A simple elimination diet to help you identify food sensitivities

Do you feel like eating nutrient dense real food is probably the right thing for you? Have you been putting it off because you’re afraid to give up what you love?

You’ve learned that conditions like acne, excess weight, poor sleep, cravings and brain fogginess can be reversed with diet, but you basically feel okay. You’re not sure if you feel bad enough to warrant a change.

You are also increasingly aware that these conditions are really symptoms. They are a ‘check engine light’ that can precede far more serious diseases. The consequences of ignoring a food sensitivity are floating through your mind.

I would like to suggest trying a simple elimination diet to help you identify food sensitivities. It’s temporary, costs no more than your regular groceries and can make demoralizing health conditions go away.

Here’s what you need to know.

What is an ‘Elimination Diet’?

According to Dr. Josh Axe, “An elimination diet is a short-term eating plan that eliminates certain foods that may be causing allergies and other digestive reactions – then reintroduces the foods one at a time in order to determine which foods are, and are not, well-tolerated.”

It is considered ‘the gold standard’ for identifying food sensitivities.

Dr. Aviva Romm adds, “Its success is based on the fact that by eliminating foods that trigger inflammation in your body, you can get rid of many symptoms and diseases that have inflammation at their root. And this means most health conditions!”

In fact, according to numerous studies, approximately 70-100% of participants see symptoms improve or go away completely when trigger foods are eliminated. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

Temporarily eliminating select foods is how you begin the The Wellness Repair Plan.

An elimination diet is a short term eating plan to identify food sensitivities. Click To Tweet

An elimination diet can reverse many common health problems

Here are some of the conditions Dr. Romm and other functional medicine doctors see clear up completely in their patients during the elimination period.

• acne
• anxiety
• atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries, a precursor to heart disease)
• asthma
• autoimmune conditions
• bloating
• chronic fatigue
• constipation
• depression
• diabetes
• diagnosis of  candida fungal overgrowth (yeast gone bad) or SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth)
• diarrhea
• dizziness
• eczema
• erratic moods
• feeling tired all the time
• fibromyalgia
• food intolerances or food sensitivities
• gas
• high blood pressure
• high cholesterol
• hormone problems
• infertility
• insomnia
• irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• joints ache and swell
• kidney and gallbladder problems
• learning disabilities like ADHD
• loose stools
• migraines
• neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s and dementia
• nutrient deficiencies
• panic attacks
• psoriasis
• reflux
• seasonal allergies
• sinus problems
• skin rashes, hives or other chronic skin problems
• sugar and carb cravings
• trouble concentrating, with your memory, or notice other cognitive changes
• weight gain and obesity

Dr. Romm reports seeing patients go off medications they have been on for years as well as successful weight loss.  How do her patients get these results? She says, “It’s not magic or rocket science. They just get rid of the foods that are making them sick and add in foods that make people get well! It all starts with an elimination diet. And this is something you can do, too!”

It is vital to understand that these symptoms often indicate an autoimmune response and inflammation are already happening. They are the “check engine lights” of major diseases. Left unchecked, the same autoimmune response that causes acne now can be working silently to produce cancer, Parkinson’s, diabetes or Alzheimers later. This is why I feel so strongly that everyone should take a few weeks and do an elimination diet at least once.

An elimination diet can reverse symptoms like acne, insomnia and seasonal allergies. Click To Tweet

An elimination diet should last 4-6 weeks

The Wellness Repair Plan specifies eliminating trigger foods for 4-6 weeks because it usually takes a little over three weeks for the proteins that cause food sensitivities to dissipate from the body.

Robin Berzin MD says, “Antibodies, which are the proteins that your immune system makes when it reacts to foods, take around 21 to 23 days to turn over, so if you don’t quit things to which you’re sensitive for at least that time, you won’t get the full effect of eliminating them.”

According to Dr. Romm, “The elimination diet can be done for as short a time as 2-3 weeks, but for more comprehensive results I recommend 4-6 weeks. Pick an achievable goal because you can always extend or repeat it.”

According to Dr. Josh Axe, “It’s believed that antibodies — the proteins your immune system makes when it negatively reacts to foods — take around three weeks to dissipate. So this is usually the minimum time needed for someone to fully heal from sensitives and to notice improvements in their symptoms.”

