Seattle has embraced the food allergy culture and is a great place to find a gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free or soy-free snack or meal. With the rich population of health conscious folks, it isn’t surprising that elimination diets are becoming very common as part a heath workup.
Elimination diets are designed to help people discover sensitivities to particular foods. Some common foods to be sensitive to are wheat, soy, dairy, nuts, shellfish, fish, chocolate, alcohol, citrus and food colorings, and preservatives. By conducting an elimination diet, you can discover if any of these foods cause allergy symptoms for you, such as headaches, eczema and impaired digestion. Note: This is not designed for foods that you know you have an anaphylaxis reaction to!
The basic idea of an elimination diet is to remove some or all potentially sensitive foods from your diet for a “washout period” and then add them back one at a time as a “challenge” to see what foods you react to. The washout period time is generally a few weeks and depending on how many foods you are challenging, the testing period can take quite a while. One of the best parts of an elimination diet is that there are less false positives than traditional blood or scratch test, so if you react to a food you can be fairly certain it is a sensitive food for you.
The benefits of an elimination diet can be huge and can range from improvements to mental and physical. For example, if someone sensitive to wheat or gluten eliminates these foods from their diet, they can have dramatic improvements in focus, cognition, headaches, and gastrointestinal health. Or removing dairy can improve digestion, skin, and headaches.
When doing a strict elimination diet, it is recommended that it is done under the guidance of a health professional as removing all potentially allergenic foods leaves very little to eat during the washout period! People tend to find medical professionals very helpful even with the elimination of just a few foods, but feel free to try in on your own as well. A great resource is the World’s Healthiest Foods Book or website (www.whfoods.org/) or check out the Bastyr Center for Natural Health website for a list of just a few providers in the Seattle area (www.bastyrcenter.org/).
Good luck and enjoy your healthier self!
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