The Elimination Diet: Discover the Foods That Are Making You Sick and Tired--and Feel Better Fast

by Tom Malterre, Alissa Segersten, Jeffrey S. Bland (Foreword)

The Diet Designed Just for You
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.
Known for their ability to radically improve overall health, elimination diets are growing in popularity. But there's no definitive book that explains how to follow one safely and effectively-until now. Written by two authors who are revered in the alternative health market and functional medicine community, The Elimination Diet guides you through a proven three-phase program that detoxifies the body and promotes fast Complete with over 100 delicious recipes, shopping lists, and meal plans, The Elimination Diet is a complete resource for you to improve your health and feel better, naturally.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Cookbooks, Food, Self Help, Cooking, Nutrition

352 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2015

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

My sister and I used this book recently to do an elimination diet. Here are my thoughts:

Pros:
- recipes were delicious
- ingredients were readily available in my hippie west coast city
- cookbook made it relatively
easy to stick to a food plan
- really provided food for thought with respect to personal health and food choices

Cons:
- food challenge ingredients were ludicrously expensive
- I lost so much sleep to food prep that I couldn't tell whether it was the food or the lack of sleep causing my symptoms
- felt like you could never do this on your own due to food prep time and expense; we barely managed with two of us participating
- main version of diet does not try to cut down on foods like cabbage or dried fruit that are almost guaranteed to affect digestion in major ways for a lot of people (though alternate options including reduction of FODMAPs are mentioned)
- if you have any sense that your body reacts poorly to large or multiple servings of specific foods but doesn't react to everyday exposure to single servings thereof within the context of a balanced diet, this diet will make you sick
- I felt like I was developing a socially acceptable eating disorder while on the diet, going on an obsessive witch hunt for enemy foods in everything I ate

All that being said, it was a useful and interesting exercise. How else would I know that tofu is the enemy?

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I only skimmed this book and didn't follow the plan to a T. However, I did follow the general concepts for approximately the recommended amount of time. I'm reviewing the overall program.

I have this long-held belief system that food could be at the root cause of anything wrong with me. I had an allergy test done several years ago and the results were negative, though somewhat inconclusive. Still, I wondered if I modified my diet if I could positively change some negative health symptoms I was having. I bought this book and started the plan on Labor Day after a particularly indulgent summer.

After two weeks of eliminating all offending foods (but not following the recipes provided), some symptoms were better, but others were still present. My stomach had a weird ache that wasn't normal. I wondered if I was eating too much raw produce. Anyways, whatever blissed out healthful feelings people have written about during this stage, I wasn't experiencing. I just felt like my usual self, minus some symptoms.

Weirdly, after two weeks of an extremely limited diet, I started to lose some of my cravings. When it was time to introduce each type of food, I wasn't scrambling to ingest it. A month in, I was eating really healthy! Twice, I went to family gatherings where I ate nothing but the healthy foods I brought for myself. There were moments where I wanted to give up, but the desire to not undo all of the work I'd done kept me going.

One by one, foods reentered my life with little effect. I often got a dull stomachache with each introduction, but by the second time eating it, I was fine. Plus, as mentioned, that dull stomachache actually was present through the whole initial stage.

I got to the heavy hitters like soy, dairy, and gluten, ready for some sort of big enemy reveal. Never happened. After introducing gluten with no symptoms returning, I realized that I might not actually be allergic or sensitive to anything. I was partially relieved and partially disappointed. If food isn't the problem, why did I have symptoms go away that never resurfaced during the reintroduction?

My theory: I was just eating really unhealthy. My gut was inflamed and caused negative symptoms for months/years. By eating really healthy for a solid month, and not going overboard when I reintroduced less healthy foods, my non-inflamed gut could handle things in moderation.

My biggest takeaway is for ten weeks, while I didn't find any offending foods, I figured out how to eat well. My sugar obsession had dissipated to the point that even a month after reintroducing sugar, I rarely eat it. Life without heavy sources of dairy and gluten felt fine, and as they are inflammatory foods, I'll probably keep them at a minimal role in my diet to keep testing my theory.

I recommend an elimination diet for just about anyone. On one hand, you might find an offending food; on the other, you are forced to eat (fairly) healthy for more than two months, which, at least for me, was the longest I was able to stick with really clean eating. Now, it feels like a sustainable habit.

Anyways, challenge complete - time for a beer!

[BookBec · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've gone through an elimination diet twice, once with Mark Hyman's Blood Sugar Solution and once under a doctor's supervision. But I've kept my eyes open for a book that would simplify the process. I have friends and family who could benefit from identifying problem foods, but it's so complicated to manage the giant lists of yes/no foods and find recipes that work. Most people hear what I'm doing and react, "No way I could get that organized!"

