by Lorelei Cohen

Created on: September 11, 2009

Up to seventy five percent of people suffer from a sensitivity, intolerance or allergy to one or more foods that they consume. Many of these same individuals have no idea that the health problems they are experiencing are caused by the food that they eat. They continue to consume the offending foods and they continue to suffer the consequences.

It is believed that many common inflammatory based illnesses may be caused by an allergy to certain foods. For example, it is suspected that some cases of Rheumatoid arthritis occur because the body's immune system is rebelling against a food allergy. If the food is discovered, and removed, then the person suffering from this severe food intolerance becomes well again.

Where a food intolerance is concerned, the only way to truly recover from a food allergy, is to remove the food that is causing the problems from your diet. This is where elimination diets come in. Elimination diets are used to discover which food or foods a person may have an allergy or intolerance to.

An elimination diet simply eliminates foods from the diet that are suspects for the intolerance or health problems. It is generally high risk foods such as dairy products, wheat and wheat based products, corn and corn based products, yeast, fructose, caffeine, nightshade plants, peanuts, red meat, eggs, shellfish, soy, citrus fruits, bananas, and any products containing preservatives or pesticides, that are removed from the diet.The more foods that are removed from the diet than the more likely it is that the better the chance of finding the food causing the intolerance. Generally safe foods to continue eating during an elimination diet are rice, oats, sweet potatoes, most fruits, and most vegetables but excluding those that are nightshade plants.

So how long do you have to stay on this somewhat restricted diet before the reintroduction of foods begins again?

Generally high risk foods are removed for a period of four weeks, but the elimination period can be anywhere from one week to six weeks, depending on the circumstances of the individual. Foods are reintroduced slowly back into the diet, generally one item every five to seven days as this allows time for a reaction to occur, and to be identified. If symptoms reoccur during this reintroduction period then you have the opportunity to pinpoint which foods to permanently remove from your diet.

You might consider undergoing an elimination diet if you suffer from chronic fatigue, chronic inflammation, headaches, migraines, bloating, upset stomach, diarrhea, nausea, bloating, difficulty breathing, cough, rashes or flushing.

Never participate in any radical alternative therapies or diets without first consulting with your physician.

Sources:

http://www.foodintol.com/elimi nationdiet.asp

http://www.everydiet.org/diet/ elimination-diet

http://www.foodallergy.org/all ergens/index.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/co nditions/foodintolerance1.shtm l

http://www.alternativemedicine channel.com/naturopathic/nutri tion.shtml

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