You've probably seen a lot of people recently glorify extreme diets and swear by them, often these are quite restrictive. Some of these diets include the Paleo or Carnivore diet and some other more extreme ones exist.
Often, but not always, people will gravitate towards restrictive diets because they've had some sensitivity, allergy or food intolerance - and from the use of eliminating that from their diet have found immense benefit. However what most these diets fail to do is to try and isolate what was causing them these issues. Thats where the Elimination Diet (and reintroduction) comes into play:
What is the Elimination Diet?
An elimination diet is a meal plan designed to remove certain food ingredients so you can find what has been causing you issues like bloating, skin reactions, possibly even severe anaphylaxis reactions, help lose weight, brain fog and other cognitive issues, or just a sense that something isn't right.
Common food groups to consider when engaging in a diet like this are:
- Citrus
- Milk and Dairy products
- Eggs
- Wheat, Gluten and other gluten derivatives like Rye, Barley, Malt Vinegar, Oatmeal bread etc
- Shellfish
- Soy
However there is an endless list of things that can cause a problem. One of the challenges of met when having issues but being unable to determine what is that we all consume such a variety of foods that pinpointing just one item can be super challenging.
Oftentimes someone will try out a Carnivore only diet and then slowly reintroduce different vegetables before finding out a unintuitive vegetable like 'Cucumbers' were setting off their allergies. Sometimes it's medication, sometimes its alcohol or sometimes it's just consuming too many simple carbohydrates.
Strategies:
Radical food changes are no joke, you should always consider your other health conditions and were applicable speak with a medical professional first. It can be very jarring to your body to have a radical reduction in nutrients. If your body can tolerate it I'd recommend ensuring you supplement with a solid multivitamin at minimum if undergoing a change like this.
- Identify your goals: Determine what you are trying to monitor, what health issues, and establish a way to track things. It can be useful to write down everyday what differences you've noticed and track what you have done differently.
- Plan your meals: Create a meal plan that excludes the targeted foods, while trying to ensure you are not depleting yourself of important minerals and vitamins.
- Strict Elimination Phase: Completely remove the chosen foods from your diet for a period—typically 2-4 weeks. It's crucial to read labels and ask about ingredients when eating out to avoid accidental ingestion.
- Reintroduction Phase: Gradual Reintroduction: Introduce one food group back into your diet at a time. Each food should be reintroduced over a period of 2-3 days while monitoring for symptoms. If a food causes no reaction, you can include it back into your diet and move on to the next one.
- Identify Triggers: If symptoms reappear upon reintroduction of a food, it may be a trigger. Note this in your diary and discuss it with your healthcare provider.
If issues are persisting or you are unable to bounce back after this change, it is highly recommended you speak with a doctor. However, please keep in mind that if you follow a very restricted diet for a long period of time, you may starve your microbiome, leading to a reduction in your bacterial diversity. This may make your body have a more difficult time metabolising those foods later, so it's useful to gradually introduce items one by one.
If you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, it might be beneficial to look into a Low-FODMAP diet.
