It is impossible to completely cure food allergies, but it is quite possible to get rid of its symptoms. At the first stage of treatment, a diet is used to determine and exclude an undesirable product. In medicine, there are many hypoallergenic diets, one of them is elimination. Acquaintance with it is mandatory for those who are accurately diagnosed with the disease or simply have suspicions of a food allergy.
Who will need a diet
Absolutely everyone can become an allergic person, it can be a congenital or a disease acquired with time. An elimination diet is applicable in all cases of allergic symptoms: true allergy, intolerance, poisoning.
True allergy is extremely rare, the cause of this disease is the effect of immunoglobulin E. The body’s reaction to the irritant factor in this case occurs quickly, and the symptoms are moderate and severe. With the help of skin and blood samples, it is easy to identify true allergies.
Intolerance is less pronounced, sometimes a negative reaction of the body can pass unnoticed. The immune system is not involved in this case. This type of disease occurs most often, among all allergy sufferers, approximately 70% are “pseudo-allergy sufferers” (WHO data). The degree of manifestation of symptoms depends on the amount of intolerable product, that is, a small amount of allergen can pass unnoticed. Most often it is in case of intolerance that a hypoallergenic diet is needed.
Poisoning by chemicals, bacteria and fungi can also resemble allergies. In this case, the patient may experience itching, indigestion, rash, etc. With the help of elimination (exclusion), this problem is eliminated completely in a short time.
The essence of the medical diet
The principle of the diet is to identify the allergen. Often, blood and skin samples do not give an accurate result, in which case additional measures are necessary. To identify the exact allergen is necessary, since even against the background of taking antihistamines, allergies should avoid contact with an undesirable product.
With the help of a diet, patients gradually eliminate potentially dangerous products from their menu. The treatment takes place in several stages. The duration of the diet depends on the results of therapy. On average, one month is enough for a patient to determine which component causes unpleasant symptoms.
The first stage
If the diet begins during an exacerbation of the disease, the patient is prescribed several fasting days. During this period, the patient only needs to drink water and weak black tea. Such measures will allow you to cleanse the body of any allergen, dangerous toxins and other harmful substances. You can start the diet with unloading only if indicated by your doctor.
In cases without complications, treatment begins with the exclusion of any type of sugar. Intensive growth of candida can give incorrect survey results. For a “clean” result, sucrose and fructose must be removed from the diet.
In the first week it is forbidden to eat:
- sugar in pure form, drinks and dishes;
- honey and dishes with it;
- fruits and dried fruits;
- syrups, sauces and other products that contain sweeteners.
If in the first couple of days the state of health has improved, and there are no negative symptoms, it means that the disease is caused by the presence of a fungus. Stop the diet after this is impossible, the full passage of the program will allow you to accurately draw a picture of the disease.
In addition to sweets, the patient eats ordinary foods. If deterioration is observed in the first days, the physician should transfer the patient to the next stage of the diet.
Second Stage: Elimination
After the initial phase comes the main stage, which will allow to identify the allergen. An elimination diet “works” with the most common products that are recognized by the official medicine highly allergenic. During the second stage, you should gradually remove from the diet foods that are potentially dangerous for the patient, and then return them to re-check.
Food should be gentle, food can not be fried and baked with a rough crust. It is allowed to stew, boil, steam, in the oven or on the grill. Salt and spices should not be used, as they increase the overall risk of allergies. You need to eat fractionally, little by little, and often.
From the very beginning of the treatment program, the patient needs to keep a food diary. It should mark the date, the exact time of the meal, the detailed composition of the food and changes in their own condition. Once a week or more, the attending physician should check and analyze patient records.
Products that may cause allergies are phased out. A detailed list of ingredients that can be used for the basic menu should make a doctor. Eating on the basic menu, you need to exclude one product every two days and monitor the reaction of the body. The improvement indicates that the allergen was excluded the day before. It is impossible to stop on this procedure, the patient should check all highly allergenic products by elimination and introduction.
In addition to highly allergenic items, the patient’s menu should not include products with harmful additives, instant food, industrial sauces and fats, any spices, flavoring seasonings.
So, products that need to be phased out:
- cereals (this includes: corn, wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelled);
- dairy products in all manifestations;
- eggs (for testing, you can gradually exclude chicken, quail, etc.):
- citruses, primarily oranges;
- meat: veal, pork, beef, chicken;
- any vegetables and fruits of red and orange color;
- soy and products of which it is a part;
- nuts and seeds;
- caffeinated drinks: freeze-dried and natural coffee, green tea, energy drinks, most sweet drinks;
- vegetable oils.
