Elimination Diet...anyone?

[DElizabethE]

Hi,

I have been so tired of my stomach always hurting so I'm doing an elimination diet. I have been gluten-free, DF since Nov. 2006 (a few mistakes though). This is my 3rd day and it really stinks. But the good thing is I feel so much better already. So anyone who has done an elimination diet I have a few questions. How long have you had to go before challenging different foods? Some websites say 5-10 days, some say 2 weeks, some say when you're symptom free for at least 48 hours. I can handle going as long as I need to so I can figure out what foods are bothering me.

Here's what I'm eating...rice, sunflower seeds, lettuce, celery, pears and golden delicious apples (all low in salicylates which I researched also. It doesn't sound like much but I am taking supplements. Also drinking water (spring and sparkling with no additives), baby pear and baby apple juice and chamomile tea (not having coffee is a big plus). I know there's not enough vegetables but the others that are low in salicylates I wouldn't eat normally. But another question I have is, can I eat white and brown rice?

I guess I just would like to know if elimination diets really work. It's going to be a long process but I want to feel better all the time. It's so hard working...taking care of kids when you're so drained and miserable no matter what you eat. Any advice? Thanks.

Diane

[RiceGuy]

I don't think there are specific foods which everyone should start with, as we're all different in that regard. So I'd say try the various rices you want, and see what happens. Of course, all rices start out brown, and removing the bran and germ is how they are made to be white. I'd point out though, that there are numerous varieties of rice, so you might want to try a few kinds. I read that wild rice is apparently not actually rice though, so if that's true then it is bound to be somewhat more dissimilar from what we know as 'ordinary' rice. I could never eat the typical brown rice, which is long grain, but short grain brown rice is really tasty IMO. I like Lundberg's sweet brown rice. It cooks up creamy, rather than dry, separate grains.

HTH

[OBXMom]

Diane, we have recently done an elimination diet for my son for the same reasons you have - stomach pain despite being gluten free. As soon as he started the diet he noticed a reduction in pain that continued over several days until he was almost pain free. (He kept saying, there must have been gluten in those foods, there must have been!) Our nutritionist advised us to wait 10 days, but then at 7 days we moved on to adding foods back in because he was losing so much weight and weakening. So I think you can listen to your body about your own schedule. Are you feeling any better yet on the reduced diet? If not, you may need to do some allergy testing to see if you have potential allergies to any of the foods you are eating. For instance, my son tested allergic to pears, which he has never eaten but which is an ingredient in something he does eat, so we had to avoid them during the first phase of the diet.

You're right, it is a long process, and we are not finished with it ourselves. We were successful in discovering some additional sensitivities my son has (corn, soy, dairy) but he is still having some issues. You sound like you've explored the subject well, so I know you've read about keeping a food diary. That really helped me. Somtimes it was only after looking back a week or so that I understood what food was causing a problem.

I'm sorry you have been having such a difficult time, so I will repeat what many kind people here have told me (although I have yet to experience it first hand), it does get better, just hang in there -

Hope you feel better.

[DElizabethE]

Thank you RiceGuy for writing back so quickly. It is soooo nice to get others opinions. Right now the rice I'm eating is fine. I haven't had a chance to get to the store to check out others but I plan on it.

And also thank you OBX Mom. I couldn't imagine having one of my daughters on an elimination diet. One of them is 8 and she wouldn't handle it very well. My thoughts are with your son. Hopefully he'll find the cause of his pain. After 3 days there has been improvement. I'm going to continue for at least 10 days and go from there. With my luck it'll be all the food I love I can't tolerate (and I don't eat a lot of gluten-free processed foods...only a select few).

I have started a food diary with times, amounts and any symptom I have. I just want the stomach pain to go away totally and I'll do all I can to accomplish that. My kids are very supportive. One more question. During the challenge phase is it best to eat just one food a few times that day and then go back to the elimination diet for a few days to see if anything happens? Thanks again.

