Not everyone has the immune system to eat every food. According to research, about 20% of the world’s population suffers from food intolerance, which means they’re unable to eat certain foods without experiencing food allergies, intolerance, and food sensitivity. Food allergies can cause dizziness, itching [in the mouth], nasal congestion, breathing issues, vomiting, nausea, and a couple of other discomforts. But what’s an elimination diet and how does it help root out allergies?

What Is an Elimination Diet?

An elimination diet, as the name implies, is exempting several foods from your diet, while leaving those your immune system is comfortable with. An elimination diet means leaving several foods out of your diet for about 21 days and gradually reintroduce them in the future while carefully monitoring their effects on your body.

As you eliminate and reintroduce several foods into your diet, you’re able to identify which food is causing an allergy, which helps you to eliminate them completely from your diet. It also helps you to determine the best diet for you and its effects on your immune system.

While reintroducing the eliminated food back into your diet, there are certain necessary rules to follow. Don’t reintroduce any two foods at the same time. Reintroduce 1 for about 2-3 days and watch how your body reacts. If there are no allergies, then consider the food to be good for you.

While an elimination diet is great for rooting out allergies, eliminating too many foods at once can also pose health problems such as malnutrition deficiency.