Elimination Diet

Could the toast you ate for breakfast bring on your afternoon headache? Could the milk in your coffee cause joint pain and brain fog? Could your healthy tofu stir-fry slow your metabolism? Yes—there is an age-old, powerful connection between what you eat and how you feel. Just as no two bodies are the same, no two diets work for everyone. The only way to discover your ideal diet is to follow an Elimination Diet that will help you link foods to symptoms and customize a diet that works for you.

An Elimination Diet is a powerful tool to get to the root of most diseases and disorders. Why? Because most disease begins in the gut. The gut has the highest concentration of immune cells, and the most common thing that the immune cells will react to is food.

Phase 1 Recipes | Phase 2 Recipes | Phase 3 Recipes

What is an Elimination Diet?

An elimination diet is a simple experiment that helps you to discover which foods may be causing problems and which foods are not. An elimination diet is the process of removing all potentially problematic foods from your diet until your symptoms subside—usually a few weeks. Then you slowly reintroduce foods back into your diet, one by one, to see which ones bring your symptoms back. By finding the foods that are behind your suffering, you can completely turn your health around and elevate your quality of life. 
 
Our Elimination Diet is broken down into three phases. Use these links to find recipes and meal plans for each phase:

If you are experiencing these symptoms then it’s time for an Elimination Diet:

  • Weight Gain / Weight Loss
  • Fatigue / Lethargy
  • Foggy Thinking / Memory Issues / Lack of Focus
  • Moodiness / Anxiety / Depression / Racing Thoughts
  • Aggression / Hyperactivity
  • Gas / Diarrhea / Constipation / Bloating / Cramping
  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
  • Reflux (GERD)
  • Recurring Nausea & Vomiting
  • Muscle Pain / Joint Pain / Chronic Pain
  • Headaches / Migraines
  • Sinus Congestion / Chronic Coughing
  • Asthma
  • Skin Rashes / Eczema / Psoriasis / Hives
  • Acne
  • Heart Palpitations / Rapid Pulse / Rapid Breathing
  • Heartburn
  • Numbness / Tingling
  • Seizures
  • Osteoporosis
  • Anemia
  • Autoimmune Disease
  • Extreme Picky Eating Behaviors in Children (will only eat bread, noodles, etc.)

Food has the power to heal, and the power to harm.

Over a typical lifetime, the average person will consume 25 tons of foreign matter through their mouths. This food will pass down their “inner tube of life” otherwise known as the gastrointestinal tract. The cells that line this tube are specifically designed to keep out potentially dangerous food particles and bacteria. Just in case this barrier fails, our body puts over 70% of our entire immune cells directly on the other side of the barrier to neutralize any harmful food proteins or bacteria that make it through. But this system is rarely without its problems. Stress, toxins, bacterial overgrowth, medications, and even the foods themselves can easily damage the cells of the intestinal wall allowing for food particles to come in contact with the multitude of immune cells that reside there. The result is inflammation.   

Odds are that foods you are eating every day are leaving you sick and tired. How do you find out which ones? The Elimination Diet. This foundational tool of Functional Medicine has been used for centuries to discover which foods are making you ill and which ones can make you feel incredible.

Image
The Elimination Diet Cover Thumbnail

 

How do I start an Elimination Diet?

  1. If you don't already own a copy of The Elimination Diet, pick one up from your local bookstore or online retailer. 
  2. Become a member on this site and choose the phase you are on when setting up your diet profile: Elimination Diet: Phase 1, Elimination Diet: Phase 2, or Elimination Diet: Phase 3. Note: ONLY choose the phase you are currently in when setting up your diet profile. If you choose all 3 phases, the site will only show you recipes for Phase 1. You can go back and easily update your diet profile at any time and choose the next phase. Watch our video on how to set up your diet profile for more guidance. 
  3. Join our free online Facebook Support Group specific for this Elimination Diet. You can also request to join our Nourishing Meals Community Facebook Group to get notified with new recipes and more! Everyone is welcome. 
  4. If you don't know where to begin, then start by copying one of our starter Elimination Diet Meal Plans from this page (only members have access to these) to your user profile using the "copy plan" button.
Plan Length Actions

Easy Elimination Diet Phase 1

3 days

Please login to view and schedule plans

More Phase 2 Dinners

7 days

Please login to view and schedule plans

Phase 2 Elimination Diet Dinners Week 2

7 days

Please login to view and schedule plans

Phase 2 Elimination Diet Dinners Week 1

7 days

Please login to view and schedule plans

Elimination Diet Thanksgiving

0 days

Please login to view and schedule plans

Elimination Diet Breakfast Plan

6 days

Please login to view and schedule plans

Elimination Diet Phase 2 Meal Plan

11 days

Please login to view and schedule plans

Elimination Diet Meal Prep

0 days

Please login to view and schedule plans

Low-FODMAP Elimination Diet Meal Plan

7 days

Please login to view and schedule plans

Elimination Diet: Phase 1 Meal Plan

2 days

Please login to view and schedule plans