The 4×4: Drop the Big Four for Four Weeks (Deprivation Not Included)
To help you figure out which foods affect you personally, we’ve create the 4×4. For four weeks, you’ll drop the Big Four from your diet, then reintroduce them individually to see how your body responds.
Removing the Big Four from your diet removes the potential risk they pose of disrupting your body. If a specific food is the culprit behind your fatigue, hormonal imbalance, high blood pressure, anxiety, or digestive issues, for example, the 4×4 will give you clarity on how to move forward.
After removing the Big Four, some people notice a dramatic difference in how they feel. For others, the improvements are subtler. How your body responds to the 4×4 will be different from others, and from both of ours. The 4×4 is designed to be a tool you can use today, and throughout your life, to better understand your needs. Once you do, you’ll be able to create an individualized plan that is sustainable and specific to your body.
ELIMINATE THE BIG FOUR
For exactly four weeks, you’ll eliminate the Big Four: grains, dairy, vegetable oils, and refined sugar (if you need a refresher on these, see chapter 2). To help you do this, we’ve created two meal plans (see chapter 6)—one for bread lovers and one for butter lovers—and crafted seventy-five simple and delicious recipes (starting here) that are free of the Big Four.
Because getting ready for this four-week phase may take some additional time and preparation, we recommend starting your 4×4 on a Monday. Take the weekend before to go grocery shopping, plan out your meals, and remove items that contain the Big Four from your house.
It’s also best to do the 4×4 during a time where you feel ready to take on the task physically, mentally, and emotionally. Trying to implement the 4×4 during a high-stress time, such as when you’re traveling a lot for work or there’s a new baby at home, will make it much harder. Stress can impact how your body responds to certain foods and make it more difficult to know which foods are causing your symptoms.
Once you begin your 4×4, do your best to stick to it. It is important to do this elimination phase for the entire four weeks so your body has the appropriate time to rebalance and heal. Even the smallest amount of grains or dairy can set off health problems for people who are sensitive to them. One of the only ways to find out if you are—and to get started overcoming the issues they cause—is to remove them from your diet completely and observe how your body responds.
MAKE OBSERVATIONS
Before starting the 4×4, it’s important to take a full inventory of your body. To do this, write down your answers to these three questions:
Take your time when answering these questions so you can honestly assess and explore your current state. Then, when you begin your 4×4, check in with yourself and answer these questions again on a weekly basis. We recommend doing this every Sunday evening before the start of the next week. Assess what symptoms are still present and how you are feeling physically, mentally, and emotionally. Have any of your symptoms decreased or resolved? If so, good. If not, make note of what you are feeling. It is common to go through an adjustment period when doing the 4×4. Some people experience brain fog and grumpiness for a few days when they remove sugar from their diets, for example, so it is very possible you will need to get through the first week before experiencing any positive changes.
Going through the 4×4 with full notes of your symptoms each week will demonstrate to you, with concrete evidence from your own experience, how removing these foods affects you. Then, when you start reintroducing foods, you will be able to map out exactly which foods are causing certain symptoms.
Noelle’s Experience
Since age ten, I struggled with digestive issues, including IBS. While I could always tell that my symptoms were aggravated by food, it seemed random and hard to identify. Sometimes I would eat ice cream and be fine, and other times, I would be running to the bathroom. It wasn’t until I completely eliminated potentially problematic foods (both dairy and gluten) that my symptoms disappeared. Writing my symptoms down ahead of time allowed me to really see how things changed during my elimination phase. I went from having terrible cramping and gas once or twice a week to having almost no digestive issues at all.
Stefani’s Experience
I used to have acne so bad I was afraid to leave the house. Eliminating grains, dairy, seed oils, and sugar from my diet (as well as making sure I ate at least 2,000 calories a day!) finally healed my skin enough that I could begin to figure out which foods were good for my skin and which were causing harm. Nowadays I still have to steer clear of dairy and a few other foods that have the potential to irritate the skin (goji berries, who knew!), but it’s totally worth it. Without the 4×4 and Noelle’s and my reintroduction practices, I never would have been able to walk out the door with so much freedom and confidence.