The Elimination Diet seemed a likely candidate: its chatty voice, its anecdotal success stories, its lengthy section of recipes, its suggestions for testing other issues. It's good. It could be very useful to you. But two features keep it from being ideal.
(1) The way the "no" foods and "yes" foods lists are run together, with a slightly larger font in a column header as the only signal of the change. Why not use a page break or a different color or a border or something to draw attention to the difference? Make it clear and beyond easy to know what to eat. Set apart the "yes" foods; don't tempt us by letting them share a page with "no" foods.
(2) Similarly, the way the recipes are run together for all the phases. Yes, in a traditional cookbook it makes sense to have all the soup recipes together, all the meat entrees together, all the breakfasts together. But for an elimination diet, it would be so useful to have the strict elimination phase recipes separately, with the reintroduction recipes after. Again, it would reduce temptation (why mention oranges and cheese on the same page as a recipe I might use during the phase of being restricted from and sorely tempted by oranges and cheese?).

[Dax · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is definitely something here, even if a good chunk of it only seems possible if you have a large disposable income. I know that I need to do an elimination diet to try and figure out bad food triggers, but books like this make it seem all the more impossible rather than the simple diet they act like it is. I will continue to reference this book and apply things I feel like I financially and mentally can.

[Freda Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went into this eating plan with an open mind (calling it a diet doesn't seem to do it justice). I needed answers for my ever increasing intestinal and digestive issues. This book was recommended by my son who tried it (he's a personal trainer and fitness buff with similar concerns).

After just a week of following along with the eating plan (a few days of detox then starting to heal my gut), I was thrilled with the improvements already. By the time I finished the 'diet', I felt much different and even healthier. Any bloating I had had finally left my body and the medicine I was on for hot flashes was no longer needed! I also stopped my blood pressure med (I was on a very low dose) because my BP had gotten too low and made me light headed.

I am much happier with the way I feel, and the mental clarity I now have is wonderful! A month and a half later I am mostly following the recipes in the book, which by the way are good, along with new ones I came up with along the way.

If you suffer from digestive issues, acid reflux, suspected food allergies, mental fog, just to name a few, I highly recommend this book. One other point is to go into it with an open mind about going with the recommendations and finding answers. If you follow along faithfully, you WILL find some answers.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I quit. First, this isn't really applicable to me, as I've already eliminated pretty much everything. I would have skimmed it, though, except it was driving me crazy: the tone is unbelievable. Obviously the writer wants to come across as upbeat, confident, and reliable, but this was unreal. Every example patient encounter was "I immediately knew exactly what was wrong" and after eliminating the problem food (which is always presented as being the first guess), everything is 100% better. The patient experiences are completely unbelievable and the instruction and other information is disturbingly overconfident.

[Glenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK. not a bad idea and overview, but despite his assertion that this is 'doable' and 'straightforward,' he also asserts that almost anything less than 100% adherence to every single step outlined will invalidate the process and require starting all over again. Just don't see that as viable. Maybe I misread him. But a good overview of how various foods impact us and raises awareness as to how to get a handle on it. If I had a lot of food allergies, I would definitely start here rather than just going for shots and medicines.

[Kelsey Kendzulak · Rating 3 out of 5]

I debated what to give this. I think the methodology they lay out is very credible, and I’ve definitely responded well to implementing this in my life. However, it really is extreme (I’m not going to buy everything organic and I’m not going to make my own spice mix because time and money???) and there’s too much emphasis on weight loss

[fundalina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bu kaynaktan yararlanarak eliminasyon diyeti rahatca uygulayabildim. Genelde eliminasyon icin 3 hafta deniyor kaynaklarda. Bu kitap 2 hafta diyor. Probiyotik takviyesi kullanımını öneriyordu, bana eliminasyonda iyi gelmedi, takviyeyi bırakınca rahatladım. Tek bu iki konuda kafam karışık, onun dışında beğendim

[PostYIS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super easy to follow, except for some of the ingredients. If I lived in the US this would be so simple. Unfortunately, Japan is less known for the hippy food stores that are rampant in the US. This made meal planning and baking snacks (which I need!) difficult. I do wish there were more recipes. The recipes online are almost the same.

[Lorraine Leatham · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all I want to say that this book IS NOT about calories, fats, carbs or portion control. It is not about depriving yourself of your favorite foods or punishing yourself. This book IS about creating new awareness how foods you eat make you feel. I have Fibromyalgia, Degenerative Disc Disease, Chronic Fatigue as well as migraines. This book gave me some ideas on how to address my current diet so that I can lessen my symptoms. This book is great for those who have food allergies. You could very well have a reaction to something you have eaten and not even realize it. This book has many benefits and I recommend that everyone read it because there really is something for everyone to gain from it.

