What is an Elimination Diet?

An Elimination diet (ED) can be very beneficial to people who are have gastrointestinal (GI) problems. Elimination diets are helpful whether or not you have a firm diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), or a possible food allergy, like Celiac disease.

The main purpose of an Elimination diet is to help you, and your doctor, understand if a particular food or food additive is causing some or all of your symptoms. I started my first ED ten years ago and found that I had sensitivities to foods like oranges, caffeine, melons, beef, cow's milk, spicy foods, additives and preservatives, and caffeine. About six months ago, I started having problems with severe bloating and gas after meals. I tested negative for Celiac disease but by doing another ED, I found I was intolerant to gluten. After completely eliminating gluten from my diet, my symptoms have disappeared.

Doing an Elimination diet is not easy, but it is extremely useful. My best piece of advice is: do not start an ED during the holiday season or when you will be on vacation or away from home for a prolonged period of time. You need to be very strict about what you eat during your ED and if you have a family with children it is best to discuss with them what you are doing and why. If you can convince the whole family to participate in the diet it could be useful to see if anyone else exhibits food sensitivities or allergies. That said, it is always best to do an ED under the supervision of a doctor, and any child under 16 years of age must be supervised by a doctor while on an ED.

Before you start on your ED keep a journal for at least a week where you take note of your symptoms - both physical and mental - when the symptoms come and when they are not present. Continue to keep your journal during your ED as well. This will help you visually see what foods cause symptoms vs. what foods do not cause problems. It is also a good idea to write down how you are feeling each day, what kind of bowel movements you are having and their frequency, etc. You can then take your journal into your next doctor's visit and have a reliable source of information for you and your doctor to review.

So, how do you start the diet? Your doctor should give you a comprehensive list of what is and is not allowed while on an ED, here is an overview:

ALLOWED foods on the Elimination diet include:

- All vegetable EXCEPT corn
- Only the following meats - fresh fish, water-packed fish (tuna, salmon), lamb, duck, organic turkey and chicken (no hormones, no preservative), wild game.
- All fruits EXCEPT citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, limes) - eat fresh fruits, unsweetened, frozen or water packed, and natural (unsweetened) diluted juices.
- Grains such as Brown or White Rice, Oats, Millet, Barley, Amaranth, Quinoa, Potato flour,
Buckwheat
- Split peas, lentils, and Legumes
- Walnuts, almonds, pecans, cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, almond butter, and tahini