What is an Elimination Diet?
The Elimination Diet involves eliminating food allergens (as many as possible) from your diet, and then reintroducing each allergen/food group one at a time to see which, if any, cause symptoms to arise. This includes symptoms in an exclusively breastfed baby who may be reacting to allergens in its mother’s diet via breast milk.
The Elimination Diet should only be started after seeking advice from a medical professional. It’s important to ensure that nutritional needs are still being met, and to rule out another medical reason as the cause for your (or your baby’s) symptoms.
An Elimination Diet doesn't have to be dull
How long does the Elimination Diet last?
Some allergens can stay in your body for weeks after you’ve consumed them, so to get a true understanding of an allergen’s impact to your (or your baby’s) body, you should eliminate allergens for at least three weeks. If your symptoms haven’t subsided after a month, return to your doctor to discuss what else may be the cause.
How do I reintroduce allergens?
Each allergen/food group should be introduced gradually (over a few days) and one at a time, while you wait to see if any symptoms occur. You can use Food/Reintroduction Ladders as a guide for how to introduce allergens — especially when you think you’re dealing with an allergic reaction, rather than an intolerance. The ladder system involves starting out with a tiny amount of the allergen and slowly increasing the amount you consume while you pay attention for symptoms. If you’re doing the Elimination Diet for your breastfed baby, then you should introduce it slowly into your diet first. For example, if you’re reintroducing egg, you could start off with one biscuit that has egg in its mix, then the next day have two biscuits, then the next day some fresh egg pasta, then moving on to a boiled egg and finally mayonnaise.
Which allergens should I omit from my diet?
If you have any suspects for food groups causing symptoms, definitely eliminate those from your diet. Think about the meals and foods that are common in your family’s diet and write down the allergens they contain. Compare these with the top nine food allergens (see below) and decide whether you'd like to start by eliminating the main allergens in your diet (you can always omit more if you don't see a reduction in symptoms) or begin by eliminating them all.
Milk (i.e dairy products)
Eggs
Fish (e.g. bass, flounder, cod)
Crustacean shellfish (e.g. crab, lobster,
shrimp)
Tree nuts (e.g. almonds, walnuts,
pecans)
Peanuts
Wheat (i.e. gluten)
Soybeans
Sesame
Food additives, e.g. sulphites in dried fruit, canned goods and wine, can also trigger
symptoms, so may be worth investigating if you don’t find any answers after removing
these nine allergens from your diet.
The top nine food allergens
What can we eat while we're on the Elimination Diet?
Believe it or not, there is more than just air and water available to you while omitting the top nine food allergens! For a range of delicious, healthy and baby-suitable recipes, grab a copy of my eBook: Allergen-Free Recipes for Babies, Toddlers and Breastfeeding Mothers.
Believe it or not, you can even eat cake while on the Elimination Diet!
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