The Whole View, Episode 442: How Do I Know what Dietary Protocol to Start with?  
Welcome back to episode 442 of the Whole View. (0:27)      
Stacy welcomes listeners to the show! She hopes everyone has had a great start to the year so far, but if not, it's a new month.
Today's topic is dietary protocol. And Stacy hopes listeners have been seeing fewer advertisements and pressure to conform to a dietary standard that could end up making them not feel right. 
She and Sarah, as always, will approach this topic from the perspective of addressing the difference in the dietary protocols that are focused on health.
Stacy also takes a moment to remind listeners that all the information in this show comes from a place of optimizing health. 
They are not here to tell you to lose weight and fit into your jeans, but rather help you feel better, inside and out. This is a safe place to learn and not to feel pressured.
Listener Question
Sarah reflects on how much this show has documented her and Stacy's individual health journeys and the ups and downs that they've experienced. (4:03)
They are not the type of people to hide their challenges to paint a rosy picture or endorse that approach. 
Their main goal is to endorse a solution-oriented mindset about health, doable, approachable, and sustainable. 
Sherly asks:

Hello Dr. Sarah and Stacy! I was so happy to find your podcast during these strange times and have found all your Covid shows so helpful. I understand that neither of you strictly follow any of the diets you talk about on the show (AIP, Sarah’s Gut Health Diet and Paleo) but rather used them to find out what worked best for you over time. For those of us just starting out how do we go about picking a diet to start from? Is there a hierarchy here? And where does being a “nutrivore” fit into all of this? Apologies if you have already covered this, but I am slowly working my way through your shows. I have come to trust your recommendations and I would like to re-do my own way of eating, I just don't know where to start. Thanks in advance for your help!

The Quick Answer
Stacy explains that, in brief, the autoimmune protocol is an additional step beyond the paleo diet. Its driving strategy is to eliminate potentially inflammatory foods out of the diet still included in paleo (including nightshades).
Nutrivore is more concerned with nutrient-density and taking care of your gut microbiome health.
Sarah jokes and congratulates Stacy for pulling off a great elevator pitch! Though, Stacy urges listeners to stick around a bit longer because there is a lot more to the science behind these protocols.
Sarah explains that the lines between each dietary protocol are pretty blurry. She attributes that blurriness to how these lines are used to hone in on a personalized optimal diet.
She and Stacy have both used these protocols to target their individual triggers and build a diet that works for them.
Sarah and Stacy do not do on this show are rigid rules, "perfection-or-bust," or one-side-fits-all.
Instead, they encourage the understanding of universal truths and bio-individuality.
The Dietary Protocol Hierarchy
Stacy reminds listeners that there is such a thing as taking too big of an initial jump. (13:16)
It's essential to listen to your body and tell you what you need or crave.
Top Level: Nutrivore
The idea of nutrivore is to eat all the nutrients available, both essential and non-essential, that we need to thrive.
This includes nutrients to support a healthy gut microbiome and is very similar to the gut health diet.
The gut health diet provides just a little extra focus above and beyond nutrient sufficiency.
Sarah references Episode 437: Intro To Nutrivore as a great reference if you're looking to focus on a nutrient-dense diet.
She thinks of this as a diet modifier, meaning you can apply nutrivore to any other diet template, including the other protocols on this list.
However, the exception to the "umbrella" of nutrivore is extreme diets, such