An Elimination Diet What is it and Why?
There are many medical conditions that fail to respond to conventional medical treatment that may resolve when you follow an Elimination Diet
- Digestive problems
- Headaches
- Chronic sinus
- Low energy, fatigue
- Depression, mood disorders
- Eczema, skin irritations
- joint aches
- asthma
- weight gain
The processed foods that are common today contain additives, dyes, preservatives, and trace pesticides that over-time can aggravate and inflame the tissues in your gut and major organs. After years of a poor diet this chronic inflammation deep in your tissues can tax your immune system.
If the tissues in the lining of your gut become inflamed common foods like wheat, dairy, or eggs can cause symptoms. The Elimination diet is designed eliminate foods that burden your immune system while ensuring a high nutrient density foods that will facilitate gut healing.
Usually an Elimination Diet is followed for three weeks, however your medical provider will discuss this with you. After an initial period following the Elimination diet different food groups are re-introduced slowly, allowing you to watch for negative symptoms. If a food group causes you a reaction, you avoid for another six months, and then try again.
This protocol allows an opportunity to decrease inflammation in the GI tract, heal the lining of your gut, and calm your immune system. Once healing is achieved you can expand your food choices to include a wide variety of high nutrient dense foods.
Like most people, you probably eat the same foods every day. If the food you eat is low quality or genetically you don’t tolerate those foods your body develops a sensitivity, and over time and you begin to suffer reactions to them. It is common for people to not realize how bad certain foods make them feel, or that particular foods are the culprit until those foods are removed from their diet.
People experience different types of food-reactions:
Food Allergies cause reactions which are severe and immediate. Examples would include swelling, hives, and difficulty breathing in reaction to nuts or seafood.
Food Sensitivities may produce reactions hours to days later. Those with weakened immune systems may be prone to food sensitivities. Food Sensitivities are usually a result of an imbalance in the gastrointestinal tract system that affects the immune system.
Food Intolerances are a reaction to certain chemical in foods (MSG or histamine) or they occur because genetically a person does not have the enzymes to completely digest the food (lactose intolerance).
Inflammation. All the food reactions mentioned above trigger low-grade inflammation in your GI tract. Over time inflammation in the lining of the gut damages the cells so that it alters what does or does not get absorbed into your blood stream. Bacteria, chemicals or yeast may get past the intestinal lining and into to your blood stream causing you greater and more food sensitivities.
The elimination diet is designed to reduce inflammation by increasing the amount of anti-inflammatory foods you eat at the same time as it eliminates inflammatory foods. This allows your GI tract to heal and the immune system to work properly again. A properly working immune system helps improve your defense to airborne contaminants, allergens, industrial contaminants, viruses, parasites, and bacteria that you may be exposed to.
If you would like more information on an Elimination diet, click on the link at the beginning of this article.