An elimination diet is the practice of removing certain foods from your diet as a means of identifying food allergies or sensitivities. According to the website FoodIntol, 75 percent of people are affected by food intolerances to some extent. Food intolerances or sensitivities may not be detectable through blood tests or other types of allergy tests. Following a restrictive diet for a period of several weeks, and then slowly reintroducing foods back into your diet, may help you identify any foods that are causing problems. Do not make any major changes to your diet before consulting a health care professional, especially if you are currently taking any medications.
About Food Intolerances
Food intolerances can cause abdominal pain, gas, bloating, diarrhea and nausea. They may also cause headaches, rashes, wheezing, fluid retention or inflamed sinuses. Foods that commonly cause these reactions are sugars, gluten, MSG and dairy products, plus food additives such as sulfites or histamines.
Elimination
An elimination and rotation diet begins with a period of eliminating any potentially irritating foods from your diet. It may take two weeks for the problematic foods to work their way out of your system, so you should follow the elimination diet faithfully during this period. In addition to the foods mentioned above, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health suggests avoiding beef, alcohol, caffeine, foods containing yeast, vinegar and all processed foods.
Rotation
After two weeks of the elimination diet, you may begin rotating foods back into your diet. Choose only one food group at a time and keep a written record of any symptoms you experience. It may take three days for any symptoms to return. On the first day you add a new food back into your diet, start with a small amount. If no symptoms occur, you can eat larger amounts later in the day. Then discontinue eating the food again, and wait two days for any symptoms to return.
To properly identify the cause of any negative reactions, challenge your system with only one type of food at a time. Even if a food does not appear to cause a reaction, do not fully reintroduce it to your diet until you have rotated through all the foods on your list.
Considerations
Stress or other outside factors may also affect your digestive system. Try to keep external factors as stable as possible during your elimination and rotation diet. Many people have reactions to more than one type of food, and it may take several attempts at an elimination diet before you can identify all your intolerances.
Warnings
Many people experience a temporary worsening of symptoms during the elimination period of the diet. If you experience severe symptoms, you may need to discontinue or modify your elimination diet. If any foods cause a severe reaction, such as a severe rash or throat swelling, contact a doctor immediately.
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