Chronically Sick? Try the Elimination Diet to rid your body of illness

Are you plagued with fatigue, headaches and colds? It could be something in your diet that is the culprit. 

Try this elimination diet, from Naturopathic Doctor Lindsay Martens, to pin-point if there is something in your diet that may be hindering your well-being. 

If you DO NOT suffer chronically from two or more of the symptoms listed below, you most likely do not need to go through the exhaustive list of food elimination. Rather cut out sugary drinks, foods out of a bag, can, microwave or drive threw for a week. The first few days won't be pretty but I promise after a week your energy, mood and concentration will be much better!


What is an elimination diet?
As the name implies, this diet is designed to temporarily avoid certain foods for 2 weeks (this is called the elimination phase), followed by a period of systematic reintroduction of certain food groups. This latter phase is called the reintroduction phase and may last several weeks (many doctors suggest up to 9) as you keep a food diary.

What is this diet used for?
The purpose of this dietary protocol is to identify possible food sensitivities. Such sensitivities may range from mild or hardly noticeable reactions to severe generalized allergic responses. Food sensitivities/intolerance's contribute to many health concerns and impact our ability to achieve optimum health.

Is all this REALLY necessary?
According to current research, food sensitivities can cause or contribute to a vast array of problems including: fatigue, anxiety, depression, insomnia, food cravings, obesity, recurrent colds and other infections, chronic nasal congestion, postnasal drip, fluid in the ears, Meniere’s syndrome, irritable bowl syndrome, constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, gallbladder disease, high blood pressure, arrhythmia, angina, acne, eczema, psoriasis, canker sores, hives, muscle aches, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, migraines and other headaches, numbness, asthma, frequent urination, teeth grinding, bed wetting, and infantile colic.

Most of the above disorders have more than one cause, but food sensitivity is relatively common and a frequently overlooked cause.

Often this sort of exercise helps one get out of “food ruts”. This plan hopefully encourages you to try new foods. Daily repetition of the same foods is thought to be a major contributor to the development of food sensitivities. Also, a diverse diet is typically healthier because you are more likely to get a comprehensive intake of valuable nutrients.

General Instruction: 
•    Create a daily food journal to record any changes

•    This program provides all the nutrition that you will need while your body cleanses and heals itself.
•    Eat until you are full, but not engorged. It is better to eat several small meals throughout the day rather than 3 large ones

•    Do not drink with your meals, as this dilutes the enzymes in the stomach needed to properly digest the food eaten. Drink liquids 1⁄2 hour before or 1 hour after eating

•    Continue to take nutritional supplements and herbal medicines unless otherwise directed

•    You may initially (1-5 days) experience cleansing symptoms which could include: headache, fatigue, increased food cravings, irritability, or an aggravation of a symptom you already have

This is a period of 2 weeks during which certain food groups will be eliminated from your diet. At a minimum, you should completely avoid dairy products, red meat, and eggs. These foods are involved in more than 80% of all food sensitivities.

For the next 9 weeks, food groups that have been eliminated will be progressively added to your daily diet. This systematic reintroduction of potentially allergenic foods will allow for the identification of any hypersensitivity you may have. In general, first reintroductions should be in small portions so as not to induce non-specific responses. Please follow the reintroduction protocol. Document any observations in your journal.

Rebuilding
There are times when the digestive tract has been severely impaired due to chronic disease or severe exposure to food allergies/intolerance's. As part of the elimination diet program it is necessary to rebuild and heal the digestive tract. Consult with your doctor to identify what additional steps need to be taken