid grains (even though rice and a few others are on my doctor’s allowed list) and get my staple carbs mostly from starchy veggies like squashes and sweet potatoes, so in that sense I’m drawing from the paleo diet as well, I guess.

Additionally, I’ve found a lot of success by eating all of my calories in a small window of the day. Depending on the day and my schedule, I might have nothing until perhaps 3 PM, and then eat a giant meal or two medium meals in close proximity. This works better for me than a bunch of small meals spaced throughout the day, all of which seem to make my system say “Hey, foreign bodies coming in!” leading to fatigue and fuzziness afterward. Now I just get one bout of food fog rather than several.

But I wouldn’t say not to try paleo/AIP. You never know what might work for you!

It think with MCAD it's often less about the particular protocol and more about you and your own sensitivies and how overloaded you are on any particular day. Can you keep a careful food diary starting with the most basic of foods and gradually add things in and see what happens with each, rather than trying to pick a specific protocol that might not have been designed with your needs in mind?

It is a frustrating process.   But when I feel really limited by the options I try to remind myself that I'm still eating better and with more and fresher options (even out of season) than the most humans in history.

Has your doctor prescribed gastrocrom?

Sending support! Good luck!

Sorry. I meant gastrocrom. Spell checker changed it.