Inflammation in the body is what protects us. Let’s say you fall and twist your ankle. Inflammation comes along and puts this protective padding all around it and signals the brain to tell you it hurts in this area so that you don’t get up and keep running. But if that inflammation stays for too long, or if you keep twisting that ankle over and over again and that area has to stay inflamed, that inflammation overstays its welcome.
If you have arthritis, what hurts is when it is inflamed. If you’re suffering from allergies inflammation is responsible for the flair up. So the question becomes, what is causing the inflammation in the first place? It’s not an easy answer because what causes my own allergies/headaches/arthritis/pain in lower back may be completely different than what causes your allergies/headaches/arthritis/pain in lower back.
That’s where an Elimination Diet comes in.
I’m on week two of an Elimination Diet. “Elimination” meaning, take every food that you ever loved, relied on, or didn’t know was in every single thing on the grocery store shelf, and put it on the “DO NOT EAT” list. Grains of any kind were the first to go. Cutting out grains wasn’t the hard part. I’ve haven’t eaten many grains for the better part of a year. But add to that eggs, dairy, beef, citrus, coffee, caffeinated or decaf tea, soy, starches (potatoes), and any kind of sugar and you’ve got a mighty narrow scope. A better way to summarize the diet is by what I can eat: chicken, fish (no shellfish), beans, vegetables, small amount of fruit, and fats. Oh yes, and herbal tea.
The point of the Elimination Diet is not actually the elimination part. It’s the adding back/testing part that is where you get answers.
Breakfast has been particularly difficult. My children, who already think I’m crazier than Gary Busey for eating sauerkraut and chard and spinach smoothies for breakfast, now look at me pitifully and say “Oh mommy, you’re eating that for breakfast?” Apparently lentil curry isn’t on their “delicious breakfast” menu. Mine either. I’m ready for an egg!
The point of the Elimination Diet is not actually the elimination part. It’s the adding back/testing part that is where you get answers. For two weeks you don’t eat whatever your MD/Naturopath puts on your Do Not Eat list. At the beginning of the third week any antibodies that you may have to a certain food are all lined up ready to react. If you wait much longer those antibodies will go away and you likely won’t get the strong reaction when you start testing foods.
The point is to start testing foods to see if you have any reaction. Generally you start with something like wheat. Just plain wheat, not bread that has all sorts of other things in it, but something like Wheatena. You eat quite a bit for breakfast, and if you don’t have any symptoms (allergies, intestinal distress, back pain- wherever your inflammation lies) then you eat some for lunch and then again for dinner. If you don’t have any reaction to that particular food you can move on to another. Maybe egg whites, maybe another grain, soy. You cannot continue to eat wheat or anything else on the “test list” until you are done testing all foods (that are potential allergens for you).
The reason why I decided to give this whole thing a try is because, like many of you, I struggle with my own health issues. I’m always looking for answers and trying to figure out how obtain optimal health.
I’m almost to week three where I get to test! I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going and what foods I’m testing.
