An elimination and challenge diet, commonly referred to simply as an elimination diet, is a noninvasive method of detecting food allergies or intolerances. Although elimination diets are not suitable for everyone, they can be quite successful at pinpointing foods that may be causing a patient's symptoms.
Elimination Phase
In the elimination phase of the diet, you must avoid eating all foods you or your doctor suspects may be causing symptoms. This may encompass any type of food, but is also likely to include top allergens like dairy, eggs, soy, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish and corn, since according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America these foods are problematic for more than 80 percent of people with food allergies. Different people spend different amounts of time on the elimination phase of the diet: the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America recommends four to seven days, while the Cleveland Clinic advises two to three weeks. In either case, you will remain in the elimination phase until your symptoms have disappeared for at least a couple of days.
Challenge Phase
After spending the prescribed amount of time in the elimination phase, you will enter the challenge phase of the diet, in which you begin to slowly reintroduce foods. As the Cleveland Clinic explains, you'll need to carefully record your symptoms as you reintroduce foods. If a symptom reappears after you reintroduce a food, it's likely that food is the cause of some or all of your issues. According to the CFIDS Association of America, symptoms may occur immediately after eating a problematic food or may not appear until the following day, so you'll have to be especially observant and introduce foods slowly so symptoms don't overlap.
Supervision
The Cleveland Clinic recommends people perform an elimination diet only under the supervision of their doctor. Trying to eliminate foods from your diet on your own may leave you with an unbalanced diet that could lead to additional problems. During the challenge phase of the diet, your doctor may also be helpful in deciphering problematic foods based on your recorded symptoms.
Reading Labels
According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, one of the toughest challenges on an elimination diet is making sure you do not accidentally eat any of your prohibited foods. Many common allergens are frequently added to processed foods, so you will need to become vigilant about reading food labels.
Limitations
Elimination diets are not right for everyone. According to the Mayo Clinic, results can be influenced by psychological factors; if you believe a certain food causes problems for you, for instance, you may experience symptoms after eating it regardless of its true impact on your body. Also, elimination diets cannot be used with patients who have experienced severe reactions as a result of food allergies or intolerances, since eating the food during the challenge phase could put the patient at risk.
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