Elimination Diet 101 + Top 8 Allergens

Have you ever felt that you may have a food allergy, but aren’t sure how to figure out which foods cause you problems? There’s something empowering that comes from knowing which foods are problematic to your individual system because you can avoid them and prevent yourself from getting sick or feeling the effects of an allergic reaction. The elimination diet is a great way to figure out the exact foods that don’t work for you so that you can cut them out of your life and prevent yourself from dealing with mild to severe allergic reactions on a daily basis.

The elimination diet works by removing one top 8 or know allergy-causing foods from your normal diet every 2-4 weeks. Those foods are Milk, Eggs, Peanuts, Nuts, Fish, Shellfish, Soy,  Wheat. You may cut out all nuts, for example, and then see if any symptoms you’ve been experiencing go away or lessen during that time. If no change takes place in 2-3 weeks, you probably do not have an allergic reaction to that item. If, however, the symptoms you’ve been experiencing lessen or go away, you can continue to exclude that food and see what happens as your body detoxifies and clears itself of that food’s influence.

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Or you can go hardcore by instituting a 4 foods diet. Select 1 meat, grain, fruit and 1 veggie for 1 week. Then slowly add foods back in. You’ll be able to know exactly what triggered the flare up by simplifying the diet.

If you suspect a leaky gut, introducing more fermented foods and broths, removing grain and high starches for the diet will jumpstart the healing. The GAPs diet was designed specifically for gut healing. Here’s a great go to book by Dr. Natasha McBride.

Working with a professional practitioner or naturopath is a great option for anyone who feels overwhelmed by an elimination diet. They can help pinpoint where you should start and have some great tools to help you monitor your process along the way.

If you suspect a food allergy, the elimination diet is a great place to explore what may be causing you trouble so that you can cut it out of your diet and feel great!