An Elimination Diet Adventure

Did you know that many of us have food allergies or sensitivities to food without even knowing it? Symptoms to food reactions are varied, the most severe resulting in death, but most are subtle, such as gas, an uncomfortable belly or even forgetfulness.

So how do you find out if you have food intolerances and what foods your body dislikes? Well, one way is to go on an elimination diet . This is a super restrictive diet that cuts out all food allergens known to affect some people. This includes:

• Sugar
• Dairy
• Gluten (wheat, rye, barley, spelt, oats)
• Peanuts, pistachios and cashews
• Nightshade veggies (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers)
• Soy
• Shellfish & catfish
• Citrus fruits, strawberries, bananas, melons & dried fruits
• Corn
• Genetically modified foods
• Caffeine
• Alcohol
• Certain meats (beef, pork, bacon, deli cuts, hotdogs, sausages, canned, smoked)

The elimination dieter cuts all these potential food culprits out of their diet for 4 – 6 weeks. They will experience detoxification and are encouraged to perform light body cleansing to help their natural detox processes. Elimination dieters will experience a range of detoxing symptoms as their body moves the offending food out of their system.

As you can see, this leaves the person on the elimination diet quite the challenge in preparing tasty meals. A couple of weeks into my elimination diet and I’m finally getting into the game. I was frustrated at first because there are many recipes out there that claim to be elimination diet recipes but in fact contain one to two ingredients that are on the `foods to avoid’ list.

I’ve quickly developed a knack for immediately identifying the offending foods and either coming up with a substitution or moving onto another recipe. Now this elimination diet has become a fun adventure! I’m trying new and interesting foods and spices, and recipes that are easy to make, scrumptious and healthy.

So to help people who are still in the pangs of elimination diet woes, I’m going to publish true elimination diet friendly recipes over the next six weeks. Actually, these recipes are good for anyone who wants to lose a few pounds or eat a clean diet.

My elimination diet dinner last night:

Chickpea dip, rice crackers and veggies (carrot and celery sticks). Really, this dinner was YUMMY!

Chickpea Dip Recipe – taken from the CCNM ’s Brown Rice Cookbook

2 cups chickpeas (cooked – if prepped from dry – drained and rinsed)
¼ cup chopped green onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 Tbsp each balsamic vinegar & distilled water (substituting for 2 Tbsp of lemon juice)
½ cup olive oil
1 cup chopped parsley
½ tsp dried basil
¼ cup sesame seeds (optional but I put them in and I highly recommend it)

Warning: to all the significant others of elimination dieters out there – what out for the garlicky kisses!

Tell me what you think of this recipe and if you want more!