It takes about 3 weeks for the proteins that cause food sensitivities to leave the body. Click To Tweet

You CAN eat most one-ingredient, real food during the elimination weeks

There’s plenty you CAN eat during the elimination weeks. The simplest version is to eat one-ingredient, real food.

• Organic fresh fruit (avoid dried fruit) – 1-2 servings per day at dinner only. Favor berries. The more variety, the better. Limit fruit if you have problems with chronic fungal infections (yeast gone bad), or diabetes/metabolic syndrome.
• Organic vegetables – The more variety, the better.
• Unprocessed meat including grass fed beef, lamb, grass fed bison, wild game meat like venison, wild caught fish and pastured chicken.
• Eggs unless intolerant or having gallbladder problems
• Nuts (except peanuts), seeds, almond milk, nut butters
• Soups: clear broths
• Fats/oils: avocado, organic ghee (also called clarified butter), olive oil, walnut oil, coconut oil, sesame oil
• Legumes: lentils
• Organic spices: all spices, including garlic and onions, are excellent to include – many improve digestion and metabolism; avoid those that trigger reflux if this is a problem for you
• Beverages: black coffee (make it Bulletproof if you like), water, carbonated water, water with lemon, green tea, herb tea, kombucha tea
• Sea salt to taste
• Fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi and organic raw apple cider vinegar (with “the mother”)

Click here to download a PDF checklist of the elimination diet, including the foods you CAN eat.

There are a host of packaged products available with healthy ingredients, but I would advise one-ingredient, real food at this stage. It’s easy to remember and laregly sidesteps the label learning curve. It also helps you form good food-prep habits and provides a baseline for how you feel with only real food. If you do wish to try some packaged products, aim for five ingredients or less and make sure all the ingredients are real food.

During the elimination period, my breakfast is black coffee. You can also drink green tea. Caffeine blunts appetite and helps extend the morning fast where the body burns fat for energy. Delaying breakfast until 10 or later is called intermittent fasting, and it offers a number of health benefits you may want to continue even after the elimination weeks.

To amp up  mental focus and extend your morning fast longer, add to the black coffee 1-2 tbsp of pure C8 MCT oil and 1-2 tbsp of organic ghee (blending in a blender is a crucial step).  I prefer butter to ghee in my coffee, but ghee is typically safe for folks with extreme dairy sensitivity. Even if you are sensitive to dairy, it is likely that butter will be fine.  To be on the safe side, I suggest ghee during the elimination weeks. Do NOT add sugar, milk or creamer.

My typical lunch would be something like:

• 3 servings (or cups) of organic veggies
• 2 palm sized servings of 85% grass fed ground beef
• 2-3 servings of healthy fat like avocado (1 oz or approx 1/5 of a whole avocado is a serving), grass fed butter or ghee (1 tbsp is a serving), organic olive/avocado/coconut oil (1 tbsp is a serving), raw organic almonds (1 oz or a quarter cup) or raw organic walnuts (1/4 cup).

Dinner would be the same as lunch, only with different veggies, meat and fat. For dinner, I add a serving or two of either sweet potato, white rice or fruit. If you are trying to lose weight and hit a plateau, try reducing the sweet potato, rice and fruit first. Starches and fruit are the best throttle for weight loss. Likewise, if you are doing strength training or high intensity interval training (HIIT), more starch and fruit may be needed to feel your best.

I favor the grass fed ground beef over chicken because it has more fat and the fat is anti-inflammatory. It’s also about the cheapest healthy meat there is and widely available. Favor grass fed beef or wild-caught fish and the fattier the better.

With chicken, less and leaner is better because the omega 3 to omega 6 ratio of the fat tends to make it more inflammatory. On days when I do eat chicken, I’ll supplement with some extra fish oil to help offset the higher omega 6 fat component of chicken.

During an elimination diet you can still eat delicious nutrient dense real food. Click To Tweet

Eliminate wheat, dairy and added sugar for 4-6 weeks

These three categories are responsible for the majority of food sensitivities. If symptoms don’t subside when you eliminate gluten-from-wheat, dairy and sugar, then you can always eliminate other suspect foods to test how you respond.

