At some point, you’ve probably heard of or have experimented with an elimination diet.

Sometimes, people attempt them to try and figure out if they have an intolerance to a particular food, to improve certain physical symptoms they may be having or simply for fat loss purposes.

I’ve written a fair amount on this site about the low FODMAP approach for individuals struggling with IBS or IBD and that approach also incorporates different levels of elimination in efforts to improve those symptoms for each person.

It’s important to note that we all have different bodies with different digestive systems and, the overarching concern of how we handle stress can influence how we feel when we eat certain foods.

Also, what you may have once been able to consume freely may change over time. This is of particular concern for individuals with autoimmune disorders and with women in the menopause transition.

So, if you are curious to see if a food or foods are problematic for you, here are some things to consider:

-Completely eliminate the food in question. Let’s assume it’s dairy. That would include: milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, ice cream, cottage cheese, whey protein, and any foods that list milk products in the ingredients (like many chocolates, certain chips and crackers, etc.)

-Keep the food out of your diet for several weeks. This could be anywhere from 3-8 weeks at the discretion of the individual.

-Consider that any food has its own micro and/or macronutrients and you may need to supplement elsewhere to shore up the difference. For instance, dairy products are a good source of calcium and you may need to find calcium elsewhere to keep that in your diet. Also, many dairy products are good sources of protein and you may find your protein intake drops when you remove dairy.

-After your “break period” from your chosen food(s), pick a small amount of the food to reintroduce in isolation. Let’s say you really miss having cheese. After your break period, start with 2 oz of cheese and consume it by itself. You’re trying to minimize any other conflicting foods so that you can assess how you feel after you eat the cheese. Keep a journal of any negative side effects you notice. If there are none, you can try another 2 oz in another day or so to see if your body can still tolerate it. Assuming there are no issues, you can try adding in another 2 oz or you can try another dairy product. Let’s assume you want to try milk. Start with a low amount, 2-4 oz, and keep a journal of how you feel. If you start to notice negative side effects, you may want to consider a lactose-free option to see if that makes a difference. This is essentially trial-and-error experiment to see not only what you can tolerate but in what amounts. You may find that you can tolerate 4 oz of cheese daily but not 6 oz. You might also find that yogurt is safe but whey protein is not.

-I also need to point out that if you’re removing a food that is relatively abundant in your diet, there is a chance that removing said food will put you into a caloric deficit. If that’s the case, you may also lose weight while you’re eliminating it. For some people, a degree of fat loss can improve how they feel and this is a confounding variable when you’re also trying to see if a food is problematic.

-The more foods you remove, the more you are at risk of micronutrient deficiencies and long-term avoidance could create further complications. If this is where you’re heading, I recommend working with a registered dietitian to make sure you’re following as safe a plan as possible.

-If you have to keep a food out of your diet indefinitely, keep an eye on reasonable alternatives. Using dairy as the example again, there are many plant-based options which may be easier to digest by comparison.

(Photo courtesy of Niclas Illg)