Elimination Diet: Prelude

Herein begins the tale of a 3-week odyssey into an….(bum bum bum) elimination diet!

Ever since a trip to India awhile back, my digestion has been plagued by inconsistency. I’ve tried being vegan, omnivorous, seen two naturopaths, seen an acupuncturist, done the antibiotic route….and still had a grumpy gut. Having spent the last while happily in mai tai’s and kona coffee, this seems like a perfect time to do a reset, clean up my act, and see if I can get to the bottom of what ails me.

An elimination diet removes foods that have a tendency to cause digestion issues. Basically, you take away all the trouble makers for three weeks, then add them in one at a time to see if you have a reaction.

Here’s the game plan I’m intending to follow, courtesy of Precision Nutrition:

“To begin with, a good elimination diet will remove gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, corn, pork, beef, chicken, beans/lentils, coffee, citrus fruits, nuts, and nightshade vegetables. That might sound like a lot, but it leaves plenty of options for a relatively satisfying diet comprised primarily of rice, meat (i.e. turkey, fish, lamb), most fruit, and most types of vegetables.

The following table gives an example of what to include and exclude during an elimination diet.”

	Foods to include	Foods to exclude
Fruits	Almost all fresh fruit	Citrus fruits (orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime, etc)
Vegetables	Almost all fresh raw, steamed, sautéed, or roasted vegetables	Tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes (sweet potato and yams are okay)
Starch	Rice, buckwheat	Wheat, corn, barley, spelt, kamut, rye, oats, all gluten-containing products
Legumes		Soybeans, tofu, tempeh, soy milk, all beans, peas, lentils
Nuts and seeds		All seeds and nuts
Meat and fish	Fish, turkey, lamb, wild game	Beef, chicken, pork, cold cuts, bacon, hotdogs, canned meat, sausage, shellfish, meat substitutes made from soy
Dairy products and milk substitutes	Unsweetened rice milk*, almond milk, coconut milk	Milk, cheese, cottage cheese, cream, yogurt, butter, ice cream, non-dairy creamers, eggs
Fats	Cold-expeller pressed olive oil, flaxseed oil, coconut oil	Margarine, butter, processed and hydrogenated oils, mayonnaise, spreads
Beverages	Drink plenty of fresh water, herbal teas (e.g. rooibos, peppermint, etc.)	Alcohol, caffeine (coffee, black tea, green tea, soda)
Spices and condiments	Sea salt, fresh pepper, fresh herbs and spices (i.e. garlic, cumin, dill, ginger, oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme, turmeric)	Chocolate, ketchup, mustard, relish, chutney, soy sauce, barbecue sauce, vinegar
Sweeteners	Stevia (if needed)	White or brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, desserts