Eliminate means to completely eliminate. While cutting way back can cause symptoms to be reduced, if you are gluten sensitive, it only takes one crumb from one crouton to trigger 3-6 months of antibody production and autoimmune attack. You will need to be vigilant.

Gluten from wheat

Gluten is the primary protein found in wheat.

There is an epidemic of hidden intolerance to gluten. I found over 70 signs of gluten intolerance, including food cravings, constipation, dry skin, rheumatoid arthritis, acne, acid reflux, headaches and mood swings.

Specifically, the gliadin molecule in wheat gluten provokes increase gut permeability in 100% of people, according to a 2015 Harvard study. It’s found in white and wheat flour, barley and rye. White rice and quinoa also have gluten, but not gliadin, so they tend to be more tolerated.

Dr. Joseph Mercola explains, “If you are sensitive, your body will make antibodies to gliadin and attack the cells gliadin has attached itself to, treating those cells as an infection. This immune response damages surrounding tissue and has the potential to set off, or exacerbate, MANY other health problems throughout your body, which is why gluten can have such a devastating effect on your overall health.”

Whether you are immediately and obviously sensitive or not, wheat has one of the highest glycemic loads; a measurement of sustained high blood sugar. It also causes in inflammation

Max Lugavere interviewed Dr. David Perlmutter for Psychology Today. Dr. Perlmutter said of gluten-caused inflammation, “…gluten consumption leads to the amplification of a specific protein called zonulin which increases permeability of both the gut and blood brain barrier as described by Dr. Fasano (of Harvard). Gut permeability activates inflammation and inflammation is a cornerstone of some of the most pernicious brain disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease. What is so compelling in a very positive light is that this occurs in all humans and may be the key to a vast number of human maladies including a vast number of other inflammatory disorders as well as autoimmune diseases, and even cancer. In addition, the gluten issue aside, whole grain bread has an incredibly high glycemic index and this poses an equally powerful threat to brain health.”

Most processed food contains gluten in some form and the labels are often very misleading. Eating a diet of meat and fresh produce eliminates the need to learn all the ways gluten shows up in processed food.

Because so many people are sensitive to gluten, I recommend you reintroduce it last. Per Dr. Mercola, “Unfortunately, most people don’t feel better immediately after eliminating gluten from their diets as it may take 30 to 60 days for the inflammation to subside, and up to 9 to 12 months for the lining of your small intestine to heal. For most people with gluten intolerance, by around 6 to 9 months of being gluten free, noticeable physical and mental/emotional changes will have taken place.”

There’s no nutrient in wheat that isn’t more abundant in less-risky foods, so consider carefully before reintroducing this high glycemic load, source of inflammation and potential enemy of your immune system. If you do find you are sensitive to gluten, there are whet flour substitutes, like coconut flour, that can help you enjoy some of your favorite treats from time to time.

Dairy

According to Dr. Josh Axe, “Dairy is another common allergen because standard dairy pasteurization destroys necessary enzymes that can cause allergies. In North America, most cattle contain a type of protein known as beta casein A1, which is a common trigger for both food and seasonal allergies.”

Exclude all dairy during the elimination period, including milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream and whey protein supplements.

Some doctors list butter along with dairy, but butter doesn’t typically cause a problem because it is so low in protein. Still, just to be on the safe side, I recommend organic-grass-fed ghee during the elimination weeks since it is usually safe for everyone.

Pasteurized, homogenized and reduced fat dairy has numerous other downsides that I’ve detailed in a post called Is Milk Really Good For You? Learn The Facts.

Added Sugar

Natural sugar in whole, raw fruit is not the kind of sugar that needs to be eliminated. Eating one apple or banana in the evening is fine. The sugar to eliminate is that which has been added to products as a sweetener.

The total elimination of sugar doesn’t necessarily need to last for the full 4-6 weeks. Eliminate sugar completely for 10 days minimum to reprogram tastebuds, detox from cravings and aid in the beginning of reversing insulin resistance.

