Uncover Your Food Allergies with an Allergy Elimination Diet

Finding the Culprit

If you have an immediate reaction to a food, you probably won’t have any trouble identifying the food allergy. Those are easy to determine. Unfortunately, not all food allergies cause an immediate reaction. Delayed reaction food allergies and intolerances can be a lot more tricky to uncover. These allergies and intolerances may take as much as 48 hours to cause problems. By that time, you’re probably going to be confused about what the culprit was in the first place.

If you know a food is causing you some problems, but can’t seem to identify the food that’s causing the reaction, you may want to try an allergy elimination diet. Start with the foods that cause the most common food allergies, such as wheat, dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish and soy.

The Allergy Elimination Diet

Begin by eliminating all possible allergens. You’ll need to cut out all foods that commonly cause food allergies, as well as any foods you may suspect. Eat a limited diet until you find out the cause of your food allergy. Try a diet that is low in common allergens. Plain, unprocessed meats, fruits, and vegetables work well. Rice is hypoallergenic, as are potatoes, and can be on the menu.

Stick to this limited diet until all symptoms are gone, and any water retention subsides. This could take as little as 5 days, or as long as several weeks. Once you are at the point of no symptoms, you will begin to add foods back into your diet. Add one food at a time, and wait 2-3 days before adding the next food. If you have no reaction, you can add another food. When you find the food that is bothering you, you will have symptoms within 2 days of adding that food back into your diet. When you identify an allergen, stop eating that food.

Educate yourself so that you can eliminate the food, as well as any derivatives of the food too. Make sure you take your time, and don’t add any new foods until you have recovered from the last reaction. When adding in a new food, chart any possible symptoms in a journal. The journal will help you to keep better track of your allergy elimination diet. Uncovering common food allergies can be challenging, but with a little detective work and an allergy elimination diet, you’ll be feeling better in no time.