Elimination Diet

Caution: The Elimination diet is not suitable for children, pregnant or immuno-compromised individuals

Please consult your health-care practitioner before attempting this diet

Vegetables

Tomatoes, corn, mushrooms, peppers, potatoes, eggplants

Frozen, canned or jarred vegetables

Fruits

Citrus (eg oranges, grapefruit), melons, strawberries, dried fruits

Grains

All gluten-containing grains (eg wheat, rye, kamut, barley, couscous, pumpernickel) commonly found in breads, pasta

Other products from refined flour

Legumes

Soy beans and soy products (eg tofu, soy milk, soy sauce, miso)

Nuts and seeds

Peanuts, pistachios, cashews

Any nuts or seeds that are salted or flavored

Animal products

Red meats (beef, pork, bacon), sandwich meats, hot dogs, sausage, canned meats, smoked meats, shell-fish, catfish

Dairy (milk, cream, sour cream, cheese, butter, yogurt)

Eggs

Condiments

Refined table salt

Refined oils, margarine, shortening

All sweeteners (corn/brown rice/maple syrups, molasses, honey, brown/white sugar, glucose, maltose, malto-dextrose, MSG etc)

Beverages

Caffeinated beverages (coffee, black tea, soda)

Alcohol

Dairy (milk and other dairy products)

Soy milk

All fruit drinks high in refined sugars

All vegetable drinks high in salt

How

Avoid the food in the list above for 3-6 weeks
Gradually re-introduce the food you have been avoiding in the sequence :
- Dairy
- Red meats
- All gluten-containing grains
- Corn
- Tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, potatoes
- Eggs
- Caffeinated beverages
- Shellfish, catfish
- Soy beans & soy products
- Peanuts, pistachios, cashews
- Strawberries
- Citrus fruits
- Melons
- Dried fruits
- All sweeteners
Eat the re-introduced food 2 times each day for 3 days consecutively
If symptoms come back, stop eating the newly introduced food
Go on to re-introduce the next food
After finishing re-introducing all the foods, you can try eating the foods that caused symptoms previously to see if they still cause symptoms