Do you find yourself…
- Waking up each morning feeling exhausted, or struggling with low energy and brain fog throughout the day.
- Noticing puffiness in your face, or dark circles and bags under your eyes.
- Feeling heavy and bloated, or unable to lose that uncomfortable weight around your middle.
- Experiencing irritable bowels, stomach pain, heartburn, constipation or diarrhea.
- Struggling with headaches, migraines or joint pain.
- Dealing with issues like acne, eczema and psoriasis.
Food sensitivities occur when your immune system reacts to foods you’re eating as part of your everyday diet. Unlike food allergies, which lead to symptoms like hives, itching or anaphylaxis immediately after eating a particular food trigger, food sensitivities cause a delayed immune reaction. In fact, because of the gradual immune response produced with food sensitivities, symptoms can take as long as 72 hours (3 days!) to appear.
Because of the delay that often occurs between consuming your food triggers and the onset of symptoms, you may be eating foods to which you’re sensitive on a daily basis without even suspecting them to be an issue! Regular consumption of foods that are activating your immune system leads to inflammation, and that inflammation is what causes the symptoms you’ve been experiencing. These symptoms can include: fatigue, bloating, heartburn, digestive upset, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), anxiety, chronic sinus congestion or cough, eczema, acne, joint pain, migraines, headaches, weight gain and more. Weight-gain can often be caused by water retention, which results when your body is experiencing inflammation from immune reactivity to foods in your day-to-day diet. It’s not uncommon for my patients to lose weight within just a couple of days after removing foods they are sensitive to.
Without a systematic approach or testing, it’s incredibly challenging to identify your food sensitivities. This is why I use a Therapeutic Elimination Diet protocol with my patients. It has helped thousands of people to identify their food sensitivities, all while consuming a delicious, nutrient dense diet that refuels your body from the inside out!
The Elimination Diet essentially is removing foods that are most likely to irritate your body for just a few weeks and gives your body a chance to calm down and focus on healing. Then when you bring those foods back one by one, you can identify what specifically is helping or hurting your health. We are all different, with unique genetics and health issues, so this second stage of the elimination diet, the reintroduction stage, will look different for all of us.
Starting an Elimination Diet can be a great way to learn what foods are triggers for your condition, and it can ultimately help you feel better when you know what foods to avoid. I commonly have my patients avoid corn, soy, gluten, dairy and eggs, along with any known sensitivities and allergies. This can look different for each person.
Once you are aware of the foods that are negatively affecting your health, you are in control.
I have created 21 days worth of dinner recipes for you to try! Download them below and let me know what you think! And if you think you might want to try the Elimination Diet or have more questions about it, contact me! I’d love to talk to you. Book a 10 minutes free complementary session here.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can’t I just order an IgG Food Sensitivity Blood Test? That certainly does seem a bit easier, and the answer is yes, and I sometimes have the client do both, but…the tests are not 100% accurate. Your body knows best, so I always recommend my patients do an elimination diet first and foremost. As a standalone measure, an elimination diet can offer you numerous long-term health benefits. However, you may benefit from doing an elimination diet in conjunction with a blood test. More knowledge is more power. Regardless of what the IgG test says–if you feel better eliminating a certain food, listen to your body, and do it.
Is the Elimination Diet Meal Plan a weight loss program? Consuming foods that trigger your immune system causes inflammation and the production of a stress hormone called cortisol, which can cause stubborn weight gain, bloating and water retention. The elimination of food sensitivities from your diet can help to reduce this inflammation and balance your hormones, both of which are very important to enable your body to release weight! Many people lose weight quickly and the identification of your food triggers can also help you keep the weight off long-term.
Is the Elimination Diet right for me as an athlete or someone who doesn’t want to lose weight? Yes! You will still be getting protein, fat, carbs and we can adjust the ratios. There is no caloric restriction during and no need to go hungry.
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