Why Elimination?

The unfortunate truth: 

We live in a bit of a toxic soup these days. From the water to the air, our soil  to our food supply, and all the products we use to clean our house, skin, and hair -  we are inundated in foreign information that can overwhelm the body. And let’s not forget emotions and endogenous toxins that our bodies must also process! Toxins interact and compound, presenting a major burden to the body if our drainage and detox pathways and cellular metabolism aren’t functioning in tip-top shape.

 ​Our bodies are designed to drain and detox toxins....
but there's a problem: the modern diet and lifestyle aren't conducive to supporting daily detox. So, we feel the need to do extreme fasts or cleanses to purge us of all the accumulated crud. But that attitude just presents another issue: the body doesn’t like extremes; it prefers gentle transitions and steady, slow progress. So lots of these crash diets and detoxes just leave us feeling exhausted and deprived. Sure, we might have lost a few pounds, but they will likely come right back, along with the other issues we were trying to remedy with a quick fix.  The ideal scenario would be to open and support our drainage & detox organs  while also eliminating toxic exposure and build-up... ​

...which is where an elimination diet comes in.​

You might be thinking to yourself:
"But I believe in intuitive eating and fear that restriction might lead to unhealthy or obsessive thoughts about food."

You aren't wrong. Restricting food can mess with individuals who have an eating disordered past, and not everyone is ready for an elimination diet. However, until we take a break from something, we will never know what effect it is having on our body, mind, or spirit. Furthermore, many foods we daily consume could be aggravating or even causing injury to our bodies. 

Elimination diets don't have to be about deprivation - they should be about nourishing yourself and reconnecting with your body's needs. Unfortunately, food isn't simple anymore and our modern food supply is not clean. Even if you only shop at health food stores, you are still going to be bombarded with rancid oils, denatured proteins, and added sugars. You will find foods that have come from the other half of the globe and foods that have been exposed to chemicals (yes, even organic ones) that confuse and clog your body. When we don't give our body a break, it is going to start malfunctioning sooner or later. A temporary elimination diet, focusing on whole foods can offer that break.

Take me for example. I was your classic skinny, cardio-obsessed vegetarian. Whole grains, fruits and nuts were LIFE. At this same time, my gut was in terrible disarray. I had stomach aches and bloating daily and I rarely pooped. An elimination diet would have been perfect for me - not one that restricted calories, but one that gave me a break from the foods that I’d grown sensitive to. My digestive juices had grown weak and lazy (meat requires lots of stomach acid, so if we don’t ever consume it, our body won’t feel the need to make as much), and all those complex carbs I was consuming were not breaking down like they should have. Instead, they were passing into my colon undigested, serving as a food source for bad bacteria, causing all that dysbiotic bloating and cramping. And every morning I ate my grape nuts, oat milk, and raisins, I was just repeating the vicious cycle all over again.
If you gave 21-year old Eileen some bacon and eggs, a warm bowl of pumpkin soup, chicken piccata and roast carrots, I would have watched my digestive fire return and my bloating and dsybiosis dissipate as I starved the bad bacteria that had colonized my gut. That meal plan doesn’t sound like restriction does it? I guess that’s the whole point of this article: ​

"An elimination diet does not mean restriction. Rather, it’s a temporary vacation from certain foods that may be causing your body harm."

What about food sensitivity tests?

​There are gobs of tests out there that will quickly tell you your sensitivities without having to actually eliminate anything.  However, even with all that technology, a good ole’ fashioned elimination diet + slow reintroduction still remains the gold standard of uncovering food sensitivities. Cross-reactivity is a thing, and even if it seems like a quick-fix, oftentimes those tests will come back showing that you are sensitive to everything (true story!). So save yourself the money and confusion, and consider doing an elimination if you know something is going on with your gut health but don’t know where to start.

"Shortcuts make long delays." - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit 

In our newly launched 5-week program Dump the Detox, we've included a 3 week elimination diet (called "The Spring Clean") plus a 1 or 2 week Reintroduction period. This course not only allows you to take a break from certain foods that may be harming you, but also walks your through the drainage and detox funnel. This way, you learn how to open and nourish those pathways systematically so your body can handle toxins better & you can live life more freely! In the blogs to come, we will be explaining the why behind eliminating the food groups we do in our Spring Clean. See you there!