When you reintroduce, it’s best to view sugar as an occasional indulgence rather than a daily staple. There’s still room for birthday cake or pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving (as your relationship with gluten permits).

There are several reasons to greatly limit consumption after your detox weeks.

Do you find it difficult to like vegetables? There’s a reason for that.  Sugar stimulates the same reward center as cocaine in the brain. A 2013 study concluded: “At the neurobiological level, the neural substrates of sugar and sweet reward appear to be more robust than those of cocaine…”

Food manufacturers spend millions of dollars to find what has come to be known as the ‘bliss point‘ of the foods they sell.  The bliss point is the combination of ingredients that causes the most pleasure – and addiction. Your tastebuds are deliberately hijacked.

Eating sugar and processed junk foods causes a huge dopamine release.  This causes dopamine receptors to down-regulate. That is, the number of dopamine receptors is reduced. So the next time you eat sugar, the pleasure is blunted and you need more to achieve the same level of reward.  You develop a tolerance. With very little dopamine activity, you start to feel unhappy if you don’t get your sugar “fix.” There is a biological withdrawal.

This helps food manufacturers sell more of their product while taking away your ability to enjoy foods that don’t contain large amounts of sugar.

Sugar also causes an insulin spike that easily leads to insulin resistance and promotes low energy.

Fructose in sugar is inflammatory when consumed by individuals with insulin resistance. Systemic inflammation quickly leads to numerous problems. Dr. Joseph Mercola explains: “A high-sugar diet raises your risk for heart disease by promoting metabolic syndrome—a cluster of health conditions that includes high blood pressure, insulin and leptin resistance, high triglycerides, liver dysfunction, and visceral fat accumulation.”

Be aware that organic sugar has the same insulin and dopamine consequences as processed sugar.

Alcohol is a hidden sugar source that should be eliminated. Dr Berzin advises, “Eliminating alcohol is partly for the detox factor. But alcohol also has a lot of sugar that helps things like yeast and harmful bacteria in your gut thrive. So when you eliminate alcohol, you may feel better in a few weeks, not just because of the absence of a sleep disruptor and a depressant in your life, but because you’ve actually changed the flora in your gut that are critical to keeping you healthy!”

A study published in June of 2017 also found that even light alcohol consumption results in hippocampal atrophy (your brain shrinking). This is the part of your brain responsible for learning and memory.

Eliminate wheat, dairy and added-sugar for 4 weeks, then reintroduce and test how you respond. Click To Tweet

The secret to liking vegetables

1. Detox from sugar.
2. Eat veggies with a healthy fat like grass fed butter, sautéed in avocado oil or organic coconut oil, with organic olive oil drizzled on top (after cooking) or with fresh sliced avocado.
3. Sea salt to taste.
4. Raw fruits and vegetables can be blended into smoothies or poured over other vegetables as a sauce. The possible tasty combos are virtually endless!

To like veggies - eliminate sugar, add healthy fat and sea salt to taste. Click To Tweet

Planning to start an elimination diet

You can begin your elimination diet the minute you finish reading this post. Here are the preparation steps:

• Take an inventory from head to toes, and make a list of everything you notice in your body, however subtle or long-standing the symptom has been. This will help you notice changes when they happen. Do you have skin issues? Digestive issues like gas, bloating, or intermittent constipation? Bad allergies? How’s your energy level? What about your mood? Ever feel like you suffer from brain fog? Jot these things down.
• Tell family and closest friends that you’re going to do it. You can share this link or just explain that you’re eliminating certain foods for a month to find out if it makes you feel better. You can also tell folks you’re trying to lose a little weight, if that fits your circumstance. Accountability helps, but dealing with social eating can be overwhelming and a total drag. Food is love, right! Church potlucks, work parties and family celebrations are far easier if you have some support.
• If hospitality is what you do, you still can. Just try to do it with different ingredients or foods for a month.
• Clear your cabinets and refrigerator of foods that contain sugar in all forms, including HFCS, sugar substitutes, artificial sweeteners, artificial ingredients, trans-fats and processed junk foods.
• Fill your pantry and fridge with the foods and ingredients you’ll need for the first week of your elimination diet. Click here for  some tips that will help you save money.
• For recipes, google “paleo recipes”. The Wellness Repair Plan is not strictly paleo, but paleo recipes are generally safe and fabulous.
• I recommend starting your elimination diet on a weekend, especially if you leave home for work. Also, it is a good idea to prepare some meals for the week in advance that you can simply reheat. Learning how to eat one-ingredient real food seemed like a full time job for me at first.  That’s normal, but it gets far easier once habits are established.
• Make a plan for what you will do when you are craving foods that have been eliminated. You may choose to call a designated support person, write in a journal, take a walk, dance to music or have a healthy food snack.
• Take a ‘before’ selfie.

