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Home » Diet » Elimination Diet: What It Is, How to Do It and Why It Can Be Good for Your Gut – Parade

The foods you eat are meant to keep you healthy and energized for your workouts and day-to-day activities. But for some people, certain foods trigger inflammation, allergies or sensitivities. If youre not feeling your best, trying an elimination diet is one of the way to uncover which foods are causing you trouble.

Food sensitivities are becoming more common. More than 10% of U.S. adults report having a food allergy, and about 20% believe they have food allergies, according to a report published in JAMA Network Open last year.

Elimination diets may be better than many allergy tests at revealing how your body reacts to specific foods, says family physician and functional medicine practitioner Scott Noorda, who owns Resolve Medical in St. George, Utah.

Weve had patients overcome issues that theyve been trying to resolve for years simply by cutting out the food that was triggering their chronic symptoms and conditions, he says. The food we put in our bodies is one of the largest factors in how we feel.

Parade.com has tackled this topic in the latest episode of The TMI Show. Check out the video and then read on to learn more about elimination diets and what they can and cant do.

Despite being referred to as a diet, the elimination diet is not a weight loss toolinstead, it identifies food triggers, says Kristen Carli, registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of Camelback Nutrition and Wellness in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Some people may lose weight while on an elimination diet, Noorda explains, but whats more important is understanding the bodys reaction to certain foods.

Elimination diets require cutting out certain foods that commonly trigger allergies, sensitivities or intolerances for a period of time until they are cleared from the body, usually three to four weeks, Noorda explains. Then, you systematically reintroduce the foods and track any symptoms you experience.

This gives us a map going forward for how to heal intolerances and improve function, symptoms and general well-being, he says.

Elimination diets also reduce inflammation in the body, especially the gut. Removing foods causing inflammation helps heal the intestinal lining, also known as leaky gut.

Related: What Is GOLO Diet? Everything You Need to Know About GOLO for Beginners

A true elimination diet starts with eliminating all the foods that commonly cause issuesgluten, corn, dairy, chemical additives and preservatives, refined sugar, peanuts and soyfor a few weeks, says New York-based chiropractor and functional health practitioner Kelly Bay.

This is to give the body time to calm down inflammation and immune responses that may be causing symptoms and gives the patient a clean slate to assess foods and symptoms upon reintroduction, she says.

After a few weeks, reintroduce foods one at a time. Bay suggests consuming reintroduced foods two to three times in one day, and then waiting 24 hours before testing a new food.

An example of this is eating wheat berries (gluten) three times on Monday, eating no wheat berries on Tuesday and then start testing dairy on Wednesday, she says.

If you have a reaction to a food, Noorda says to wait until symptoms clear up before reintroducing the next food. The foods causing a reaction could possibly be reintroduced after three additional months of elimination.

Related: What Is the Best Diet for PCOS?

Problematic foods may trigger health conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, migraines or autoimmune disorders, Bay says, and symptoms such as gas, bloating, heartburn, abdominal pain, bowel changes, cough, congestion, fatigue, joint pain, feeling swollen, acne, rashes, eczema, sleep disturbances and headaches.

Ive seen the use of an elimination diet be incredibly helpful when it comes to improving acid reflux, arthritis, various skin issues and autoimmune problems, such as Hashimotos (disease), psoriasis, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, Bay explains.

Look for meats with an American Grassfed Association label. Beef from cows raised in open-grass pastures is less likely to be contaminated with antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

After an elimination diet, Noorda says patients report more clarity and energy, less brain fog and fatigue, and better digestion. Others see improved skin, less sinus congestion, better sleep and reduced muscle and joint pain.

I have had multiple patients who have decided that they dont want to reintroduce the restricted foods at allbecause they feel so much better, he says. Of course, there are important benefits with many of the foods that have been restricted so we are careful about making sure that each patient is getting appropriate nutrition whatever their preferred nutritional plan is.

Sugar, dairy and gluten commonly trigger adverse food reactions. Other common offenders include corn, peanuts, soy and certain additives and preservatives. But, your health care practitioner could add more foods to the list, like shellfish, nightshades or meats, depending on your symptoms, Bay says.

To treat irritable bowel syndrome, a low-FODMAP diet can ease gastrointestinal symptoms, Carli says. FODMAP stands for fermentable, oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols, forms of short-chain carbohydrates, found in dairy, fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

An elimination diet is meant to be a short-term treatment. Even if foods cause problems, you may not necessarily have to give them up forever, Noorda explains.

Eliminating foods can heal the intestinal lining. You may regain the ability to eat the right types of dairy or gluten at the right timesfor example, consuming only raw milk dairy or restricting consumption in the eveningwith no effects.

Food journaling in some form is the best way to log foods your eliminating and reintroducing, and symptoms while on an elimination diet, Carli suggests.

This is very important in order to determine patterns, she says.

Elimination diets aim to get to the heart of the symptoms, unlike medications designed to treat symptoms alone, Bay says.

By finding the root cause of your problem, you can prevent the symptoms from occurring by avoiding the food, rather than putting a Band-Aid on the symptom, she says.

You may realize, for example, that eating gluten triggers acid reflux and other gastrointestinal problems, which could be eliminated by going gluten-free, preventing the need for long-term medications and the financial burden of continued medical care, Bay says.

Sometimes, people feel worse for the first few days of an elimination diet because the body is detoxing, Noorda says. For example, you may get headaches from caffeine withdrawal.

After the detox, he says an elimination diet is one of the most effective ways to improve and resolve many chronic conditions.

It allows us to determine a personalized nutrition plan going forward that will maintain good health, free of the symptoms caused by poor food choices, Noorda says.

Elimination diets can be tedious and time consuming, Bay says, but it works and is really a small amount of time to commit to in the long run.

Not strictly adhering to the process and timeframes will deliver skewed results, she explains.

And, just because youre cutting out foods doesnt mean meals will be less enjoyable, Noorda says. Youll likely be replacing foods full of preservatives and artificial sweeteners, colors and flavoring with fresh, whole foods with herbs, healthy fats and high-mineral salt content.

When you upgrade your meals to using the same ingredients a five-star restaurant would, its going to taste a lot better than the microwave dinner you grabbed out of the freezer section, he says.

Learn more about a popular elimination diet, Whole30.

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Elimination Diet: What It Is, How to Do It and Why It Can Be Good for Your Gut - Parade

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Home » Diet » Elimination Diet: What It Is, How to Do It and Why It Can Be Good for Your Gut – Parade