I won a copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads but would have gladly paid full price based on what I have read in this very informative book.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the holidays I plan to give this a try in order to see if I have any food sensitivities. A lot of what is written makes sense, but there are certain things I question. Particularly his insistence that many people have a gluten sensitivity. I know it's a very current diet fad, but the scientists who first "discovered" gluten sensitivity have since done a far larger, thorough, and intense study where they determined that their initial findings were incorrect. They have thus concluded gluten sensitivity has no basis in science. Also worth noting is the author's adamant insistence on all things organic in order to avoid pesticides. While this may make sense to some, the unfortunate truth is that certified USDA organic *does* allow the use of chemical pesticides, many just as toxic (sometimes more so) than conventional farming methods. I don't know the USDA's reasoning for allowing this, but it is the reality.

There are a few other assertions I take issue with, but this review would become lengthy and possibly preachy, which is rather avoid. The overall message of the book, however, is sound. It essentially emphasizes healthy eating but approaches it as a "choose your own adventure" diet that will result in a final result of a completely personalized diet plan based on how certain foods make you feel.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a helpful guide for anyone seeking to do a pretty comprehensive elimination diet. It outlines the reasons for doing such an experiment, as well as many benefits that people have achieved from such a diet. It's a tough diet to achieve unless you're planning to prepare all of the meals yourself (I did it over the summer, when I knew no one else would be too inconvenienced by my restrictions). For the first few weeks, it's nearly impossible to eat at a restaurant or eat any pre-packaged foods, but it's a good learning experience and helps you be mindful of what's going into your body. It will also help break any addictions you may have to sugar or caffeine.
Ultimately, the diet wasn't successful for me. I was hoping to find the cause of some skin issues, but food doesn't seem to be the problem (though surprisingly I learned I should avoid fresh apples and black olives. Who knew?) In any case, I soon went back to my normal eating habits, though I've continued making a few of the recipes I learned from the book. But honestly, for me, a good night's sleep is as helpful to my health as avoiding sugar or wheat. But if you have a health issue and nothing else is working, the elimination diet is definitely worth a try!

[Gen · Rating 1 out of 5]

You get information from this book, but just not good information.

First, smoothies and shakes are just as bad for a person as juice/soda. Not a great concept if you're trying to cut out sugars for a litany of reasons.

Second, this is a medical diet that has been adulterated an packaged as a fad diet. A person follows this diet to deal with medical issues and not to lose weight, and while to book says it, the authors only say it stongly enough not to be sued. This, like keto, is meant for very specific situations.

Third, why, for the love of everything scientific, are you still allowing SEAFOOD, a KNOWN common allergen, to remain in the diet?

Save some money and go to Healthline.com where someone with a PhD has reviewed the article, and follow their advice I like I should have. If the source is normally good enough for my essays ABOUT nutrition (which is my major) then I should have trusted it from the start- yes, I'm calling myself a dumbass.

[Nellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of my children have discovered food sensitivities that result in migraines.

They wanted to go on it again to see if new sensitivities had developed or old ones disappeared.

I decided to go on the diet with them to support the
The book is well laid out by having you go on a 2-3 day detox where you eat clean soups, broths, and smoothies. This is followed by a 14 day elimination phase of avoiding all potential trigger foods. Finally, you reach the reintroduction phase.

Lots of stories to encourage you plus great recipes.

I am still in the middle of it day 27. The first 14 days were hard as I was always hungry coupled with craving chocolate. I am finding the need to salt my food more.

I discovered a "bad" habit that I do--I like my fingers after preparing food ie buttering toast for my mom, or licking the jelly spoon! Hopefully, that habit will be broken by the end of this!

[Colleen Gavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pro: The recipes in this book are great!

Cons:
I am only in week two of the elimination diet and it has made my sleep Even worse! Due to my own genetics I need more carbs to build neurotransmitters so I think I will modify it moving forward.
I gave Four stars because I feel that the book could’ve addressed some of these problems that people may encounter. I know it can’t be all inclusive.

Back to the pros:
The recipes are truly wonderful though. And actually, I don’t even miss most of the foods that I can’t have because I’m eating such good stuff.
Prep time is laborious and might be another reason that I have to try this later. My adrenal glands are taped and with all the work this diet requires I’m not getting enough downtime

[Clare Chedester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the information throughout the book. It is broken down nicely and had quite a bit of information that I found useful. It definitely changed the way I understand and look at food, the way my body feels, and how to make adjustments to create positive change. My only complaint is that this is not a low FODMAPs elimination diet, so if you are working a low FODMAP diet, some major adjustments will have to be made for the recipes in the back. The recipes are a great starting point though! All in all, great read, great information, wonderful guidance...I just suggest talking to a nutritionalist or naturopath of your own before starting anything.