GET IN THE KNOW
During your 4×4, it’s important to know how to spot the Big Four, and to be prepared with quick and easy foods you can eat in the event that your favorites don’t make the cut.
When shopping for food, always check the ingredients list on any packaged or prepared foods. If the food has an ingredients list, it very likely contains grains, dairy, vegetable oils, or refined sugar—or all four. Everything from pasta sauces to canned soups to soy sauce to ketchup contain at least one of the Big Four, so it’s important to make yourself aware of what to look for.
A good place to start is the Foods to Eliminate During Your 4×4. While you may see these exact names listed in the ingredients, often the names will be slightly different because they are derived from one of the Big Four. For example, Enriched Wheat Flour and Malted Barley Flour (grains), Reduced Lactose Whey (dairy), and Expeller-Pressed Sunflower Oil (vegetable oil) are ingredients that should all be avoided.
The first time you venture out to explore what’s in packaged and prepared foods at the grocery store, give yourself ample time and patience. It can be frustrating to discover that many foods contain these added ingredients. The good news is, many stores are now carrying brands that provide high-quality alternatives to common convenience foods. A list of our favorite brands can be found here.
It’s All in the Marketing
While many foods are labeled “whole,” “real,” and “natural,” they’re often not. There is absolutely no regulation on these terms, which means manufacturers can use them on any packaged foods they chose to. This is why it’s important to look beyond the fancy label and check the ingredients list to see what’s inside.
EATING AT RESTAURANTS
While we are all for enjoying a meal with family or friends at your favorite restaurant, during your 4×4, it’s best to avoid restaurants altogether. This is because almost all restaurants use vegetable oils to cook food, and it can be very hard to know exactly what’s in the food you are ordering. Many restaurants have become more accommodating to people with food intolerances, so it is possible to work with your server to figure out what dishes would be best to order. But to get the best results from the 4×4, the safest bet is to wait until after your 4×4 is over to patronize your favorite restaurants again.
That being said, if a big restaurant event comes up during your 4×4 and you don’t want to miss it, do not stress yourself out over whether you should go. Relax, go, and have a good time—just do your best to avoid the Big Four while you are there. You can prepare by checking the menu ahead of time to see what’s available and eating a small meal beforehand so you don’t show up super hungry. Sides like salads (ask for olive oil for dressing) and steamed vegetables, and entrées that are broiled or baked are a great place to start. When dining out during your 4×4, it’s important to avoid alcohol, as it can cause inflammation and disrupt gut flora, which can interfere with your reintroduction results. (See more about alcohol during your 4×4 here.)
Foods to Eliminate During Your 4×4
GRAINS
Amaranth
Barley
Buckwheat
Corn
Millet
Oats
Quinoa
Rice
Rye
Sorghum
Spelt
Teff
Triticale
Wheat
DAIRY
Butter
Cheese
Cream
Milk
Whey protein
Yogurt
VEGETABLE OILS
Canola oil
Corn oil
Cottonseed oil
Grapeseed oil
Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils
Margarine
Palm kernel oil
Peanut oil
Rapeseed oil
Rice bran oil
Safflower oil
Sesame oil
Soybean oil
Sunflower oil
Vegetable oil spreads
Vegetable shortening
REFINED SUGAR*
Agave nectar
Barley malt
Beet sugar
Brown rice syrup
Brown sugar
Buttered syrup
Cane juice crystals
Cane sugar
Coconut sugar
Confectioners’ sugar
Corn syrup
Date sugar
Dehydrated cane juice
Dextrose
Evaporated cane juice
Fructose
Glucose
Grape sugar
High-fructose corn syrup
Invert sugar
Lactose
Malt syrup
Maltose
Muscovado sugar
Palm sugar
Panela sugar
Raw sugar
Rice syrup
Sorghum syrup
Sucanat
Sucrose
Treacle sugar
Turbinado sugar
*These are just some of the ways refined sugar can be listed on an ingredients label.
