Elimination Diet experience

[Tink-n-MrIncredible]

I am looking for tips on doing an elimination diet. Did it help? What type of foods did you reintroduce into your diet first? Thanks

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

I've done it with certain foods when trying to determine intolerance and negative side effects (reflux, nausea, cramps, etc) under the recommendation of my doctor. I cut out all dairy, gluten, eggs, soy, caffeine, citrus fruits, and all juices. I ate only at home for 3 weeks and checked all the labels to ensure I wasn't eating or drinking anything I wasn't supposed to. I was pretty sure soy and gluten weren't the culprits so I introduced gluten back first at the 3 week mark, and soy at 4 weeks. With each re-introduced food, I tried to eat it daily for a week. If there was no repeat of the side effects, I introduced another food after a week. If there were, I stopped eating it and waited for the symptoms to resolve (usually within about a week), before reintroducing anything else. After soy, I did eggs and had some symptoms so had to stop eating that and wait a little while before moving on to caffeine, then citrus, then juice, then dairy, all of which I had issues with, as I expected I would.

I kept a journal of everything I ate during the time and made notes of how I was feeling along the way. I think when it comes to reintroducing foods it's best to go in order of the ones you think are the least likely to cause issues first.

Overall, the whole trial for me lasted about 2.5 months or so, largely because of the number of foods we tried and how many I had issues with during the trial. I was pretty sure of how everything was going to play out, but it did give me a better idea of how specifically each food affects me and how much I can have before experiencing side effects. Since a lot of these were foods that I tended to limit or in some cases eliminate completely before the elimination diet, for me I didn't have any huge change in how I felt afterwards, but did have a better understanding of how I feel when I eat certain things. It also helped to give my doctor a better understanding of how much (or little in some cases) impact each food has on my overall symptoms so that my care and medicines can be prescribed more efficiently.

 

[dotfurio]

I tried the Paleo AIP (autoimmune protocol) for a few weeks as a possible fix to a health issue I was having. It didn't help that issue, but my digestive system was so much happier. It was a hassle to follow, though. I kept a couple favorite recipes but I've gone back to eating everything I ate before. I really should try it again just to figure out what makes my gut feel better. Because it didn't make a difference with my primary reason for following the diet, I wasn't careful about how I reintroduced things.

 

[HeatherC]

I have not done a specific one, but I do have a rare form of colitis called lymphocytic colitis which I have been fortunate enough to manage by diet alone. In researching this colitis, I came across a forum board specifically about microscopic colitis of which lymphocytic is a part of.

On those boards, a great number of people mention a stool test done by a place in Houston called Enterolabs. Apparently, you send a sample in and they tell you exactly what foods you are allergic to without having to do an elimination diet. Many people were surprised they were allergic to gluten even though they don’t have celiac disease or allergic to Night shade vegetables or milk sugars or eggs, etc..

I only know what I have read about it on the boards but I feel sure enough about it that if my own situation were to worsen, I would definitely pay to have it done.

Just thought I would mention it in case it could help you. The website is perskyfarms.com. Towards the bottom of the page is the link to the discussion boards.

Best of luck to you!