The Types of Exclusion Diets

When the cause of allergic symptoms is unclear, doctors can use several different types of exclusion diets to narrow down the range of foods that might be causing symptoms.

Ninety percent of food allergies are caused by the twelve most common food allergens:

·         Alcohol                                                                           

·         Red meat

·         Wheat and/or gluten

·         Citrus fruits

·         Bran

·         Artificial sweeteners

·         Poultry skin and dark meat

·         Carbonated drinks

·         Coffee

·         Dairy

·         Fried foods

·         Oils

One option is to eliminate any of these foods that may be problematic. This method will probably be the first method of exclusion diet that your doctor recommends. Unfortunately, this is a long and tiresome project – you would be expected to cut out these foods, one at a time, for a reasonable amount of time.

Your body would need a suitable period to rid itself completely of the excluded foodstuff and to show signs of improvement as far as your allergy is concerned. In order to validate the exclusion testing, any food elimination may require a 4-6 week period of testing, although this is not always the case.

If you are fortunate you may discover the source of your problem is one of the first foods that you exclude – this would negate the need to continue the exclusion diet for the rest of the common food types.

In order to confirm that the food you excluded was the source of the allergy, you will be required to re-introduce that food back into your diet, to see if the symptoms reoccur. This may seem cruel but it is an essential part of the whole test and will provide concrete proof that the correct source of your allergy has been identified.

What if you exclude all of the 12 foods and still have an allergy?

If that exclusion diet did not produce results, your doctor may recommend a "few foods" diet or a "rare foods" diet.

The "Few Foods" Diet - Oligoallergenic Diet

This diet is exactly what it sounds like - a small number of foods considered unlikely to cause allergic reaction are eaten for a period of time. If this diet is being used as a diagnostic tool, the foods are gradually re-introduced one at a time, to see if symptoms reappear.

Examples of foods commonly used on this diet include lamb, rice, turkey, and pears, all of which are considered unlikely to cause allergic reactions.

The "Rare Foods" Diet

The theory behind the rare foods diet is quite simple -it excludes foods that are currently part of your regular diet and replaces them with foods you have never eaten at all, or have never eaten regularly.

Theoretically, foods that are not a regular part of your diet are unlikely to cause allergic symptoms, or so the thinking goes.

Difficulties of an Exclusion Diet

One of the biggest challenges of an exclusion diet - especially a rare foods or few foods diet - can be learning to prepare foods without using ingredients you would normally use.

You may not be allowed to use common foods such as flour, milk, and margarine, but don’t worry too much, not only will your doctor provide you with instructions for carrying out the diet, they will also have resources and recipes you can use.

Written By

Darren Gray