Has anyone ever done an elimination diet?

Yes, DH did Fodmap a few years ago. You can google it.

I eliminate yesterday's diet every morning. Works well for me... I definitely recommend it.

I'm on one now. It's a 1-2 week plan designed to gradually reintroduce things one at a time every few days after. I'm only doing the 1 week and on day 6.

I'm currently grain, dairy, alcohol, processed sugar, and starch free. It was supposed to be caffeine free too but I decided to keep my coffee. I refuse to be miserable. I've been eating eggs, meat, fruit, veggies, and legumes. I feel less bloated and am sleeping better. My calories are still the same as before but I have broken the plateau I'd been in since November too. This is probably from the decrease in bloat but I lost 3lb this week with my deficit set to 0.5lb a week.

Yes, I have had success with an elimination diet. Enough success to save my life, quite literally. I have a rare disorder that causes a LOT of reactions to various foods. But years before I was diagnosed, I was losing a pound a day because I was reacting to so much, and the elimination diet helped me figure out what I could eat and stabilize my weight again.

That said, from the position you are starting in, it's going to be pretty difficult, because you have so few foods to start with.

Re: GI doctors and the diet - unless you have a rare doctor, they will be about as useful as dirt in figuring out the diet. Re: nutritionists and an elimination diet - unless you are simply trying to eliminate one or two major allergens and nothing else, they'll typically be about as useful as dirt, too. Neither of these professions have much training on this type of thing - nutritionists usually get some training on a few specialty diets, like gluten free, or diabetic, or sometimes dairy free or nut free, but otherwise they are mostly trained on 'typical' diets and nutrients from that, rather than extreme elimination diets (I say this as someone who has had to deal with more than one person in both professions, and spoken to others who have, and we've all had pretty much the same experience).

As for what helps - that's going to be tricky with what you can eat. Can you take any vitamin supplements? If so, I'd honestly recommend staying on top of that. As you likely know, you may be severely low in certain vitamins with your current diet.

This can be really problematic in trying to add back in foods because certain enzymes require certain nutrients for their creation. If you don't have those nutrients, then you don't make the enzymes, and the food containing anything that needs this enzyme will suddenly ALSO become problematic, and you start spiraling to a place where you react to a lot of foods simply due to low enzyme levels because of low nutrient levels (this is actually a not uncommon problem for folks with my disorder, because of how many foods we can react to - sucks to try and recover from, honestly, but you do what you have to, right?).

For what I've learned for elimination diets.

1. Make sure you record EVERY ingredient you eat as you keep a food log during any food elimination. EVERY one, including oil, even salt (I'll mention this in a sec). Include brand names and farms, in the beginning, when you are having as much trouble as you are now - many times, a brand may process different foods on the same equipment, so if there is an allergen contaminating the line, ALL the food on that line may make you sick. You can notice the pattern for that only if you have it written down, you know?

2. If you have NO idea what you are reacting to, remember that unless you grew it yourself, no food you eat is a pure food these days. They will all have contaminants, or sprays or coatings or gases used on them that may or may not be listed on labels, depending on the laws of that particular substance or food item. So try to find the least contaminated/processed foods you can, to try and eliminate as much uncertainty as you can. Farmer's market produce is often good for this, as you can interview farmers and find out what they used on the food. Or single ingredients to make your own food (like bread) instead of buying it pre-made.

Also, if you see that you are reacting to a lot of foods that seem unrelated, there may be an underlying chemical or contaminant that you are just not aware of. As an example,sulfites are used to bleach pistachio shells and white salt, preserve lemon juice concentrate, in some bottled waters, and in many dried fruits - but who would think you are reacting to the same thing if you have problems with all of these, you know? At first, you just have all of these written down and shown to make you react, and then later you can slowly track things down and figure it all out.

3. Herbs are a life saver. If you can buy some potted herbs and grow them, they can be great for 1, giving you some more taste on a diet that is bland. 2. help add in some nutrients you aren't getting elsewhere. 3. Be as 'pure' as you are going to get for a food, so you can know quickly whether they are a problem or not.



But all that said - you didn't mention what you'd been tested for, so just in case it might help, I thought I'd list some thing's I've seen that have caused what seemed like similar symptoms.

celiac disease - tests have a 20% false negative rate, so can be wrong. And for a good 1/3 of celiacs, there is no gut symptoms on eating gluten, but there can be other issues, like a messed up and sensitive gut to OTHER things. Weird, but it happens.

