THE EXCLUSION PHASE OF THE ELIMINATION DIET
This is meant to be a very simple, basic diet, in which you consume nothing but your allowed foods. No herbs, no spices, no flavourings, nothing tinned and no packaged foods of any sort. It is not going to be a gastronomic delight, but the diet does not last long and it may make you well again.
Eat only your allowed foods, remembering to vary your diet, not to eat any one food every day, and not to eat too much of any one food. Drink only bottled or filtered water. As before, you can drink herb teas, but avoid any that you have consumed regularly before. You should also vary them and not drink more than two or three cups a day – you can become sensitive to anything you eat or drink, and herb teas are no exception. Look at the label on herb-tea mixtures: some contain orange, lemon or apple extracts and these should be avoided.
If, after reading Chapter Nine, you think you may have chemical sensitivity, then you should try to eat only unsprayed food during this diet (as well as following the avoidance measures for synthetic chemicals. Unfortunately, eating ‘organic’ foods only may be very difficult, since your choice of foods is limited anyway, but it is worth choosing organic produce for some of the foods, even if you cannot manage it for all of them. Check a variety of sources to see what sort of organic produce is available – the range is widening all the time. Remember that friends’ gardens are often the best source of unsprayed fruit and vegetables – ask around to see if you can buy surplus produce. During the testing procedure, you can test for sensitivity to pesticide residues by comparing your reactions to the same food, sprayed and unsprayed.
Continue the exclusion phase for at least three weeks. If you are not substantially better by then, it is highly unlikely that you have food sensitivity. Keep a record of everything you eat and all your symptoms.
You should also weigh yourself regularly during this diet, especially if you are not overweight at the outset. Anyone who is underweight should not embark on the diet without medical advice. If you find you are losing weight rapidly, then you should discuss the matter with your doctor. Elemental diets can sometimes be useful in these circumstances, as a nutritional supplement.
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