Elimination Diet: 7 Steps to a Successful Diet PLUS Sample Menu?

1. You may not notice it at all, but the foods you consume every day could have a major effect on your health - certain foods (including those we think are healthy! ) can seriously damage your health and even shorten your life if you give them the chance. But how exactly is this caused? Maybe you are eating a very healthy diet and wondering what else could be in your diet that is simply not making you feel optimal or that might make you sick.

1. For example, if you eat a healthy diet - that is, a diet free of junk food, little meat and plenty of fruit and vegetables - and still have a rash, excessive fluid retention, and other problems , you may be dealing with a food intolerance.

2. For example, if you eat a healthy diet - that is, a diet free of junk food, little meat, and plenty of fruit and vegetables - and still have a rash, excessive fluid retention, and other problems , you may be dealing with a food intolerance.

1. Do you notice that you have red spots on your face? Or do you have a kind of eczema on your upper arms? Maybe others will not notice it, but it does bother you yourself. And if you have boarded the anti-gluten train, it may even be that you have already eliminated gluten from your diet. While there are indeed plenty of people who are hypersensitive to gluten, there are countless other foods that people may have intolerance to.

2. Do you notice that you have red spots on your face? Or do you have a kind of eczema on your upper arms? Maybe others will not notice it, but it does bother you yourself. And if you have boarded the anti-gluten train, it may even be that you have already eliminated gluten from your diet. While there are indeed plenty of people who are hypersensitive to gluten, there are many other foods that people may have intolerance to.

1. That does not mean that these foods are necessarily unhealthy. For example, you can also develop an intolerance to tomatoes. And yet no one will call tomatoes unhealthy. The best way to achieve optimal health and detect food intolerances is through an elimination diet. An elimination diet is a diet in which you will avoid certain foods for a predetermined amount of time. Doesn't sound appealing? Still, there are good reasons to choose an elimination diet.

1. The only way you can really find out what you're sensitive to is to test it. Foods that you are intolerant to can cause inflammation in your body (and inflammation is the start of almost all diseases). So if you do not eat certain products for a month and then gradually introduce them back into your diet, you can easily find out which products are causing problems.

1. Most people have an intolerance to something and so it is actually advisable that everyone follows an elimination diet at least once.

1. But how can you get started without making it too complex? In this article, I'll share with you 7 steps to start your own elimination diet!

1. Let's get started ...

1. Review your symptoms.

1. It's hard to know where you're going if you don't know where you are.

1. Do you have skin problems? Or are you suffering from things like bloating or constipation? Do you suffer from allergies? How do you feel during the day? Do you have enough energy? And what about your mood? For example, do you suffer from constant mood swings? Do you notice that sometimes it feels like your brain is in some kind of fog? These are just some of the possible symptoms of food intolerances.

1. Before starting an elimination diet, it is important that you know exactly what you are doing it for. Write down your symptoms so that you can easily spot any improvements. That way you know if the plan is effective.

2. Eliminate the culprits for 3 weeks.

1. The standard elimination diet is actually very simple. It simply means avoiding the following foods (which are known to cause hypersensitivity reactions in most people):

1. Why 3 weeks?

1. When you have an intolerance, your immune system produces antibodies when you consume the culprit and these only disappear from your body after 3 weeks. So you will only enjoy the full benefits of an elimination diet if you follow it for at least 3 weeks.

1. Why not alcohol?

1. Although alcohol itself does not usually lead to intolerances, you do have a better detox effect if you avoid this drink during the diet. In addition, alcohol also contains a lot of sugar which promotes things like yeast and harmful bacteria in your intestines. When you eliminate alcohol, you will feel much better within weeks. Not only will your sleep be a lot better, you will also change your intestinal flora that keeps you strong and healthy!

3. What does an elimination diet look like? What can I eat then?

1. If this is your response, don't worry. It's a lot more difficult than it looks. All you need to do is prepare well, just like any other diet. As a result, you may spend a few more minutes shopping and cooking.

1. Most of us are used to having everything ready quickly and maybe you mainly eat ready-made products yourself. But this is not possible on an elimination diet. Almost everything contains eggs or dairy or one of the other culprits. To guarantee success, you really have to do it yourself. Cooking yourself is also much healthier!

1. In addition, new habits form when you perform them 21 times. So there is a good chance that you have also formed healthy habits after these 3 weeks by cooking yourself every day and preparing yourself well. This way you can continue a healthy lifestyle even after the diet!

4. But seriously .... what can I eat?

1. It's not that difficult at all!

5. What to Eat and What to Avoid

1. You CAN DO during your elimination diet:

1. Try to AVOID the following while dieting:

6. Reintroduce foods into your diet.

1. This process is also a lot easier than it looks.

1. On Day 22, after completing the elimination diet, choose 1 product that you eliminated. So do NOT start eating everything again immediately, but choose gluten first.

1. For example, eat a slice or two of regular wheat bread and evaluate how you are feeling for the next 48 hours. If you don't notice anything after two days, eat another gluten-containing product and then reevaluate how you feel for the next two days. If you have not noticed anything after two days, you can continue to eat these foods.

1. However, if you notice that you get it, for example, if you get eczema, rash or diarrhea, eliminate this product from your diet. You then have an intolerance to this. Does that mean you can never eat this again? That depends on the healing process. If you continue to eat healthy and avoid this food, you may want to try reintroducing it 3 months later. This way you can continue until you notice that it no longer bother you. Then you can keep eating it in moderation.

1. Note: You may have to eliminate some foods from your diet for good.

1. If you have tried gluten now and you notice nothing, then wait 3 days until you introduce the next product in your diet, for example dairy or eggs. Now follow the same process as described earlier. This is how you keep going until you have tested all products.

7. Pay attention.

1. During the reintroduction process, it is important to pay close attention and pay attention to how you feel. You may see changes that you actually did not expect at all. You may notice that you sleep better or that you have a lot more energy during the day. Or maybe your skin looks much better or you have a flatter stomach.

1. A blood test often cannot tell you what your body has developed an intolerance for, because an intolerance is not the same as an allergy with acute symptoms. By paying attention to how you feel throughout the diet and reintroduction process, you can really find out what the culprits are and work towards an optimal diet!

Elimination diet example menu

1. To help you as best you can with an elimination diet, I have set up an example menu below so that you have a better idea of ​​what a day might look like and what you can and cannot do food.

1. 1 cup cooked quinoa or whole grain rice with 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed, 1 sliced ​​banana, and 1 cup strawberries.

1. Put the quinoa in a serving dish (possibly with a spoonful of honey for a sweeter breakfast) and sprinkle with the linseed. Place the banana slices on top followed by the strawberries.

1. Gluten-free rice pasta with stewed vegetables and 1 cup of chickpeas, 1 cucumber salad with dressing of 1 tablespoon vinegar with 1 teaspoon honey. 1 piece of fruit for dessert.

1. Baked sweet potatoes with a piece of wild salmon and braised spinach. Piece of fruit to finish.

1. Fresh fruit or raw vegetables.

Finally ...

1. Are you sure that you already eat very healthy, but are you not feeling optimal or do you still have all kinds of health problems? Then the outcome is an elimination diet. Of course that does not mean that there cannot be other causes for your health problems, but there is a good chance that an intolerance is the cause.

1. The diet only lasts 3 weeks and while you should avoid many foods, there are still plenty of products you can enjoy. And who knows, you might feel like a different person after these 3 weeks!