Allergy Provocation Diet For Weight Loss And Energy

The first step is to find out exactly what foods are causing you symptoms. Then the decision rests with you on what you are willing to give up and what you are willing to do to be free of those reactions.

These symptoms may include excruciating gallbladder attacks, minor gallbladder discomfort, gas, bloating, diarrhea, migraines, headaches, hives, rashes, itching, swelling, runny nose, post-nasal drip or coughing, stuffiness, joint pain, brain fog, memory loss and more. Another major symptom is water retention or edema, and weight gain.

What Is A Food Intolerance Test?

Food intolerances can be tested with antibodies just like true food allergies. However, an allergy-provocation diet which could also be called a food intolerance provocation diet is highly accurate if it is followed correctly. It is an excellent way to test food sensitivities or intolerances. The idea is to remove the most common allergens (allergy-causing foods) from your diet for 3 weeks and then add them back in one at a time to see how your body and mind react to them. You are provoking a response from your body. Why?

Histamine is usually secreted continuously throughout the day in response to the ingestion of a food allergen. When you spend 3 weeks without food allergens, the histamine builds up in the body without being secreted. Then when you add in an allergen after all this time, any adverse reactions to these foods will appear “larger than life”. The reaction will be noticeable. But note that while for some people this happens within minutes or hours, it is not uncommon for some reactions to take 2-3 days. This is why you only introduce a new food once within 3 days.

Symptoms Of Food Allergies vs Symptoms Of Food Intolerance

Symptoms are generally the same for food allergies and food intolerances with the exception of the sometimes more serious reactions to a true allergen.

Serious Reactions To Food Allergies

Anaphylaxis is a dangerous reaction that can be life-threatening. Medical intervention is required.

Anaphylaxis may include:
• Trouble breathing
• Swelling in the throat
• Tightening of the air passages
• Wheezing
• Shock with a sudden drop in blood pressure and rapid pulse
• Dizziness, fainting or loss of consciousness

Symptoms Of Food Intolerance

These can also found with food allergies:
• Headaches
• Migraines
• Skin responses like rashes, redness or itching
• Joint pain
• Stomach pain
• Gallbladder pain
• Gas
• Bloating
• Fatigue
• Weight gain
• Brain fog
• Loss of concentration

An Allergen-Free Diet May Support Arthritis Symptoms

Many arthritic patients I have taken off specific foods have been amazed to see how much better they feel. Yet, it is sometimes so gradual it was unnoticeable until they added the offending food back in to the diet. “I didn’t know how good I felt until I went off the diet and experienced that pain again.”

Brain Fog From Food Intolerances

And believe it or not, one of the less-known reactions, especially to gluten, is brain fog. Anyone with hypothyroidism or low thyroid symptoms would benefit immensely from this challenge. They often have brain fog. It may appear as if the brain is quite removed from the gut but it’s actually as close a relationship as “the knee bone that’s connected to the thigh bone.” The gastrointestinal tract has a close interrelationship with every major system in the body, but it is so closely related to the brain that they the gut has been called “the second brain”.

Allergens And Weight Gain

Anything that causes inflammation can cause you to gain weight. Conversely, getting rid of inflammation can help you to lose weight. Note that you can have food intolerance without having a true allergy. You may have a reaction or intolerance to a food not because of an allergy but because of an inability to digest it due to lack of enzymes or other mechanisms. Also, due to leaky gut, your body may have developed antibodies to a specific food and every time you eat it, the immune system is set off and begins to attack specific body tissues.

Which Food Cause Inflammation?

Wouldn’t you like to know what foods are causing obvious or silent inflammation in your body? What foods are contributing to your discomfort and to your fatigue? Give yourself three weeks on this allergen-free diet. Remove the most common food allergens and if there are other less common ones that you suspect may give you symptoms, however mild, avoid them as well. There are a few predominant allergens and there are more for gallbladder people. You will want to do both. If family members choose to do this with you, they can follow the smaller list.

Common Food Allergens

90% of all food allergies are to these foods:
• eggs
• gluten (wheat, barley, rye and other grains)
• corn
• soy
• dairy
• peanuts
• shellfish

Common Foods That Cause Gallbladder Attacks

• eggs
• pork
• onion
• turkey and chicken
• milk
• coffee
• oranges
• grapefruit
• corn
• beans
• nuts

Preparation

The key to success is to have everything you need ahead of time – from the food you’ll need, to clearing the cupboards of foods that may tempt you, to family understanding and support. Make a grocery list of everything you’ll need and keep it handy. Make it a point to buy at least two new vegetables every week and two new herbs as well. Herbs can add life to a boring salad and wake up your taste buds too. This does not have to be boring.

