A challenge diet can help you determine whether certain foods are triggering symptoms, and it can help treat food-related conditions such as food allergies and food intolerances. Before you begin a challenge diet, you need to discuss your plan with your doctor and determine the best approach. Your doctor will have a vital role in the challenge-diet process.
Plan
Before you can begin a challenge diet, you will need to plan it with your healthcare provider. To identify which foods are triggering your symptoms, keep a journal with details about the foods you eat and whether you develop symptoms after eating certain foods. Record the symptoms that occur, as well. Keep the journal for a week and then discuss your findings with your doctor. Also write down the foods you eat the most, foods you crave, foods that make you feel better and foods you think would be difficult to give up. Many times these foods are the foods that are causing adverse reactions.
Avoidance
Avoid the foods that you and your doctor determine may be triggering your symptoms. This may be more difficult than you think. For example, if dairy products are a food that your doctor wants to challenge, you cannot eat anything that contains milk, such as ice cream, yogurt, lunch meats, non-dairy creamers and baked goods. Eating even a small amount can affect the outcome of the challenge. Read the labels of all foods before you consume them to ensure that they do not contain ingredients you should be avoiding.
Challenge
If your symptoms still remain without changing after two weeks of avoidance, talk with your doctor. This may be a sign that your symptoms are not related to specific foods, but a different medical condition. After the two weeks, eat one of the foods that you eliminated. Write down what you eat, how much you eat and how it affects your body. Stop eating that food again and wait three days before introducing the next food. Continue this process until you've challenged all the foods in your challenge diet.
Outcome
Discuss the outcome and results with your doctor. She may request further testing to provide a clinical diagnosis or she may recommend a long-term diet that will permanently remove problem foods from your diet. The primary treatment for many food-related conditions is a permanent elimination diet.