In addition to these products, you can check any ingredient that is in doubt. After the exclusion of each component, you need to wait two days, and then exclude one more and so on. When the elimination program (exceptions) is over, the implementation phase will begin, that is, the re-entry of products. As a rule, at the first stage it becomes clear which particular ingredient (or ingredients) causes a negative reaction.
Alcohol for the entire period of treatment is contraindicated.
The third stage: implementation
In the menu, devoid of potential allergens, prohibited foods are gradually introduced. It should start with a low-allergenic, all ingredients are still recorded in the diary, between each introduction of the product should be maintained a gap of one to two days. Often, the problematic component causes a reaction rather quickly, sometimes it takes from 10 minutes. But the reaction may be delayed and not manifest itself for 12 hours.
Each product is important to test in its purest form. This means: we check separately chicken, red pepper, potatoes, and do not cook soup from it where there is chicken, red pepper and potatoes. Sour-milk products and whole milk are also best checked separately. The test ingredient needs to be eaten two to three times a day, since a small amount of it can “pass unnoticed”.
The following factors may be cause for concern: redness and rash on the skin, any unreasonable itching, ear congestion, complications of breathing, irritation of the mucous membrane (in any part of the body).
Repeated expansion of the menu will allow you to accurately determine the allergen. After the end of the program, the identified components are excluded from the diet for a while, and then tested again.
Elimination program for children
Children are the first category of people who are allergic. Elimination diet is used at any age, starting with infants. Most often, such measures are necessary for atopic dermatitis in a baby. If the mother clearly adheres to the recommendations of the doctor, over time, the child can get rid of allergies.
Allergic babies can be transferred to artificial feeding, but not earlier than 6 months. Mom during the period of treatment and recovery of the child must follow a diet. To date, there is definitely no link between atopic dermatitis and breastfeeding, but precautions are definitely needed.
Exactly the menu of a nursing mother can be made only by the attending physician, based on the results of tests and observations. Rules of the diet remain characteristic for this case. It is forbidden to overeat, starve, use harmful components, any dyes, cooking oils, etc. Beekeeping products, red and orange vegetables and fruits, all mushrooms, spices, sweets, and seafood are also excluded from the diet. Of the drinks mothers prohibited coffee, cocoa, sweet soda.
It is recommended to include light-colored plant foods (white cherries, zucchini, gooseberries, etc.), gluten-free cereals, white fish, and lean white meat in the menu. Since the picture of the disease in each case is individual, it is better to check with the doctor for the exact list of products.
The diet is administered for three to four weeks, if there is no improvement, then the cause of the disease may be non-allergic in nature. If the baby gets better, prolong the diet. Gradually, forbidden products should be returned to the moms menu. The introduction of each component must occur with the permission of the doctor. The way of provocation is necessary, as children need to gradually get used to new products.
During the entire program, it is necessary to keep a diary in which the feeding time, the complementary feeding composition (if any), the condition of the skin will be recorded. In a separate column you need to record the accompanying condition of the baby (stool, appetite, etc.).
If an allergy appears in the first year of life, most often it is intolerance to cow protein. In this case, mothers and children are prescribed a dairy-free diet.
Older children are often prescribed an elimination diet to detect intolerance. At any age, the nature of the program is the same: the elimination of highly allergenic components, then their careful introduction. Children tested product should be given carefully, in small portions. Often intolerance may depend on the amount of allergen. For example, a whole orange causes a reaction, but half does not.
During the treatment course, an allergen or group of allergens is precisely determined. After this, the patient is prescribed an appropriate diet, which eliminates irritating factors. Over the next few months, a proper and balanced diet is shown to fully restore the body. For clarification, it is advised to eat vegetable fiber, cereals, light soups (all with the permission of the doctor), bran bread.
Approximately six months later, the identified allergen is tested again. Try it in small doses with a gradual increase. Often, during the treatment program, intolerance disappears and an allergic person can eat a prohibited product without a health risk. If the negative reaction appears again, then you need to endure an even longer period of time. Often, the intolerance of a component remains for life.
Reviews of patients who have completed this program note additional positive results. Due to proper and moderate nutrition, weight stabilizes, as a rule, it decreases by 3-5 kilograms. By eliminating salt and harmful additives, the body is cleansed of excess fluid and salts, free radicals, toxins. There is a general improvement in well-being, increased efficiency, cleansing of the skin.
In order to detect an allergen, a hypoallergenic diet according to Ado can be prescribed. In any case, any recommendations on the network or from unverified sources should be discussed with the doctor, only then apply them.
Reviews of allergy sufferers emit a few useful tips: cook simply and more to last for the whole day, always take food with you, do not forget about the diary, do not get lost, remember – this is only a temporary measure.