Diane

[Nancym]

Sunflower seeds cause major issues in my gut!

I retreat to meat and veggies when I need to test foods. After a couple of days my gut calms down and then I try to add a food. I give each food about 3 days. Sometimes I only need 1 day to figure it out.

[DElizabethE]

Sunflower seeds cause major issues in my gut!

I retreat to meat and veggies when I need to test foods. After a couple of days my gut calms down and then I try to add a food. I give each food about 3 days. Sometimes I only need 1 day to figure it out.

I don't overdo it with the sunflower seeds so they don't bother me. I'm a vegeterian, so meat for protein is out of the question. I bet I'll be the same way you are, Nancym, needing only 1 day to know if a food will bother me. But I still have a ways to go in my elimination phase. So far...so good.

[dbmamaz]

I"m in the middle of a massive elimination diet. I took a sensitivity test (A.L.C.A.T - look it up, but dont try to spell it w/out the dots on this website), and went to the allergist also. The allergist tested me for 60 foods and I reacted to all but 6. He suggested eating the foods which were 0 or 1 reaction, for 10 days, and then doing a challenge. Well, in the 10 days I ate only foods which were a 0 or 1 on the allergy test, AND a 0 on the A.L.C.A.T, I saw reactions already. I reacted to an herbal tea, I reacted to a multi-b vitamin, and to a chip fried in canola oil. When the doctor called to tell me his blood tests for lamb and turkey came out negative (i reacted to every meat and fish he tested me for, and he didnt test for any beans except soy, and i HATE tofu) .. .anywas, the doctor asked me something about the challenge, and I said that I was already seeing reactions to things and I didnt want to do the challenge. He said that was fine, I could add things one at a time

I also started this saying, I just want my stomach to NEVER hurt. My husband told me that was an unreasonable expectation. Poor thing. My stomach almost never hurts now. I've been on this diet for maybe 6 weeks. I had a major setback due to candida issues. Grapes were on my safe list, so I was using white wine vinegar for seasoning. It turns out that was irritating the candida and causing green slime. It took me several weeks to find that out, and i couldnt really add any new foods during that time.

I found it easy at first, but started to feel very, very hungry. I end up eating a lot of chips. I also find I crave the meat a lot. We'll roast a lamb and I'll just cut hunks out of the leftovers and eat it cold. Hopefully I'll start adding things faster - but I added flax seed oil this week, and next week want to try another supplement, so that slows down the foods.

Oh, sunflower seeds are a major source of protein for me, too. My standard breakfast is grits w peaches and sunflower seeds. My backup lunch, when theres no protien leftovers i can eat, is sunbutter and raisins on celery. I have been somewhat succesful with homemade refries, but they seem to come out undigested . . . Oh, i reacted to rice on the sensitivity test, as a moderate reaction, so I'm off rice. I seem ok on millet (maybe) but its hard to get it without cc. I cant wait until whole foods opens .. . its under construction.

[OBXMom]

One more question. During the challenge phase is it best to eat just one food a few times that day and then go back to the elimination diet for a few days to see if anything happens? Thanks again.

Diane

Diane, the advice we were given was to totally binge on a new food when it was added, presumably so that any problems show up right away. Then we were to wait 3 days before adding an additional new food. I think later once you know what the issues are you can try rotating foods in and out, but we aren't there yet. Our nutritionist said even 3 days is problematic, because reactions can occur after that. Say you add corn without issues then 3 days later add soy. If you react on day 4, you aren't totally sure it wasn't that your body is reacting to corn. It is really hard.

My little guy is 8, too - and although it isn't fun, he's a trooper. We just found some gluten, soy, corn, dairy free vitamins for him that don't hurt his stomach, and it is amazing the difference they have made in his energy level. Make sure you take vitamins during your diet, and if you can't find any you can tolerate you can try the kids brand we got for him, Nature's Plus Animal Parade. Hope you are pain-free, soon.