OUR ELIMINATION DIET PROGRAM starts with a detoxification phase (phase 1) followed by a phase of balancing neutral foods (phase 2), and then ends with the reintroduction phase (phase 3), where you slowly add back in potentially reactive foods.

One general suggestion is to be strategic about when you schedule the diet—it’s best not to do it during the holiday season. Holiday foods can be too tempting for you to successfully stay on the diet, and the higher stress levels during the season don’t help, either. Of course, if your symptoms demand immediate attention and it happens to be the holiday season, do what’s best for you. (It’s just one snicker doodle; you’ll live without it—even if it is your grandma’s best recipe.)

All of the foods allowed in phases 1 and 2 of our Elimination Diet are neutral for most people. If at any point you don’t feel well after eating one of the recipes, record your symptoms and foods consumed in your Elimination Diet Journal and remove the offending foods from your diet.

We have outlined some ways you can modify our diet based on additional food reactions, such as FODMAP sensitivities and starch maldigestion. Turn to here for more information on how to further customize the Elimination Diet for these considerations.

A final note before you begin: If you follow the Elimination Diet as it’s designed, you will be dedicating nearly two months to this program. It is a commitment. But I want you to put this in perspective to a lifetime of dealing with symptoms that will only get worse if you do nothing about them. Remember that uncontrolled, chronic inflammation in the body can lead to more than discomfort; it’s linked to diabetes, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, thyroid issues, gallbladder disease, and arthritis, among other conditions and diseases.

By following the Elimination Diet, not only will you rid yourself of your symptoms, but you will also put an end to one of the most powerful disease initiators science has ever seen.

My ultimate goal is that you emerge, as so many of my clients have, on the other side of the Elimination Diet with a powerful, personalized way of eating that gives you the quality of life you deserve.