PREPARING FOR THE ELMINATION DIET: STAGE 1 — THE HEALTHY-EATING DIET
Cut out the following foods:
Coffee and tea, including coffee-flavoured cakes etc Chocolate, cocoa and all chocolate-flavoured items Coca-cola, Pepsi-cola and other cola drinks
Sugar and any foods containing sugar. Don’t worry if you eat a small amount (eg in tinned tomato soup) during Stage 1. On Stage 2 and 3 you need to be much more careful.
Saccharin and other artificial sweeteners
All alcoholic drinks, including alcohol-free beers and foods cooked in wine, beer etc. Don’t eat too much vinegar or pickled foods – no more than a small portion twice a week.
All colourings, preservatives, antioxidants, flavour enhancers, flavourings, thickeners, emulsifiers, stabilizers and other additives. Anything identified by an E-number: some of these are natural ingredients, but that does not mean they are automatically safe, and at this stage it is easier to just avoid the lot. Read the labels on everything – don’t be taken in by ‘Natural’ or ‘Healthy’ on the packet. Some unlabelled food contains additives (see p305). Remember that margarines contain colourings and are highly processed – any food like this should be avoided. So should bacon, ham, corned beef and anything smoked.
Continental sausages and very ripe cheeses – they are often a rich source of histamine.
All take-aways and fast food. Keep restaurant-eating to a minimum because there are a lot of unexpected additives in such meals. Anything that makes the gut more permeable: curries and other very spicy foods, raw pineapple and papaya, aspirin and other NSAIDs. At the same time, you should try to eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits. Green leafy vegetables are particularly important, and salads are valuable. Choose fresh meat or fish rather than pies, sausages or fish-fingers (even if these are additive-free).
If you have been eating bran, gradually cut this out (your bowel may need time to adjust so don’t do it suddenly). A daily intake of vegetables, potatoes, wholemeal bread and fruits should supply all the fibre you need. Try to eat less salt, and avoid highly salted foods such as peanuts and crisps. Keep your diet varied, don’t eat too much at one sitting, and don’t have huge amounts of a single food.
If you drink a lot of coffee or tea, cut it out gradually or you may get withdrawal symptoms. Avoid painkillers that contain caffeine. Other medicines may contain colourings – ask you doctor to prescribe uncoloured equivalents.
Decaffeinated coffee and tea are not allowed. Herb teas can be used to replace tea and coffee, but not mate (or matte), which contains some caffeine and tannin, nor redbush tea, which shares many chemical constituents with ordinary tea, even though it lacks caffeine. Jasmine tea, gunpowder tea and other ‘green teas’ are true teas so these should not be taken.
Stay on this diet for at least a month, unless you feel much better before then.
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Tags: Allergies