Eating a whole-food diet and an abundance of green leafy vegetables while reducing the amount of processed foods, sugar, and alcohol in your diet is a good place to start for good health. But there is no one-size-fits-all diet plan or nutritional protocol that will work for every single woman. You have probably noticed that the same food affects you and a family member or friend differently. Perhaps your best friend can't stop talking about how great quinoa is, but you find it upsets your stomach. Or, you love fermented vegetables as a good source of probiotics, but your colleague can't tolerate them, breaking out in hives and feeling itchy and anxious after just a bite. One person's health food can be another person's poison.
The only way to find a diet that supports your health is to respect your body and listen to what it tells you about which foods are friends and which are foes. The Elimination Diet will help you hear what your body is saying. By, first, removing the most inflammatory foods from your diet, the Elimination Diet reduces inflammation throughout your body and promotes the Hormonal Foundation of gut healing, sugar balance, and gentle liver detoxification. Then, as you reintroduce foods, you'll be able to determine which ones support your health and which ones you are sensitive to.
Here is a list of benefits I've found people experience after having gone through the Elimination Diet and figured out which foods hamper their gut health:
Stubborn weight starts going away
No more yo-yo weight gain
Better mental function and elimination of brain fog, anxiety, and depression
Belly fat is reduced
Elimination or reduction of bloating, constipation, acid reflux, gas, loose stool, tummy pain, and cramping
More energy, easier to wake up in the morning, and better sleep
Healing of autoimmune conditions
Fewer allergies, reduction of seasonal allergies and chronic allergies
Fewer pathogenic microbes such as Candida
Clearer skin, reduction in eczema, acne, rashes
Hormonal Balance, elimination of PMS, Hot flashes, Adrenal fatigue, period issues
How to do an Elimination Diet
There are two different versions of the Elimination Diet. The basic version removes the Big 7, that is, the top inflammatory foods - gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, corn, peanuts, nightshade vegetables. The comprehensive version also removes the Small 7, the foods less likely to cause inflammation - nuts, seeds, chocolate, beef, coffee, sugar, bananas. It's up to you which version you follow. Listen to your intuition.
Step 1: The Elimination Phase
During this phase, you will completely avoid the Big 7: gluten, dairy, eggs, corn, soy, peauts, and nightshades. Additionally, if you know you have food sensitivities, cut those out as well. To see results, you should stay on the Elimination Diet for at least two weeks, but I recommend committing for four weeks. Many people experience a reduction in symptoms during the first few days, while others need four to either weeks to feel relief.
Step 2: The Challenge Phase (Reintroduction)
During the challenge phase of the Elimination Diet, you will observe how you respond when you reintroduce into your diet the foods you eliminated. Use a food journal to track your emotional and physical reactions. When you reintroduce a suspect food, do it at each meal on that day. It is best to start off with a food that you suspect is not a problem for you and reintorduce commonly problematic foods such as dairy and gluten only at the end. If you develop no symptoms on the first day, continue eating the food you are testing on the second day as well. Sometimes the food reaction manifests after the first day. Even if no symptoms occur immediately on the second day, wait two more days and observe whether you get any reactions. If you do not react, it is a sign that you have no problems with that food.
By the time you complete the Elimination Diet, you should see a decrease in the numbeer and intensity of your symptoms. Continue to use your food journal to monitor what you eat, and always listen to your body's signals - they are there to tell you what bothers it.
If you're looking for a guide to walk you through the Elimination Diet, or to do some lab testing to find out if you have any food allergies, schedule a free one-on-one health consultation today!
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