The Elimination Diet I Recommend For Optimal
Health
William Cole, DC, a functional medicine
practitioner, is an expert at identifying the underlying factors of chronic
conditions and offering natural, holistic approaches to optimal health. This
week, we're thrilled to share his series on the elimination diet and how it can
improve your overall well-being. To learn more, check out his new course, The
Elimination Diet: A 60-Day Protocol to Uncover Food Intolerances, Heal the Gut,
and Feel Amazing.
In functional medicine, the elimination diet is
seen as the gold standard for uncovering hidden food intolerances, healing the
gut, bringing inflammation levels down, and tailoring a food plan that works
best for your body.
Removing the foods that are most likely to
irritate your body for just a few weeks gives your body a chance to calm down
and focus on healing.
Then when you bring those foods back one by
one, you can identify what specifically is helping or hurting your health. We
are all different, with unique genetics and health issues, so this second stage
of the elimination diet, the reintroduction stage, will look different for all
of us.
There are so many ways to do the elimination
diet, but in my years of experience I've found one simplified version of the
elimination diet to work best. Not only have I have seen this elimination
protocol work in my patients' lives, but it's also made a big impact on my own
life. When I noticed my digestion and energy crashing, I used the power of the
elimination diet to figure out the food plan that would be the foundation for
my health.
Here's a quick overview of what you can expect
from the plan:
What You Can Eat on the Elimination Diet
One of the biggest misconceptions people have
about the elimination diet is that they won't be able to eat any delicious
foods. Let's first go over all the nourishing and nutritious foods you can
enjoy on the elimination diet.
Organic meat
I recommend bringing in lots of wild-caught
fish, such as albacore tuna and salmon. You'll also be getting your B vitamins
from grass-fed beef and clean protein from organic chicken.
Vegetables
Enjoy a variety of different colors, especially
green leafy vegetables, and starchy vegetables, such as sweet potatoes and
yams. In my mindbodygreen course, I offer lots of great-tasting ideas so that
you don't dread eating more veggies or feel like you're eating like a rabbit.
Fruit
Every type of fruit is allowed on the
elimination diet, but I recommend focusing on lower-fructose berries like
strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, as well as citrus like lemon, lime,
and grapefruit.
Healthy fats
Cook with natural fats from grass-fed organic
meats, like tallow and clarified butter or ghee. I also encourage you to use
extra-virgin coconut oil daily, as well as avocado oil and extra-virgin olive
oil.
Grain-free flours
Cassava, coconut, and plantain flours are great
alternatives for baking. I also like tapioca starch and arrowroot powder.
Coconut
There are so many delicious uses for coconut.
My favorites are full-fat coconut milk, butter, and aminos—a great soy sauce
alternative.
Natural sweeteners
You can enjoy raw honey, dark maple syrup, and
molasses.
What You Should Avoid on the Elimination Diet
These foods include those that are common food
intolerances, as well as those most likely to cause inflammation.
Refined and artificial sugars
Cutting out sugar probably won't come as a
surprise—but you should also avoid even the healthier-sounding euphemisms, like
agave nectar or turbinado. Sugar is still sugar—no matter how exotic the name.
Grains
This includes all grains—even the gluten-free
ones such as rice, quinoa, oats, and corn. During the reintroduction phase,
we'll add each back one by one. This allows you to discover which grains work
for your body and which ones don't.
Dairy and eggs
Taking out eggs and dairy during the
elimination phase allows you rule out an albumin (egg-white protein) or casein
(dairy protein) intolerance, which I find is common with digestive issues.
Nuts and seeds
Nuts and seeds can be rough on some people's
gastrointestinal system. By not eating them in the elimination phase, you'll
give your gastrointestinal system a little break. And then, when you
reintroduce them, you'll have clearer insight into whether nuts and seeds
irritate your system or not.
Nightshades
This is a plant group that includes white
potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and some spices. They can cause
inflammation in some people with autoimmune spectrum problems.
FODMAPS
FODMAPS is the acronym for the fermentable
sugars found in foods like legumes, onions, and garlic. Not everyone has to
eliminate this group of foods, but people with digestive issues like IBS should
try it for a little while and see how they do. As you heal your gut, these
foods can typically be brought back in with no problem.
Alcohol and caffeine
Give your liver a break and avoid all alcohol
during this time. I also recommend limiting your caffeine intake to a few cups
of green or white tea per day. An occasional organic coffee is OK as well.
What A Typical Day Of Meals Looks Like
Breakfast: A yummy breakfast bowl with warm
butternut squash, organic turkey bacon, apples, coconut oil, cinnamon and
honey.
Lunch: A salad of field greens with albacore
tuna, olive oil, honey and vinegar dressing.
Snack: Whipped sweet potatoes with coconut
cream and cinnamon.
Dinner: Rosemary salmon with sautéed vegetables
in coconut oil, and sweet potatoes with coconut butter.
Dessert: Dairy-free coconut lime ice cream made
with avocados, coconut milk and pure maple syrup.
(I’ll be sharing some of my favorite recipes
for this protocol in my video course.)
The Reintroduction Phase
After the elimination phase, you'll slowly
bring foods back in over a few weeks while looking out for any flare-ups of
symptoms or a decrease in your energy levels.
In my mindbodygreen course, I go more in depth
into how to reintroduce foods back into your diet and take you through the
eliminate diet step by step.
