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Allergen-Elimination Diet

An allergen-elimination diet is one of the best ways to determine your food allergies. Skin and blood tests can cause inconclusive results as well as being quite costly. Food allergies can cause a whole host of problems such as migraines, digestive disorders and blood-sugar fluctuations. To find out what is at the root of your problem, go on a food-allergen elimination diet.

  1. Food Journal

    • By starting a food journal, you take the first step in determining your food allergy. Spend several weeks recording what you eat, when you eat and any symptoms you feel. Symptoms could be diarrhea, bloating, headache, rash or fatigue. Also, write down any beverages, such as carbonated sodas, alcohol and fruit juices, that you drink . This step will not only help you, but can help a doctor get the the cause of any of your symptoms.

    Allergen Elimination

    • The basic allergen-elimination diet requires your to take out of your diet all dairy, soy, gluten, corn, sugar, processed foods and eggs. Every week reintroduce one of these foods back into your diet and record all symptoms. Some people introduce a food once a month to be sure that the results are clear. While most people use the basic allergen-elimination diet, you can choose from several other elimination diets for your allergy test. The Rare-Food diet takes out all commonly eaten food such as carbohydrates, dairy, wheat and all processed foods. This diet is often referred to as "The Cave Man Diet." People choosing this diet eat meals made up of nuts, meat, fish and fruit. The Few-Foods diet recommends eating only a dozen of the foods that your rarely eat. The Lambs and Pears diet is just as the name suggests. You can have only these two foods for several weeks before introducing your regular eating routine.

    What You Can Eat

    • The food-elimination diet is fairly restrictive. However, you can eat lots of vegetables, fish, meat, legumes and fruit. It is best to prepare everything yourself, so you know the ingredients. Gluten and soy are hard to get away from in a world reliant on processed foods. Even ketchup and some vitamin capsules contain gluten. If you purchase any prepared foods, be sure to read the ingredient label. Avoid going to restaurants, because the chef may have used an ingredient not listed or the meal was prepared next to an allergy-causing food. Have basic meals prepared with as few ingredients as possible. The food-elimination diet works because it relieves any stress that these allergens cause to the immune system. When you discover an allergen, sometimes just avoiding the food for a period of a couple months and then introducing it back in to your diet can clear up the allergy problem. You may have to only have the food you are allergic to in moderation, but, at least, with the food-elimination diet you will know what will suppress your immune system and cause your problems.

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