An Elimination Diet may be of benefit to those suffering from chronic ailments related to digestion, the immune system and inflammation, joint pain, allergies and skin conditions, fatigue, and chronic headaches. Infants suffering from chronic ear infections or skin conditions may also benefit (in which case, the mother would alter her diet or the infant’s formula). There is an ever-growing body of evidence that our gut, brain, endocrine system, and immune system are intricately linked.
Many labs exist to test for possible sensitivity to certain foods and allergens. These tests are often not run by traditional allergy clinics or classically trained GI specialists. However, even with testing, there is always the risk of false positives (when the test falsely shows you DO have a reaction to a substance when you DON’T) and false negatives (when a test falsely shows that you DON’T have a reaction to a substance when you actually DO). Therefore, the most reliable and cost effective way to test whether your body is negatively reacting to something you are eating is by doing an Elimination Diet.
An Elimination Diet is generally done over 2-4 weeks, in which the major categories of triggering foods are eliminated from one's diet. Then, each food category (gluten, dairy, soy, etc) are slowly reintroduced one by one, to determine whether there is an offending food category.
Food allergies are generally obvious and result in symptoms such as rashes, hives, and stomach cramping. However, food sensitivities can be subtle and result in such vague symptoms that a person can eat the offending food for years and not realize it’s the cause of their malaise.
There are many types of elimination diets out there with some variance in information. I have listed a few below:
Elimination Diet per Dr. Alan Gaby, MD(http://themaplecenter.org/files/9713/4763/7866/GABY_ALLERGY_ELIMINATION_DIET.pdf)
FODMAPS diet (A type of elimination diet)(https://www.monashfodmap.com/)
Elimination diet by the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM)- Recommended
Elimination Diet Comprehensive Guide(undefined)
Elimination Diet Food Plan(undefined)
Elimination Diet Weekly Planner & Recipes(undefined)
Anti-Inflammation Diet (https://www.drweil.com/diet-nutrition/anti-inflammatory-diet-pyramid/dr-weils-anti-inflammatory-diet/) (Note, some foods that are ok in the anti-inflammation diet are NOT ok in the elimination diet)
Anti-Inflammatory Foods(https://draxe.com/anti-inflammatory-foods/)
IF YOU ARE WONDERING WHAT YOU CAN EAT, here are some helpful websites with articles, guidance, and recipes. One also has a week by week guide about how to go about doing the elimination diet, what to eat, what to introduce when, etc.
http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2010/01/elimination-and-detoxification-diet-its.htmlhttp://wholelifenutrition.net/elimination-diet(http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2010/01/elimination-and-detoxification-diet-its.html)
Dr Hyman,(https://drhyman.com/) Dr. Axe,(https://draxe.com/) and Chris Kresser (https://chriskresser.com/)have great resources on their websites.