what is the elimination diet

    Elimination diet is a term used to describe a dietary approach in which a specific food or food group is eliminated from a person’s diet for a period of time.  The elimination diet is typically employed for four to six weeks, but can be employed much longer.  The purpose of the elimination diet is to help identify food intolerances, food allergies and reduce inflammation in the body and gut.  Once an offending food or food group has been identified, the elimination diet may need to be maintained long term in order for a person to see lasting relief from disorders and diseases such as: Celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, urticarial disease, eosinophilic esophagitis, and migraine headaches. 
 
    An elimination diet can include the removal of just one food type, but often includes at least one complete food group and up to six food groups.  The most common groups of food allergens that are addressed and/or eliminated during an elimination diet are: bovine dairy products, eggs, soy, wheat (gluten), nuts (including tree nuts) and fish (including shellfish).  Of these six food groups, the two most commonly eliminated are wheat and bovine dairy.  
 
    Elimination diets are used to help a practitioner identify foods that are causing allergic and/or inflammatory responses in the body.  Most people are familiar with the idea of food allergies causing negative effects in the body like anaphylaxis in the case of someone with a severe allergic response to nuts or shellfish.  Many people, however, do not have such severe and visible reactions to offending foods, but the long-term effects can still be quite damaging to the body.   For many people, the effects include one or more of the following: upset stomach, bloating, acne, skin rashes, hives, mouth sores, joint pain, hair loss, depression, anxiety, nausea, insomnia, weight gain, weight loss, vomiting, constipation, and diarrhea.   
 
    An elimination diet is implemented following a general course of action.  First, a patient meets with their practitioner to discuss their symptoms along with specifics of their diet.  A food journal is often requested by the practitioner to help identify specific and troublesome foods.  Once the patient’s symptoms are identified the practitioner will specifically discuss which foods or food groups should be temporarily eliminated from the diet.  As mentioned above, the practitioner can recommend one or more food groups to eliminate.  Those foods are eliminated, depending on the severity of the condition or disease, for 30 days or up to 3 months.  After this time, the potentially offending foods are reintroduced to the diet slowly and one at a time.  By reintroducing the foods slowly back into the diet the practitioner and the patient can figure out which food or foods are responsible for their conditions or disease. 
 
    After the elimination diet is complete and the offending food or foods have been identified, it is often the case that those foods need to be completely eliminated long term from the diet, or else the symptoms will ultimately return.  Through the elimination of the offending foods, the patient’s body is able to heal, thus eliminating or greatly reducing the symptoms experienced by the patient.

     At DCAM, the elimination diet is one of our most powerful tools used to diagnose and treat food intolerances and allergies.  Elegantly simple, when done properly the elimination diet can be far superior to most available blood and skin allergy tests.  For more information, or if you are experiencing any of the symptoms of food allergies or intolerances, please contact our office.  Our practitioners would be happy to help.