Doctor ordered 6 week Elimination Diet!

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bedfordandgrove
bedfordandgrove Posts: 11 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Long story short - my doctor ordered me to eliminate 7 foods from my diet for 6 weeks in order to heal my leaky gut and "re-set" my thyroid, adrenals, etc. On the No-No list are: gluten, dairy, eggs, sugar, soy, corn or peanuts. (Basically the Virgin Diet).

I'm on Day 3 and I am really proud of myself so far! I haven't been hungry and have had zero desire to 'cheat'...even when my husband came back from grocery shopping with bags of stuff I can't eat or when he reaches for a nightly cocktail.

Anybody else out there have success with this kind of diet? How did you feel at the end? Weight loss results?? Thanks!!

Replies

  • michaelalbany494
    michaelalbany494 Posts: 2 Member
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    I did a lot of research a while back on juicing and micronutrient foods it was wonderful. But the first few days are rough. Body goes through withdrawal of caffeine, sugar etc. but when it was all said and done I felt better, slept better and my acid reflux was gone. I was just bad and went on an extended vacation and went back into the processed foods and gained weight back but I am currently going in the right direction again.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
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    I believe my mom did this when she was trying to figure out what was triggering her IBS. Although she wasn't trying to lose weight, I imagine she did, as that's common whenever one suddenly eliminates foods one usually eats.
  • nadler64
    nadler64 Posts: 124 Member
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    My stepdaughter has been doing about 6 months of Whole30 as an elimination diet to see what triggers her autoimmune issues. She's lost about 50 lbs, feels much better, and has only recently begun adding possible triggers back into her diet. It hasn't been easy for her but it's been worth it.
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
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    My sister was trying to fix her IBS and stomach issues and he doctor had her do this. The first 4 weeks or so I swear she could only eat like 5 foods. Then they gradually added back in everything to see what her triggers were.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Well if there was a medical reason behind it, yeah, I'd be much more likely to stick to it, because you'd mess everything up if you even cheated once and would probably have to start over, and it would suck.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    Elimination diets are common, and they last several weeks. Elimination diets are not done for the reasons you mentioned. If a dr mentioned the "scientific terms" you used, especially the thyroid resetting part, then (1) you mean someone who is not actually a medical dr but you are using the term dr very loosely (e.g. naturopath) or (2) do the world a favour and report this person to whomever is responsible for dealing with quacks.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
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    aggelikik wrote: »
    Elimination diets are common, and they last several weeks. Elimination diets are not done for the reasons you mentioned. If a dr mentioned the "scientific terms" you used, especially the thyroid resetting part, then (1) you mean someone who is not actually a medical dr but you are using the term dr very loosely (e.g. naturopath) or (2) do the world a favour and report this person to whomever is responsible for dealing with quacks.

    I was thinking along these lines. Was this a real, practicing MD? Or was it a naturopath, with or without some certificate somewhere?

    Elimination diets can be beneficial to identify allergens or intolerances that are causing health issues. You may lose some weight doing an elimination diet because you cut back on calories with such a limited selection of foods (not always ... some people can still eat a lot of calories within those limits), but weight loss will come with any sort of calorie restriction.

    I hope this will help you identify and resolve medical issues. And, I hope you are seeing a real doctor (who didn't actually use some of those pseudo-science terms, and that's just your usage :wink:)
  • Pawsforme
    Pawsforme Posts: 645 Member
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    aggelikik wrote: »
    Elimination diets are common, and they last several weeks. Elimination diets are not done for the reasons you mentioned. If a dr mentioned the "scientific terms" you used, especially the thyroid resetting part, then (1) you mean someone who is not actually a medical dr but you are using the term dr very loosely (e.g. naturopath) or (2) do the world a favour and report this person to whomever is responsible for dealing with quacks.

    X2

    One does not "reset" the thyroid. That's woo.
  • Wendy77685
    Wendy77685 Posts: 27 Member
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    As other people have mentioned, an elimination diet is not intended for weight loss, but to help identify possible allergens. In fact, if you have food allergies, it is possible that you have not been absorbing nutrients from your food for some time, and you can actually gain weight when you eliminate the allergen and start adding other things you would normally eat back in. I don't think there is anything wrong with seeing a naturopath, especially if they are alleviating your symptoms, but it does sound like there has been some confusion here about what you should expect.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
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    I'd get a second opinion from an Endocrinologist. If you are hyper/hypo thyroid or have Addison's (adrenal) you're not going to "reset" them by not eating certain foods.

