Instruction for Elimination of Diet

The elimination diet is one approach that’s extremely useful.  It addresses many of our individual needs, and benefits nearly everyone who tries it.  Plus, it’s sorta fun.  It’s like planning your own research project – on yourself.

Just don’t make things too complicated on yourself. The only really important thing is to completely avoid foods that your practitioner has identified based on your symptoms.

The number one key to success with this diet is preparation. Have the foods that you will need on hand. Know how to cook them. And prep as much as possible in advance. For example, making a large pot of rice, complete with vegetables, protein and seasonings ahead of time can help increase compliance during those times when you get hungry and have few options nearby.

Also, clean out your kitchen.  Get rid of the foods that are not part of your elimination phase.  (Or hide them really well).  People aren’t particularly good with willpower.  So make it easy on yourself and eliminate the need for it.

Finally, keeping a journal of symptoms, energy and mood throughout the day can help identify any patterns with food intake and physical/mental symptoms.  Don’t try to rely on your memory.  Remember, this is a self-experiment.

So, at the end of the 30 days of elimination, reintroduce a single food for a single day only.  And then monitor your symptoms for two days.  For example, you might decide to reintroduce wheat on a Monday.  That day you could eat some bread and noodles.  While getting right back to your elimination diet, monitor for any abnormal reactions on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Because you’ll be introducing eliminated foods one at a time, you can be very observant of food-related changes.  And virtually anything that is different than you felt during the previous three weeks could be a symptom, negative or positive.

If you have no observable symptoms, you may try reintroducing another food (cheese) on Thursday.  You can continue this process for 10-12 more days, reintroducing one new food every few days, and use the reintroduction journal to determine what foods may cause you an issue (if any).

NOTE: Any foods that you have identified as having a mild reaction to, I highly recommend that you only consume that food in moderation or occasionally.

If you have a severe reaction to a food, like stomach pains, nausea or anaphylaxis you must avoid/eliminate that food from your diet.