Elimination Diet 101

As a functional medicine doctor and acupuncturist, I have done a lot of training in nutrition, both from an Eastern and Western view. However, as a parent, I feel the struggles of feeding our kids nutrient dense food while meeting the demands of sports schedules, work and travel.

We decided as a family to do a full allergy elimination diet several months ago. After months of renovating and opening a new office, several vacations and a round of antibiotics for my kids, I felt like we all needed a reset. We had a dream Hawaii vacation, but the food tended to be heavily processed and we did not feel great when we came home. My kids were showing some signs of food sensitivities, with rashes and random episodes of vomiting. I wanted to lose some weight as well.

Shave Ice in Hawaii

Even for someone who is well versed in cooking and eating whole foods, it was quite a learning curve with kids. The struggle was REAL in the beginning. We had to start over 10 times in the first 2 weeks.

As we continued, we started noticing changes. We figured out the foods that worked for us and a schedule that we could reasonably manage. We noticed subtle digestive changes, and some weight loss for me, which was great.

We did a slow reintroduction and found some triggers. It was such a great learning experience. Brian and I found that gluten triggers hunger for us, and we still have some weight loss goals. Brody seems to react to a combination of gluten and dairy and it is also dose dependent, so he can have a small amount of one or the other. Bella has not vomited since we did the elimination diet.

At this time, we are still mostly gluten and dairy free. We have given our kids more flexibility as we travel or spend time with friends, but make the best decisions we can for our kids. If you are looking for some guidance on an elimination diet, food allergy testing, or functional medicine, reach out to us!