7 Things I Learned on an Elimination Diet (and How They Still Keep Me Healthy Every Day)

Honestly, I'm totally averse to "diets." I've never put myself on one because I think they often set people up to "fail" because they are not sustainable in the long-term. It's this really sad, vicious cycle of trying to find the next easy way to "get skinny" that ends up making people feel really bad about themselves. But this one was different. I recently started with a naturopath because I wanted to make sure I was feeling my absolute best, and to see if there was anything she could do about my eczema. I've had it my entire life, and it's more or less a daily aggravation. I've tried so many remedies, none of which have worked that well. She suggested an elimination diet to see if food was playing a role. So I gave it a go. What is an elimination diet? An elimination diet is when you temporarily remove a number of possibly aggravating foods from your diet to check for intolerance. Then once you've totally cleared them of your system, you reintroduce them one at a time to see if any trigger a negative reaction. For my particular prescription, I had to eliminate gluten, dairy, sugar, corn, soy, and alcohol for 21 days. Then test each one separately (other than alcohol and sugar). All in all, it was about a 35-day experience. Sounds pretty rough, huh? At times, yes. But it was on this journey that I learned a few unexpected lessons: the power of will power, the underestimated importance of planning, and the beauty of good 'ol real food. Here are the seven t...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news