Elimination diets are usually used to discover which foods or food groups an individual might have an allergy or be sensitive to. Up to Seventy five percent of the population have allergies or intolerances to some of the foods that are generally considered safe for human consumption. These food sensitivities may cause nothing more than a mild case of gastrointestinal discomfort to the sufferer, but they may also be severe enough to cause harm to one or more of the body's organs, or to even cause the development of an immune system response resulting in a chronic illness. In the severest of cases an allergic reaction can even result in the death of the individual. Elimination diets are used as a means of determining the offending food.
So which foods do people generally suffer intolerances to? Dairy products are the number one offending food product for intolerances and affect approximately three out of every four people. Other common food intolerances are fructose intolerance, yeast sensitivity, gluton or wheat intolerance, a sensitivity to nightshade plants, an intolerance to coffee or other caffeinated products, a sensitivity to pesticides or preservatives.
Allergic reactions, which are a much severer reaction to a food product, occur in approximately one percent of the population. Milk, egg, peanut, tree nut, fish, shell fish, soya and wheat account for ninety percent of all food allergy symptoms.
Food intolerances or sensitivities, and food allergies, affect large numbers of individuals. Symptoms of a reaction may include rashes, difficulty breathing or cough, fatigue, headache or migraine, flushing, swelling, as well as gastro intestinal difficulties such as gas, diarrhea, bloating, nausea and abdominal pain. The only true way to discover if your symptoms are caused by a food intolerance or allergy, is to undergo allergy tests, or to participate in an elimination diet program.
Just as the name implies, on an elimination diet you eliminate certain foods from your diet plan, and then wait to see if there is a resulting improvement in your health. Generally all high risk foods are removed from the diet for a period of anywhere from a week to six weeks. They are then slowly reintroduced one by one back into the diet plan in an attempt to discover the offending food product or products. For an accurate determining of a food intolerance the high risk food groups are removed for around four weeks, and then reintroduced one product at a time, every five to seven days. This allows time for the offending product to be completely removed from the individuals system; and time for the reintroduced food to produce a reaction after it is returned to the diet.
High risk foods that you might remove from your diet plan would include all dairy products, red meat, eggs, peas, beans, corn and corn based products, wheat based products, coffee, regular and herbal teas, all processed foods, citrus fruits, bananas, nightshade plants such as potatoes, tomatoes and peppers. The foods that you choose to eliminate will be specific to you and your lifestyle, but keep in mind that the more foods that you eliminate from your diet, then the better your chance is of discovering the offending products.
Foods that are generally well tolerated are rice, oats, sweet potatoes, also most fruits and vegetables other than those that are from the nightshade family, and of course water.
Never undergo any drastic diet change without first consulting with your medical doctor. Remember to research any treatment methods or alternative therapies that you are considering undertaking. Knowledge is indeed power. Empower yourself!
Sources for this article:
http://www.foodintol.com/eliminationdiet.asp
http://www.everydiet.org/diet/elimination-diet
http://www.foodallergy.org/allergens/index.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/foodintoleran ce1.shtml
http://www.alternativemedicinechannel.com/naturopath ic/nutrition.shtml