I keep a large airtight plastic container in the fridge with washed lettuce ready to go. I rinse it in a fruit and vegetable rinse which not only removes any bacteria and other little critters, but will also help it keep longer. Layer pieces of paper towel between so that it says moist but not wet. This will keep for 5 or 6 days.

Three Week Food Intolerance Test

We suggest you purchase The Gallbladder Diet - a 30-day menu plan, which is free of all allergens except for fish. This is because gallbladder people are very limited in what proteins they can eat. *

This program is 30 days. You can start testing or provoking your suspected allergens on day 21. Follow the last week of the menu plan AND add in the one food you are challenging (which will not be on The Gallbladder Diet Menu Plan).

Dietary Plan

A specific dietary plan is recommended. This plan is an elimination diet because the program requires that certain foods be eliminated from the daily diet while the program is in progress. This diet differs from other elimination diets because this one is designed for people with gallbladder problems. Only gallbladder-friendly foods are in these recipes.

The caloric requirements of different individuals vary significantly from each other. Each individual to meet his/her caloric and nutritional needs should modify the amounts to comfort. All foods may be selected from the Gallbladder Diet download and/or the Gallbladder Diet Menu Plan. The fundamentals to remember are: eat according to your appetite; do not overeat; select natural, organic foods; include foods that offer soluble and insoluble dietary fibers, and drink plenty of pure water.

If you have problems with blood sugar, be sure you keep it balanced with frequent snacks. Avoid the sweetest fruits such as tropical ones. Instead, focus on berries, apples and pears and eat only small portions of these. Make leafy greens and other green vegetables your mainstay.

Meat and fish proteins are used in the beginning and again while phasing out. (Anyone with active gallbladder symptoms should avoid the meat altogether and use fish only.) The middle portion is the most cleansing where you are now having vegan protein shakes daily and eating only vegetables and a little fruit which is much easier on digestion, allowing the body to detox more easily. Start back into the proteins at the suggested time with small portions.

Remember that if you are prone to gallbladder attacks you need to be careful with unknown foods such as rice or almond milk and even olive oil. When you begin re-introducing foods back into your diet it is very important to add only one new food over a three-day period.

This specific allergy elimination program is used to:

• Discover food sensitivities
• Detoxify the liver and gallbladder
• Balance hormones (by improving gut function and clearing the liver)
• Repair the intestines
• Remove inflammation primarily in the gut but in the rest of the body as well
• Improve intestinal enzymes and bacteria
• Improve thyroid function (20% of thyroid hormone T4 is converted to the usable hormone T3 in a healthy gut)
• Improve immunity (60% of the body’s immune system is in the gut)
• Improve energy levels (with inflammation or infection the body puts most of its energy into taking care of this problem)

How To Reintroduce Foods

At the end of the three weeks, you will begin adding one food back into your diet at a time. When you are finished with the 21 days please introduce foods back in one at a time over 3 days. So, you will eat dairy for 3 days, for example, noting how you are feeling over these days. If you have any negative reaction on day one, do not keep eating the offending food. You do not want to mix up the reactions of the next food with the dairy. This is really important and instructions must be followed closely, with no deviations. Reactions to food do not always happen within a day but should show up within 3 days.

Keep A Food Diary When Introducing Foods Back Into Your Diet

Write down everything you feel in these next days, physical symptoms, mental symptoms, emotional symptoms, energy levels etc.

Remember: Don’t undo all of your hard work with processed foods, sugars, junk foods and sodas, even if you are not allergic to them. You’ve just cleaned out your system and filling it up with those kinds of foods will only counteract the benefits of this program.

It is important for you to note how you feel at the end of the program. If you feel dramatically better, you have probably been suffering from multiple food sensitivities and your gastrointestinal-immune system has been inflamed and working overtime. 

Many people who have been compromised for a long time ask if they can stay on this program indefinitely. They feel so much relief from symptoms, have more energy than they have had for years, are sleeping better and some are losing weight slowly but consistently. Yes, you can stay on this program.

Liver Detox & Coffee Enemas

Food and environmental intolerances may be relieved by a series of detoxes. Eating as outlined above is already a type of detox in itself, in that you are removing lots of triggers that the body usually deals with on a daily basis. With those gone, it has a chance to rest and rebuild. You can assist the process with weekly colonics, bi-weekly or even daily at-home enemas. Enemas and colonics can make more of a difference than you can imagine to allergies and intolerances. The coffee enema, specifically, flushes the bile and increases the secretion of glutathione from the liver. Glutathione is the most important anti-oxidant that supports detox.