AIP & Paleo Simple Apple Cider

This AIP and paleo simple apple cider recipe is sure to add some festive and delicious flair to your autumnal celebrations. I love waking up to the smell of a fresh batch of cider finishing in the slow cooker. It just smells like fall to me- cloves, cinnamon, and apples, with a hint of citrus. Ah, pure autumn perfection!

Why I Created this AIP and Paleo Simple Apple Cider Recipe

I have spent most of my life living in a fog- not totally here, but not anywhere really in particular either, other than completely wrapped up in work and what I needed to do. And then there was one day I found myself without a job, without plans, and without anything that very obviously needed to be done. Feeling like a lost puppy for months in this place, my aunt and uncle invited me to visit their home for the first time as an adult by myself without my parents. I remember it was autumn and the leaves were just gorgeous in peak foliage. The windows were open the whole weekend and we sat outside and talked, enjoyed seasonal foods, and just drove around soaking up the beauty of the season. This weekend away visiting family was one of my first breaths of air, and I fell in love with fall way before it was ever basic.

I eagerly await autumn all year and soak up as much as I can of the season, and since that meant staying home a lot more than usual during the pandemic, I started to play around with seasonal foods. After some research and trial and error, I present to you my simple apple cider recipe.

What is AIP?

AIP stands for the Autoimmune Protocol, which is a set of dietary guidelines crafted to support people with autoimmune conditions by reducing inflammation and regulating the immune system. Autoimmune conditions occur when the body’s immune system begins attacking the body instead of defending it. The protocol removes the most common foods that trigger inflammation in the body to allow the body to settle for a few months before reintroducing each food one at a time to identify a person’s individual triggers. The Paleo Mom has a great in-depth guide on AIP if you’re curious to learn more.

For me, I’ve had off and on concerns for years regarding my thyroid creating antibodies to attack itself. This type of autoimmune condition is called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and it is diagnosed based on a blood work for a full thyroid panel, although there are symptoms that go along with it including fatigue, weight gain/lack of weight loss, constipation, cold intolerance, depression, and hair loss to name a few. If any of this resonates with you, I recommend checking out Dr. Izabella Wentz’s work supporting people with Hashimoto’s.

Because of my thyroid, I’ve utilized AIP multiple times over the years, and while it’s never been enjoyable, it’s always been helpful for me. My body prefers to eat a higher fat, lower carb diet- that’s what my brain runs on best and how my body prefers to make energy- but lower carb AIP is rather restrictive. In my experience, however, it’s been able to help my thyroid stabilize each time I’ve gone AIP.

I love this AIP apple cider recipe because I know I can have it every fall regardless if I’m in an AIP cycle or just doing my regular whole food, paleo thing. It’s one treat I never have to give up.

What is Paleo?

The paleo diet is all about eating real foods which includes animal proteins like beef, chicken, lamb, eggs, fish, and other seafood; fruits and vegetables; and nuts and seeds. The philosophy behind the paleo diet is that our bodies aren’t calibrated to eat modern processed foods, but instead eat more like our ancestors ate, hence why it’s called the paleo diet, as in paleolithic. Basically, eating a paleo diet is about prioritizing real foods and removing processed food, dairy and grains from the diet. It is inherently gluten-free and anti-inflammatory, as processed food is inflammatory for everyone and grains can be inflammatory for people.

I chose to shift to the paleo diet around in 2013 after learning how what I ate impacted how I felt. A friend helped me start a traditional body building cutting diet and I felt strong, focused, and energized for the first time. I grew interested in nutrition from this experience and picked up a book on paleo eating from the library. From the moment I tried it, I was hooked.

Not only did I feel differently, but I liked the idea that I was providing my body with what I needed to thrive. In the early years, I was a lot more lenient and would occasionally choose food that didn’t fit the paleo parameters (anyone remember the cheat day culture? Whew, that one did a number on me!), but I grew tired of feeling bad afterwards. I was ready to live without the irritability, digestive issues, fuzzy thinking, and lethargy I always felt when I ate processed food.

It’s been easy for me to keep it going and make it a way of life because I focus on what the paleo diet gives me instead of everything I’m giving up. Yes, I gave up traditional desserts, fast food, eating at most restaurants and gatherings, but I gained my health and vitality, energy, focus, and compassion for nourishing and nurturing my body. For me, it has been entirely worth it.

Here’s a great site to learn more about the paleo diet if you’re curious! And this recipe is a great option for paleo apple cider! I’ve never had a friend or family member express a need for added sugar in this recipe!

Why should I use organic apples?

Organic apples are essential for this simple apple cider recipe. Listen, quality matters, especially when it comes to food. Organic apples will have less pesticides on them, which is a plus right there. For this simple apple cider recipe, you’re going to soak the apples in hot water for eight hours, which will lead to all of those pesticides in non-organic apples to leach into the water, which will become your cider. Yuck. No, thanks! Buy organic and thank me later!

AIP & Paleo Simple Apple Cider Recipe

Ingredients

• 10 organic honey crisp apples
• 1 orange
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 teaspoon of whole cloves
• 8 cups of filtered water

Supplies

• Wooden cutting board
• Knife
• 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon
• Crock pot

Steps

1. Cut apples into quarters, removing seeds and pieces of the core as you go.
2. Cut orange into quarters.
3. Fill crock pot with 8 cups of filtered water and turn it on the low setting for 8 hours.
4. Place the quartered apples and orange into the crock pot.
5. Add in the four cinnamon sticks and half teaspoon of cloves to the crock pot.
6. Stir occasionally while cooking.
7. When 8 hours have passed, remove the cinnamon sticks, squash the apples, and drain the cider from the apple flesh through a sieve. Feel free to save the apple flesh for applesauce. If making applesauce, I remove the orange and cloves from the mix, but that’s just my preference.

And there you have it! A yummy, no sugar added simple apple cider!

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