Click here to download a free PDF checklist of the elimination diet that includes all of the planning steps.

Before starting an elimination diet, fill your pantry and fridge with the foods you'll need. Click To Tweet

What to expect the first 15 days

Days 1-3

This time period can be especially challenging as you have a large amount of detoxification as well as the onset of withdrawal symptoms.

Be sure to drink plenty of water to keep things moving. The goal is one healthy bowel movement per day. If water and the fiber from vegetables don’t do the trick, you can supplement with some magnesium citrate (600 mg per day).

If you have a lot of nausea with meals or when you take supplements, you might also need some additional stomach acid. Try 1 Tbs. of raw apple cider vinegar (with “the mother”) in water with your meals.

You can expect:

• Your body may be screaming for sugar.
• fatigue
• headaches
• increased bowel movements and urination
• hunger
• thirst
• irritability
• mood changes
• skin rashes or irritations

Days 4-6

The amount of toxins being released will increase as you begin to burn fat for energy. Toxins are stored in body fat. When they are released The symptoms are the same as days 1-3, only intensified.

Days 7-9

These are often the hardest days as you hit the peak of the detoxification. Your liver, colon and kidneys will be working extra hard to eliminate toxins being released by body fat. Symptoms remain the same.

Days 10-12

You should begin to notice some of the benefits.  Food should begin to taste better.

You can expect:

• improved energy
• weight loss
• improved sleep
• improved digestion

Days 13-15

By now you should be feeling great!

The PDF checklist includes what you can expect each day.

During an elimination diet, it usually takes about 2 weeks to feel the benefits. Click To Tweet

If you slip up

Let’s say you accidentally take a bite of mac and cheese without thinking. Don’t panic. You’re still in the game and still able to build on the excellent start.  You can expect some cravings, but it’s not a total start-over. Just get right back on the elimination diet and go on. You can do this!

If symptoms don’t subside at around 3 weeks, just extend the elimination a little longer. After three weeks, you will be developing new habits and it won’t be a big deal to just continue what you’ve been doing.

The Autoimmune version – Additional suspect foods to eliminate if you already have symptoms

Occasionally, eliminating wheat, dairy and sugar isn’t enough. In that case, additional foods that can be eliminated. If you already have symptoms of an autoimmune condition, like Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, autism, bipolar disorder, Chrohn’s Disease, Hashimotos or others, it’s better to begin with a stricter version of the elimination diet. This is referred to as the Autoimmune Protocol.

Here’s the list:

