Dealing with chronic pelvic pain, endometriosis, adenomyosis, PCOS, IBS, hot flashes, fatigue, headaches, or joint pain?
Food is the superhero in our medicine cabinet.
So, where should you begin? Perhaps you've considered a detox, eliminating gluten and dairy, or trying the Paleo diet... But which diet is the best fit for YOU?
Why An Elimination Diet?
Serious health issues can be reversed when patients make simple but important diet changes based on their elimination diet experiences.
I’ve seen hormone issues, infertility, reflux, autoimmune diseases, pelvic pain, PCOS, hot flashes, migraines, anxiety, joint pain, gas, bloating, constipation, insomnia, allergies, and period problems completely clear up. Patients even stop taking meds they’ve been on for years!
I’ve also seen patients quickly lose weight they’ve struggled with for years!
How do they get these results? It’s not magic or rocket science. They just cut out foods that make them sick and add in foods that promote health! It all starts with an elimination diet. And you can do it too!
What is the Elimination Diet?
The Elimination Diet is a tool to help you figure out which foods might be causing your symptoms or health issues.
It's like the kingpin of food sensitivity detectives, the Sherlock Holmes of your stomach's mysteries!
Its success comes from cutting out foods that cause inflammation, which can help clear up many symptoms and diseases rooted in inflammation. And that covers most health conditions!
How to do it
STEP 1 - Remove Your Potential Trigger Food For 21 Days
Transform your kitchen! Clear out your cabinets and fridge of the foods on the list below. If you can’t pronounce it, it’s probably not natural, so get rid of it...for 21 days.
FOODS TO REMOVE WHEN STARTING YOUR ELIM DIET
Dairy products (cheese, yogurt, milk, cream, butter, ice cream)
All flour products
Corn
Peanuts
Soy
Shellfish
Sugar
Eggs
Caffeine-containing foods and beverages (green tea is ok in moderation)
Vinegars and fermented foods
Yeasted products
Alcohol
Nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and potatoes)
Poor quality oils and fried foods
Fatty meats, processed meats
Foods that you tend to crave (these are often sneaky culprits of inflammation!)
Foods that you already know cause symptoms
“Comfort foods” (again, sneaky culprits and code for “craving”)
Foods that you eat day in and day out
Ideally, many medications would be stopped, especially reflux medications, NSAIDs (ibuprofen, Naprosyn, etc.), and antibiotics – because these can hurt your digestion.
STEP 2 - Don't Worry! There's PLENTY to Eat!
Some of you reading this must be thinking, “Well, my food is gone – so what am I gonna eat?"
In fact, the majority of items on the above list aren't typically essential for an ideally healthy diet. However, there are plenty of foods you can enjoy. For instance, all of the following are acceptable, provided they're consumed in suitable portion sizes:
Meat: chicken, turkey, lamb, cold water fish like salmon or sardines
Nuts (except peanuts), seeds, almond milk, nut butters
Vegetables: all except nightshades
Soups and broth
Fats/oils: olive oil, walnut oil, coconut oil, sesame oil
Grains: brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, millet
Legumes: lentils
Fruits
Spices
Beverages: water, carbonated water, water with lemon, green tea, herb tea
Sea salt to taste
Make Sure to “Take Out the Garbage” – Daily
To get the most out of The Elimination Diet, it's important to keep things moving by having a daily bowel movement. You should aim for one healthy trip to the bathroom each day. Eating enough fiber from fresh veggies and drinking plenty of water are key. If you're feeling a bit backed up, you can try supplements like flaxseed, psyllium, and up to 600 mg/day of magnesium citrate. These are usually safe for most people to use every day and can help keep your digestion on track.
Phase 3: The Rechallenge - 21 Days Later
After you've done the elimination phase, you are going to start introducing foods back in.
To do the challenge, start by reintroducing a small portion of a food from a particular food group (i.e. dairy, gluten, grain, etc.) at breakfast. If you have no reactions, then larger portions with lunch and dinner.
Add back a new food group every 2-3 days. If the food group doesn’t cause symptoms, it is likely not a problem in the diet. If it does, then that food might be a problem for you.
Phase 4: After the Elimination Diet
Congratulations on completing your elimination diet. What are the next steps?
Simple: If you’ve had clear and obvious results, you can simply keep the offending foods out of your diet, making sure that you are getting your nutrition from the foods you can eat.
While the elimination diet requires some planning and coordination, it is easy to follow and can significantly improve your health!
