The Elimination Diet is a process of isolating foods that could be potentially causing the immune system to over react. We are all biochemically unique. Why is it then that we assume we can all tolerate the same foods? What might be food for one, may be poison for another. But how do you find out what foods may be irritating you, and what foods may be nourishing you? Over many years, practitioners around the globe have found that taking potentially irritating foods such as gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, yeast, and corn, out of the diet for a period of weeks and then adding them back in can cause changes in a persons body that will clue them in to what is working and what is not.
For example, numerous clients in our Nutritional Counseling practice have experienced migraines, chronic fatigue, joint pain, bowel discomfort, stomach problems and other ailments that were never resolved using traditional medical treatments. In many cases, these problems persisted or got worse over time. When these people eliminated potentially problematic foods for three or more weeks using the elimination diet in our book, amazing things started to happen. Decades of rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue, headaches, stubborn belly fat, unexplained diarrhea, nausea, and constipation all began to resolve. Now, we have an updated and expanded version of our Elimination Diet available in the second edition of our cookbook, The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook. The book and this blog should give you all the tools necessary for you to succeed in your health goals!
For example, numerous clients in our Nutritional Counseling practice have experienced migraines, chronic fatigue, joint pain, bowel discomfort, stomach problems and other ailments that were never resolved using traditional medical treatments. In many cases, these problems persisted or got worse over time. When these people eliminated potentially problematic foods for three or more weeks using the elimination diet in our book, amazing things started to happen. Decades of rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue, headaches, stubborn belly fat, unexplained diarrhea, nausea, and constipation all began to resolve. Now, we have an updated and expanded version of our Elimination Diet available in the second edition of our cookbook, The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook. The book and this blog should give you all the tools necessary for you to succeed in your health goals!
The information on this page and on this website are to help assist you with the detailed elimination diet in our cookbook, The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook. There you will find a list of each phase, how long each phase lasts, and lists of simple recipe ideas, plus lists of recipe titles and page numbers that are suitable during each phase.
Our elimination program starts with a detoxification phase followed by a phase (phase 1) of balancing neutral foods, and then slowly adds back foods over phase 2 and the challenge phase.
The Detoxification Phase, the first 2 days, in which green smoothies are the only thing consumed, will begin to calm the immune system and clear the gut. If you have a number of health issues then this phase can be made longer for maximum benefit.
Phase 1 is sort of like a baseline diet, consisting of foods that normally don’t cause an immune response and are anti-inflammatory. When you eat foods that your body does not tolerate you will have a high amount of chemicals circulating in your blood that regulate inflammation. Inflammation is a sign that your immune system is battling something. Anytime you have a battle, you have collateral damage. So along with the foreign cells that are attacked by the immune system, good cells are damaged or destroyed as well.
So what happens when you eat Phase 1 foods? Balance. If you have been causing damage 3 to 5 times a day then you not only stop the damage, but increase the beneficial chemicals coming into your body from your food. You start the healing process.
From here we begin to introduce foods back into the diet during Phase 2, one by one, to note any reaction. Lemons and tamari are first on the list. Initially we felt that tamari was not as reactive as other soy products in most people. But now after a few years of results we see that tamari can be very reactive in people with compromised digestion. It will be up to you to decide if you would like to wait on this.
Phase 3 consists of slowly adding back foods that sometimes cause irritations in people. These include nightshade vegetables, fish, bananas, kiwi, and others. You can introduce soy back in at this time as we say in our book, though we recommend waiting until the challenge phase to introduce this. Take it slow. There is no need to rush the diet. By now you will have plenty of foods to eat. You can do it in 28 days or draw it out to two months if your immune system and digestion are severely compromised.
The Challenge Phase consists of adding back in foods that often cause an irritation in most people (to some degree). These foods include gluten, oats, corn, *soy, dairy, eggs, and yeast. Please refer to our cookbook for the details of this phase. It is very important to isolate these foods. For instance we use rye to test for a gluten reaction.
What are some of the benefits of this diet other than finding reactive foods?
Well for starters, most people lose a bit of weight. A lot of it is water weight at first from inflammation in the body. Then, eventually, as your body becomes more efficient and your digestive system more effective, you will begin to lose excess fat. People who are underweight will tend to gain weight. Energy levels are commonly noted. People simply have more energy and feel great. Most do not want to go back to their old eating habits because they feel so good. Nearly every aspect of your physical and emotional body is altered when doing this diet.
This diet is simple, inexpensive and relies heavily on fresh produce. The best time to do the elimination diet is when the fresh produce in your area is in season, usually from May through October in the Northern Hemisphere. We suggest scheduling the diet to avoid the holiday season, because all of the food can just be too tempting to successfully stay on the diet.
For more information on the Elimination Diet please visit our Website or take a look at some of the Elimination Diet Recipes we have up here on our blog. Tom also takes a limited number of phone consultations each week to assist people in designing an elimination diet that is individually unique.
This diet is simple, inexpensive and relies heavily on fresh produce. The best time to do the elimination diet is when the fresh produce in your area is in season, usually from May through October in the Northern Hemisphere. We suggest scheduling the diet to avoid the holiday season, because all of the food can just be too tempting to successfully stay on the diet.
For more information on the Elimination Diet please visit our Website or take a look at some of the Elimination Diet Recipes we have up here on our blog. Tom also takes a limited number of phone consultations each week to assist people in designing an elimination diet that is individually unique.
