Elimination diets have been used for years by allergists and qualified dietitians to assist clients in eliminating foods that are not well accepted. The gold standard for diagnosing food intolerances, sensitivities, and allergies through diet is an elimination diet. When reintroducing some foods that are known to induce unpleasant effects, they screen for symptoms beforehand.
How does an elimination diet work?
Despite being referred to as a “diet,” it has nothing to do with traditional dieting or weight reduction, an elimination diet is a two-step procedure that takes three to eight weeks to complete. In order to ascertain whether certain foods are the cause of your reactions, you first remove any probable triggers from your diet before cautiously reintroducing them.
How can I get started on an elimination diet?
Keep behavior symptom records before beginning an elimination diet to help detect patterns between eating behaviors and symptoms, advises Yeung. This will make it easier for you and your healthcare provider to decide which food or foods you should try to cut out.
The phase of elimination
For a brief amount of time, usually two to three weeks, you must eliminate the foods you believe to be the cause of your symptoms during the elimination phase. Eliminate meals that you believe your body can’t handle as well as those known to bring on unpleasant symptoms. Nuts, corn, soy, dairy, citrus fruits, nightshade vegetables, wheat, gluten-containing foods, pork, eggs, and shellfish are a few of them.
The phase of reintroduction
In this stage, you can gradually add the foods you have cut out to your diet. Over the course of two to three days, each food category should be introduced slowly while monitoring any symptoms.