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When you're on the AIP diet, out and about, and hunger strikes – PANIC! Here are emergency AIP snacks you can get at most grocery stores, Target, Wal-marts, and gas stations.
Hunger on AIP Is Scary!
Imagine it's 2 pm and you're nowhere near your house.
You meant to just go out for the morning to go to this cool convention-style show that was being held by you but you got so caught up in the sights, classes, vendors, and demos that you forgot to leave.
But now it's 2 pm and you're STARVING.
The small snack that you'd brought with you had been eaten hours ago and so unfortunately now you have nothing. Nada. Zilch. No food to eat.
This might not be a problem if you were on a standard American diet and could eat the deep-fried Twinkies that they're selling in the booth next door, but you recently started the Autoimmune Paleo Protocol (AIP Diet) to help find relief from your autoimmune disease symptoms.
Deep-fried Twinkies – and pretty much everything else at the show – is out.
So what do you do?
See also: The ULTIMATE Guide to the AIP Diet – everything you need to know to be successful!
What are your options?
Emergency situations like this are all too common while on the AIP diet.
Any number of reasons could be the cause, but the result is usually the same – a feeling of rising panic.
You work SO hard to eat well and according to the “rules” of the diet when you're at home, and you notice results, but when life gets real, it can be a problem.
Even with the best of planning, emergency food needs come up.
So it's best to know ahead of time exactly what your options are so that you can calmly make your way to the nearest grocery store, Target, Wal-mart, and even some gas station convenience stores and know what you can quickly grab from one of them.
It's important that no cooking or making of a meal is necessary for these. They need to just something that you can grab and go and tide yourself over until you can get a full meal in.
Below is a list of items that are commonly found at most grocery stores, Targets, Wal-marts, and some gas station convenience stores in the US.
Many of these items can also be found in stores in the rest of the world as well, but just keep in mind that the list may be smaller outside of the US.
Emergency AIP Snacks Video
You can watch this video to hear more details about the items or skip below for the list.
Emergency AIP Snacks List
Want a printable PDF of these AIP Snacks? Grab it, along with a bunch of other Paleo & AIP resources like meal plans, freezer meal plans, quick-start guides, recipe books, etc in my Paleo & AIP Freebie Library!
- Avocados
- Clams, canned
- Chicken, canned (water & salt only)
- Coconut Flakes (usually in baking aisle)
- Coconut Water
- Crab, canned
- Dehydrated Fruit
- Dried Fruit (in moderation, check for sunflower oil)
- EPIC Bars (Beef & Apple, Bison, and Salmon are compliant)
- Fresh Fruit
- Frozen Vegetables
- Green Juices (in moderation)
- Herring, canned
- Hearts of Palm, canned
- Kippers, canned
- Kombucha
- Leafy Greens
- Mussels, canned
- Olives, black, green or kalamata (avoid ones with pimentos)
- Oysters, canned
- Plantain Chips (look for those cooked in coconut or palm oil)
- Pork Rinds (plain)
- Prosciutto
- Raisins
- Rotisserie Chicken (naked, with just salt)
- Salmon, canned
- Sardines, canned
- Sauerkraut (best if in the refrigerated section as this will be probiotic)
- Seaweed Snacks (avoid soy sauce and sesame oil)
- Shrimp, canned
- Shrimp, precooked and frozen
- Smoked Fish (Salmon, Trout, etc)
- Sparkling Water (flavored is fine, like La Croix)
- Sweet Potato Chips (look for those cooked in coconut oil)
- Tea, green, black or herbal
- Tuna, canned
- Vegetables, raw (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, jicama, mushrooms, radishes)
- Wild Zora bars (found in some Wal-marts)
Do you know of other snacks? Please comment below so we can all help each other!
Related posts you might like: 25 AIP Snack Ideas (these are some you might enjoy, but some do require cooking, online ordering, and/or more prep than the ones above)
10 AIP Breakfast Ideas – if you're lost for what to make for breakfast while on AIP, check this one out
AIP Batch Cooking and Prep – see what I did to prep for the last round of AIP I did to get some tips for your own life
I am from the Netherlands and al the prepackage bars and such. We can not find here. So my go to will be vetgebles and fruit. In summer i like my icecream treat by frozen berry and snack. But because we do not have many options here i just take always even if i go just for an hour food for a day to make sure i keep taking care of myself
Thanks for the great list!
Here are a few of my favs
Lesser Evil Paleo Puffs- Himalayan pink salt
TERRA Chips Sweets Medley
This is great! I always take an “emergency bag” of shelf-stable AIP options. Included: Pearl’s Olives to Go (black olives and kalmala are compliant), Chomps (sea salt and italian), salmon in a packet, a container of sea salt, container of olive oil, single-serve coconut aminos (found on amazon – Coconut Secret), and one or two Wild Zora freeze dried meals. As someone else suggested, I also always have a zip bag of eating utensils and paper plates in the vehicle.
Chomps beef sticks. The Italian style one. I’ve gotten it at Albertson’s. They also
have a sea salt beef one on their website, but I haven’t tried it yet.
That’s it bars!
Kimchi! Not the spicy kind with red peppers, but the plain ones. These are good with avocado. You can’t really eat this on the go unless you pre-package it, but it’s a great alternative if you don’t want to cook.
Banana chips (unsweetened is best, and they’re usually made with coconut oil). Best in moderation, like fruit.
Cassava chips.
Diced watermelon.
Thanks for this. I am on AIP and low fodmap. I can’t do nightshades. It’s been rough but I’m getting better.
AIP and Low Fodmap can be hard! But glad this helps 🙂
Pickles are one of my go to snacks
Nick’s Sticks, turkey or beef. They have no sugar.
I’ve never heard of them, but will have to check them out! Thanks!
My niece introduced me to diced frozen mango from Wal-mart. She said she would eat this while her kids were having popsicles. It was really good!
ooh, that’s such a great idea! Thanks so much for sharing!
My daughter LOVES to eat frozen mango! I literally have to hide the bags from her, or she’ll go through a whole four-pound bag by herself in a matter of a couple of days. Sheesh…
Great list AND you should always have a knife, spoon, fork and salt with you. I usualy always have coconut manna with me but there a times I am gone longer than I think and there I am, lol with nothing! All the others in the car are eating fast food as my stomach is doing summer-salts. I got a cute little lunch bag that I keep all together with my vinegar and oil for a salad when I need.
LOVE this – great points!!
Larabars!
Are there AIP-compliant Larabars now?
No, I don’t think there are. They are all made with nuts unless I’m mistaken.