Elimination Diet

macybean

I have to do an elimination diet and am looking for advice from others who've done it. I'm trying to view this as a fun experiment, but mostly I'm just sad that I can't have cheese (for now, if permanently I may need to seek counseling!).
Looking for resources, recipes (yes, I can google, but I want to know what others found most helpful) and tips on how to survive when others are eating food I really, really want.
A dietician is helpful, but I want to hear from those who've actually had to do it.
Thanks!

kuulmamma

Is there a reason for the elimination diet?

I've only done elimination diets for breastfeeding and getting junk out of my diet too. ;-)

macybean

Yes, inflammation in my small intestine without any known cause. I get terrible bloating and cramping after eating. Basically, misery they can't explain.

ninerbuff

Have you consulted a gastroenterologist to get a possible diagnosis or is this from your general MD?

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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scaryg53

You can make vegan cheese out of cashews, nutritional yeast has a cheesy flavor. There are "cheeses" that you can buy that aren't really cheese although they are expensive and not as delicious.

macybean

Being followed by GI.
Cashew cheese...I'll have to google that. Thanks!

cw106

macybean wrote: »

Yes, inflammation in my small intestine without any known cause. I get terrible bloating and cramping after eating. Basically, misery they can't explain.

A referal to a specialist/consultant would be the 1st step
Then an endoscopy.
Then FODMAP for potential elimination pointers.
Trial and error even once you get a professional medical diagnosis.
Taken me a year just to get to this stage,but i am 90% improved.

Sabine_Stroehm

ninerbuff wrote: »

Have you consulted a gastroenterologist to get a possible diagnosis or is this from your general MD?

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I'm assuming that's the "they" she's referring to.

Sabine_Stroehm

macybean wrote: »

Being followed by GI.
Cashew cheese...I'll have to google that. Thanks!

good luck!
I had cramping etc for a long time, and chronic constipation.
(and several trips to the GI doc)
In the end, adding magnesium citrate to my day, and drastically reducing the grains I eat helped.

Good luck figuring yours out!

Have you looked at the whole30 website?

lemurcat12

I think focusing on mindset is what will help. It's only temporary for now, right? And it will be an interesting experiment to see how it affects you--try to think of it that way. My sister did an elimination diet because she had IBS, and ended up only having a small number of things she couldn't eat, with a huge improvement in how she felt.

It might be helpful to have things you can eat and like available for when people are eating the things you are not eating. If you give some examples of the things you think will be most challenging, we can probably come up with substitutes.

For cheese, you can use other foods with a strong taste if it's an addition to foods--like olives, for example. Maybe some nuts to snack on if you'd normally have cheese? Soy or almond milk instead of milk, maybe the coconut milk yogurts instead of dairy-based yogurt.

macybean

Thanks for the ideas...
sabine...I haven't looked at whole30, will do that.
lemurcat...you're right. It is temporary. Nice to know that your sister only had a few things she couldn't eat. I'm terrified there's going to be all these things I can't eat!
I love cheese/dairy and tend to eat a lot of fat. My sign of a good recipe is cream, butter and cheese....so you can understand my anxiety!

scaryg53

I have GI issues as well, I had to stop eating meat because of it, it just makes me sick. And sometimes for me trigger foods can change from day to day. But I still can't Cheerios, which are my favorite cereal.

macybean

I would miss eating meat, but would survive! Good to hear from others who've had success. I would hate to do all of this and not get any answers.

amusedmonkey

I did a supervised elimination diet a while back which was even more strict that FODMAPS (turned out later that my gastro symptoms had other causes but it lead me to discovering that I'm mildly allergic to egg whites). Anyway. I basically started out on a diet that excludes a lot of things such as nightshades, garlic, onion, cruciferous vegetables, most beans, the vast majority of fruits, corn, probiotics, mushrooms, anything with sugar or honey, meat, eggs, fish, and much more plus the usuals like wheat products, dairy, soy, shellfish, nuts..etc and none of what I was allowed to eat had to be from a canned or processed source.

I practically lived on zucchini and rice at first but not everyone has to go through that, so it's hard to tell you what recipes may fit you without knowing the specifications of your elimination diet. Could you provide us with more details on what you are or aren't allowed to eat?

LKArgh

I had to eliminate dairy from my diet while nursing 2 of my kids, a total of somewhere between 2-3 years.
If you have no restrictions regarding nuts, unsweetened almond milk was my favourite especially when it comes to cooking, but rice milk works too if you are not allowed almond milk. Hazelnut and coconut milk are also great to drink and also in coffee, with cereal etc.
I do not use butter in cooking anyway, so this was not a problem, I use olive oil for everything. It really can be used instead of butter in all recipes, including in sauces requiring butter, cakes etc. The trick is to use only extra virgin olive oil, or it will affect the taste.
If you like food with creamy sauces, then use whatever basic recipe you have for the roux, but use oilve oil in place of butter, and either broth or rice milk as liquid. It will allow you to cook lots of dishes that seem impossible to make dairy free.
Also in some cases where cream or other milk/butter bases are used to thicken sauces, soups etc, you can use mashed potatoes (obviously not cooked with cream or butter, just water). Actually after trying it the first time, I decided that especially in creamy soups, I like the taste better and now just boil a potato with the soup and then cream it.
For cheese, sorry, I never found anything that I really enjoyed and resembled cheese.
If you end up doing this for a while, definitely look for a good vegan cookbook, you will get a lot of ideas about substitutions of dairy and eggs in recipes, without resorting to exotic ingredients you would not normally buy (and which might also not be allowed in the elimination diet).