• Nightshades – cherries, gogi berries, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and potatoes (not sweet potatoes). Nightshade foods are noted on my Fruit and Vegetable Nutrition pages.
• FODMAPS – It stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides Disaccharides Monosaccharides And Polyols. These are foods that ferment easily and produce digestive issues. If you find yourself FODMAP sensitive, don’t panic. Often it’s just a matter of eating less of these things to control symptoms. FODMAPS include Asparagus (fructose, fructans), artichoke (fructose), beets (fructans), broccoli (fructans), Brussels sprouts (fructans), butternut squash (fructans), cabbage (fructans), celery (polyols), cauliflower (polyols), eggplant, fennel (fructans), garlic (fructans), leek (fructans), mushroom (polyol), okra (fructans), onion (fructans), shallots (fructans), sweet corn (fructose), radicchio (fructans), sweet potato (poll), Apples (fructose, polyol), apricots (polyol), avocados (polyol), blackberries (polyol), cherries (fructose, polyol), plums (polyol), pluots (polyol), lychees (polyol), nectarines (polyol), peaches (polyol), pears (fructose, polyol), persimmons (polyol), grapes (fructose), mango (fructose), watermelon (polyol, fructose), dried fruit (fructose), juice (fructose), honey (fructose). Watch out for any foods that contain a lot of fructose. For a full list of FODMAPs, take a look at my FODMAP page.
• chronic stress
• Fermented foods like sauerkraut and vinegar
• Beans
• Tree Nuts like cashews
• Peanuts – have no omega-3 and therefore distort your omega 6:3 ratio. They are also frequently contaminated with a carcinogenic mold called aflatoxin, and are one of the most pesticide-contaminated crops.
• Eggs
• Shellfish
• Foods that you tend to crave – often sneaky culprits of inflammation
• ‘Comfort’ foods – sometimes a code word for craving
• Foods that you already know causes symptoms
• Foods that you eat day in and day out – If you love it, don’t eat it every day or a sensitivity can develop.
• Alcohol – can increase fungi and harmful bacteria growth in the gut, lower energy levels, depress your mood and complicate existing health-related issues. Beer in particular should be eliminated entirely if you have high uric acid levels. The yeast, and all that’s used to make beer, work together to make beer a powerful uric acid trigger.

If symptoms persist after eliminating wheat, dairy and sugar, eliminate other common triggers. Click To Tweet

Eliminate permanently to reduce inflammation and reduce harm to gut bacteria

These substances harm gut bacteria and produce inflammation that leads to autoimmune responses and major diseases. I recommend eliminating these substances completely and forever.

• GMOs – alter gut bacteria immediately and disrupts your endocrine (hormone) and immune systems. Contrary to US law, GMOs were never proven safe for consumers and have been banned around Europe and in Russia.
• Soy – almost always GMO, but always mimics estrogen. It is an endocrine disruptor.
• High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) – HFCS is generally manufactured from GMO corn, via a chemical process. It is also 55-90% fructose, which is turned to fat in the liver of people carrying belly fat – an indicator of insulin resistance. A diet high in HFCS can double triglycerides in 6 days and turns off the body’s appetite-control system.
• Artificial sweeteners – are known neurotoxins
• Corn, except organic sweet corn – Corn is one of the primary GMO crops.
• Hydrogenated oils – According to Chris Masterjohn: “Atherosclerosis (plaque buildup in artery walls) is largely driven by the degeneration of lipids which infiltrate the blood vessel and thereby cause inflammation. Inflammation from other sources may accelerate the process or further the degeneration of the atherosclerotic plaques once they are formed, but the initiating factor for fatty plaques appears to be the degeneration of lipids — especially the degeneration of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA).” Oxidized LDL’s are much more likely when you eat a lot of polyunsaturated fats, or PUFAs.  PUFAs are very fragile. They’re extra susceptible to oxidation by free radicals, and having too many of them can trigger a cascade of inflammation and disease. PUFA’s are found in hydrogenated vegetable oils like soybean, corn, canola and cottonseed. On the other hand, good fats are essential to hormone production, weight loss, cellular healing and anti-inflammation.
• Unstable polyunsaturated oils such as walnut, flax, and peanut oil.
• NSAIDs (ibuprofen, Naprosyn, etc.)
• Acid reflux medications – While offering temporary relief, they actually set the stage for acid reflux to continue. Take a tablespoon of raw, organic apple cider vinegar instead. You can mix it into a glass of water. It works just as quickly, if not more so, and will help acid reflux to go away entirely.
• Routine use of antibiotics – Understand that using antibiotics is a nuclear bomb for ALL the bacteria in your body, good and bad.  Since good bacteria are the basis of your immune system, taking an antibiotic can harm your wellness efforts for years. There are appropriate times for antibiotics, but you want to be sure they are warranted.
• Smoking – There are about 600 ingredients in cigarettes, which create anywhere from 4,000 – 7000 chemicals when they’re burned. The chemicals include Acetone, Ammonia, Arsenic, Benzene, Butane, Carbon Monoxide, Formaldehyde and Lead. A new report from Public Health England (PHE) says smoking causes progressive harm to your musculoskeletal system and bone mineral density. Smokers are 53 percent more likely to develop cognitive impairment than non-smokers and they are 59 percent more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. The report found a 79 percent increase in chronic back pain and a 114 percent increase in disabling lower back pain. There was also a 78 percent increase in age-related macular degeneration to 358 percent, and it increases your risk of age-related cataracts.
• Fruit juice – Once pasteurized, fruit juice has about the same amount of sugar as a Coke and is treated the same by the body. Store-bought fruit juices are frequently contaminated with mold.
• Processed foods like cold cuts and hot dogs, especially if they contain nitrates.
• All synthetic additives, colorings, and flavorings – including aspartame, MSG, dyes, and artificial flavorings.