EAT MORE
While it’s important to know what foods to eliminate during the 4×4, it’s just as important to know what foods to include. And the good news is, there’s still plenty to eat. For a complete list of the foods available to you, check out the 4×4 Friendly Foods.
During your 4×4, you should be providing yourself with a plethora of nutrient-dense foods and meeting your 2,000-calorie-a-day minimum as described in chapter 1. You should also be meeting your macronutrient minimums (50 grams of protein, 100 grams of carbs, 50 grams of fat; see here for a macronutrient refresher) and eating more protein, carbs, and fat depending on your individual needs and what works best for you.
Remember: This is not some crash diet that involves strict rules and calorie limits. Cutting out the Big Four is a big deal, and it takes quite a bit of focus, time, and preparation. By eliminating the Big Four for four weeks, you are reducing or removing potentially disruptive substances from your body and giving it the chance to function optimally. So focus on meeting your minimums and eating enough. Your body will heal in the presence of a ton of nutrient-dense food—and for many people, maybe even especially because you’re eating more food. The more you eat, the more nutrients you get, so don’t focus on restricting the quantity of your food. That’s not productive. Focus on enriching the quality, and go ahead and eat to your heart’s content.
A Special Note on Legumes
Like grains, legumes such as lentils, beans, and peanuts contain antinutrients called lectins and phytic acid. While these are not inherently bad and can be found in high concentrations in many different foods, including spinach and Swiss chard, we recommend keeping legumes to a minimum during your 4×4. Legumes aren’t the most nutrient-dense food, and this is especially the case given that phytic acid binds to certain minerals and prevents their absorption. Legumes also can cause digestive problems such as gas and bloating for people with poor gut function. For this reason, the recipes in this book do not contain legumes. If you choose to include them in your diet, keep your consumption to two or three times a week during the 4×4 and make sure to include other nutrient-dense foods with your meal.
4×4 Friendly Foods
VEGETABLES
Acorn squash
Artichokes
Arugula
Asparagus
Beets
Bok choy
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Butternut squash
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Collard greens
Cucumber
Dandelion greens
Eggplant*
Fennel
Garlic
Green onion
Jicama
Kale
Leeks
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Mustard greens
Okra
Onions
Parsnips
Peppers*
Potatoes*
Pumpkin
Radish
Rutabaga
Seaweed
Shallots
Spaghetti squash
Spinach
Sprouts
Summer squash
Sweet potatoes
Swiss chard
Tomatillos*
Tomatoes*
Turnips
Watercress
Zucchini squash
Yams
Yuca
FRUITS
Apples
Apricots
Avocado
Bananas
Blackberries
Blueberries
Cherries
Coconut
Cranberries
Figs
Grapefruit
Grapes
Guavas
Kiwi
Lemon
Lime
Longon
Lychees
Mango
Melon
Nectarines
Oranges
Papaya
Passion fruit
Peaches
Pears
Persimmon
Pineapple
Plantains
Plums
Pomegranate
Rambutan
Raspberries
Rhubarb
Star fruit
Strawberries
Tangerines
Watermelon
ANIMAL FOODS
Land
Bacon
Beef
Bison
Boar
Buffalo
Chicken
Duck
Eggs
Elk
Goat
Goose
Lamb
Ostrich
Pork
Quail
Rabbit
Turkey
Veal
Venison
Wild Boar
Water
Anchovy
Catfish
Clams
Cod
Conch
Crab
Eel
Flounder
Grouper
Halibut
Herring
Lobster
Mackerel
Mahimahi
Mussels
Octopus
Oysters
Prawns
Salmon
Sardines
Scallops
Sea bass
Shark
Shrimp
Snails
Snapper
Squid
Swordfish
Tilapia
Trout
Tuna
FATS AND OILS
Avocado oil
Beef tallow
Coconut oil
Duck fat
Ghee (clarified butter)
Lard
Nut oils (cold-pressed)
Olive oil (extra-virgin)
NUTS AND SEEDS
Almonds
Brazil nuts
Cashews
Chestnuts
Chia seeds
Flaxseed
Hazelnuts
Hemp seed
Macadamia nuts
Pecans
Pine nuts
Pistachios
Pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
Sesame seeds
Sunflower seeds
Walnuts
FERMENTED FOODS
Kimchi
Kvass
Kombucha
Sauerkraut
LEGUMES*
Beans
Lentils
Peanuts
Peas
*Keep consumption of legumes to a minimum, as they are not a nutrient-dense food and can cause digestive issues for people with poor gut function (for more information, see here).
