Elimination Diet And Weight Loss

[leo.the.bunny]

Is there any way to do an elimination diet without losing too much weight? I lost a lot of weight before I realised I was gluten intolerant and 5 months later (even though my stomach had healed after 2 weeks of going gluten free) I am having digestive problems again and losing weight. So far I've only eliminated corn, dairy, soy, oats and gluten (including any cross contamination) and I'm still having problems and losing weight. I'm eating a lot of peanut butter, nuts, avocados, olive oil, eggs, rice, meat and potatoes, but it's not even helping me maintain my weight

I'm worried that something I'm eating is still causing problems, but I'm very scared to cut anything else out and lose even more weight. I'm starting to feel like it's not worth trying to even figure out the problem if I'm going to keep losing weight... any suggestions?

[burdee]

There's a way to determine your delayed reaction allergies (so called 'intolerances') without losing an ounce. Determining allergies with elimination diets is difficult, because most food allergies are delayed reaction allergies. So it's difficult to figure out exactly what caused reaction symptoms. Also people assume certain foods are 'safe' to eat, while they eliminate 'questionable' foods for an elimination diet. However, you could be allergic to anything. Cane sugar, nutmeg and vanilla were total surprises for me.

A better way to determine allergies is the ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) blood test for IgG, IgA and IgE mediated reactions to foods. Your blood is tested for reactions to over 100 commonly eaten foods or a group of vegan choices or a group of herbs and spices. I did all 3 panels, because I still had reaction symptoms after eliminating foods determined by the first panel of commonly eaten foods.

Interpretting the results can be misleading, if the doctor is unaccustomed to ELISA test results. Some people seem to react to many foods, but they will have a definite reaction pattern with some obviously strong reactions and many or a few or no low reactions. My doc frequently orders ELISA tests for his patients. He recommends that we look at the overall pattern of the test results. If you have no low results and a few high or high medium results, the latter are your 'allergy' reactions. If you have many low results, but a few high results, again, the latter are the true allergy reactions. Many people assume every test result means they must avoid the food. However, each person's pattern is different. So the overall highest results should be 'eliminated' from their diet. For example, I had no reactions to most foods on the 100 food panel, but had a low reaction to asparagus, a medium high reaction to egg and a high reaction to cane sugar. I can still eat asparagus and have no noticeable reaction. However, I have obvious bad reactions to eating egg or cane sugar.

[leo.the.bunny]

There's a way to determine your delayed reaction allergies (so called 'intolerances') without losing an ounce. Determining allergies with elimination diets is difficult, because most food allergies are delayed reaction allergies. So it's difficult to figure out exactly what caused reaction symptoms. Also people assume certain foods are 'safe' to eat, while they eliminate 'questionable' foods for an elimination diet. However, you could be allergic to anything. Cane sugar, nutmeg and vanilla were total surprises for me.

A better way to determine allergies is the ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) blood test for IgG, IgA and IgE mediated reactions to foods. Your blood is tested for reactions to over 100 commonly eaten foods or a group of vegan choices or a group of herbs and spices. I did all 3 panels, because I still had reaction symptoms after eliminating foods determined by the first panel of commonly eaten foods.

Interpretting the results can be misleading, if the doctor is unaccustomed to ELISA test results. Some people seem to react to many foods, but they will have a definite reaction pattern with some obviously strong reactions and many or a few or no low reactions. My doc frequently orders ELISA tests for his patients. He recommends that we look at the overall pattern of the test results. If you have no low results and a few high or high medium results, the latter are your 'allergy' reactions. If you have many low results, but a few high results, again, the latter are the true allergy reactions. Many people assume every test result means they must avoid the food. However, each person's pattern is different. So the overall highest results should be 'eliminated' from their diet. For example, I had no reactions to most foods on the 100 food panel, but had a low reaction to asparagus, a medium high reaction to egg and a high reaction to cane sugar. I can still eat asparagus and have no noticeable reaction. However, I have obvious bad reactions to eating egg or cane sugar.

Thanks so much for the advice! I would definitely rather do this than keep blindly eliminating all my food until there's nothing left! haha

Would it be better if I get this done through a GI doctor or someone other than my GP?

[GottaSki]

I had IgE and IgE ELISA testing done twice. Once before celiac disease diagnosis and once specifically for all the foods for which I had a reaction during the course of a full elimination diet. I am completely negative for food allergies -- must add that I had not heard of IgA ELISA panel - I shall look into this as well.

Did want to add -- should you decide to conduct a full elimination diet you will not neccessarilly loss weight. Adding lots of healthy fats is the key.

Get the testing done first and if all negative an elimination diet is the way to determine intolerances.