by Jamila Owens-Todd, ND
Have you started on a holistic plan and your symptoms started to slowly return? Consider a food allergy. We are aware of the common food allergens such as dairy foods, red meat, corn, soy or sugar. There is a possibility that you can be allergic to broccoli, lentils or peaches. The IgG and IgE testing can show how your immune system is responding to food. These tests are great healing tools, yet they can become pricey when paying out-of-pocket. There are also more basic methods of determining food sensitivities. One great method is called the Elimination Diet and it is a plan to isolate specific food groups.
The Elimination Diet takes time, patience and discipline, but it offers great results. The beauty of following this diet, as opposed to going straight to allergy testing, is that you heal the digestive system while finding your sensitivities. As you are eating on the basic meal plan, you are eating a very low inflammatory and low allergen diet. This would be healing for anyone.
Getting Started…
INITIAL PHASE – You follow a brown rice diet for 7 days.
EAT: cooked brown rice and brown rice pasta, any bean/legume, any vegetable, any fruit and any seasoning. Also, all nuts and seeds and nut/seed butters are safe to eat now too. Olive oil, coconut oil and vinegar. IF NOT LISTED, DO NOT EAT.
CHALLENGE PHASE – slowly introduce highly allergic foods
After 7 days of the brown rice diet, on day 8 introduce meat for lunch and dinner, for the next 3 days.
– IF there are no symptoms, then stop eating meat on the third day and return back to the brown rice diet for 5 days. Watch for any reactions.
-IF symptoms start on the first day of adding meat, then stop the meat immediately and return back to the brown rice diet. This would be your first known allergen food.
Return back to the 7 day brown rice diet before introducing any new food. Always try a food for 3 days unless symptoms occur, then you would stop the food immediately.
Symptoms include: gas, bloating, abdominal pain, headache, acne, itching, congestion
The next food to add would be wheat/gluten – any product made with white or whole wheat flour.
The third food to add in would be dairy and eggs. This includes, cow’s or goat’s milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, baked items using dairy and eggs.
EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT AND RESULTS VARY PER PERSON
Jamila Owens-Todd is a Naturopathic Doctor, practicing in Webster Groves. For more info contact (314) 918-1555 or www.minthealth.org.