The holidays paint a portrait of togetherness, celebration, and yes, maybe a bit of indulgence. So it’s no surprise that come January, many look to get back on their health and wellness goals with a new régime — and in the past few years, elimination diets have become the go-to.
So if you’re embarking on a lofty New Year’s resolution with a goal to cut certain foods out of your diet, here are the key do’s and don’ts to make sure you get the most out of your new routine.
What Is an Elimination Diet?
Elimination diets are typically used in the health and wellness profession to help experts identify a patient’s individual intolerances or allergies. By avoiding a food or category of foods, you’re able to see how your body reacts and observe whether certain long-standing symptoms clear up on their own.
However, in recent years, elimination diets have become more popular outside of a clinical setting. In fact, they’ve even become a bit of a trend, with the rise of protocols like paleo or even time-bound challenges like Veganuary and Whole30. But experts note it’s important not to take such diets lightly.
What to Remember Before Jumping on the Trend
Kathleen Benson, CSSD, CPT, RDN at VNutrition, has seen a “noticeable rise” in the popularity of elimination diets, “largely driven by the growing focus on digestive health,” she says.
“As with many trends in nutrition, clinically useful concepts often get picked up by wellness and diet culture, reshaped, and marketed as the next solution,” she says. “We’ve seen similar cycles with fat, carbohydrates, protein, and now fiber and gut health. Elimination diets offer something tangible and actionable, which makes them appealing to consumers, particularly in a landscape influenced by social media, wellness marketing, and the business side of nutrition rather than clinical nuance.”
While there are certainly contexts in which an elimination diet can make sense, according to experts, it’s important to keep these five factors in mind.
1. Not all elimination diets are created alike.
While many elimination diets may look similar, the reality is that each diet is different — and for good reason. After all, varying elimination diets are built with different goals in mind.
“Some approaches are framed around inflammation,” explains Benson, “others around carbohydrate structure or digestive tolerance.” And still some others, she adds, “are rooted more in philosophy or lifestyle than evidence.”
The most common elimination diet among clinicians, she says, is the low-FODMAP diet. This diet focuses its attention on fermentable short-chain carbohydrates, which are more difficult for some people to digest. According to Benson, this diet is typically prescribed “when there is a clear indication such as IBS or persistent gastrointestinal symptoms.”
Followers of the protocol temporarily eliminate foods like garlic, mushrooms, apples, peaches, most dairy, legumes, processed meat, most gluten-based items, some nuts, and many sweeteners in an attempt to identify the source of (and ultimately reduce) their symptoms.
If there’s one thing all elimination diets do have in common, it’s that they’re not right for everyone. “People with ongoing symptoms who have already ruled out major medical issues with their healthcare provider tend to benefit the most,” says Benson. “Elimination diets are also more appropriate for individuals without a history of disordered eating, or when used very carefully within a multidisciplinary care team if that history exists. Proper guidance is essential to ensure the process is safe, intentional, and time-limited.”
The Difference Between Whole30, Paleo, and GAPS
That said, there are tons of elimination diets out there that each suit different goals. Some popular diets include Whole30, Paleo, and GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome), a diet designed by Dr. Natasha Campbell-Mcbride, MD, aimed towards reducing chronic physical conditions linked to an unhealthy gut. These, according to the GAPS website, include all autoimmune conditions, asthma, and many neurological diseases.
“GAPS allows certain dairy [products], while the others do not,” explains Dr. Serena Goldstein, ND. “Whole30 and Paleo tend to be similar in dietary choices (i.e. grain free, [an emphasis on] meats, vegetables, and healthy fats), [but] Whole30 is a bit more strict and meant to last for 30 days (no alcohol, no sugar). Paleo, on the other hand, is more of a long-term plan, where people can adjust their eating habits over time.”
When choosing the diet that works best for you, Benson recommends exercising a bit of caution and doing your due diligence.
“I tend not to recommend elimination diets that are based primarily on anecdotal evidence or placebo-driven claims and lack strong research support,” says Benson. “Broad, challenge-style eliminations that remove many foods at once without a clear rationale can lead people to fear foods that were never problematic to begin with.”
2. Elimination diets are not designed for weight loss.
The goal of an elimination diet is to help a clinician diagnose food intolerances or allergies and ultimately reduce symptoms of these underlying issues. Weight loss may be an unintended side effect, but this is not the intended outcome of such a protocol.
“While someone could argue that focusing on minimally processed, nutrient-dense foods may indirectly support weight changes, that is more a matter of general nutrition principles than elimination itself,” explains Benson. “In practice, elimination diets are not an effective or sustainable weight-loss strategy.”
For Goldstein, it’s nevertheless unsurprising that many experience weight loss as a side effect. “Common allergens can affect hormones, inflammation, and gut health/microbiota, to name a few, so removing said offenders for a period of time to let the body ‘calm down’, can result in better function, and hence, weight loss.”
And for Benson, “if someone has significant digestive issues, addressing gut health first may make it easier to pursue other health goals later, including weight-related goals if appropriate.”
3. Elimination diets are not meant to be followed forever.
One crucial element to remember regarding elimination diets is their temporary nature. “Elimination diets are not meant to be followed indefinitely,” cautions Benson. This is, of course, built into the very name of protocols like Whole30 — and implied by the multiple stages of diets like GAPS. And while some elimination-style diets like paleo are intended to be practiced on a longer-term basis, they’re the exception rather than the rule. For the most part, Benson says, “Elimination diets should be framed as short-term experiments, not measures of discipline or ‘clean eating.’”
“When used appropriately, they can offer valuable insight,” she continues, “but long-term health is built through variety, adequacy, and sustainability, not ongoing restriction.”
4. Reintroduction is a key part of an elimination diet.
Given their temporary nature, it should come as no surprise that the reintroduction period is an essential piece of an elimination diet. For Goldstein, this is one of the major misconceptions about this style of diet: “that they have to be done forever, or once stopped, all the weight and/or other symptoms return.”
Reintroduction, Benson explains, is a crucial and misunderstood stage of the experiment. Since you’re likely eliminating multiple different foods at once, gradual reintroduction of these foods is what helps you identify which foods are causing certain symptoms. Reintroduction helps identify individual tolerances and zero in on problematic foods, so that these — and only these — can be eradicated on a longer-term basis.
“Staying in elimination long-term increases the risk of nutrient deficiencies, reduces dietary variety, and can negatively affect both physical and mental well-being,” she says. Gradual introduction, on the contrary, “can be helpful in discerning how strict or not someone has to be,” Goldstein says. “The ultimate goal is always reintroduction and expansion, not permanent restriction.”
5. Long-term elimination should be studied with your doctor.
Many people with allergies and intolerances can benefit from an elimination diet to reduce their symptoms. And for some, this protocol can result in long-term or even permanent elimination of some or many foods. But our experts stress that long-term elimination should always be managed with the help of a trained professional. At this point, it also should be framed as less of an elimination diet and more of a lifestyle change.
“I generally encourage patients towards a Mediterranean diet/paleo approach,” says Goldstein, “as both encompass whole foods, and a balanced variety of nutrients.”