[Antonio Diaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A high class solution

The book gave me a lot of answers. However, the “solutions” are expensive and hard to find, and I guess it’s not just because a live in a third world country (although it certainly doesn’t help). I found it so overwhelming I ended up more stressed about the diet than about not feeling well. I am still trying to decide whether I will go forward with the diet or avoid the stress it would mean for me to follow it. I’ll probably come back and review again because I realize that for those who can apply the tips to their daily life, it would mean a big change.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Health Coach, I love this book. Even if you don’t follow the full diet plan, it gives great information everyone should know in some form or another. It also has really good recipes! A lot of what I have been making lately has been from these recipes and I will definitely be making them again. The diet plan is great for anyone experience chronic symptoms in the body where you feel like you might not be getting any answers from your dr. Food heals and this book is a wonderful plan for healing.

[Adrienn Éva · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good book on how (and why) to do an elimination diet. The method is clear and well documented, if a bit vague on some ingredients (e.g. it either doesn't mention them or it excludes them, but never reintroduce them). It's also a bit heavy on selling itself - a good part of the introductory section (1/3 of the book) can be skipped or skimmed.

One thing to keep in mind (and this is not a limitation of the book): don't take the list of safe ingredients for granted. They are the least reactive ones, but you still might be sensitive to them.

[TwoDrinks · Rating 1 out of 5]

There’s something about this book that didn’t feel right. And I don’t mean, how many times the word “literally” was used in it. The references were really oddly referred to which seemed peculiar, some of them were from really obscure journals and some were really out of date (Lancet, 1979!!) and some weren’t properly referenced. Which got me thinking, how robust is this “research”. This led me to feel like the research probably isn’t robust enough to follow and needs further review. So all in all, not that useful a book for me.

[Britta Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and informative. My husband has suffered with severe skin issues that doctors cannot figure out. We are hoping the elimination diet will be enlightening. On first glance it seems intimidating, however this book provides a lot of case studies/encouragement and I feel like we can do this!
I hope it’s the key to finding what triggers my husbands health issues (and by supporting him, maybe I can find foods that help ease my issues with chronic pain.)

I’ll provide an update after we complete this journey 🥦

[Tabitha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Assessing how commonly consumed foods truly make you feel is an idea that has taken on some weight for me recently. This was a fairly thorough guide to the why and how of doing an elimination diet as well as a recipe resource. My husband has read some of it as well, and he found the authors a bit too dogmatic. I struggled to find the resources referenced in the book at first, but I think you can find the majority here: https://wholelifenutrition.net/articl...

[Dawn Younger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t tried the diet yet, but it very similar to the GAPS diet if you have looked into that. But MUCH simpler and more guided about reintroducing foods. And much less time. The book gives great explanation and success stories which are encouraging. I got quite a bit of help from the GAPS diet for the little while that I tried it. But it was SO difficult and the food was not appealing at all. So I’m exciting to try this one that seems to be very similar just significantly easier to follow.

[Becky Layne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful resource for anyone considering an elimination diet. The information sections of the book are quite detailed but are easy to quickly read. And the recipes are very good and call for everyday ingredients you would normally have in your kitchen - no obscure health foods. An elimination diet was not always easy - I missed bread and dairy, etc. - but it was well worth it. I immediately saw changes when eliminating certain items and could then determine a food's effect as I added categories back one at a time.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m at the beginning of my own modified version of this diet now. I might come back to review the book in more detail after that. I have mixed feelings right now. I felt like I gained a good concept of what I might be able to accomplish through an elimination diet, but I almost backed out on trying after reading this book because getting started sounded so complicated. I decided to just not worry about whether I owned a juicer, though, and go ahead and proceed in my own way.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I borrowed my daughters copy of this book to read. It was written about ten years ago and I'm guessing the information it contains is still correct, but since I like to eat plant-based, I can't really see myself doing this kind of a diet to try and zoom in on what kinds of things might be inflammatory for me. My daughter really likes the book & uses the recipes. Some of the recipes looked good to me too. I probably won't be recommending this book to anyone.

[Jonahida · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reason why I read this book was to be able to obtain more information about elimination diets, and how to implement them. I was able to get good information, and ideas on how to approach an elimination diet. I THINK (in my opinion) that just 15 days without the irritating food is too little, but good information overall.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a good read. The author gave a lot of great information and a plan for doing the diet including recipes which I appreciated. The book didn't have a lot of fluff and gave insight that I appreciated. Can't speak to if the recipes are good or not yet but all in all a good read if you are looking into this type of system restart.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was an excellent resource and very informative on the basics of the elimination diet, the reasons for and benefits of. Definitely a gem of a book for anyone struggling with autoimmune disorders, fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome - but beneficial for just about anything that's contributing to feeling unwell.