It is essential to deal with the root cause of the sensitivities by identifying the most likely culprits. This is the key to overcoming food sensitivities. There are some diets which can be used to detect which foods are triggering a reaction, principally based on eliminating suspect foods.
Mono-elimination diet
Anyone suspected food or food group should be avoided for at least
two weeks. Choose to avoid, one at a time, from:
- Wheat products - bread, most cereals, pasta,
pizza, biscuits, muffins, cakes, pastries and pies
- Dairy products - anything made from or containing
milk such as cheese, yoghurt or fromage frais
- Eggs and anything containing eggs
- Citrus fruits - oranges, tangerines, lemons,
grapefruit and lime
- Processed foods - anything containing preservatives,
coloring and artificial flavoring
While you are avoiding that particular food or food group notice any
changes, or not, in your skin condition. After two weeks, reintroduce
the food - have it two or three times a day for a few days to see
if it triggers any reaction. If you do react when reintroducing it,
go back to avoiding it. Otherwise, have it as you normally would.
Once you've done this with one food, go on to the next and do the
same.
Multi-elimination diet
In this diet, the most commonly allergy provoking foods are eliminated
from the diet and any others that you know you are sensitive to, plus
any that you eat almost daily. Those which should definitely be avoided
are the ones listed under the mono-elimination diet, above. We very
much recommend that you follow this diet under the guidance of an
experienced health professional. With children, it is absolutely essential
to have the guidance of an experienced practitioner to ensure that
they are getting the full range of required nutrients.
Foods to include in the diet are:
- All vegetables (except potatoes, tomatoes and sweet corn which are on the 'suspect' list)
- Fruits (pears, papaya and bananas are particularly unlikely to cause reactions)
- Rice, millet, buckwheat and quinoa (grains available in most health food stores)
- Oats, rye and barley (although some people are sensitive to the gluten they contain)
- Fresh, unprocessed, unsmoked meats and fish
- Beans and lentils (although some, people are sensitive to Soya)
After four weeks of avoiding all these foods, each food is reintroduced
one by one, with a five-day gap before introducing the next one. This
way it is clear which foods are producing symptoms or not. It may
be worth drawing up a chart when you start reintroducing the foods
- noting what you started eating, when and if you had any skin (or
other) reactions.
If a food does trigger a reaction when it is reintroduced, it should
be avoided for at least another six months, after which time you can
retest by eating it again. During that avoidance time, you should
work to improve your digestive and immune systems in order to minimize
your chances of being sensitive to such foods.
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