    Get thee to an MD who specializes in Endocrinology. If this was an MD, report him/her to the medical board.
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
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    From Quackwatch: Be wary of "Fad" Diagnoses

    UK NHS: Leaky Gut Syndrome

    I do not doubt you've been feeling badly to seek help. Nor do I doubt an elimination diet *may* help, if one particular food is the culprit. I, for example, suffered for years because of an undiagnosed allergy to soy. It made me completely miserable. An elimination diet helped to pin down what the problem of my chronic digestive issues was.

    However, I'd run as fast as I can away from anyone who claims elimination diets are miracle cures that "reset the thyroid, adrenals, etc." The person clearly has no scientific understanding of the body. Its very likely your real medical problem will go undiagnosed and untreated because you're pursuing the fix of a quack.
  • CoffeeNCardio
    CoffeeNCardio Posts: 1,847 Member
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    As others have said, no real medical doctor would tell you this that wasn't purposefully trying to lose their license. There's nothing wrong with the diet he/she gave you to do, it's actually pretty common for real doctors, but the advice you were given is flawed, unscientific, and possibly dangerous to your health. Thyroid problems absolutely REQUIRE a trip to a real endocrinologist. You cannot fix hyper/hypothyroidism with diet changes, and you could do immeasurable damage to your body leaving a thyroid condition untreated. If you're not willing to dump this person on our advice alone, at the very least go to a hospital or family practice and ask someone about what you were told.
  • SnackySnackPants
    SnackySnackPants Posts: 35 Member
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    I thought I had a leaky gut - turns out it was just lactose intolerance. >:)
  • christch
    christch Posts: 238 Member
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    I went on it when my Neurologist was trying to work out causes for migraine and face pain. The hardest thing I found giving up was coffee. BUT it did make a huge difference in working out what was trigger food. I also have hypothyroid and the only way to treat that is with medication. It did take a while to find a brand of Levothyroxine that I responded well to though.
  • bedfordandgrove
    bedfordandgrove Posts: 11 Member
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    aggelikik wrote: »
    Elimination diets are common, and they last several weeks. Elimination diets are not done for the reasons you mentioned. If a dr mentioned the "scientific terms" you used, especially the thyroid resetting part, then (1) you mean someone who is not actually a medical dr but you are using the term dr very loosely (e.g. naturopath) or (2) do the world a favour and report this person to whomever is responsible for dealing with quacks.

    Calm down. That was my verbiage. Not that it's any of your business, but I have Hashimoto's, so there is a very good reason for this elimination diet. Nothing that you said related to anything specific that I asked so I do not appreciate your reply!
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
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    If "reset" was your word, what were the doctor's as to why s/he's prescribed the diet and how it's going to help any thyroid adrenal issues.
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
    edited January 2016
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    Some doctors are more willing to experiment with alternative medicine than others. I don't think a diet will reset your thyroid. I have Hashimoto's too, and eliminating those foods didn't do a thing for it. But it's certainly healthy to eliminate sugar and a lot of processed flour (like wheat). If you feel good, go for it! You might want to keep some of those changes when your elimination diet is up.

    I didn't do so well with an elimination diet, ended up losing a lot of muscle mass, got sick from the medication I was prescribed for allergies, because, with the drastic change in my diet, I wasn't eating enough, had GI bleeding that put me in the ER, and spent about 2 months in profound discomfort. It was suggested by a medical professional, and we never did figure out what I was allergic to.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
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    christch wrote: »
    I went on it when my Neurologist was trying to work out causes for migraine and face pain. The hardest thing I found giving up was coffee. BUT it did make a huge difference in working out what was trigger food. I also have hypothyroid and the only way to treat that is with medication. It did take a while to find a brand of Levothyroxine that I responded well to though.

    What were your trigger foods?
  • kiara1066
    kiara1066 Posts: 119 Member
    edited January 2016
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    I agree with the others about the verbiage I would be hesitant about taking advice. Consider getting a second opinion from a healthcare professional, and call your insurance company to ask for a name.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    bedfordandgrove wrote: »
    aggelikik wrote: »
    Elimination diets are common, and they last several weeks. Elimination diets are not done for the reasons you mentioned. If a dr mentioned the "scientific terms" you used, especially the thyroid resetting part, then (1) you mean someone who is not actually a medical dr but you are using the term dr very loosely (e.g. naturopath) or (2) do the world a favour and report this person to whomever is responsible for dealing with quacks.

    Calm down. That was my verbiage. Not that it's any of your business, but I have Hashimoto's, so there is a very good reason for this elimination diet. Nothing that you said related to anything specific that I asked so I do not appreciate your reply!

    No. There is no way an endocrinologist told you to do an elimination diet to fix Hashimoto's. Impossible.
    Either you did not talk to an endocrinologist or you are a victim of fraud.

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