Elimination & Challenge Factsheet

Resources:

Allergy and Intolerance Section

Allergy Tests section

Overview:

Find your triggers with this detailed 30 page factsheet giving you the clinic process I have used successfully for years. Includes 3 elimination types, 5 challenge types, loads of tips and my forms for you to copy and use. Most people don't get this right, make sure you do!

Introduction

I get asked several times a day ‘Can you do an allergy test?’. And, just as often, I find myself wishing there was an easy answer to give!  Anyone who tells you that finding triggers is easy has no real idea of the complexities of sensitivity, trust me.

Elimination and Challenge is the most efficient way of finding your triggers, whether those are foods, supplements, meds, toiletries or whatever, and it takes real work, commitment and time to get it right. Most people don’t get it right and end up even more confused, hence this factsheet detailing the process I have used in-clinic for years. Get it right and it really will give you clear and actionable answers that will make a real difference to how you feel.

I have included my forms for you at the end: use these to record everything, photocopying as many as you need.

Standard elimination diets advise to have one portion, then monitor, but this can be misleading as some people only react when they have had more than that. They merrily add the suspects in and wonder why they are reacting, often not realising which trigger it is. That's why I have included a cumulative check.

And what about those who react to a tiny amount, how do they do it? And have you thought about what cooking methods do to food? Or how combinations might affect you? How would you test yeast? Which order should you reintroduce things in? How often should you eat them then? How do you test your barrier permeability to see if you are ready to challenge again? Questions, questions ...!

As I said, get this right and it is a really efficient way of finding answers. Get it wrong and you'll just end up more confused.

Tip:

My advice, if you think you have a lot of allergens, might be to start with lab testing to establish any major sensitivities. Write those down and eliminate the foods, and then double-check any suspect foods that didn’t show up with the elimination process.

You can, of course, check any positive foods with the elimination process, but in essence, the presence of an antibody or cellular response means that food has been or is an issue for you, whether you feel it or not. That’s usually the quickest and most effective way anyway, in case it helps. No test is perfect and it’s the combination of them that gives the most reliable info in my clinical view.

Have a look in the Allergy Tests section of the shop for specific test recommendations.

Contents

Welcome and Housekeeping

Introduction

The Elimination Phase

The Challenge Phase

The Hyper-Sensitivity Check                           

The Single Portion Check                                

The Cumulative Check

Tips, Tips and More Tips …

Further Testing

Support

Elimination and Challenge Phase Forms