digestive problems,asthma and allergies, skin problems, cardiovascular diseases, mood disorders, hair, bowel, kidney and blood functions…and tonnes more related to food intolerances.
What is an elimination diet?
Essentially it’s a ‘find what you’re body likes’ eating plan.
Most people grow up eating certain foods. These foods become normalised to us and we just assume that we are eating the right things, our bodies have felt the same our entire life. The problem is, we become so used to eating these foods and feeling ‘not our best’. Our bodies should feel amazing everyday, you should feel energised after food, not sluggish.
So how do you find out whether or not you need to eliminate certain foods?
The hard way! Who ever said anything was easy?
The Elimination diet gradually cuts out certain foods for a select period of time, then re-introduces them to see what triggers and effects you suffer with. It’s essentially a super affordable and healthy way of allergy testing, and bonus, you could lose weight and find new flavours and food combinations you’d never have thought of before.
Remember eliminating foods doesn’t mean eating less,Substitute the bad foods for new ways of eating!
How does it work?
By eliminating foods from your diet, your body can go back to functioning how it should.
You can just go about your daily life as a healthy and happy person, with no strains of extra gas, constipation or migraines… of course it’s all specific to your body but on average you’ll be cutting out the common causes like bread, pasta, citrus fruits and dairy products but hold on!
It works by highlighting the ‘problem’ foods when re-introducing them, what effects do they have? Where they making you feel tired? This way you know to either cut them back or cut them out completely….
So, what do I have to do?
It’s personal to you, so you have to know your body! Luckily you’re the best qualified for that! Studying your eating habits has been part of your life whether you know it or not, you subconsciously make a note of what happens to your body, so before you get started we need to think about some things…
What doesn’t my body like?
These are the five questions you should ask yourself.
- Have I ever felt ‘swollen and bloated’? – What caused it, had you eaten something that’s a noticeable cause?
- Have I ever repeatedly cramps and diarrhea after eating a certain food?
- Do I feel tired/unwell after eating this food?
- Are my bowel movements irregular?
- Is what I’m eating unhealthy?
If so you probably are in need of eliminating a food-type out of your diet, you might even have an idea of what those foods are if you’ve been keeping an eye on your diet. Write your trigger foods down. Even if you have a good idea of the foods your body doesn’t like I’d still like you to spend at least a week avoiding them and a few others, just to make sure it’s not something else causing you issues.
Trigger foods:
Pulses and beans and legumes: lentils, beans, sweet corn,
Dairy products: Milk,Cheese,Eggs, chocolate! (I know, I know)
Spices, Salt and high levels of sugar!
The list is here as a guideline, most IBS or intolerance sufferers struggle with these foods, but find your problem areas. These foods might seem ‘healthy’ but they’re often the cause of bloating and digestive problems, not to say you need to cut them all at one time, just choose one group and steer clear for a week.Have you felt any different? If yes then leave them out permanently and try the next group too..
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| Gluten free, Dairy Free, Acid neutral and super healthy choices! |
Remember it’s for your health, if your body doesn’t like certain foods, why not get rid of them? If your tv’s only receiving one channel, wouldn’t you try to fix it?
Removing foods from your diet shouldn’t be daunting there are plenty of diets that cater for all sorts of allergies!
19 Comments
I need to do this. I think I’m allergic to gluten though 🙁
So interesting Amy, as I suffer from Colitis and have never been able to totally pinpoint my triggers, this is something I need to try.
So interesting Amy, as I suffer from Colitis and have never been able to totally pinpoint my triggers, this is something I need to try.
Wow what a great post very interesting and has lots of great info in it, loved reading it.
Wow what a great post very interesting and has lots of great info in it, loved reading it.
As someone who is gluten intolerant I know all about elimination diets. To anyone who is thinking about doing one, I would just say be a wee bit careful as you may introduce more problems when restarting!
Well said Niki, I think gradual is the best way to do it. Otherwise you can shock the system, especially with starchy foods!
As someone who is gluten intolerant I know all about elimination diets. To anyone who is thinking about doing one, I would just say be a wee bit careful as you may introduce more problems when restarting!
Well said Niki, I think gradual is the best way to do it. Otherwise you can shock the system, especially with starchy foods!
This is actually dead interesting, I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while. My plan is to start a food diary and write down how each food I’ve eaten that day affects me. Think you might’ve finally given me the motivation to ACTUALLY do it! x
Oh brilliant! I hope you do and I hope it gives you the explanations you want from your dietary problems x
This is actually dead interesting, I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while. My plan is to start a food diary and write down how each food I’ve eaten that day affects me. Think you might’ve finally given me the motivation to ACTUALLY do it! x
Oh brilliant! I hope you do and I hope it gives you the explanations you want from your dietary problems x
Great post!
Great post!
This gives me something to think about, although I struggle with dieting so I don’t know of honestly I would stick to something like this long enough to to find out!
You don’t have to “stick with it” though, it’s really only cutting the ‘bad foods’ out. Most of the time they’re painful enough for it to be easy to cut them out, it’s not for everyone. Just for those that are in pain and suffering with allergies x
This gives me something to think about, although I struggle with dieting so I don’t know of honestly I would stick to something like this long enough to to find out!
You don’t have to “stick with it” though, it’s really only cutting the ‘bad foods’ out. Most of the time they’re painful enough for it to be easy to cut them out, it’s not for everyone. Just for those that are in pain and suffering with allergies x