Click here to download a free PDF checklist of the elimination diet, including these substances to avoid.

Stopping medications should be medically cleared with a qualified functional medicine primary care provider that is trained in nutrition as well as medicine.

Letters that don't belong in any diet: GMOs, HFCS, PUFAs, MSG and NSAIDs Click To Tweet

A good balance of nutrients will make an elimination diet easier

During the elimination weeks, I recommend:

• 5-9 servings of healthy fat –  1 tablespoon of butter or oil is a serving.
• 4-6 servings of protein.  A serving is usually about the size of the palm of your hand.  Favor wild caught fish, lamb and grass fed beef.
• 6-11 servings of veggies.  Organic is best when you can. Feel free to bathe the veggies and meat in grass fed butter and sea salt to taste.
• 1 serving of fruit (berries are best) or starch (like sweet potato), but only at dinner.The goal is to limit fructose until you are no longer insulin resistant. If you are already lean and athletic, more fructose from fruit is fine.

Serving amounts are listed on this free PDF checklist.

How to reintroduce foods after an elimination period

Once you have finished the elimination weeks, it’s time to start introducing foods back in. This should be done one food at a time, and about three days apart.

Start by reintroducing a small portion of a food from a particular group during your first meal of the day. If you have no reaction, then try larger portions for the next meal(s). Pay close attention to how you feel.

I would reintroduce sugar first, then dairy and finally gluten.

If you reintroduce and have no symptoms, you can continue to eat that food. But there are a few caveats that support moderation.

• Sugar is no friend of your heart or brain.
• Components of gluten increase intestinal permeability in 100% of humans. Also, the semi-dwarf strains of wheat are potentially more harmful than GMO’s.
• Even if you have no trouble with the casein protein in dairy, lactose is a sugar that absorbs more readily after homogenization. Pasteurization denatures proteins and dairy is an efficient delivery vehicle of toxins like pesticides or GMO’s eaten by the cow. Also, the hormones (added or natural) are there to make cows grow. You can guess what those growth hormones do to humans!

Dr. Axe says, “If symptoms return after beginning to eat one of the suspicious foods, you can confirm that this food is a trigger by eliminating it once again.  The goal is to see if the symptoms clear up once again when the food is removed. You can see that the process is a bit of trial and error, but it shouldn’t take more than 4–6 weeks to pinpoint foods that can finally improve your symptoms for good.”

If you are fairly sure particular foods were causing symptoms, and now you no longer have those symptoms, you can simply keep those foods out of your diet going forward. There’s no need to re-test them.

If you find yourself sensitive to a particular food or group, it doesn’t necessarily mean you will be sensitive forever. After a gut healing program, you may be able to tolerate some suspect foods again in the future.

Dr. Romm advises, “Foods that cause a true allergic reaction (swelling, shortness of breath, etc.) should not be reintroduced and if there is an actual allergic reaction, medical attention should be sought.”

After an elimination diet, reintroduce one food at a time and about 3 days apart. Click To Tweet

Let me hear from you!

What are your obstacles to trying an elimination diet? You can leave a comment below.

If you can think of someone who struggles with a health condition that may be the result of a food sensitivity, would you share this post with them? Think how much you can improve someone’s life by helping them overcome headaches, acne, struggle with weight or insomnia. Just email them the page URL or post it on social media.

And finally, if you found this information helpful and would like to keep learning about Wellness Repair, please subscribe to my email list. It’s free and gives me a way to notify you when new posts are published that may interest you.

Thanks for reading!

Jeff

Additional Resources

Dr Marc Hyman – Sugar Addiction