Everything You Need to Know about The Elimination Diet
Dieting isn’t something I recommend. As a matter of fact, I don’t agree with #dietculture at all.
Let’s be clear, your DIET is literally what you eat day-to-day. Unfortunately, anytime the word “diet” is mentioned, it’s easy for us to immediately think of vegan, paleo, keto, whole30, atkins, or anything else that became, essentially, trendy.
Here’s the thing: dieting doesn’t work. Plain and simple. At least not for the long-term. It’s not meant to! That’s why the diet industry is a million dollar industry - it keeps people coming back and trying the next best thing to get the results that are over-promised and under-delivered.
Yes, people can see quick results, sometimes great results. But chances are it’s only temporary and at some point you might stop feeling good, hit a plateau, or worse, get really sick. Why? Because every single day your body changes and adapts to your environment and as time goes on your needs will change, as well. You are a bio-individual and there is no one else like you. You’re 100% unique in your own way which means what works for one person, may not work for you, and vice versa. In fact, what works for you or someone else can be detrimental to the other.
Here’s what diet culture lacks: sustainability.
End rant.
Anyway, for the purpose of this blog, I’ve been talking a lot about this Elimination Diet over on my IG because I’m on round two in the last three years of my health journey and I’ve been getting a lot of questions. I know what you’re thinking, I just spent the first part of this blog talking about how diet culture is not where it’s at. Don’t give up on me yet, keep reading!
The Elimination Diet is purposefully only meant to be temporary (you’re welcome :P) - I like to call it the gut-check diet. I’m prepared to give you as much information as possible, but I also want this to be as simple as possible. I’ll break down for you exactly what the Elimination Diet is, what it is not, why this is actually good, and how it all works!
What is the elimination diet?
Again, the Elimination Diet is only temporary. Personally, I do it for only 28 days. I’ve also done it before and others have done a form of an elimination diet for a few months, but I don’t think that’s necessary UNLESS you’re really having a problem with a particular food. It’s an opportunity to allow your body to reset itself, give your gut a chance to play “catch up", and let your immune system recharge. After all, 90% of your body’s defense system is in the gut.
That’s exactly what the Elimination Diet is for. It involves removing certain foods, particularly suspicious foods - aka trigger foods - for a period of time and observing how the body reacts. Simple. It’s meant to identify any trigger foods that are causing some reactions. The most common reactions include: bloating, excessive gas, headaches/migraines, acne, digestive problems. Other reactions can be: fatigue, brain fog, restlessness, aches and joint pain, feeling “blah” and not really knowing why. Then, there’s instances where these trigger foods may even cause more serious imbalances like leaky gut, autoimmune disease, eczema, inflammation, and more.
I know this type of diet can seem intimidating because taking food away from your diet is scary and sometimes even overwhelming. Instead of thinking about the foods you’re removing, it’s helping to think about what you’re gaining. This is called crowding out - naturally adding in more whole foods to help easily identify foods that aren’t agreeing with you or working for you. In other words, rather than giving you energy they’re taking energy away.
The most common question that usually pops up (and what I’ve been hearing especially the last week) is “what am I supposed to eat?” Hold onto your coconuts, I’m going to share all the nitty gritty details!
So, here’s what the elimination diet is not. The Elimination Diet is NOT a quick fix, lose-weight-overnight type of deal and it is definitely not meant for a long-term diet approach.
Why do an elimination diet?
As I mentioned before, this diet is great for a reset. Our bodies are constantly changing, so, certain foods can have different effects on us when we least expect it. Even if it’s something you’ve always eaten and all of a sudden you’re experiencing constant bloating, headaches, fatigue, etc. and are unsure where it’s coming from. It’s a good chance that you need to do a gut-check!
This is my second time doing an elimination diet because lately I’ve been experiencing some of these symptoms and instead of putting a bandaid over it, I’d prefer to get to the bottom of it. It’s the best way to go. Wouldn’t you rather know what’s causing you dis-ease instead of trying to mask the symptoms and worry if it will manifest into something worse? I think we can agree we don’t want to feel worse later on, so why not catch it in the act?
