Welcome to my Modified Elimination Diet blog!

If you find yourself here, your doctor probably said they wanted you to try this diet to see if you have any allergies or sensitivities to common allergens. I never thought I would make it past a few days, let alone the 1-2 months my doctor recommended before starting to introduce new foods! In the beginning I thought if I did make it to the one month mark there is no way I could go for 2...but once you get into the swing of this diet, it's pretty easy.

The goal of this blog is to help other people find the information necessary for this diet without having to do all the legwork I did and without spending an arm and a leg. I hope you will be able to find the answers you need to do the diet properly!

So lets get started!

All elimination diets are not made equal! I have seen some online that allow things that mine does not. I would personally follow whatever handout your doctor gives you. Remember, if you mess it up you have to start all the way back at the beginning. I found that this was a great motivator in staying on track! I only wanted to do this once and I wanted to do it right. Below you will find the information included on the MED my doctor gave me to follow.

Primary Guidelines:

1. Eliminate all dairy products! Avoid products like soy cheese, which are made with casein (a milk protein). This means no milk, cream cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, butter, ice cream, etc.
2. Eliminate fatty meats like beef, pork or veal. Chicken, turkey, lamb and cold-water fish (salmon, mackerel, and halibut) are acceptable.
3. Eliminate gluten. Avoid any foods that contain wheat, spelt, corn, kamut, oat, rye, barley or malt. Acceptable substitutions are made from rice, millet, buckwheat, and gluten free flour, or potato, tapioca, and arrowroot may be used as desired by most individuals.
4. Drink at least 2 quarts of water daily.
5. Avoid all alcohol, caffeine, coffee (including decaf) and read the labels of cold remedies and herbal preparations to be sure they don't contain alcohol or caffeine.
6. Avoid foods containing yeast or foods that promote yeast overgrowth (processed foods, refined sugars, cheese, commercially prepared condiments, peanuts, vinegar and alcoholic beverages).

Okay, that seems like pretty much everything, right? The trick to this diet is until you get the hang of it you need to prepare every meal from scratch, including sauces. You also need to read the ingredients label of literally everything you plan on consuming. Turkey is on that list above, right? So why not go to the deli and get some sliced turkey! NOPE. The spices and preservatives they have in deli meats renders much of it NOT elimination diet friendly! Even if it is a miniscule amount, you can't risk contamination on this diet.

Food Group	Allowed	Avoid
Meat, Fish, Poultry, Legumes Eggs	Chicken, turkey, lamb All legumes, dried peas, and lentils Cold-water fish such as salmon, halibut, mackerel, and trout Egg replacer	Red meat, cold cuts, frankfurter, sausage, canned meat, eggs, cholesterol-free egg substitutes
Dairy Products	Milk substitutes such as rice milk, nut milks, and soy milk	Milk, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, ice cream, cream, non-dairy creamers
Starch	White or sweet potato, arrowroot, rice, tapioca, buckwheat, millet, gluten-free products	All gluten-containing products, including pasta, all corn, and corn-containing products
Bread/Cereal	Any made from rice, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, teff, millet, soy, potato flour, tapioca, arrowroot, or gluten-free flour based products	All made from wheat, oat, spelt, kamut, rye, barley, or gluten-containing grains.
Vegetables	All vegetables, preferably fresh, frozen or freshly juiced	Creamed or made with prohibited ingredients
Fruits	Unsweetened fresh, frozen, or freshly juiced, or water-packed, canned fruits, excluding citrus and strawberries	Fruit drinks, ades, cocktails, citrus, strawberries, and dried fruits preserved with sulfites
Soup	Clear, vegetable-based broth, homemade vegetarian soup, chili made with ground chicken or turkey	Canned or creamed soup Any with glutenous flours or grains
Beverages	Freshly prepared or unsweetened fruit or vegetable juice, pure water, non-citrus herbal tea	Milk, dairy-based products, coffee, tea, cocoa, Postum, alcholic beverages, soda pop, sweetened beverages, citrus drinks
Fats/Oils	Cold, expeller pressed, unrefined, light-shielded canola, flax, olive, pumpkin, sesame and walnut oil, salad dressings made from allowed ingredients	Margarine, shortening, butter, refined oils, salad dressing, and spreads
Nuts/Seeds	Almonds, cashews, flax seed, pecans, pumpkin, sesame, squash seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, nut/seed butters made with allowed ingredients	Peanuts, pistachios, peanut butter
Sweeteners	Brown rice syrup, fruit sweeteners	Brown sugar, honey, molasses, maple syrup, corn syrup, fructose