Elimination Diet: What It Is and How to Do It the Right Way

Food allergies and intolerances are common among children and adults.

While identifying the food or ingredient causing the food allergy or intolerance can be difficult, following an elimination diet can help.

This article explains everything you need to know about the elimination diet including what it is, how it works, and how to follow it.

What is the elimination diet?

The elimination diet involves removing foods or ingredients from your diet that you believe are causing allergy or intolerance symptoms.

The eliminated foods are later reintroduced, one at a time, while you identify which foods are contributing to your symptoms.

You can then eliminate the food from your diet to prevent any uncomfortable symptoms in the future.

Common examples of elimination diets include:

A food allergy is not the same as food intolerance or sensitivity, although they may share similar symptoms.

Symptoms of an allergy include tingling or itching in the mouth, itchy skin, wheezing or shortness of breath, or swelling of the face, mouth, tongue, or other parts of your body.

In contrast, food intolerance symptoms are generally less serious and often limited to digestion problems such as diarrhea, bloating, gas, constipation, and nausea.

If you have a known or suspected food allergy, then you should only follow the elimination diet under the supervision of your health care provider since reintroducing a food allergen can be dangerous.

Beyond food allergies and intolerances, the elimination diet may also be helpful if you frequently experience headaches or if you have an inflammatory condition like eczema, acne, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBS), or eosinophilic esophagitis (1, 2, 3, 4).

People with interstitial cystitis (IC) or histamine intolerance can also benefit from an elimination diet.

How to do the elimination diet

While many types of elimination diets exist, an elimination diet generally consists of two phases — elimination and reintroduction.

The elimination phase

The elimination phase involves eliminating foods that you suspect are causing your symptoms.

Eliminate the suspected foods or ingredients commonly associated with intolerance symptoms for a short period of time, usually 2–6 weeks (5).

These foods may include dairy products, wheat, fermented foods, deli meats, dried or preserved seafood, and certain vegetables like avocado, spinach, tomatoes, and apples (5).

During this phase, you can determine whether your symptoms resolve or if your symptoms are due to something else.

The reintroduction phase

In the reintroduction phase, you slowly bring the foods you eliminated back into your diet.

Reintroduce each food, one at a time, slowly over three days while you look for symptoms.

Some foods such as those that contain salicylates require a longer reintroduction phase of up to 10 days due to the gradual build-up over several days that may be needed to cause a reaction (5).

Symptoms to look for include:

fatigue
bloating
a change in bowel habits
stomach pain
difficulty sleeping
joint pain
headaches
rashes or skin changes

If you experience no symptoms after reintroducing a food, you can assume that food is not the culprit and then reintroduce the next food.

Conversely, if you do experience symptoms, you should remove that food from your diet.

However, complete elimination isn’t always necessary with a food intolerance. For example, people with lactose intolerance can tolerate up to 12 grams of lactose — equivalent to 1 cup (240 mL) of milk — without problems (6).

The elimination diet process, including the elimination phase, takes 6–10 weeks, depending on how many foods you eliminate and reintroduce.

It’s best to keep a journal so you can document which foods you eliminated and what symptoms you experience — if any — after reintroducing them into your diet.

Elimination diet food list

Elimination diets may restrict several foods and ingredients or just one.

Foods to avoid

The more foods you remove during the elimination phase, the more likely you will identify which foods trigger your symptoms.

Foods that are often eliminated include (6):

Fruits: certain fruits including apples, bananas, tomatoes, pears, and avocado
Vegetables: eggplant, spinach, onions, and garlic
Grains: wheat, rye, barley, and corn
Tree nuts: almonds, cashews, pistachios, and walnuts
Legumes: peanuts, peas, and beans, including soybeans
Meats: deli meats, ham, and canned meats
Dairy products: milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream
Seafood: fish and shellfish such as lobsters, mussels, and crab
Fermented foods: saurkraut, kombucha, and kimchi
Sweets: honey, chocolate, and other types of candy
Beverages: alcohol and caffeine-containing drinks like coffee, tea, soda, and energy drinks

This list is not all-inclusive, so there may be foods beyond this list that provoke your symptoms.

Foods to eat

An elimination diet can be extremely restrictive, which limits the foods you can eat.

Some foods you can eat include:

Fruits: most fruits, excluding those listed on the elimination list
Vegetables: most vegetables, excluding those listed on the elimination list
Grains: oats, rice, quinoa, and millet
Meat and poultry: fresh beef, lamb, chicken, and turkey
Milk alternatives: coconut milk, rice milk, and almond milk

Risks of an elimination diet

Despite the popularity of at-home food sensitivity tests, there remains a lack of evidence to support these tests for accurately identifying food sensitivities (7).

Consequently, the inaccuracy of these tests could cause you to unnecessarily avoid healthy foods.

As such, the elimination diet is a better place to start.

However, you should only follow an elimination diet for a short period of time — no longer than 10 weeks — as it could lead to nutrient shortfalls as a result of limiting entire food groups (8).

The diet can also severely restrict the number of calories you consume, which could lead to unintended weight loss.

Therefore, you should always check with your doctor or work with a registered dietitian for guidance on following an elimination diet.

The bottom line

Following an elimination diet can help you identify which foods or ingredients your body can’t tolerate well.

The diet consists of a restriction and reintroduction phase, and the entire process can take 6—10 weeks, depending on the number of foods you eliminate.

The elimination diet can be restrictive, so it’s best to work with your doctor and dietitian, especially if you have a known or suspected food allergy.

Elimination Diet: What It Is and How to Do It the Right Way

What is the elimination diet?