BE MINDFUL
We know that eliminating the Big Four can be overwhelming. It can seem like a huge change, and a huge challenge.
Can you really give up four pretty major types of food for four weeks?
You absolutely can. We know that you can.
Elimination diets are pretty common. Many people follow ones such as Paleo, autoimmune protocols, or the Whole 30 for different reasons. Some of them are incredibly popular and are used by millions of people every year. However, we have also personally experienced and witnessed how much people can struggle with them. When you are given “just because” rules, precise portion sizes, specific windows of time in which you are allowed to eat, and specific macronutrient ratios to eat, it can be exhausting. For many people, it is simply too much. It is mentally taxing and demands too much willpower. We don’t blame them. We don’t like it, either.
For that reason, we set out to make the 4×4 the most psychologically satisfying elimination diet possible. We focused on the foods that give you the biggest bang for your buck, and got rid of every rule we possibly could. Fretting over the small things does you absolutely no good. We refused to compromise on this standard. The 4×4 is about healing you, not punishing you.
Your ability to go through these four weeks, feel good, and heal is actually quite dependent on your mind-set. The more you enjoy what you are doing and see it for what it is—a choice—the more likely you will be to stick to it. This means you will be much more likely to embrace what works for you and overcome your health conditions in the long run.
MAKE CHOICES, NOT RULES
It’s no secret—the more you feel you can’t have something, the more you want it. Giving up a specific food because you think it is “bad” or wrong to eat will always lead to cravings, feelings of deprivation, and eventually indulging (or overindulging) in the very food you are trying to avoid. It’s a phenomenon both of us have experienced with a variety of foods depending on the diet we were following at the time or the latest trending “problematic” foods. Whether it was all sweets and desserts, high-carb foods, bread, or peanut butter, once we deemed a food “bad,” we started obsessing over it.
Now our approach to how we engage with food is completely different. We know that food does not have morality, and therefore, it is neither “good” nor “bad.” Of course, there are foods that are more nutrient-dense than others, and there may be specific foods that are detrimental to your health and don’t make you feel well. But this does not mean a food is inherently bad, and you are not a bad person because of what you do or don’t eat.
Understanding this truth frees you up to see food for what it is: neutral. Each day when you wake up, you get to decide what foods you are going to eat. It is a choice. Even if you choose to eat something that doesn’t make you feel very well, there is no need to feel shame about it—you haven’t done anything wrong.
Shifting your mind-set and understanding that all foods are available to you is incredibly freeing and empowering. You stop feeling drawn to the “bad” foods and can better follow your intuition and what works best for you. Instead of making choices based on what some diet said to do, you start making choices because you want to. Whether it’s to keep your digestion feeling good (very important for Noelle), to keep your skin clear (very important for Stefani), or to figure out if removing a food is healthy for you, it is a choice that has a purpose.
Now that you’re in the know about how the Big Four can affect your body, you can make the choice to do the 4×4 to see how your body responds. By eliminating these foods for four weeks, you’ll have a pretty solid idea of how it would feel to eliminate them from your life. After the four weeks, you can experiment with bringing the Big Four back into your diet—we’ll address this in the next chapter. They do not have to be gone forever. What you’re doing right now is conducting an experiment. It is a choice you are making. Don’t let yourself feel deprived or rule-bound. Relax into your role. It’s just four weeks, and it’s a four-week-long choice that could literally change everything.