In this part, I’ll be discussing one approach to an elimination diet, which can be a very useful start to both losing weight and detoxing. Click here to read part 1, and click here to read part 2 of my series “Weight Loss and Detox”.
One concept to keep in mind about any detox or diet is that time is definitely a factor. You can’t expect to detox years of indiscretions or shed years of excess pounds in one week. I mention the concept of time because the same goes for an elimination diet. To achieve the full benefits of this type of program, you’ll need to invest at least two weeks of your time and effort. Now remember, that’s only for the elimination diet. You’ll certainly need to invest more time after the initial two weeks if you’re looking to lose weight (and keep it off) and you’d be wise to continue eating well if detox is your goal also. I discussed the importance of eliminating foods you are sensitive to in part 2 of this series. Here, I’ll discuss one way to go about incorporating an elimination diet to get you started on your path.
Before I begin with the exact plan, it’s important to note that it would be wise to obtain a hypoallergenic (rice or pea based) protein powder/supplement before embarking on this diet plan. The reason for this is because at some point, you’ll be avoiding the main protein-containing foods (e.g. animal foods). In order to keep your protein intake up and your blood sugar stable, you’ll need a protein supplement during this phase. Also, you can use one that is designed for detox if you choose.
Alright, here’s the plan:
Foods to avoid:
• anything you know you’re allergic to (of course)
• all dairy (including butter), margarine and shortening
• eggs
• all gluten (wheat, rye, barley, spelt, oats, and kamut)
• corn
• soy and texturized vegetable protein
• nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, and peppers)
• alcohol and caffeine
• peanuts – also considering avoiding other types of nuts or seeds if you consume them on a regular basis
• beef that is not grass-fed, pork products, hot dogs, canned meat, sausage, and “fake” meats (usu. made from soy or gluten)
Foods to eat:
• at least 10 glasses of clean water (i.e.: not tap or poorly filtered water)
• vegetable juices (not fruit juices) and herbal teas are acceptable, but should not replace pure water
• hypoallergenic grains like rice, millet, quinoa, buckwheat (without added wheat), or tapioca are acceptable – be careful of eating too many carbohydrates however
• all vegetables (except nightshades), low-sugar fruits, and beans – again being careful of consuming too many carbs
• fish, chicken, turkey, and lamb (organic, free-range, clean animal foods are best)
• olive and/or coconut oil
For days 1 and 2 – take one serving of protein powder before breakfast
For days 3 and 4 – take one serving of protein powder before breakfast and dinner
During these four days, follow the guidelines for foods to eat and avoid as outlined above.
For days 5 through 10 – take one serving of protein powder before breakfast, lunch, and dinner AND in addition to avoiding the foods from the “Foods to avoid” list, also avoid eating any animal products (including fish, chicken, turkey and lamb).
For days 11 and 12 – take two servings of protein powder before breakfast and dinner AND you can (and should) now eat the allowable animal products (fish, chicken, turkey, and lamb).
For days 13 and 14 – take one serving of protein powder before breakfast and follow the food lists.
After day 14, introduce one food that you’ve avoided for the last two weeks. It is of extreme importance that you only introduce one food from the list of suspected sensitivities every 3 days. If you add more than one food within 72 hours, you won’t be able to discern which food is suspect if you have any symptoms. So from now on, you can introduce one new food to your diet every three days and look for any symptoms that may point to you being sensitive to that food. Any symptoms can occur, with the most common being those mentioned in part 2: fatigue, joint pain, digestive disturbances (of any kind), sinus and lung congestion, skin rashes (including acne and eczema), canker sores, headaches, anxiousness, irritability and moodiness. Don’t limit your symptoms to this list only, any symptom can arise from a food intolerance. Also, don’t assume that you’ll get a digestive symptom. Not all food sensitivities will cause digestive symptoms.
Once you find the foods that you are sensitive to, you need to avoid them completely! If you find wheat is a problem, you cannot simply have a small bite of a cracker and assume that such a small amount won’t have an effect. It will set off a cascade of inflammatory immune biochemicals that will affect your entire system and thwart all the excellent efforts you put in. You won’t necessarily have to avoid that food for life. It’s quite possible that after you heal your system and get your body functioning optimally again, you’ll be able to reintroduce that food without any detrimental consequences.
I’ll discuss how to heal your system in future articles.
Good luck!
Dr. Rob D’Aquila – NYC Chiropractor – Diplomate of the International Board of Applied Kinesiology
Source: one of my mentor’s protocols, Dr. Datis Kharrazian
Hi Amity,
It’s hard to say how long it will take. It will be different for everyone based on the health of their digestive and immune system. A few months sounds safe, assuming you are actively taking the steps to repair those systems in the meantime. That is, eating healthy, taking the appropriate gut rebuilding supplements, avoiding other stressors, etc..
And yes, that’s a very good point, you can easily become sensitive to that food again, as we all typically develop sensitivities to the foods we eat most. So in order to avoid that, you can use a rotational diet where you only eat the suspect foods every 4 or 5 days and see how that goes.
That said, sometimes people do need to avoid certain foods for good – esp. gluten and dairy.
Good luck,
Dr. Rob D’Aquila