An elimination diet is not a quick fix or lose-weight-overnight approach.
How does an elimination diet work?
The Elimination Diet includes removing these top five trigger foods: gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, and corn. Caffeine, nuts, alcohol, yeast, and fish are also sometimes removed, but you don’t have to go that far unless you feel one of those could be the culprit of some symptoms you’re experiencing. The trick is you have to be super diligent in not having any of these foods during the Elimination Phase. The elimination phase is only 28 days.
After the Elimination phase, you start to reintroduce each food, one at a time, every 4 days. For example:
Day 1-3: add gluten, monitor symptoms, assess
Day 4-6: add dairy, monitor symptoms, assess
Day 7-9: add soy, monitor symptoms, assess and so on…
The reason you want to wait 4 days is because your body can react to foods within 3 days of eating it. It can be hard to tell which food is giving you a reaction if you added all at once, don’t you agree? This gives your body a chance to adjust before sending it into overdrive.
The goal is to discover if any of your previous symptoms return, which will determine which food you can continue to leave out. If any symptoms do return within the 3 days, leave it out. No sense in creating more damage to your gut and your body, it’s not worth the medical bills in the end.
It’s important to know this diet does require discipline and consistency, as well as monitoring. It’s super helpful to do this diet with a health coach and/or an accountability partner. Someone to help guide you and also hold your hand through this process if it’s something you’re looking into. I also highly recommend talking to your primary care Doctor and letting them know your plan, especially if you’re taking certain medications or have specific health concerns that require medical attention regularly.
*DISCLAIMER: keep in mind that an Elimination diet is not meant to cure any ailments and is not a guaranteed method for diagnosing allergies.
It’s simply one method that happens to be a more natural, holistic approach.
Foods to avoid:
gluten
dairy
soy
eggs
corn
Foods to include:
vegetables*
fruits*
whole grains*
beans
healthy oils (olive, avocado, coconut)
meat & poultry
nuts & seeds
The Pros of the Elimination Diet:
emphasizes eating more whole foods - helps optimize health and restore gut microbiome
may help alleviate symptoms quickly
increases awareness and mindfulness
For best practices, it’s helpful keeping a food diary during this time to keep track of everything you’re eating and any symptoms that come up - you can simply do it right in the notes app on your smartphone!
What makes an Elimination Diet unique is that food allergies, sensitivities, and intolerances can actually play a huge role in affecting the digestive system, as well as the immune system. Doing this diet for 28 days, while adding in an abundance of nutrient-rich whole foods can help your body function at its highest capacity and make your cells sing and dance inside your body!
Now for the good stuff…
What can I eat on an elimination diet?
Pretty much anywhere you go nowadays you can find natural, easy alternatives to try other than those main five trigger foods. We’ve been very lucky! Rule of thumb is to stick to whole, real, all-natural ingredients as much as possible. You can never go wrong adding in more fruits and veggies to your day-to-day (in fact, research has shown you can add a few extra years to your life when you do!). If you can stay away from highly processed foods and oils than you’re already another step ahead!
See some alternative options below:
fruits and veggies
lean meats (vegetable fed poultry) and fish
whole grains - quinoa*, millet, buckwheat (yep, believe it or not, GF), amaranth, brown and wild rice
flours - cassava, tapioca, nut (almond), bean (chickpea), sorghum,
*when all else fails, look for certified gluten-free label.
meat - look for grass-fed
plant-based butters - earth balance and miyoko’s creamery are my top 2!
plant-based spreads - I love KiteHill for plant-based yogurt, dips, creamy nut spreads, “cheese” alternatives
plant-based milks* - almond, oat (my fav!), coconut, walnut, macadamia (literally every nut you can think of, there’s most likely a milk for that :P)
*look for dairy-free labels.
coconut aminos* (soy sauce alternative)
nuts and seeds
nut butters - peanut, almond
beans/legumes - black, chickpea, kidney, lentils
*look for soy-free labels.
There’s so much more out there to experiment with, so I’ve created a complete shopping guide for you to download that has an abundance of options for you to choose from, as well as some of my best tips to navigating the super markets like a pro!
Have more questions? Drop them in the comments below <3