Giardia - testing can be difficult due to false negatives, but it does have a cyclical nature, so having flare ups could be possible.

Lyme disease - I don't know as much about this, but there can be some flare ups, and in weird ways.

mast cell activation disorder - the type that does NOT cause anaphylaxis. It tends to involve many issues with foods, can be worse with stress or other environmental factors, and sometimes can cause reactions to cold or heat, too - I'd check out Facebook support groups for the best information (medical sites are pretty out of date and focus only on the worst cases, not the ones that would be more like what you mention) - just look up MCAD, mast cell disorder, or mcas.

beadalicious wrote: »

It is day 2 for me. I was diagnosed with gastritis after an endoscopy last year. I believe it was all stress induced and even though my stress is now minimal i still feel bloated and sick most of the time. I also suffer from migraines and kidney stones and am just tired of feeling like crap so hoping i can stick to it and it helps me in the long run. I do miss my coffee though! Tea is just not the same.

I had gastritis last year too. I can drink cold coffee or cold brew coffee and it doesnt cause me any issues. hot coffee is a no no so you can try that if you like and see if it makes a difference

mistyloveslife wrote: »

I am on a clean diet right now. I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis several years ago. I did all of the fancy medications that make your immune system work like garbage. They didn't work much for me. My doctors wife (who was diagnosed recently) recommended a clean diet. I quit drinking diet mountain dew in January which was huge for me because I could easily drink a 2 liter in one day. This diet I'm currently trying eliminates bread, white starches and red meat/pork. I mostly eat fruits, veggies, chicken, nuts, fish and beans. I can't say for sure if it's working yet as I've only been on it for a week. I'm not perfect and have had a few things that aren't on the list but I'm working on it. A lot of people on here will bash special diets and will tell you that you should just eat what you want and count calories but I'm discovering food affects the body differently in some people. Corn, red meat and things that cause inflammation destroy someone like me. If I eat spiral ham or bacon a couple days in a row, you can bet I'm not going to be able to get out of bed the next day. It's crippling. Best wishes for healing!

P.S. I've lost 7 pounds since last Wednesday so it has a dual purpose right now.

So far, all you've done is confirm that you have rheumatoid arthritis as sulfates/sulfites are a proven trigger.

I too have done them. They are tough to stick to (for me anyway). I find it takes soooo long introducing items back into your diet. I did a bit of research and what I found was that food sensitivity tests are considered more accurate (no big surprise), but they can be expensive. Prices in Canada range up to $300+.

I'm in the process right now of re-introducing food and it's been eye-opening. I did the diet about 5-6 years ago and didn't notice anything, but this time around I'm noticing stuff and seeing how it different I feel without certain items in my diet and when I'm re-introducing foods.

So far:
Corn - might be a huge trigger for me, but going to retest. Basically, I had tortillas and tortilla chips at a Mexican place and the next day, I felt achy, my body didn't feel rested after 8 hours of sleep like it normally does, my lower back was inflamed and I was dragging all day to the point I was ready for a nap in the afternoon. It was bad. But I'm going to test this again with actual corn and see if I get the same reaction. Scary because corn is in SOOOOOO much food and used a lot as a cooking oil at restaurants. Eek!

Pork - I get a bit constipated and get a bit of heartburn

Eggs - I think it makes me tired but I'm going to test it again.

I have to try dairy, soy, gluten, wheat, beef, alcohol, chocolate, caffeine and nuts and see how I do with all those.

Either way, I feel amazing so far in this experience! I never knew how much food impacted how I felt. I've lost weight, feel energized, sleep like a baby, have done well I think with recovering from workouts, I'm able to move easier, skin looks great and I'm not inflamed! So worth it.

The challenges are eating out (I have only eaten out maybe 6x since I started in Mid January) and prepping and cooking! I've cooked so much and thankfully I enjoy cooking, but it is a lot of effort, BUT the payoff is worth it. I miss eating out but I will soon as I work through the rest of the foods. At least I can better understand what foods do to my body and I can make better choices. And once I'm done, my fiance and I will go on a little getaway because I miss traveling.

Overall, it's worth it. It will take up a fair amount of time and can be tedious, but it's not forever and if you do it correctly, you will feel a lot better and learn about yourself and your body.

I'm ok with most carbs & gluten but I just don't feel good at all when I do eat pasta so stay away from it. The worst is eating out, I rarely do but I have a food hangover all the next day & usually reflux. I think it's from the large amount of sodium & probably extra fat