macybean

Here's what I have to work with, thanks!

meat, fish, poultry, chicken, turkey, lamb, cold water fishes
rice, soy and nut milks
legumes: all legumes (beans, lentils)
vegetables: all
fruits: fresh or juiced (no strawberries or citrus)
starches: potatoes, rice, buckwheat, millet, quinoa, any made from rice, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, teff, millet, soy or potato flour, arrowroot
soups: clear, vegetable-based
beverages: fresh or unsweetened fruit/vegetable juices, herbal teas, filtered/spring water
fats/oils: cold/expeller pressed, unrefined light- shielded canola, flax, olive refined oils, salad dressings, pumpkin, sesame, and walnut oils
nuts/seeds: almonds, cashews, pecans, flax, pumpkin, sesame, sunflower seeds, and butters from allowed nuts (no peanuts, pistachios, peanut butter)
sweeteners: brown rice syrup, fruit sweeteners

macybean

aggelikik....thanks so much. I never thought of using olive oil to make a roux, or to substitute as you do. Great ideas!

amusedmonkey

Looks like you have a lot of freedom! You are basically only eliminating dairy, some nuts, wheat products, and a small number of fruits. Lentil dishes should fit right in! They are filling and tasty.

http://skinnyms.com/protein-packed-black-bean-and-lentil-soup-recipe/

Same goes for bean chilis.

Peppers stuffed with rice, finely chopped vegetables and ground meat are amazing

and you can never go wrong with potatoes
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/crash-hot-potatoes/

macybean

Thanks...those look really good! For now I get to keep nightshades.... And you're right, I do have a lot to work with. I don't use beans and lentils enough, this might actually turn out to be a good thing.

lemurcat12

That's the attitude--try to think of it as a reason to experiment with tasty things you don't normally eat. I change up my eating from time to time in part to make myself do that.

justcat206

I don't eat gluten or dairy (similar GI issues) and my best tips are:

Bake with coconut oil instead of butter (I usually back off a tbsp or so otherwise it gets greasy), and olive oil.
Follow Your Heart makes amazing vegan cheese - esp the provolone slices for sandwiches. I make a good homemade mac'n'cheese too that uses coconut (or rice) milk, FYH cheese and some white wine and sauteed onions.
Paleo recipes are a huge go-to for me. Things like a staple meat (meatloaf, marinated chicken, pot roast, etc) with a couple of veggies and a starch on the side are a satisfying meal.
I keep onion broth (onion, carrot + water in slow cooker on low 24 hours) in the freezer and it's great for making mashed potatoes - I put it in instead of the cream and butter and they still get fluffy and have a great rich flavor.

Good luck and hope you feel better soon!

JPW1990

My one bit of advice - think carefully about how you feel when you're on it, and if you still feel one of the symptoms you're doing this for, be upfront with the doctors about it. When I initially did mine, it turns out one of the things I can't digest was actually one of the staples being included in the diet from day one. I felt a little better, but not completely, so I just assumed it was something that would take time to improve. As it turns out, I probably could've reduced the time of the whole thing if I'd been insistent about it from the start.

amusedmonkey

JPW1990 wrote: »

My one bit of advice - think carefully about how you feel when you're on it, and if you still feel one of the symptoms you're doing this for, be upfront with the doctors about it. When I initially did mine, it turns out one of the things I can't digest was actually one of the staples being included in the diet from day one. I felt a little better, but not completely, so I just assumed it was something that would take time to improve. As it turns out, I probably could've reduced the time of the whole thing if I'd been insistent about it from the start.

I second this. Like I mentioned before, turned out my issue was not allergy related. Had I not been upfront about it after 2 weeks on a very restrictive diet and only modest improvement they wouldn't have investigated further.

kmbweber2014

Really check into Whole30. There are a ton of recipes and following doctors guidelines it can be very helpful. I have to do it for medical reasons as well. I am working on reintroducing foods now to see what could be causing the issues but have only added dairy back, and am happy to say, it's not dairy.

macybean

Really appreciate all the advice, I had chosen the modified elimination diet, but reading the advice here I may go ahead and do the complete elimination diet. It may not be as daunting as I thought! I've got lots of reading to do yet, but am really grateful to have advice from those who've been though this.

Lezavargas

Ive never heard it referred to as such, however I did a similar thing to eliminate foods that were negatively impacting me. I started with a 3 day veggie diet, using only non inflammatory foods, then slowly added more in to determine what was settin me off. It worked great! I have a great food repetoir now and none of the digestion, skin and other issues I had before.