An elimination diet is a technique doctors and patients use to gauge the effects of food on the symptoms of health conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, depression, chronic fatigue and joint or abdominal pain. During this type of diet, you will remove suspect foods from your diet, evaluate any changes in your symptoms and then reintroduce these foods to see if or how your symptoms return.
Preparation
Before beginning an elimination diet, you will typically meet with your doctor to discuss foods that may trigger your symptoms, according to the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. As part of your preparation, you will usually track your food choices and symptoms in a daily journal. The journal will show the foods that you frequently eat, foods that you crave, foods that you might find difficult to eliminate from your diet and foods that you use to ease the effects of your symptoms.
Common Problem Foods
The University of Wisconsin lists a number of foods that frequently trigger allergies or other adverse reactions. Common examples include all forms of dairy and foods that contain gluten, such as oats, barley, wheat, rye, spelt, malt and kamut. Other foods that may trigger or worsen your symptoms include fatty pork or beef, peanuts, alcohol, vinegar, condiments, candy and processed or refined foods.
Elimination Planning
When you review your food journal, you will likely identify problem foods in your diet, Discovery Health says. Once you identify a list of suspect foods, develop an effective plan to temporarily remove these foods from your diet and test the effects on your symptoms. Pick an elimination plan that you can stick to. If you have severe symptoms that could potentially stem from food allergies, you may need to avoid a large number of foods. Otherwise, eliminate one or two food groups at a time.
Food Elimination
Whichever foods you pick, you must avoid them for a period of two weeks, the University of Wisconsin says. To reinforce your efforts, carefully check the ingredients of all processed or packaged foods you eat to avoid accidental consumption of problematic substances. Also, determine the contents of any foods you eat in a restaurant. In many cases, individuals on an elimination diet experience a temporary worsening of their symptoms, followed by some degree of improvement. If your symptoms worsen for more than a couple of days, or worsen seriously, ask your doctor for guidance and advice.
Food Challenge
After two weeks, reintroduce a single suspect food for one day, Discovery Health suggests. This reintroduction is called a food challenge. During a challenge, record your responses to a reintroduced food. If the food causes symptoms during or after reintroduction, it is likely a source of your problems. If it does not provoke symptoms, perform a challenge on additional suspect foods.
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